For the people knowledgeble about turbo on na engines or I guess turbo engines in general What are some good habits with the car that can improve engine/turbo life.

Ones I know of:

1. After hitting the gas pedal hard engough you should let it idle for a minute or so before turning the engine off..
2. Driving uphill for long periods of time can overheat the turbo.
3. Tuning the engine for winter.
4. Using synthetic oil for the car and turbo.
5. Checking under the hood of the engine ones a week to make sure everthing is running smoothly.

Correct me if Iam wrong on any since I only heard these from word of mouth.

Do oil changes have to be more frequent?

yes, change the oil more often.
the oil cools the turbo and will be exposed to much higer temps then normally. this will break down the oil and the viscosity will change from it.

so say you use synthetic on our tc that is turboed how often would you change the oil?

so say you use synthetic on our tc that is turboed how often would you change the oil?
I would do a synthetic such as Mobil 1 and change the oil every 3000 miles, unless you do some real hard driving for a while, then I would probly do it at about 2500 miles

but doenst synthetic last longer? I mean normaly i was told that on our car it shoudl last 7000 by a dealer mechanic, since our car only requires changes 5000 miles, with a turbo i figured a synthetic should be at 5000 and normal oil at 3000 since normnaly normal oil is at 5000? This is pure speculation on my part with zero knowledge on turbo oil and how much faster a turbo makes oil older?

As Dave(DGHotlava) explained, the turbo heats up the oil much quicker than an N/A motor would...The viscosity breaks down a lot quicker that way, rendering the oil less and less useful over time. I know that they reccomend doing oil changes at 5000, but I personally wouldnt wait that long...Oil is like the blood of a vehicle, if you stay on top of oil changes, your internals will most likely hold stronger over time.

well i realized that the turbo uses oil faster I was just wondering if using synthetic oil with a turbo will still need to be changed at the 3000 mark. I mean as a standard dont they say synthetic lasts a few thousand more then regular oil. So if you say you need synthetic and change at 3000 with a turbo how often would you have to change normal oil?
With normal oil it is recomended you change oil at 5000 with synthetic i was told on our engines 7000 is fine.

Iam not arguing I was just wondering. So all of you guys with fi use synthetic and change oil at 3000?

well i realized that the turbo uses oil faster I was just wondering if using synthetic oil with a turbo will still need to be changed at the 3000 mark. I mean as a standard dont they say synthetic lasts a few thousand more then regular oil. So if you say you need synthetic and change at 3000 with a turbo how often would you have to change normal oil?
With normal oil it is recomended you change oil at 5000 with synthetic i was told on our engines 7000 is fine.

Iam not arguing I was just wondering. So all of you guys with fi use synthetic and change oil at 3000?

its not the fact that the turbo uses oil faster, it just happens to break down faster...if you want to change oil at 5000 if you go f/i thats entirely up to you, but I think it would be in your best interest to hit 3000...it wont hurt to change it at 3000, if anything, it will benefit you in the end. I personally like to keep my oil looking like honey...it only costs $25 to do a synthetic oil change yourself every 3000 miles...IMO well worth it considering you spent $17,000 + on your vehicle.

true very good point and I plan on doing whats best for the car, especially if i turbo it I mean i want it to be as safe as possible for now I use synthetic and changed it at 3000 and was going to change it next time every 5000 and then I didnt know what I was going to do with a turbo but know ill keep to the 3000 mark.

SO anyways to the original point of the post is anythign that I wrote wrong/incorrect about a turbo maintance. And if there is any other maintance with a turbo on the tc engine share the knowledge.

you pretty much covered everything there is as far as maintanence goes...The only difference is when I put the turbo on the xB I was under the hood pretty much everyday just checking things and making sure everything was proper...I was driving one day and I was hard in boost in first gear then all of a sudden I lost all power to the car...I pulled over and noticed that one of my intercooler pipes popped off...stupid hose clamps...this is why it is imperative to constantly check things over again and again no matter how much you think you have things in control.

yeah I think if aI put on a turbo (iam going to be doign the install myself with a very basic kit) Id be under the hood every time I stoped the car for the first week Iam paranoid about things going wrong especially after all the stories i heard.

