Are Turbo's Hard on Oil?

[AdmiralYoda]

Seems like a silly question, but I figured I'd ask anyways. We just picked up a used 2018 Chevrolet Equinox with 91k miles from a dealer. 1.5l Turbo LYX. Oil was freshly changed when we bought it....no signs of sludge from what I could see through the oil filler. Runs great. No complaints.

I just did the 1st oil change this past weekend at 1k miles to get the unknown dealer commodity stuff out of there and put in some Valvoline Restore and Protect to clean up any deposits. Unknown maintenance but I figured a few OCI's of VRP wouldn't hurt.

When we bought it the oil was brand new looking. After 1k miles it had darkened significantly on the dip stick and when i drained it it looked very dark, like it was due for an oil change. The other thing I was surprised at was how HOT the oil was!!! I normally take my vehicles for a short drive to get the oil good and warm/hot before changing.

This oil was super hot! I could barely turn the drain bolt by hand it was that hot. Surprised me a bit actually.

So that brings me to my question. Are turbo engines harder on oil than non-turbo engines? If so, what in the oil tends to wear down fastest? Does it shear faster than non-turbo'd engines? Does the oil oxidize faster? Anything else I'm not aware of? Just looking for some education. Thanks!

**EDIT** I should mention we don't drive the car aggressively but my wife does A LOT of short trips and idling. So for that, we fall in the severe maintenance category. I drive it to work once per week on the highway (45 miles each way) for the fun of it.

 

[cptbarkey]

SN Plus, SP and SQ were formulated to counter the terrible design decisions of combining turbo's and GDI together. The industry worked magic to ensure your engine will also dilute itself to death in 15< years.

 

[Astro14]

I think so, but modern oils are designed to handle it. Inside the turbo bearings themselves the oil can get very hot. It’s a demanding application.

 

[demarpaint]

Short answer: Turbos are harder on oil than non-turbo engines. An oil formulated for turbo engines and shorter OCIs certainly helps to protect them.

 

[Zee09]

I think oil is hard on Turbos.....

 

[CarlB]

In general, probably, but ultimately it all depends on the driver, vehicle and conditions. One of my NA engines sees 260 degree oil temps, so maybe it's "harder" on oil.

 

[zzyzzx]

Are Turbo's Hard on Oil?​

YES!!!

Also recently just did my first oil changed on a turbo DI vehicle (w/around 5000 miles on the oil) and yeah the oil looked a lot darker than I was accustomed to. Also, I am not accustomed to / wasn't expecting the sump to be 5.7 quarts. I mean I happened to have enough oil for that, but still.

 

[nbpt100]

Yes, turbos run hotter and you should only use a good full synthetic oil. Make sure the thermostat is working correctly. You can use an IR thermometer to get an idea of how hot certain engine components are getting so as you have an idea if anything is way out of wack. A more sophisticated code reader will also give you data like engine coolant temperature and transmission oil temperature.

 

[edyvw]

SN Plus, SP and SQ were formulated to counter the terrible design decisions of combining turbo's and GDI together. The industry worked magic to ensure your engine will also dilute itself to death in 15< years.

Has been going on for 27 years.
Some manufacturers don’t have issues, some would have an issue with plain brick.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

Yes, turbos run hotter and you should only use a good full synthetic oil. Make sure the thermostat is working correctly. You can use an IR thermometer to get an idea of how hot certain engine components are getting so as you have an idea if anything is way out of wack. A more sophisticated code reader will also give you data like engine coolant temperature and transmission oil temperature.

I've got an OBDII scanner and the torque app. Coolant runs around 190 on the highway and I've seen it up to 220F around town. Transmission will get up to 180F steady state on the highway. Usually a little cooler around town.

The oil temp tracks pretty close to coolant temp. 190 on the highway and I've seen it up to about 225 in stop and go traffic.

I'm not sure if the Equinox uses an actual oil temp sensor or a "calculated" oil temp based on coolant temp, load, etc.

 

[edyvw]

I've got an OBDII scanner and the torque app. Coolant runs around 190 on the highway and I've seen it up to 220F around town. Transmission will get up to 180F steady state on the highway. Usually a little cooler around town.

The oil temp tracks pretty close to coolant temp. 190 on the highway and I've seen it up to about 225 in stop and go traffic.

I'm not sure if the Equinox uses an actual oil temp sensor or a "calculated" oil temp based on coolant temp, load, etc.

If oil is good, it is not an issue:

 

[Wylie6G72]

This thread brings back memories of when turbo timers were a big deal, especially for the guys with WRXs and Lancer Evolutions. For the folks who haven't heard of a turbo timer, it's a device that keeps the car running for a few minutes after you've parked it to keep oil circulating through the turbo until it cools to avoid "coking".

Anybody hear of coking issues these days? Turbos certainly aren't running any cooler, but I'm under the impression that modern oils resist it better.

 

[edyvw]

This thread brings back memories of when turbo timers were a big deal, especially for the guys with WRXs and Lancer Evolutions. For the folks who haven't heard of a turbo timer, it's a device that keeps the car running for a few minutes after you've parked it to keep oil circulating through the turbo until it cools to avoid "coking".

Anybody hear of coking issues these days? Turbos certainly aren't running any cooler, but I'm under the impression that modern oils resist it better.

Many engines have an auxiliary electric water pump that keeps circulating after the car is turned off.
API got better, but in turbo engines, I would run only Euro oils.

 

[Astro14]

I've got an OBDII scanner and the torque app. Coolant runs around 190 on the highway and I've seen it up to 220F around town. Transmission will get up to 180F steady state on the highway. Usually a little cooler around town.

