PTE-44 turbo vs.Garret turbo??

[Realspool]

i just bought a PTE-44 .63 turbo from Precision Turbo and engine.I like the TE-44 turbo but i didn't know that a TE-44 turbo could also be bought with a garret housing for quicker spooling for better response on the street.I don't intend to race the car so i don't need the additional power of the PTE exhaust turbine housing.The precision turbo spools well but I am the type of guy who just wants a car for the street and the PTE(Precision Turbo) supposedly from what i heard spools a bit slower then a TE-44 with a Garret turbine exhaust housing and works very well with the stock D5 converter.Is this true???The turbo runs great and has less then 200 miles on it.I was wondering could i send this turbo out to get the Garret turbine housing installed or is it too much involved I was wondering should i sell a basically brand new turbo or can i replace the Precion PTE turbine housine with the Garret housing.Hope you guys who are experts can tell me what I could do here Thanks alot for opinions Ray

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

If you still have your stock turbo's exaust housing sent it to them and have it machined to go on the 44

just unbolt the pte housing and put the garret one on once you get it back

the garret 3 bolt housings are getting harder to come up with every year

 

[TurboDave]

Originally posted by Realspool
i just bought a PTE-44 .63 turbo from Precision Turbo and engine.I like the TE-44 turbo but i didn't know that a TE-44 turbo could also be bought with a garret housing for quicker spooling for better response on the street.I don't intend to race the car so i don't need the additional power of the PTE exhaust turbine housing.The precision turbo spools well but I am the type of guy who just wants a car for the street and the PTE(Precision Turbo) supposedly from what i heard spools a bit slower then a TE-44 with a Garret turbine exhaust housing and works very well with the stock D5 converter.Is this true???The turbo runs great and has less then 200 miles on it.I was wondering could i send this turbo out to get the Garret turbine housing installed or is it too much involved I was wondering should i sell a basically brand new turbo or can i replace the Precion PTE turbine housine with the Garret housing.Hope you guys who are experts can tell me what I could do here Thanks alot for opinions Ray

Having gone through some very lengthy testing of ALL THREE housings on my TE44, I can tell you what experiences I've had and maybe dispell some myths.

I started with a standard TE44 (garrett housing). Back then I was running a D5 converter and enjoyed that combination.
I wanted to try and pick up some performance without a huge expense and decided to give the (then new technology) new Precesion housing a try (.63). Making no other changes, I noticed absolutely no difference in spoolup characteristics. There was however a noticable difference in the "butt dyno" on how much harder that setup pulled, and the subsequent time slips verified the fact that the car was running quicker and faster.

I then decided to get REAL brave and upgrade to the Precision .85 housing.
I was pleasently surprised that the additional lag was really quite minimal. Instead of blazing the tires immediately upon entering an intersection, they then blew away about half way through it.
Again, I was awarded with a quicker, and faster car.

I've always had the luxury of adding some quick spool tricks into the chips I was making (any chip maker worth their salt can do this for you!!!), then when adding the BstC boost controller, that had it's own quick spool tricks, as do the Extender chips I now use. Those advances in chip technology allow my .85/TE44 combo to spool every bit as fast as the TA49 on my 87 GN.

I have since upgraded to a high stall Vigilante converter (was going to go to a much larger turbo but never did), and the car is simply insane with that. But as was stated, I was running a D5 throughout all the turbine housing changes.

 

[TRFanatic]

info

Excellent info TurboDave. I have a 44 as well. How do I figure out which housing I have??

Thanks for the info.

Ravi

 

[TurboDave]

Well, I'm not sure if they've changed the way they're marked. I'm sure they have by now.

When I was doing the testing, both of their housings had .63 cast on to the housing. But the .85 that I eventually ended up with had .85 marked on the inside to distinguish it from the outer marking. You'd have to ask them, but I'm sure they are marked differently by now.

 

[Realspool]

I read it on one of the post about a TE-44 Garret spooling faster then a PTE Turbo exhaust turbine.I guess there is no reasonable difference if your PTE-44 can spool that fast and it would make no sense to swith to a Garret style housing.I have a stock 3000 D5 converter but my waste gate set up is very old style ands is very inefficient.Dave i guess if you don't notice that much difference in the fast spooling of your PTE-44 compared to the Garret housing when you had it, it would make no sense for me to change it.My car is a pure street car and i like the bottom end power without going to any smaller of a turbo.I just thought that the Garret housing might improve spooling up. Thanks alot

 

[Realspool]

I always thougt my Precision PTE-44 turbo with a .63 housing was the same turbo set up with a Garett Housing.What is the difference betwwen the 2???

 

[UNGN]

The spooling difference is pretty small and you would probably notice the difference MORE if you raced the car. Not very offen you sit at a light and powerbrake the car until the turbo spools. Street tires wouldn't withstand the hit of a fully spooled turbo, anyway.

More often you already have 2000-3000 RPM rolling down the road and floor it. I don't know if you would be able to tell the difference in spool in this case.

The Precision housing is pretty easy to tell from the Garrett housing. It's much bigger and the turbo shield barely fits over it. Of course it also says "Precision" on it.

If you are still using a stock elbow, make sure the Puck will completely cover the hole in the housing. It doesn't take much of a leak to completely kill your turbo's spool. When I use a stock elbow on my aftermarket Turbo, I have a larger puck put on.

The Stock D5 stalls about 2400 RPM, which is enough to spool a TE44, even a Precision .63 Housing PTE44. If your converter stalls at 3000 RPM, Lag is the last thing that should be happening with your combo, unless there is a pre turbo exhaust leak.

 

[Realspool]

IM not sure what you mean by the stock elbow?One thing you mentioned is that you had to use a bigger puck because of exhaust leaks.Well maybe thats my problem because since i swapped turbos I have had a definite exhaust leak.I had alot of guys look at it and listen but they could never hear where it was coming from.Now maybe this bigger puck that you use is my whole problem.I have had the turbo off 2 times and put it back together only to hear those exhaust leaks.Where exactly is the puck located.Is it on the top of the turbo where the oil feed line from the engine goes because i did not think that had anything to do with exhaust leaks Thanks alot for your reply

 

[Danster]

Are you using the stock downpipe? If so, the downpipe is connected to the elbow which is connected to the Turbo (sounds like a song).

Disconnect the elbow from the Turbo and check to see if the puck is sealing the hole from the turbo.

The turbo probably came with the hole enlarged thus requiring a larger puck in the elbow. The actuator arm attaches to the puck which is part of the elbow.


Dannyo

 

[Realspool]

no I have just a 3 inch downpipe that bolts right up to the turbo.I have a Racegate near the middle of the crossover pipe.Thats what confused me about the puck.I would not have one with my external racegate set up which i want to change to a Terry Houston DP or an ATR setup for fastest spooling of my turbo.My Racegate is far from the turbo which I think gives me more turbo lag.As far as the exhaust leaks I have no idea whereb to find them as many guys and experts can't find the exact location.I think even though i took my stock headers off and showed no cracks whats so ever,the problem has to lie with these headers.I have heard of Pston and ATR and for the money I believe the ATR's are the best even though they are 900$.But they don't warp,crack and they will not have to worry about exhaust leaks.Im not to sure about Poston Headers though.Im not familiar with them.

 

[UNGN]

It's very common for the header to turbo flange to warp. When you bolt on a new turbo, the flat flange of the new turbo may not seal completely with the warped header flange.

A gasket may be required.

 

[Realspool]

Thanks for the advice.A gasket might be my problem.who knows.Who makes the best gasket for the stock header to turbo???