External Oil Pump Experience
 

Since I couldn't find any experience threads detailing this, I figured I would add something if someone is searching.
In my use case, I pieced together a turbo setup and ran an external oil pump as an oil drain because I didn't like gravity drain on an oil cooled only turbo.
TL;DR - Worked very well in temperatures from 102F in traffic down to -17f interstate driving.

Usage - Daily driven, 7k miles
Model - TurboWerx Spartan Base Model high temp oil pump
Provisions - Changed plastic barbs to aluminum for -AN fittings

I ran it with a relay connected directly to the battery with a fused link. Since I mounted my oil pump on the crash beam, I was able to run power and ground behind the headlight and under the fuse box for max stealth. I chose to sleeve the wiring to protect from water/snow/salt since I daily drive my car.

Fuse used - Windshield washer spray

Pros -
No worries about oil backing up into turbo from slow drain
Extra oil cooling from being routed externally
Extra oil capacity for cooling

Cons -
Complicates setup with another point of failure. If oil pump fails, there is no possible way for it to drain naturally into the pan.
Loud (unless you don't mind race car stuff)

Overall impression -

I really enjoyed not having to worry about the oil draining. If I had been running a turbo that used water and oil cooling though, this would be near useless. (I switched to a dual ball bearing Garrett turbo and sold the pump)
People who ride passenger immediately ask about the noise, it is apparent inside and out. Can be jarring if you want a quiet cabin. I was thankful that it was loud, I would listen for it before starting the car to be sure it was running.

This allowed me to run my oil return line away from the header, which was a huge bonus.

That's a crazy setup. I never knew you changed the routing of you're intercooler. Make an update on you're build thread to lol.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I never used the stock routing, but yeah I guess I never mentioned it, haha. I used PVC to mock up the piping since I had a bunch laying around. Most of these photos are from last year when I was first setting up the turbo, and a bunch is changing on it so I'll post updates as I come up with a plan for the new turbo

You didn't hide your plate. Now I can find out where you live and send you packages of dog food.


Got any videos of how loud it is in the cabin?

Yeah I never bother hiding my plate, anyone interested enough can find me anyway.

I wish I had gotten video of it specifically; all I really have is this

https://youtu.be/NRAsPMR90p0


It's barely audible. It's only "loud" in that when you have IGN on, you hear it

I used the factory wrx oil pump that runs off the cam to pump oil through a oil cooler.
The factory wrx oil pump is a scavenge pump for the OEM turbo.
One of the aftermarket turbo kits for the brz comes with the wrx pump.

I also used a electric fuel pump for oil scavenging on my gsxr1000 turbo I built. Had to build a oil box below the turbo and run a breather to it. Without the breather the turbo would stop spinning at idle with the pump running. I figured it was sucking the turbo bearings dry which caused it to stop spinning.

. I never had a problem with the silicone hose drain on my fa20 or any turbo car, truck or bike I used it on, rubber on the other hand would only last a month or so before it turned to gel.

This is the OEM WRX pump
Attachment 190366

Right, but how much is involved in actually setting this up? I've never seen how it gets set up.
How much oil volume was going to that turbo? Was it oil cooled only? Mine didn't seem to have an issue due to the pressure from the pump, it spun just fine

If your talking about the wrx pump, just for the turbo.
It would require an adapter plate and hose running to the turbo. The pump returns through the head so it sucks the oil through the line and pumps it into the head. The turbo might need a small box like the factory setup and my bike with a breather line.

My fa20 and the gsxr1000 had oil cooled turbos.
I just know when I turned the pump on the bike it would stop the turbo at idle, soon as I turned it off it would start spinning again. After I built the box with the breather the pump didn't effect it. I was just letting others know to check it, if they run a scavenge pump on the turbo.

A lot of the remote mount turbos have the little box returns on the turbos and so does the wrx.

Wow! That is really complex solution to a simple problem.

I agree! To be fair, this is not necessary and is just to help. Just in the same way that modifying adjustable coilover suspension is a complex solution to keeping the car suspended- it's all about how you want it to function for your experience and is completely unnecessary

But it does work. If you spent all that time and effort and it did work I would really give you shit! :cheers: