Turbocharger Owner's, How long have lasted/Oil Type
- Thread starter rjundi
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I've got a '92 SAAB 900 Turbo. It just went past 130,000mi and has no turbo problems. I've only had it for 15kmi, but I use Mobil 1 15w-50 at 6kmi OCIs.
Had a 1989 Volvo 740 turbo (mitsubishi watercooled) that was going strong at 200,000 with 5,000 mile dino oil changes.
170K on a 1987 Merkur XR4Ti turbo (big T3, oil and water cooled turbo), still going strong and probably due to be replaced at 200K miles.
Mobil 1 10w-30 for the first 100K miles, then all of my various experimentations of RedLine, Motul, and finally settling on Mobil 1 Delvac synthetic 5w-40 with average 5-6K mile OCI's and a store-shelf engine flush every 30K miles or so to clean the junk in the turbo out.
My favorite oil actually was the Motul 6100 semisynthetic 10w-40 because the car ran great, built boost quickly, ran cool, and I did not consume any oil at all. The worst oil consumption came with Mobil 1 0w-40, about a quart every thousand miles. Motul was just too expensive here in CA to run for a long time, especially because it is not a full synthetic and the car saw track and autocross days.
-JamesW
I MISS MY MERKUR!!!
Mobil 1 10w-30 for the first 100K miles, then all of my various experimentations of RedLine, Motul, and finally settling on Mobil 1 Delvac synthetic 5w-40 with average 5-6K mile OCI's and a store-shelf engine flush every 30K miles or so to clean the junk in the turbo out.
My favorite oil actually was the Motul 6100 semisynthetic 10w-40 because the car ran great, built boost quickly, ran cool, and I did not consume any oil at all. The worst oil consumption came with Mobil 1 0w-40, about a quart every thousand miles. Motul was just too expensive here in CA to run for a long time, especially because it is not a full synthetic and the car saw track and autocross days.
-JamesW
I MISS MY MERKUR!!!
I recently purchased a 04 WRX. I have had a few people I know tell me horror stories on replacement on turbo cars however there oil changing habits were not strong. The WRX also has water cooling which even continues to work after the car is shut down using convection.
I am still on the fence of changing every 3750 miles with dino (recommended oil) or 5k with Mobil 1 (more costly and less convenient).
From what I gather regular oil changes they last the life of engine. Reading WRX UOA's I notice that car is very easy on oil.
Thanks for insight so far.
Rjundi
Run the synthetic.
My shadow has 192 K miles with extended drains( I change the oil every two years, it is my winter car. I have the bypass filter on it. it uses about 1 qt oil every 5K miles. Have used Amsoil 0W-30.
My 86 Daytona only has 125K miles on it. Last year I pull it apart with a freind to convert it to
a T2 style car with intercooler. Upgraded the exhaust 3" with new Garret turbo, old style had the outlet on the compressor in the wrong loacation for the new mainfold TB, cooler) +20 injectors etc. We simply regasketed the engine. My freind is a tech for 20 years, couldnt
belive how clean everything was. Note car was my brothers from new, it had 6 oil changes in the 17 years,(not counting the first few to break it in). Cylinders looked great, still had hone marks, very little carbon build up on top of pistons, oil pan was clean etc.
Most of the beat turbo cars are a result of people neglecting the oil, and filters, allow it to run low or get on it and dont let the mcool down a bit after a hard run.
Good luck with you WRX
Run the synthetic.
My shadow has 192 K miles with extended drains( I change the oil every two years, it is my winter car. I have the bypass filter on it. it uses about 1 qt oil every 5K miles. Have used Amsoil 0W-30.
