Prolonging Turbo life

[dex140]

Hi,
I have a 05 2.0tdi (140) and i have just clocked over 100k miles, im concerned that the turbos are made from cheese/chocolate on the BKD and would like to take every measure possible to prolong its life! The car has been serviced by myself regulary and after long journeys i let the car run for a few seconds to allow the turbo to cool down a bit.

is there any other measures i can take other than satrt saving for the inevitable?

Cheers

Dex

 

[Goner]

Warm the car up before giving it some beans and let the engine run for a couple of minutes once you've come home.

Warming the car up gets the oil circulating correctly everywhere / cooling the car down stops the excess oil drying up in the turbo.

 

[Zak0123]

Depends how far you want to go but you can also leave the heating on for a couple of minutes (with the AC switched off) at the end of a journey, this will draw heat out of the engine and will also help stop excess oil from staying in the turbo

 

[mjr901]

 

[dex140]

Cheers, I always warm it up and let it cool down after long journeys so hopefully get a few miles out fo it yet!

 

[k1ano]

My thoughts on this are ...

The majority of mechanical engine wear occurs when the oil is not at operating temperature and/or above 4k RPM. So warming the oil up is always very sensible for turbo and engine longevity.

For water cooled turbos it can still be a good idea to idle them for at least 30 seconds and ideally longer and also try and not switch the engine off too soon after prolonged high load use, to at least reduce compressor speeds to idle. Many of us have probably seen turbochargers glowing red after high load operation so heat soak, even after a period of idling, can still occur causing carbonisation of the oil in the bearing housings. Non water-cooled turbos, and typically aftermarket, are much rarer and require more consideration, especially after high load use.

Water cooled turbo installations tend to be designed to allow convection of the water around the turbocharger to try and cool the turbo after power down so normal use should not require excessive cooling down periods - most people will just get in a car and drive it with reliable operation, but us enthusiasts we will be harder on turbochargers and this is where the extra consideration becomes more important.

Above all ensure the oil is clean and changed regularly and is always topped up to ensure you have maximum volume of oil for efficient heat transfer and cooling. I can never accept long life servicing (oil change) on turbocharged cars, especially performance ones - it just doesn't sit right with me ...

Martin

 

[DJ_Troopa]

A simple warm up and cool down will do you fine mate. I had an S3 for 3 years and used to do it every time i drove the car and no turbo problems what so ever. Also servicing on time would be good and don't rag the car like a chav lol.