Re: Turbo care

[raf40@oes.amdahl.com (Richard Funnell)]

Don,

I've owned 2 Audi turbo's, both oil-cooled.  The first, an '82 5KT, was on
its 4th turbo when I sold it at @115K miles.  I made no effort to cool it
off properly, and had some bad luck (a turbo shaft broke in 2 pieces in the
middle of the night with a car full of wife and kids, but that's another
story.  Kept driving till the noise went away.).  My current '83 urQ has
close to 100K miles, with no signs of turbo fatigue.  When I had my heads
done a couple years ago, the turbo was checked for free play and passed
with flying colors.

The difference?  I learned the hard way to cool it down by idling at least
one minute after anything more than a 3 minute run.  I also switched to
Syntec when I got the car about 6 years ago.  Combined with a measure of
decent luck, it still runs fine.

>If my questions are answered in a FAQ please point me there.
>
>I've never owned a turbo car.  Opinions on the care and feeding of turbo
>engines?  As a rule, I've run Mobil 1 with a 5k oil/filter change interval
>in all my VWs.

Should work fine.

>
>Is the 1.8T turbo watercooled?

I'm fairly sure it is, but someone else will know for sure.

>
>Turbo pre/post oiler?  A pre-oiler activated by the door switch sounded
>interesting but is prob. just plain overkill.

Nice idea, but probably overkill with water-cooling and synthetic oil.

>
>Turbo timer for cooldown?

Also nice idea, but not for a car with a stick.  I always use my handbrake,
but I always leave it in gear as well.  Belts and suspenders etc...

>________________________________
>Don Pavlik -- vwnut@neosoft.com
>http://www.neosoft.com/~vwnut (The VW Zone)
>'95 Golf GTI-VR6 -- adj. sleeper, stealth, addictive, quick
>On a quest for a Quattro...



Richard Funnell,
San Jose, California
'83 urQ
'87 560 SL