Are Turbos Hard on Oil?

[Japanese]

Mobil 1 ESP is designed for turbo gasoline and diesel engines and Euro 0W40, and anything that says VW502 (whatever was the approval) or Porsche approved.
The turbo German cars run hot.

 

[ATex7239]

Yes turbos run oil hard. But modern engines/turbo designs and oils have sought to mitigate the impacts. It is not the same situation as years ago. That said Valvoline Restore and Protect to get any issues cleaned up is a good move.

The drain bolt or pan being hot probably has more to do with cheap metals used conducting heat if I ventured a guess.

And cold drains would solve that hot oil problem for you for sure

 

[Wireman1987]

Yes turbos run oil hard. But modern engines/turbo designs and oils have sought to mitigate the impacts. It is not the same situation as years ago. That said Valvoline Restore and Protect to get any issues cleaned up is a good move.

The drain bolt or pan being hot probably has more to do with cheap metals used conducting heat if I ventured a guess.

And cold drains would solve that hot oil problem for you for sure

New rogue with the vc-t engine 1.5 3 cyl turbos gets a baffled composite pan.

 

[TiGeo]

Yeah.

 

[Wylie6G72]

2025 smartstream

Weird. Must be for mpg.

 

[Propflux01]

Weird. Must be for mpg.

View attachment 295093

Yeah, there’s no other oil “allowed” in the owners manual, either USA or outside USA. Still got the ESP 0w-30. Been in for about 4 k now and seems to like it just fine, and helps with my OCD!

 

[buster]

They wouldn't have specific tests for turbos if they weren't tough on oil.

 

[Wylie6G72]

Yeah, there’s no other oil “allowed” in the owners manual, either USA or outside USA. Still got the ESP 0w-30. Been in for about 4 k now and seems to like it just fine, and helps with my OCD!

My '17 Mazda CX-3 called for 0w20, it got 5w30.

 

[Blagoje]

There are hundreds of thousands of high mileage turbo equipped vehicles on the road using nothing but dealer bulk Blends.


Two explorers reach 500k miles on mixed cycle runs...one on Valvoline Conventional




F150 200k miles on Motorcraft Blend

My main concern for my specific engine is motor oil shearing out of grade which based on an extensive amount of UOA data, is a common occurrence with most product offerings within a standard interval and oftentimes in less than half that.

It's strange because we have an abundance of people who talk about how 0W-20 is not an optimal oil choice for a TGDI engine but at the same time we have a lot of people who don't seem to have any issue with one of those oils shearing down to 0w16 grade range or less so long as the engine don't get blowed up.

For example I have seen countless used oil analysis that show the OEM motor oil shearing well out of grade in less then 1,000 miles but hey I'm sure that hundreds of thousands of vehicles have been using that oil for millions of miles and there is no widespread record of engines getting blowed up as far as I know.

I am not an expert but I may possess the ability to make observations and exercise common sense, maybe...

 

[kschachn]

My main concern for my specific engine is motor oil shearing out of grade which based on an extensive amount of UOA data, is a common occurrence with most product offerings within a standard interval and oftentimes in less than half that.

It's strange because we have an abundance of people who talk about how 0W-20 is not an optimal oil choice for a TGDI engine but at the same time we have a lot of people who don't seem to have any issue with one of those oils shearing down to 0w16 grade range or less so long as the engine don't get blowed up.

For example I have seen countless used oil analysis that show the OEM motor oil shearing well out of grade in less then 1,000 miles but hey I'm sure that hundreds of thousands of vehicles have been using that oil for millions of miles and there is no widespread record of engines getting blowed up as far as I know.

I am not an expert but I may possess the ability to make observations and exercise common sense, maybe...

I sure haven’t seen countless UOA where the oil has sheared out of grade. I seen many where there is fuel dilution which causes it to thin, but very few where there is confirmed mechanical shear of the VM.

If you really have a mechanical shear problem then something like HPL no-VI is a good choice. That won’t shear, nor would a monograde oil, assuming you could find an appropriate one.

Either way if you’re seeing an oil go out of grade, it doesn’t make much sense to doggedly stick to the manual recommendation.

