Turbo Care

["Al Powell" <APOWELL@agcom.tamu.edu>]

Received this question:
>.what are a couple of basic rules to extend the life of a turbo?  I
> previously had a Saab 9000turbo and was told to let it run for 30seconds or
> so before turning the engine off along with doing the same thing after
> starting a warm/hot engine.  Is such a thing true on the 200t's.  I was under
> the impression we did not need to do these types of things on an Audi turbo.

I may be a pessimist, but I consider Audi's superior engineering only 
a safeguard in case I fail to do my job.....so I continue to do the 
following:

....idle for 20-30 seconds after regular street driving before 
turning off the engine.
....after highway driving, wait at least 1 minute if I have not been 
at speed very long.
....if I have been at highway speed long (while on a trip, 
ferinstance) I idle the engine long enough to see the oil temp. drop, 
which usually means about 5 min. at idle.  During this period, I 
watch the car while the wife and kids hit the restroom - then it's my 
turn.  (If I'm alone, I just dance around waiting until I can hit the 
rest room....)
....I try to change filters often, as I don't need small particulate 
matter in the oil.  I use Amsoil filters because I consider them to be
superior to others I am familiar with.

The goals are to 1)  allow the turbo to spin down so that it is not 
moving fast when the engine is turned off, which drops the oil 
pressure, and 2) to reduce turbo temp [reflected in oil temp] before 
shutting it down, to avoid coking oil on the turbo bushing/bearings.

Others in this group may have additional comments about "turbos and 
how they are goodly taken care of".

IMHO, YMMV, etc.




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Al Powell                           Voice:  409/845-2807
Ag Communications                   Fax:    409/862-1202
107 Reed McDonald Bldg.             Email:  a-powell1@tamu.edu 
College Station, TX  77843-2112
W3 page - http://agcomwww.tamu.edu/agcom/rpe/alpage.htm

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