I was reading on the Ford website and it is saying that its Turbochargers are good for atleast 150k miles. My question is what major things could go wrong if the turbocharger fails? Would it be better to choose a car that doesn't have a turbocharger vs. one that does?
Turbochargers/Ecoboost
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If a turbo fails, the car will have significantly less power.
Basically, a turbo needs to be babied more to prolong its life. This means taking it easy until the oil warms up and not shutting the engine off immediately after a spirited run, unless the car has an after-run turbo cooling system.
Basically, turbo is just another part that could potentially break down the road. Some turbos also take a little time to spool up, which means power isn't immediately available the moment you hit the gas pedal. Some people don't mind it. Others get annoyed by it. If you've never driven a turbo car, you should certainly try it first before you buy.
I drive a turbo VW Passat that I bought new in 1999 . It has been run on synthetic oil - Mobil1 0W-40 and now is past the 150,000 mile mark . No problems due to the turbo and performance and fuel mileage are unchanged over the years . If you follow the VW/Audi web sites you will find very few reports of turbo failures and some early reports of diverter valve malfunctions but compared to things like the GM gasket fiasco and Fords meltdown ignition systems , Honda transmission woes and Toyota sludging the turbos are invisible . IF the correct oil is used there should be no problem .
I've owned 4 turbo cars and been very happy with the engines...they get good mileage (if you keep your foot out of them...) and have the power on tap when you need it, particularly when in the mountains at higher elevations.
The turbos get hot, especially under sustained boost, further, they can spin at speeds over 60,000 RPM, so good oil is a must. I am a synthetic fan for that reason.
QP and Bruon are right on. Let the engine idle for at least 30 seconds when you start it to make sure there is good oil flow to the turbo before you first step on the gas. When you park it, let the engine idle for 30 seonds to ensure that the turbo has spooled down to low RPM. Let it idle longer if you've been driving hard to let it cool.
My cars (The XC and the V70) are on their original turbos. If you follow the oil and idle recommendation, the turbo will last the life of the engine. It's folks who don't let it idle and spin that poor thing with no oil pressure, or shut down while it's still spinning, or don't look after the oil that have problems with turbo engines.
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I love Ford's branding of their turbo engines. "Ecoboost" as if it's something new or innovative. My 2003 Saab says "Ecopower" right on the engine - Ford's branding isn't even original.
Anyway, that Saab has 157,000 miles and like bruno's has no change in performance since new - power and fuel economy remain excellent. I do 5k OCIs with Mobil 1 5W-40. I wouldn't hesitate to get another.
jeff
Originally Posted By: mike7139
I was reading on the Ford website and it is saying that its Turbochargers are good for atleast 150k miles. My question is what major things could go wrong if the turbocharger fails? Would it be better to choose a car that doesn't have a turbocharger vs. one that does?
It's funny that turbos on gas engines are still considered newfangled, unreliable hardware. In the diesel world, trucks, tractors, forklifts, generators, etc have had good reliability records for decades.
I will agree that older turbo gas engines aren't known for reliability.
Until recently, most diesel turbos were in commercial and construction service, "low speed (rpm) not high speed - make it rev like a gas engine- passenger car service. They developed a reputation for lasting a long time and did, because they were simple, well built and well mantained.
I suspect the computer controls on new passenger engines will protect them from overboost and prolong their life by making it harder to give the wastegate setting a little tweak for a few more HP, for example. Lighter, smaller, more efficient engines are a good thing but the margins of operation need watching.
First I own a turbo charged vehicle (2005 Legacy GT wagon) with 124,000 miles without any issue on turbo or engine. Since brand new changed the engine oil with dino every 3k-4k miles.
For maintenance/repair reasons its best to avoid a turbocharged vehicle especially used. Most of them require synthetic motor oil and careful oil changes. Subaru oddly spec'ed dino.
The repair costs can be very high to replace a turbo charger. The one in my Subaru is close to $1000 for the part alone.
Failure can mean many things. Besides a large loss of power and drivability. With certain designs continued operation can send metal bits into oil stream or intake causing damage downstream.
One oops elongated oil change may wreck the turbo while a naturally aspirated motor have little effect on its normal life.
I hear mentions of idle down but that does not mean every time you drive you need to do it. Simply driving into a driveway, parking lot, neigborhood, garage etc equates to an "idle down" as the vehicle is out of boost or producing it.
Originally Posted By: tom slick
It's funny that turbos on gas engines are still considered newfangled, unreliable hardware. In the diesel world, trucks, tractors, forklifts, generators, etc have had good reliability records for decades.
I will agree that older turbo gas engines aren't known for reliability.
Back in the day when I was in engineering school (I won't say when, but they were still using punch cards), I recall in my IC engines class that turbo charging did wonderful things for the diesel cycle (which sort of makes sense because it is an auto ignition engine), but was not as beneficial to the gasoline cyle. In a gasoline engine, you worry about avoiding self ignition. But I guess the advent of computers and fuel injection have gone a long ways towards dealing with those issues. As a newby turbo-owner I hope you guys are right about reliability. When I was a summer intern once upon a time, we took apart the turbos on large industrial machines and scraped layers of dirt off the surface of the turbo charger. I don't recall if they had air filters, but over time some dirt should accumulate on the inside.
I have 2 Ecoboost F150s and have had no problems what so ever.
Only 35k miles between them both tho-
Ford made this turbo water cooled and oil cooled so it should help out with the starting/shutting down of a turbo. Ford said they designed this engine to require no other maintenace than a non-turbo vehicle. You'll see that alot of conventionals even say they meet Fords new spec but I'd still run at least a synblend or full syn.
My F 150 Ecoboost just has 5,130 miles on the clock and I run a full synthetic oil in mine.
The turbos are water/oil cooled like explained above and the truck gets really great mileage....provided you keep your foot out of the turbos.
Time will tell though about how long it will last but if it's half the truck my 97 F 150 was...I expect at least 100K miles before problems. I had 190K on the 97 truck with no problems...other than to replace an IAC valve.
Originally Posted By: ddrumman2004
My F 150 Ecoboost just has 5,130 miles on the clock and I run a full synthetic oil in mine.
The turbos are water/oil cooled like explained above and the truck gets really great mileage....provided you keep your foot out of the turbos.
Time will tell though about how long it will last but if it's half the truck my 97 F 150 was...I expect at least 100K miles before problems. I had 190K on the 97 truck with no problems...other than to replace an IAC valve.
So very true; this is the first truck I've owned that blasts up 100 mph with no effort whatsoever!
I'd rather have lots of power and have to pay for it , than not have it (like our old 5.4).
Both EB trucks are 4x4, one a Platinim, the other an FX4.
Trip B shows 17.4 over the last 8,000 miles - not too shabby for a 5800lb truck.
Use synthetic only, change it on time, and you can get 200,000 miles from the engine.
On diesels they last just about forever. Sometimes the seals go bad and you get some oil consumption, but turbo's are pretty simple things.
They do however like two things:
Synthetic oil
Lots of use.
My 1987 Buick Grand National still has the original turbo (but I'm itching to get a bigger one!) and when you factor that its from 1987, not water cooled and works hard - I'm impressed it lasted so long. BUT - I know many that were ruined simply because of people not letting it run a minute or so before shutting the engine off...remember GM did not spec syn oil for the 3.8Turbo and recommended 5k-7500 mile changes...dino oil in that era just coked on the turbo bearings and destroyed the turbos. I actually have used Mobil 1 since the cars 2nd oil change and take care of it.
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