This morning I was watching The Care Care Nut's recent video about turbos, and towards the end of the video he spent some time talking about oil quality and change intervals for turbocharged engines. I posted a link here that should take you directly to the section of the video where he talks about that. Perhaps some folks will be interested ...
Turbos and Oil Changes
- Thread starter Shel_B
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But let me guess, you should fear turbos?
Change your oil at half the recommended interval?
But let me guess, you should fear turbos?
Change your oil at half the recommended interval?
check your oil level, maintain the engine, change the oil, let the turbo cool down. He just avoided saying "half the oci".
Seems he advocates for doing oil changes, at least on time. And checking the level. Have to admit, that's out of the ordinary for the typical Toyota owner. Just mentioned cool down in passing, after working hard.
Have to admit, turbo's are pretty new tech* and should be viewed with caution. [*for Toyota.]
Have to admit, turbo's are pretty new tech* and should be viewed with caution. [*for Toyota.]
I don't have a concern about the longevity of turbocharged engines, but I do think they are not as tolerant of neglect as NA engines. With a reasonable OCI, premium fuel and checking the oil level regularly I have no concerns.
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Don’t exceed 5000 miles and use quality synthetic oil. Also, if you have been running your vehicle hard, let it idle a minute before shutting it down. It helps to keep the turbine bearings cooler. New Fords have a small electric pump that circulates coolant around the turbo to cool it too. Personally, I haven’t heard of many turbo failures on automotive engines. My son works on diesels and doesn’t do that many.
I did have one fail, but that was like 10+ years ago. And it was a turbo-diesel... not quite the same. I do believe others with the TDI did have turbo failures, so being on that forum, I did hear about more failures than the average person I guess?
Sad thing, even with maybe 40hp left, it was still out accelerating people leaving the tollbooth.
[I didn't know the turbo had let loose at the time, it was a VW, limp mode occurs.]
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I wouldn't fear a turbocharged engine for all I know it may outlast me.
I've had 2 fail. One because of a cracked sump and resultant low oil level, one that had a clogged filter in the oil connection. Neither of the ones I maintained from new failed
More people should view turbochargers as consumables, because they are. At minimum the VGT actuator with wear down and/or you will have waste gate issues. If you don’t keep your vehicles long and constantly flip them, then I guess you don’t care.
At 27:10 he said, "change the oil as often as you can".
I disagree and instead say pick an oil that surpasses the TEOST test requirements for your vehicle, not change your oil as often as you can. If you choose an oil with a low oxidative stability, and change it every time you drive past the oil change place, you still get deposits inside the lubricated parts of the turbo.
There is a reason the TEOST test, oils that have a lower resistance to high temperature oxidation should not be used with a turbo.
I disagree and instead say pick an oil that surpasses the TEOST test requirements for your vehicle, not change your oil as often as you can. If you choose an oil with a low oxidative stability, and change it every time you drive past the oil change place, you still get deposits inside the lubricated parts of the turbo.
There is a reason the TEOST test, oils that have a lower resistance to high temperature oxidation should not be used with a turbo.
Turbos have been around for 80 years. They aren’t a mystery. Turbos spin at over 100,000 RPM, so they need a good supply of clean oil.
In my signature are seven examples. Two of them twin turbos.
Three of them over 200,000. The highest has over 300,000. All with their original turbos.
All maintained at the factory recommended interval, which includes annually if the miles aren’t met. All using oil that meets specification.
No short intervals. No special driving techniques. But nobody in the family stomps on the gas with a stone cold engine.
In my signature are seven examples. Two of them twin turbos.
Three of them over 200,000. The highest has over 300,000. All with their original turbos.
All maintained at the factory recommended interval, which includes annually if the miles aren’t met. All using oil that meets specification.
No short intervals. No special driving techniques. But nobody in the family stomps on the gas with a stone cold engine.
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Engines that were designed with turbos in mind I do not see a problem with, turbos today are better quality compared to the 80s and 90s as well.
Maintain a turbo car properly and it shouldn't have an issues going 200,000+, but when you do have a turbo failure expect a big repair bill.
Maintain a turbo car properly and it shouldn't have an issues going 200,000+, but when you do have a turbo failure expect a big repair bill.
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I don’t mind watching “ The car care nut “ videos, but until he becomes “ The car care AND oil nut”, I wound not let him scare you about more frequent oil changes.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Thanks for taking the time to post it.
My '91 Volvo turbo had its turbo replaced at 75K, previous owner, don't know why. Car now has 330k and turbo is fine. Some of those additional miles belong to college son at school for four years hotrodding the cra* out of the car. Change the oil on time with syn.
With proper care, no reason to get all spooled up about turbo failure.
VM Engine Parts
With proper care, no reason to get all spooled up about turbo failure.
VM Engine Parts
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Especially if you're on the thruway and stop at a Rest-Stop.
I may be on the thruway going to Walmart, but by the time I get there, the speed-limit has slowed down long enough where I don't worry about overheating the turbo.
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And it's not like you are running a terrible amount of power on the interstate either. Are you even boosting?
My old VW GTI had the 1.8L Turbo. For the last ~200k miles of its life, I did ~10k mile oil changes on random synthetic oils. The engine still ran fine and had the original turbo when I got rid of it at 365k miles. I drove it mostly on the highway @70 mph and never tracked it, so I'm sure that helped.
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