My 86 Daytona only has 125K miles on it. Last year I pull it apart with a freind to convert it to
a T2 style car with intercooler. Upgraded the exhaust 3" with new Garret turbo, old style had the outlet on the compressor in the wrong loacation for the new mainfold TB, cooler) +20 injectors etc. We simply regasketed the engine. My freind is a tech for 20 years, couldnt
belive how clean everything was. Note car was my brothers from new, it had 6 oil changes in the 17 years,(not counting the first few to break it in). Cylinders looked great, still had hone marks, very little carbon build up on top of pistons, oil pan was clean etc.
Most of the beat turbo cars are a result of people neglecting the oil, and filters, allow it to run low or get on it and dont let the mcool down a bit after a hard run.
Good luck with you WRX
"Had a 1989 Volvo 740 turbo (mitsubishi watercooled) that was going strong at 200,000 with 5,000 mile dino oil changes...1987 Volvo 760 Turbo 264k on 5k OCI w/dino never an issue w/turbo in fact our mechanic bought it and it is still running fine."
I've seen multiple posts on this board by knowledgable folks who swore that dino oil would RUIN a turbo over time. These comments blow their opinions out of the water, at least for older Volvos. I'm sure the knee-jerk response will be, "Well, yeah. Apparently dino is OK for Volvos, but all OTHER turbos will be ruined. It's a fact -- everybody knows it."
I've seen multiple posts on this board by knowledgable folks who swore that dino oil would RUIN a turbo over time. These comments blow their opinions out of the water, at least for older Volvos. I'm sure the knee-jerk response will be, "Well, yeah. Apparently dino is OK for Volvos, but all OTHER turbos will be ruined. It's a fact -- everybody knows it."
89 Mazda 626 GT 220,000kms original turbo. Purchased at 120,000kms and had used dealer dino oil. 7500km OCI but some were out to 11,000kms (slack owner). I used Penrite Turbo 25W70 dino for several years (5kkms OCI) until I discoverd BITOG and have used BP Visco 5000 5W40, Castrol Magnatec 10W40, Motul Synergie 6100 5W40, Pennzoil 10W30 dino for RX clean, Mobil 1 0W40, and currently the best by far Pennzoil Performax 100 5W50 PAO.
On my site most of the trubo users (and there are many running RB's, SR20DET's, CA18DET's) most swear by Mobil1 15w-50 or some over synthetic 50 weight.
Of course a lot of our cars get autocrossed too.
Fred..
Of course a lot of our cars get autocrossed too.
Fred..
I used to have an 1990 Eclipse GSX, and the turbo failed at around 100,000 miles. I changed to Mobil 5w-30/10w-30 at around 25,000mi mark. Changed the oil around every 6000-7000mi (Ohh, and back then Fram oil filters
). I used to drive the Eclipse fairly hard, but was surprised that the turbo failed so early. I must admit that upon inspecting the air filter one time, that one of the clamps catching the base of the filter and was leaking pretty bad. I would estimate that it was this way for at least 15k-20k. This may have been the death of my turbo, but not really sure.
My friends Talon Tsi failed at 100,000 also but his was driven lightly compared to mine, (he also used Mobil 1).
I have a feeling the turbo bearings were not very durable in these cars, and not really the fault of the oil.
My friends Talon Tsi failed at 100,000 also but his was driven lightly compared to mine, (he also used Mobil 1).
I have a feeling the turbo bearings were not very durable in these cars, and not really the fault of the oil.
Mitsubishi turboes are very strong. But, any turbo will wear out fairly fast if your always in the boost. My buddies 91 Galant VR-4; WOW, when he first bought it, we took off the factory 14b to install a 16G. You could literally see daylight through the exhaust housing in the 14b. It spooled poorly
My current Volvo 245 turbo has almost 100,000 miles with various Amsoil motor oils changed at 10K intervals.
BUT - prior to my purchase - the car (150K miles) was run on nothing but Castrol 20W-50. Killed two turbos and when I bought the car, the turbo was dead. You do the math. When I took the dead turbo off is when I became an Amsoil dealer (I did run one batch of Mobil1....)