IS300 from the factory was 5k w/ normal oil. Once I went turbo, it was mobil 1 synth w/ mobil 1 filter every 3k. Sucks, but gotta keep that beast alive. Plan to do the same w/ this one

its been over 2 months, and i still check under the hood every other day. if not for a quick run through, look and hear whats going on. you should be able to hear differences in tone if something is off, ie. burnt out wastegate gasket. every week i check for loose connections and lightly retightening things. those hose clamps come loose very often, so you have to wrench them back to a tight degree. this is what ive learned in the few days of owning a self installed turbo.

^^^ Good idea. I never thought of it but there is a lot of extra weight there and with the road vibrations and such, these parts can come loose over time.
And oil doesn't 'cool' the turbo as stated above. It simply lubricates it. I would deffinitely go synthetic with the oil. One of the biggest problems with turbos is that the oil "cokes". This is when the bearings are hot and the oil literally burns to the bearings. To avoid this, synthetic is a big one. Synthetic also has a higher viscosity rating and a higher tolerance to 'coking'.
Another is, as the OP mentioned, to let the car idle a minute or two 1. Before driving somewhere, and 2. After driving somewhere. What happens is the turbo is spinning at an EXTREMELY high RPM ( 130,000 RPM and up). If you shut the engine off, you also shut the oil supply off. This allows for the uncirculating oil around the bearings to burn to the bearings and in turn causes the 'coking'. If you allow the turbo to slow down by letting the car idle for a minute before shutting it off, then this had a lot less chance of happening because you are keeping the oil flow going around the bearings. So make sure you give yourself an extra couple minutes in the morning or wherever you go...It'll save the turbo in the long run. Oil changes around the 2500-3000 mile range can't hurt, but I wouldn't go too much past 3000 miles.

^^ to help keep the car idle, you can invest in a brand named/ reliable self starting car alarm -- the viper 791xv allows a "turbo mode" to allow tuners to keep the car idleing for a selecatble amount of minutes

i figure that'd help cuz im usually in a hurry to get out of the car wherever i go.

Also, maybe a turbo timer...a lot cheaper than the Viper. It will allow your car to run for a set amount of time and then it shuts off by itself. The Viper has a lot more functions though ( i think). And the remote start is always nice. I don't know if the turbo timer does that.

I used the viper remote start on my xB as the turbo timer...great function and you can even adjust the time that the car runs for.

How much does the viper alram cost? How long do people usually idle the car for to let the turbo slow down? and another two :eyebrow: - When you get gauges for your car is there a difference in installation between the digital ones and the normal ones?
and since motor mounts reduce engine vibration would that potentialy help the turbo setup?

I think the built in turbo timers (I have a code alarm and used to have a compustar) were 2 minutes no matter what.

When I turbocharge my car I'm going to run the new Ingalls engine dampner. ZPI has had great success with this in upwards of 300hp. I have heard that using the engine dampner in conjunction with motor mounts would eliminate pretty much any movement altogether so I might conisder that although it seems like it owuld be overkill.

My main concern is winter tuning. Any info on that topic would be helpful.

The Viper 791xv is around 500 installed, but I'm sure that it can be found cheaper.

Winter tuning as I undestand is just by taking your car to a dyno and they I think they change the fuel maps to compensate the colder weather for starting the car and stuff. I believe thats what someone i know said with their turbo rsx. Correct me if iam wrong. I think thats why the unichip is good in that regard as in that it can be switched between two maps and also that the emanage feeds the ecu and emanage cant compensate for weather changes as the unichip is after the ecu and the ecu compensates for the weather on its own.

I got mine for $375 installed :lalala:

^^^ Wow, thats a great price. We were in a hurry to get ours installed and ended up paying 500 with "free" installation

Viper 791xv :bow:

Used it on my turbo setup. Awesome unit. Never had any problems. I spent about $500 installed also with 530t, 520t, 556u. Mine is actually for sale now :lalala:. Also if you're interested in my custom ZPI stage 1, I'm sure we could work something out. Everyone else pretty summed up good tips. Check oil levels, check for leaks, replace oil regularly, check gaskets and lines, run a few min. before using, run a few min. after use, etc.

How much does the viper alram cost? How long do people usually idle the car for to let the turbo slow down? and another two :eyebrow: - When you get gauges for your car is there a difference in installation between the digital ones and the normal ones?
and since motor mounts reduce engine vibration would that potentialy help the turbo setup?

here we go....