 

[ATex7239]

Hot Drain DIY Oil Change Guys: I’m gonna drive around and get my oil good and hot so flows better and gets all those nasty contaminants out.

~Oil now at over 200F~

Hot Drain DIY Oil Change Guys: Ouch! This oil is hot!

 

[Hohn]

Hot Drain DIY Oil Change Guys: I’m gonna drive around and get my oil good and hot so flows better and gets all those nasty contaminants out.

~Oil now at over 200F~

Hot Drain DIY Oil Change Guys: Ouch! This oil is hot!

Just hot drained oil last night for a friend. Turns out nitrile gloves are a thing!

 

[ATex7239]

Just hot drained oil last night for a friend. Turns out nitrile gloves are a thing!

Yep. And I’ll still take the cold drain

 

[Wylie6G72]

Just hot drained oil last night for a friend. Turns out nitrile gloves are a thing!

Yeah I'm done with that. Idling in the driveway for 10 minutes is going to be my new "hot drain". Warm enough to be thinner, not so hot that I can't handle the filter.

 

[ATex7239]

Yeah I'm done with that. Idling in the driveway for 10 minutes is going to be my new "hot drain". Warm enough to be thinner, not so hot that I can't handle the filter.

I do it fully cold regardless of temp outside (though TX doesn’t get that cold) and just let it drain while I do other things like check filters, tire pressure, general inspection. Occasionally, if I don’t have it set up just the way I want it in the driveway, then I might start it up to move it around.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

Never had an oil temp gauge or a turbo. I would imagine a Turbo would raise the temp of an oil. I mean, it is cooling a turbine. Kinda of a no brainer there. I did rig up an ATF temp sensor in my 1977 Olds Cutty. Had a 4 pack under the ash tray, Ammeter, Oil pressure, ATF Temp, Coolant temp. That was the last of my gauges. I'd say 1986 ? Since then all idiot lights with the temp gauge / fuel gauge built into the cluster. Very simple stuff. Just concentrate on the road and pedestrians now. Enjoy your toy's Must say I have a bit of green eye monster going on now, but,,,it is what it is As long as those 2 work, I'm happy. That " Check Engine" idiot light bothers me the most !!! I'm not happy until I fix the problem and make that light go away !!!!

 

[AdmiralYoda]

All, OP here. Thanks for the great responses! I've received plenty of recommendations for specific brand formulations of oil that do well with turbochargers....

For my own edumacation, what oil specs on the datasheet would indicate that an oil would be great for turbo's? The approvals? HTHS? Viscosity? Thanks!

 

[buster]

For my own edumacation, what oil specs on the datasheet would indicate that an oil would be great for turbo's? The approvals? HTHS? Viscosity? Thanks!

GM dexos
VW
MB

 

[Hohn]

GM dexos
VW
MB

specifically VW 504.00/507.00 and 508.00/509.00
MB 229.71

I think the 508/509 might actually be the toughest turbo test spec currently active. The TDI Turbocharger Deposit Test is pretty tough and this is one way in which 508/509 is actually more demanding than even 504/507.

Not sure what the Dexos turbo test is or how it compares.

 

[buster]

Here is some informatoin provided by a past user.

I'd add dexos R to the list as well.

"I had posted the details of the GM dexos1 turbocharger test with pictures in this thread:

Here is the data on how different types of VII, amount of antioxidant, dispersants, and amount of moly affect the turbocharger deposits. It's interesting that they didn't bother to study the effect of different types of base oil. Note that there are two measures: turbocharger coolant outside temperature (TCO temperature) percent increase and end-of-test deposit merit ratings.

The type of the VII and amount of antioxidant makes a day-and-night difference.

The new Mobil 1 Turbo Power oil (M1 TP) apparently claims 3% on the TCO test (4x better than the 13% limit). Virtually all M1 flavors are dexos1 Gen 2 certified and it's unclear if the other flavors are different in the TCO performance. Note that the Test Oil B had less than 1%, which is about 16x better than the 13% limit, outperforming the M1 TP by yet another 4x.