Turbo Reliability - A ticking timebomb?

Turbo Reliability - A ticking timebomb?

Author
Discussion

The_Open_Road

Original Poster:

16 posts

79 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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It seems that most new cars these days (petrol as well as diesel) have turbocharged engines.

How reliable are turbocharged engines?

Are we sitting on a ticking reliability timebomb of lots of turbo failures a few years from now?

xjay1337

15,966 posts

117 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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Well I removed a turbo to fit an upgraded one at 125k and it was literally "as new" (had been remapped)

As long as cars are well serviced and maintained there is no reason why most turbos shouldn't live for the lifetime of the car.


CaptainMorgan

1,454 posts

158 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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I had an Octavia vRS at 180k on the original turbo, no issue. It's still going now, someone I know owns it. I do think that more reasonable oil changes are sensible on a turbo'd car though, 2 years/20k is too long imo.

Lemming Train

5,567 posts

71 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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The_Open_Road said:
It seems that most new cars these days (petrol as well as diesel) have turbocharged engines.

How reliable are turbocharged engines?

Are we sitting on a ticking reliability timebomb of lots of turbo failures a few years from now?
Only if the oil is like treacle. If the oil is kept reasonably clean and at the correct level then they're fine. Old contaminated oil is a quick way to kill them, especially on diesels.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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Change your oil on time

Warm up engine before giving it death

Cool down engine before switching off



Do those^^^ and a typical turbo will do >150 kmiles before wearing out (or much more if driven gently)

Nigel_O

2,858 posts

218 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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I run a highly-modified Fiat Coupe turbo, running around 450bhp - its now a weekend toy, but it used to be a daily driver. My last turbo lasted for 150,000 miles, which included everything from the daily commute (100-mile round trip) to trackdays and airfield speed events - it certainly didn't have an easy life.

Modern turbos (especially roller-bearing units, rather than journal-bearing) will last for ages as long as the oil is good (and plentiful)

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

178 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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Across many cars, vans and trucks I think the only turbo-related failure I’ve had is one actuator. And that’s on a 13 year old car with 130k miles

V8RX7

26,763 posts

262 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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The_Open_Road said:
Are we sitting on a ticking reliability timebomb of lots of turbo failures a few years from now?
Turbos have been widely used since the 90's and they are relatively cheap to recondition

You ought to look at the complexity of the wiring on cars from around 2005, direct injection, modern automatic gearboxes or Ford Ecoboost engines if you want something to worry about.

valiant

10,067 posts

159 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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Take it easy on your last mile of two and let the car idle for a minute before switching off will save a lot of premature wear.

Scootersp

3,107 posts

187 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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reiterating the oil change thing as turbo cars tend to put the oil through harder conditions and so can degrade it far more, so extended intervals and/or poor quality oil is worse news than in a normally aspirated car.

Limpet

6,293 posts

160 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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I've had two petrol and four diesel turbos with between 100,000 and 160,000 miles, all on original turbos (according to their service histories) and all still going strong.

A VW tech mate services a PD130 engined Golf on 310k, and still on its original turbo.

I'm sure you could kill one in 50k if you tried, but modern tolerances and engine oils are remarkably effective.

J4CKO

41,284 posts

199 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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Turbos themselves are fine nowadays as most if not all are water cooled, plus modern synthetic oils dont turn to burnt black crud when they are introduced to a turbos heat, especially when the engine is turned off.

The main issues on older turbo cars are really down to the boost pipes, vac pipes, diverter valves, pressure sensors getting old, plus anything else thats been roasted.

Berkshire bred

985 posts

74 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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I understand the OP's concerns, I am on my first turbo car and to start of with I wondered the same things, is it something else to worry about etc.. I soon came to the conclusion that a cambelt or clutch is much more likely to piss on your chips. Basically do what you reasonably can to maintain your car and it "should" be fairly reliable. Sadly it doesn't always work this way.

Truckosaurus

11,183 posts

283 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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I had a turbo failure once. Cost less to fix (refurbed turbo) than a set of tyres, and no-one complains that their tyres won't last the life of the car.

Pica-Pica

13,621 posts

83 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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CaptainMorgan said:
I had an Octavia vRS at 180k on the original turbo, no issue. It's still going now, someone I know owns it. I do think that more reasonable oil changes are sensible on a turbo'd car though, 2 years/20k is too long imo.
Fine as an opinion, but where is their evidence of long-life oil being..well, not long life?

Pericoloso

44,044 posts

162 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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The turbos of the 1980s were not great ,lasted well under 100K on the SAABs I worked on.

Greatly improved now ,probably most to do with synthetic oil being specced nowadays.

mdw

321 posts

273 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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I have a 54 plate B5.5 passat. 1.9tdi bought at 70k miles and now has 182k. Serviced every 10k, still on original dampers, clutch, battery, turbo, engine and box. The only things replaced apart from suspension bushes and joints ( which it eats) is the alternator and both front calipers. It does a broad mix of motorway, A and B roads and lanes. Uses about 1/2 a litre of oil between changes now. Its not the most inspiring car but it wont do the decent thing and die or throw a big enough bill to scrap it and it does what I need it to do .

rayyan171

1,294 posts

92 months

Wednesday 19th September 2018
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Garrett turbocharger on the XC90 in the Euro 3 D5 engine (no DPF) had its original turbocharger up to 170k miles when we sold it. Was beginning to have actuator issues but that was due to excessive carbon buildup from too much city driving (2k miles in the city). Very impressive considering it is a 2.1 tonne SUV.

X5 runs a pair of sequential Twin turbos, made by BorgWarner, and they are a bit more complicated. Did have to change a boost pack, which is essentially a multitude of pipes involved in the turbos of the car, but that was due to smelly morning starts. Doesn't do it anymore. It is on 120k miles and sounds very healthy and both turbos pull very well.

More can go wrong with sequential turbocharger setups on cars. The sequential system has some trick actuators which cause the large turbo to open up at 2000 RPM, and so there is more complex workings overall regarding boost and lubrication. That is not to say it isn't reliable, just a bit more complex to deal with in repairing but nothing that requires the dealer to sort it out.

In the X5, the smaller turbo can go as that is the one that is used most of the time, unless you drive like a lunatic and are always at 3K RPM. This is mainly down to weight, effectively 2.2 tonnes of weight is loaded up onto this one turbocharger when the car moves off. Probably isn't the case in smaller cars such as the 335d.

Parallel turbos aren't as complicated, the exhaust manifold simply splits into two and each manifold has a small turbocharger. That is all. Twin Scroll turbochargers get the best of both worlds but is only one turbo. They are very reliable units.

amoeba

200 posts

165 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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Nigel_O said:
Modern turbos (especially roller-bearing units, rather than journal-bearing) will last for ages as long as the oil is good (and plentiful)
Did they really make turbos with journal bearings? Seems like it would be asking for dire life to me....

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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So far my latest turbo has proven to be a whole lot more reliable than my old nasp.