TE 44...good or bad?

[Tom Tom Turbo]

I possibly have the chance to buy a Precision TE 44 turbo from a local buick owner. He bought it used as well and I don't remember how many miles he said it has on it. He has debated on offering to pull it out, have it rebuilt, and sell it to me so he can go bigger. My questions are the following:

1. Is this the right turbo for a car with stock inj, IC, downpipe, and wastegate?

2. What is a fair price to pay for the turbo?

3. Which chip would work for me?


THANKS IN ADVANCE!

 

[ttypewe4jim]

its a good turbo but........i would gete some more injector be4 puting it on

our combo is a 44 thdp sreched inter. blue tops 340 pump ETC

and i think were preety lean


just my oppion i would get some outher peoples oppion also

 

[turbosam6]

Hi Tom. Who's selling you the turbo? Its a nice upgrade from stock, but definitely get some injectors and a scan tool first. You won't have the fuel for it anyway. How much for the turbo and how many miles?

 

[Weazel]

TE-44 is the turbo I'm gonna go to once I get my alky kit running all good. It's a sweet turbo capable of mid-low 11s. When I upgrade I am definitely gonna go to bigger injectors, since I'll be running north of 20 psi with the alky kit.

If you're gonna go with the stock wastegate ( I would definitely make it adjustable ) you won't notice a heck of a lot of difference at lower boost with the TE-44 over stock. That turbo's below it's max efficiency at low boost levels, and will be slower to spool with the stock TC. It's only worth it if you're going to run more boost, at which point you'll need more injector. 009s or 50s I would suggest. Don't sweat the stock IC, you can make a lot of power without worrying about the IC holdin you back.

 

[Tom Tom Turbo]

Sam, I don't even remember the guy's name...but he said it doesn't have a lot of miles on it, but he's going to rebuild it for me if I want to buy it (for my piece of mind). My uncle is trying to hook me up with some Ford Blue Tops because he is the Ford connection! With a 44 can I use my stock DP and wastegate until I get the dough for an ATR or THDP?

Also Sam....my tax return is coming soon... mail and it will magically become a Scanmaster when it appears!

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by Tom Tom Turbo
With a 44 can I use my stock DP and wastegate until I get the dough for an ATR or THDP?

Yes and no. It depends if the Turbo's exhaust housing has been ported for a larger puck. If it has, you need a minimum of a Large Puck Elbow or it won't make boost.

You can still make power with the stock elbow, however. My car went pretty easy 11.8's on the stock elbow with 36# injectors.

 

[d0n_3d]

I would get a set of 50 lb injectors with that turbo if i was you...that way if you decide to go with a bigger turbo later on you will have plenty of fuel...i run a brand new te-44 and 50's in my car and it runs faster than a raped animal...you can only run about 10 lbs of boost on a te-44 with stock injectors before you start knocking because you are too lean (don't ask me how i know this) yes you can keep the stock intercooler as i do right now...i don't have the stock downpipe but i do have the stock elbow...to me that elbow is overated...everyone says it's such a restriction...it's not that big of a deal honestly to have that elbow...the only bad thing is it looks ugly instead of a clean THDP bolt on pipe...

 

[equalizer442]

the wastegate is a bitch but well worth it, i took the pos "adaptor" and drilled holes in my stock wastegate and stuck the wastegate on to the adaptor and used washers for spacing then i took my welder and welded the 2 brackets togeather and threw it on. took me prolly 6-8 hours but it works well. im on 20 lb of boost with pump gas 42.5 lb injectors and no knock, still on the stock dp and ic to, its a real kick in the pants.

 

[WICKEDGN]

Hey ungn what boost were you running on that 11.8 run and how much fuel were you pumping (psi) i too have 36#ers and would like to know about how much fuel you were running.??also is there any other way to put my stock actuator easier on the te-44, i mean like does anybody just sells one that bolts on rather than making your own brakets if not does anybody have detailed info. on how to accomplishie this task. thanx guys

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by WICKEDGN
Hey ungn what boost were you running on that 11.8 run and how much fuel were you pumping (psi) i too have 36#ers and would like to know about how much fuel you were running

On my 11.5-6@117-8 mph runs I had 23 psi of Boost and 46-47lb of FP line off using a Thrasher 108 Chip for Bluetops and pretty much straight 114 octane.

The rest of the combo was THDP, Big Neck Stock Intercooler, TA49 turbo with a Garrett housing. Exhaust is 2.5" duals with ultraflows. I was leaving between 7 and 10 psi on 275/60 BFG Drag radials and the orignal D5. Motor was 90K miles stock with 5K mile stock valvesprings, a JJ ported TB and a redirecting plate welded in the upper Plenum. I was also running a translator and a 3" LT1 MAF inside the factory airbox. Fuel pump is a hotwired 307. Car Weight was 3560 (under 3600 because I swapped on front skinnies that were worth about .05 and .5 mph).

The 11.8's were done at Bristol (1400 Feet), using the Stock Elbow (ported) and a 2.5" ATR stock replacement DP.

 

[Grumpy]

44's are "old" tech.... we only ran mid 11s @118 in Melissa's WE4 with it on a stock motor also ...oh did I say I had em on maybe 15 cars here