BUT - prior to my purchase - the car (150K miles) was run on nothing but Castrol 20W-50. Killed two turbos and when I bought the car, the turbo was dead. You do the math. When I took the dead turbo off is when I became an Amsoil dealer (I did run one batch of Mobil1....)
I have 4 older Turbo Dodges, 2.2's and 2.5's
I run Amsoil 0W-30 with Bypass filters, 20,000 mile drain intervals. No issues at all
with the turbos or engines. Of course Chrysler used water cooled center sections to increase longetivity.
I look at, if Caroll shelby who assited in developing these engines recommended MObil 1 , then you ushould use a synthetic. Engine will stay cleaner, no coking in the turbo,
slight increase in HP, less frequent changes etc.
BTW, what turbo car did you buy?
I just bought a 2.4 Turbo in A PT, awesome engine. Has intercooler, oil squirters inside
engine to cool bottom of pistons, cast aluminum oil pan, bedplate and good stage upgrades to jack up the ponies.
VNT
I run Amsoil 0W-30 with Bypass filters, 20,000 mile drain intervals. No issues at all
with the turbos or engines. Of course Chrysler used water cooled center sections to increase longetivity.
I look at, if Caroll shelby who assited in developing these engines recommended MObil 1 , then you ushould use a synthetic. Engine will stay cleaner, no coking in the turbo,
slight increase in HP, less frequent changes etc.
BTW, what turbo car did you buy?
I just bought a 2.4 Turbo in A PT, awesome engine. Has intercooler, oil squirters inside
engine to cool bottom of pistons, cast aluminum oil pan, bedplate and good stage upgrades to jack up the ponies.
VNT
1999 Saab 9-3 sold with 92,000 miles: Mobil 1 10-30 and 0W-40
2000 Saab 9-5 currently with 84,000 miles: Mobil 1 10-30 but switched to Mobil 1 5W-40 at 80,000 miles.
I think Saab has far fewer failures since adding the water cooled jacket over the oil cooling.
Before, with just the oil cooler, it was more prone to coking using dino and/or insufficient cool down idling.
2000 Saab 9-5 currently with 84,000 miles: Mobil 1 10-30 but switched to Mobil 1 5W-40 at 80,000 miles.
I think Saab has far fewer failures since adding the water cooled jacket over the oil cooling.
Before, with just the oil cooler, it was more prone to coking using dino and/or insufficient cool down idling.
Pablo, was your 245 a water cooled turbo? It seems to have a large difference on life expectancy of the item. Also maintenance seems like the other key (ie regular oil changes). The other failure seems to be a loose air filter housing which is an easy way to kill a turbo.
This seemed like a great place to inquire since users tend to go the extra mile on maintenance.
It is water cooled now, but the stock (first turbo) was not. I think the first one died under 50K, then it was upgraded to the watercooled unit.
The main reason for the early deaths was:
a) lack of maintainence - OCI's with dino 4-5K+ (guessing)
b) wrong weight dino oil
c) see a and b but when I bought the car for a song and replaced the turbo, both the oil feed line and the return line were MAJORLY COKED...so I don't even know if the idiot that owned the car or his idiot mechanics replaced/cleaned the oil lines when they installed the new turbos...
The main reason for the early deaths was:
a) lack of maintainence - OCI's with dino 4-5K+ (guessing)
b) wrong weight dino oil
c) see a and b but when I bought the car for a song and replaced the turbo, both the oil feed line and the return line were MAJORLY COKED...so I don't even know if the idiot that owned the car or his idiot mechanics replaced/cleaned the oil lines when they installed the new turbos...
I don't have a turbo car but I'd like to hear from the people who do. How many of you let the turbo cool (ie. extended idling) after operation? I've heard not doing this is the number one killer of turbos.
I need to know this as some day I forsee a used WRX in my future
. I'd rather not have to worry about wether or not the original owner let the turbo cool or not.
I need to know this as some day I forsee a used WRX in my future
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