14b turbo from 1990 tsi

since i got a 14b turbo and engine from a 90 tsi do i need air cooled turbo pipeing and side mount inter cooler or oil cooled?

umm....oil is for the turbo itself, it lubricates and does come cooling, the water lines help cooling too

intercoolers cool down the airflow post turbo

I think what you need is to read up a little bit more before jumping into this, it sounds like you have NO idea as to what you are doing.

yeah im deff confused as hell, i just heard 90 was air cooled and 91 on up was oil cooled

I think what you need is to read up a little bit more before jumping into this, it sounds like you have NO idea as to what you are doing.


I completely agree. The first thing, is to read as much as possible before doing anything close to getting into the turbo world. Research is essential, and you'll find a lot of answers. This forum is loaded with such info, but you must spend a lot of time searching and reading.

yeah i just printed alot of pages so imma start reading thanks guys

Who ever told you that 91+ 14bs were oil cooled doesnt know what hes talking about. I think what he misunderstood was that the 90's actually had external oil coolers while the 91+ cars didnt.

Yes, confusion between the method of cooling the turbo, and the method of cooling the oil.

Technically all turbo DSMs have external coolers. The 91-99 just use coolant, and are attached right to the oil filter housing, so they don't look as "external" as the 90 coolers. The 90s use an oil to air heat exchanger, as do all EVOs.

The mitsu turbos survive pretty well without water cooling, but they won't last a minute with no oil. There is enough oil flow to do adequate cooling, at least for racing. Larger turbos like my T67 often come in oil cooled only, or "dry" center sections. Much cleaner install, and lower reliability risk, IMO. BB turbos run minimal oil flow, so there is very little cooling done, so infortunately you are stuck with water cooling.