3 things my mechanic said will help a turbo last longer
- Thread starter grampi
- Start date
I was taught to let them Idle to cool down
harbor
Site Donor 2024
I’ve heard those suggestions over the years. My former Fiat 124 Spider had an auxiliary coolant pump that circulated fluid for a minute or two after shutdown. I’ve also been advised to open the hood when possible, after parking, to cool down the engine compartment heat buildup, which also applies to non-turbo engines.
I have heard idle down as well. But when I shut down the wife's Kona, I hear what sounds like an electric motor running for about 30 seconds. I was assuming this was running coolant around in the engine to help cool the turbo.
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
You will hear that the cool down is no longer valid for late-model vehicles
Yeah I heard those 20 years ago.
1. Use the recommended oil
2. stick to the schedule.
3. Don't floor it into your parking space.
Same for every car, really.
1. Use the recommended oil
2. stick to the schedule.
3. Don't floor it into your parking space.
Same for every car, really.
Of course, cool down happens in typical driving, as most drivers don't go from highway speed to parked in 3 seconds. The time it takes to park is sufficient.
A quality synthetic oil remains important. I regularly remind turbo owners that today's turbos are designed to tolerate coking, not to eliminate it. Remember, the turbine runs as hot as it ever did, and that the oil comes in contact with the seals on the turbine shaft, just mm's from the turbine.
Liquid cooled housings do very little to reduce turbine shaft seal temperatures during operation! The difference today is that there is clearance machined into the components to allow for the buildup of carbon, preventing the turbine from binding up, as was common in older designs.
Use a good quality synthetic and change it regularly. Remember, over time non-oil byproducts build up in the oil and will coke the turbine side.
EDIT: I wanted to add, again, that modern turbochargers will often last a long time on conventional oils. Many F150 owners get 125,000 miles per turbo on the cheapest dino oil. However, the guys that use quality synthetics and change oil regularly are getting North of 400,000 miles on the turbos!!
A quality synthetic oil remains important. I regularly remind turbo owners that today's turbos are designed to tolerate coking, not to eliminate it. Remember, the turbine runs as hot as it ever did, and that the oil comes in contact with the seals on the turbine shaft, just mm's from the turbine.
Liquid cooled housings do very little to reduce turbine shaft seal temperatures during operation! The difference today is that there is clearance machined into the components to allow for the buildup of carbon, preventing the turbine from binding up, as was common in older designs.
Use a good quality synthetic and change it regularly. Remember, over time non-oil byproducts build up in the oil and will coke the turbine side.
EDIT: I wanted to add, again, that modern turbochargers will often last a long time on conventional oils. Many F150 owners get 125,000 miles per turbo on the cheapest dino oil. However, the guys that use quality synthetics and change oil regularly are getting North of 400,000 miles on the turbos!!
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My fusion does this also.....
The cool down before shut down is only needed if your driveway is on a 35% grade and is 400 feet long. Normal driving in the last 30 seconds of your route is not going to have the turbo spooled up to 250,000 rpms. Normal driving, once again.
My older turbo cars (6 of them, if you’re counting, with 8 turbos among them) have none of the “cool” down systems.
But all get quality synthetic oil. All get driven gently at first on cold start. All get driven slowly before shut down.
All have their original turbo(s).
One is about to hit 280,000 miles. A couple others are over 200,000 miles.
Your mechanic is basically right: good oil. Gentle at first. Let it spool down and cool.
But all get quality synthetic oil. All get driven gently at first on cold start. All get driven slowly before shut down.
All have their original turbo(s).
One is about to hit 280,000 miles. A couple others are over 200,000 miles.
Your mechanic is basically right: good oil. Gentle at first. Let it spool down and cool.
^^^ this ^^^
The one scenario I can see where a turbo cool down is needed is when you have been driving on the freeway for a while and get off at a rest area where there is not much time for things to cool off. That said, I don’t think you need to worry much about modern turbos.
I agree with the other two points.
I agree with the other two points.
I say yes to the first 2, but at least my opinion on the third, you need to make that longer IF you were aggressive with the throttle before shut down. If you were driving like Grandpa then it is ok. If you came off the hwy/towing/ or just raced a WRX, there is a sliding scale to that time.
The conventional wisdom I have heard is 'idle" doesn't pump enough oil /water past the turbo to amount to much heat carry-off. Especially oil, as your turbo shaft bearing is susceptible to " Coking"( depositing HARD burnt up byproducts from burnt oil) with extreme heat and low oil flow. From my research you need to hold the throttle at 1,500 rpm where oil pressure/flow and water pressure /flow has at least doubled+ to get the heat carry-off a chance to do it's job.
I have spirited drives into work and depending on if a was just aggressive driving or did a 3 gear run with a WRX at 6:00 AM, just before driving into the parking lot of work. I had a guy from work ask me, "why are you driving around the parking lot 5-6 time before you park?" Or I pass the parking lot and drive down the road and turn around to give the oil and water flow time to shed the heat from the turbo. There are times where I am thinking and forgot to do a driving cool down and know I have a semi- hot turbo I will sit in the car at 1,500 rpm and have the heater on full hot/fan high for 1-2 minutes to shed heat.
If I am driving normally, will just turn it off and let my ester Redline and water in the turbo take the heat as that is why I use Redline to take some worse case scenarios of heat I give my car. With all my experience at work with PAO and POE rotory compressor oil, I don't trust any PAO in a high heat scenario, where POE just walks through the heat with no varnishing, where the PAO would be full of varnish.
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There will always be varying theories, but I've done those very things with my current ride for over 8 yrs now and will continue doing so. May never be any way to actually prove things making any real world difference, but peace of mind as well as long term vehicle use with no actual mechanical issues/failures speaks volumes.
Yep, I heard that many years ago. In the 80's, in fact. My Dad was an engineer at GM and we had company cars. An fellow engineer and friend of his who had a turbo Sunbird/J2000 loaned it to us for a short time. He told me he ran Mobil 1, changed oil frequently (every 3k at that time) and told me to idle it for 1 min before shut down to cool the turbo's bearings, unless I was driving very gently before then. But he knew I wouldn't be driving it gently. That little car was a hoot. I think it had about 165hp, IIRC, which was pretty good for a 1.6 or 2.0 liter 4 back then. I believe it was 0-60 in just under 7 seconds, which was also quick for those days. I remember it being a pretty fun lttle car.
Those guys only kept cars for 3k to 12k miles. But they always took care of them because they knew other employees and they themselves would buy them later as demos. They got smokin discounts on those cars.
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Even though I don't I own a BMW Mini, I follow a Mini turbo rebuilder and he talks about a good # of turbos come in with an early death from being all "coked up" (ha ha) from people who don't practice proper turbo cool down care and proper oil choice. He says BOTH are critical for long life of your turbo.
This is my routine on my 17 Regal GS 2.0T but i'll let it idle for a minute.
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