1. letting the car idle is not to let the turbo slow down....it is to let it cool down.
2. install prices should be about the same for either gauges.
3. the engine dampers purpose is to reduce the amount of engine rocking in the engine bay. if the motor torques less in the engine bay, the power can get to the ground better.

^^^^This is correct.

Turbo cool down is not nearly the issue it once used to be with the use of synthetic oil (turbo people shoudl be running this). Oil coking in the bearings was the issue.

The motor mounts do help stop engine movement, but vibrations can be increased to the passenger cabin. Get really stiff mounts and your teeth will rattle. :rofl: Engine damper or stiffer mounts prevent the engine from moving 8 to 10 inches on a launch. This movement reduces power transfer to the wheels.

^^^ Good idea. I never thought of it but there is a lot of extra weight there and with the road vibrations and such, these parts can come loose over time.
And oil doesn't 'cool' the turbo as stated above. It simply lubricates it. I would deffinitely go synthetic with the oil. One of the biggest problems with turbos is that the oil "cokes". This is when the bearings are hot and the oil literally burns to the bearings. To avoid this, synthetic is a big one. Synthetic also has a higher viscosity rating and a higher tolerance to 'coking'.
Another is, as the OP mentioned, to let the car idle a minute or two 1. Before driving somewhere, and 2. After driving somewhere. What happens is the turbo is spinning at an EXTREMELY high RPM ( 130,000 RPM and up). If you shut the engine off, you also shut the oil supply off. This allows for the uncirculating oil around the bearings to burn to the bearings and in turn causes the 'coking'. If you allow the turbo to slow down by letting the car idle for a minute before shutting it off, then this had a lot less chance of happening because you are keeping the oil flow going around the bearings. So make sure you give yourself an extra couple minutes in the morning or wherever you go...It'll save the turbo in the long run. Oil changes around the 2500-3000 mile range can't hurt, but I wouldn't go too much past 3000 miles.

Actually, oil often is used to cool the turbo in aftermarket systems. Many stock turbo systems (like my WRX) are oil lubricated/coolant cooled, but most aftermarket turbo systems are cooled by the engine oil. Also, the turbo doesn't keep spinning at high RPM after you slow down the car, otherwise you'd be at high boost all the time and when off load you wastegate would be spouting air like a kettle. The coking is caused by oil cooled systems burning oil to the bearings by shutting down the car while the turbo is still hot. Without oil circulation to keep carrying heat off of the turbo, the hot metal burns the oil and cakes it to the bearing. That's why the use of turbo timers is so popular in the aftermarket turbo community. So you don't have sit and let the engine run to cool the turbo after hard runs.

Subaru actually has a rather ingenius system on the WRX. The turbo system is coolant cooled, but there is a second coolant reservoir that sits higher than the turbo and main coolant reservoir. Thus, as long as the turbo is hotter than the coolant, the top reservoir keeps drawing the denser cold coolant through the turbo until the temperatures equalize. So there is no use for a turbo timer, because even after the car is shutdown, the turbo system continues to cool itself.

^^^Ummmthats pretty much what i said...other than me being incorrect on the 'cooling/spinning' part. I don't believe that turbos are 'oil cooled'. I will look it up in a few. I didn't mean that the turbo continued to spin at high rpm after the car slows...I should have clarified myself.

Good knowledge though!


OK...just looked it up....You are correct on the oil cooled turbos. Aparantly some are oil/water cooled...the oil cooling the bearing area and the water cools the housing. Great info...Learn something new everyday!

^^^Ummmthats pretty much what i said...other than me being incorrect on the 'cooling/spinning' part. I don't believe that turbos are 'oil cooled'. I will look it up in a few. I didn't mean that the turbo continued to spin at high rpm after the car slows...I should have clarified myself.

Good knowledge though!


OK...just looked it up....You are correct on the oil cooled turbos. Aparantly some are oil/water cooled...the oil cooling the bearing area and the water cools the housing. Great info...Learn something new everyday!

My T20BB I had on the xB was oil/coolant cooled...I think a lot of the smaller Garrett turbos are all like that.

Well, I HAVE heard of the water cooled...I had two on a couple cars, but I thought that the oil was mainly for lubrication.