The oil temp tracks pretty close to coolant temp. 190 on the highway and I've seen it up to about 225 in stop and go traffic.

I'm not sure if the Equinox uses an actual oil temp sensor or a "calculated" oil temp based on coolant temp, load, etc.

This is where it gets interesting - the overall oil temp does tend to track with coolant temp if you have a water/oil cooler using coolant.
Which makes sense, of course.

If you have a water/air oil cooler - a separate set up - the overall temp tends to rack with the thermostat opening temp and ambient conditions. E.g. Hard running, on a hot day, 10-15C over opening temp. Hard running on a cold day - opening temp. All other operating conditions, 0-5C over opening temp.

But the overall temp is not necessarily the temperature of the oil in the turbo bearings themselves. The turbo housing itself can easily exceed 200C, depending on its location and cooling. In the early days of turbos, many were cooled only by the oil and in those bearing housings, even higher temperature was possible, likely, even, if you were running hard on a hot day.

That is really hard on the oil. Those operating temperatures in the bearing housings were part of what led to coking in the bearings.

 

[buster]

Turbos get hot. Hot oil leads to oxidation and deposits. Whether in the rings or turbo bearing and shaft. You always want the most thermally stable oil to prevent deposits.

No need to run a Euro oil. Euro oils are great and will be good for turbo but not needed. In fact, Pennzoil ranks PUP and QUP above Euro in high temperature performance.

https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants...tor-oil/turbocharger-performance-with-mobil-1

 

[AdmiralYoda]

Turbos get hot. Hot oil leads to oxidation and deposits. Whether in the rings or turbo bearing and shaft. You always want the most thermally stable oil to prevent deposits.

No need to run a Euro oil. Euro oils are great and will be good for turbo but not needed. In fact, Pennzoil ranks PUP and QUP above Euro in high temperature performance.

Thank you.

Which leads me to the question for us non-oil engineers. If I were to browse spec sheets for oil....what specific characteristics show that an oil prevents oxidation and deposits?

As an aspiring oil nerd...I'm not specifically looking for an oil brand recommendation, I'm looking for the knowledge that will teach me what oils will handle the heat better than others.

 

[buster]

Thank you.

Which leads me to the question for us non-oil engineers. If I were to browse spec sheets for oil....what specific characteristics show that an oil prevents oxidation and deposits?

As an aspiring oil nerd...I'm not specifically looking for an oil brand recommendation, I'm looking for the knowledge that will teach me what oils will handle the heat better than others.

The IIIH and GM Turbo Deposit test are very tough tests. Amsoil and Mobil 1 do exceptionally well on the IIIH (Mobil 1 20x better viscosity control).

Take a look at how well Amsoil does in the IIIH and GM Turbo test. They doubled the length (which no one does) and still passed it by 40% cleaner pistons and barely any thickening.

Search - Amsoil Signature Series IIIH or GM Turbo. Their website has information on both tests and results.

https://blog.amsoil.com/amsoil-crushes-sequence-iiih-engine-test/

 

[buster]

Turbo tests are also part of many of the Euro specs. Any of the MB or VW specs will be great for turbos as well if you go the Euro route. My point is you don't have to go the Euro route to get good turbo protection. That's not true and overplayed.

 

[Astro14]

This thread brings back memories of when turbo timers were a big deal, especially for the guys with WRXs and Lancer Evolutions. For the folks who haven't heard of a turbo timer, it's a device that keeps the car running for a few minutes after you've parked it to keep oil circulating through the turbo until it cools to avoid "coking".

Anybody hear of coking issues these days? Turbos certainly aren't running any cooler, but I'm under the impression that modern oils resist it better.

Actually - I think they are running much cooler. The oil is being cooled in modern engines and the turbo bearing housings are being cooled. It’s still very hot in there, but not as hot as it was in the days of turbos being cooled only by the oil.

 

[WeyounDS9]

Seems like a silly question, but I figured I'd ask anyways. We just picked up a used 2018 Chevrolet Equinox with 91k miles from a dealer. 1.5l Turbo LYX. Oil was freshly changed when we bought it....no signs of sludge from what I could see through the oil filler. Runs great. No complaints.

I just did the 1st oil change this past weekend at 1k miles to get the unknown dealer commodity stuff out of there and put in some Valvoline Restore and Protect to clean up any deposits. Unknown maintenance but I figured a few OCI's of VRP wouldn't hurt.

When we bought it the oil was brand new looking. After 1k miles it had darkened significantly on the dip stick and when i drained it it looked very dark, like it was due for an oil change. The other thing I was surprised at was how HOT the oil was!!! I normally take my vehicles for a short drive to get the oil good and warm/hot before changing.

This oil was super hot! I could barely turn the drain bolt by hand it was that hot. Surprised me a bit actually.

So that brings me to my question. Are turbo engines harder on oil than non-turbo engines? If so, what in the oil tends to wear down fastest? Does it shear faster than non-turbo'd engines? Does the oil oxidize faster? Anything else I'm not aware of? Just looking for some education. Thanks!

**EDIT** I should mention we don't drive the car aggressively but my wife does A LOT of short trips and idling. So for that, we fall in the severe maintenance category. I drive it to work once per week on the highway (45 miles each way) for the fun of it.

Short answer:
Absolutely.
this truism has been long known, this is my Turbo engines generally ( used to?) spec one or two grades thicker than the non turbo engines.
A turbo engine in summertime to me with me a Mobil1 15w-50 oil, or similar.
If non GDI and all long trips a 5w-40 might also do.