Turbo longevity

[Ian1006]

I was browsing an allroad forum and reading a thread theyhad on how to help stock turbos last as long as possible seeing as how they have to pull the motor to replace them. Don't know why I was reading this especially about an all road.
The top suggestions were:
Let the turbo properly warm up.
Let the turbo cool down (probably only needed if you were really beating on it as good synthetic oil and an oil cooled turbo do a lot)
And the last most common recommendation was to get rid of the cats with a test pipe or go high flow cat as they said heat kills the turbo seals especially since the cat hangs right off the the turbo.
Realistically for our cars is there anything else to help the turbos last a long time? I know the turbos are cheap but taking care of the one you already have is always a smart choice. What about cat deletes, useful or no in relationship to turbo longevity? (Regardless of emissions) I can see benefit of getting the cat out of the engine bay for heat etc,

[jacobsen]

Well you need your cat to calculate the fuel-air mixture. There is always an upstream and downstream oxygen sensor on either side of the catalytic converters. So unless they're tuning that whole equation out I see that possibly being harder on the turbo

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[Corrado_Guy]

Well you need your cat to calculate the fuel-air mixture. There is always an upstream and downstream oxygen sensor on either side of the catalytic converters. So unless they're tuning that whole equation out I see that possibly being harder on the turbo

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You do not need a cat, the second O2 sensor is simply an emissions device and has nothing to do with how the car runs. On the B6 there is a wide-band pre-cat O2 sensor and narrow-band O2 sensor post-cat so they would able to use both if they wanted to which they do not. The second O2 sensor simply makes sure the emissions are dropping enough to show the cat is working properly. Most of the heat a turbo will see will come directly from the engine although ambient heat from the cat would not be all that great. What the OP mentioned above are all good points but one that is missing is using high quality oil and changing in frequently. The harder the car is being driven then the sooner it should be changed.

[jacobsen]

Motul is king

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[Ian1006]

I did say using high quality synthetic oil but did leave out regular changes with a proper sized oil filter...I did notice a typo in my original post it should say water cooler turbo not oil cooled turbo.
2nd o2 is remedied with a spacer or having it tuned out, no biggie. More along the lines of heat effects from cat being off the turbo.

[dalazybastard]

You're pretty much on the point about oiling and operating temp.

One thing I would add is proper oil change intervals.

I never heard anything about the cat causing heat buildup on the seals. I always thought that was due to improper warm up and cool down.


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[SleeperAvant]

The only time a catalyst would cause heat build-up is if it is clogged up and creating abnormally high back-pressure.

Otherwise the other points stated are spot on for turbo care.

[seanf86]

The only time a catalyst would cause heat build-up is if it is clogged up and creating abnormally high back-pressure.

Otherwise the other points stated are spot on for turbo care.

This ^^ a plugged cat will kill a turbo pretty quick, for some reason I've had to remove/replace the cats on my B6 1.8t B5 1.8t and B5S4 and my wifes old 2.8 car previous owner removed them and the replacement B6 we got just set an engine light for the cat. It must be a german car thing as I've never had to do a cat on any other car I've ever owned.

Both B6s the stock turbo lasted 120k miles, the B5S4 stock turbos 180k miles and my B5 1.8t is still going strong on the stock turbo at 180k miles.

[JKCutler3]

This ^^ a plugged cat will kill a turbo pretty quick, for some reason I've had to remove/replace the cats on my B6 1.8t B5 1.8t and B5S4 and my wifes old 2.8 car previous owner removed them and the replacement B6 we got just set an engine light for the cat. It must be a german car thing as I've never had to do a cat on any other car I've ever owned.

Both B6s the stock turbo lasted 120k miles, the B5S4 stock turbos 180k miles and my B5 1.8t is still going strong on the stock turbo at 180k miles.

I just rolled over 120k and am wondering if I should pull it and take a look.

[seanf86]

I just rolled over 120k and am wondering if I should pull it and take a look.

Get an inspection camera and pull the front o2 and check it that way

[jacobsen]

A lot less work haha

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[red4life5]

Motul is king

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I agree with that. I use 8100 excess. Does one need to use the "specific" motul oil?


2010 A4 S-Line Prestige

[jacobsen]

The specific is not as good as the 8100 x-cess it has a lower TBN.

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[jacobsen]

But Mobil Delvac 1 SHC 5W-40
has an enormous TBN 16!
This is my new favorite oil lol. I'm going to try this stuff out next Oil Change.
For the record Laboratory Testing shows motul oil to be pretty much the best. The molecules don't break down during testing.

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[Luxus Panzer]

Get an inspection camera and pull the front o2 and check it that way

Smart!

[JKCutler3]

Get an inspection camera and pull the front o2 and check it that way

well played sir. well played

[SleeperAvant]

Get an inspection camera and pull the front o2 and check it that way

Another method would just be to run the car, then inspect temperatures pre-cat and post-cat with a laser temperature gun, aiming it at your exhaust pipe. If they are virtually the same temperatures the cat isn't the problem, however if the pre-cat temp is much higher than post-cat temp than you have an issue.

[Kevin C]

What would help is to know what the turbos typically fail from and what oil was used. Coked line? A bit more insulation on the feeder and make sure a synthetic oil is used. Coking in the bearings, address heat soak and again verify that the right oil was used. Lots of ways that a turbo can go, not all can be fixed with PM.

[jacobsen]

And lo Jesus said to Thomas, T6 is good group 3 but group IV and V motul is the right thing to do. For if you could find delvac SHC 5w40 Within your land you should consider it too IV/V perhaps better even than motul as it has a higher Flashpoint and a TBN of 16. Whereas of the three T6 has the lowest flashpoint of the three.

The question of viscosity and oil filter efficiency is of great question. From the oil pump to the turbo that is. What is better thinner or thicker. Thinner will go faster but will it cushion the bearing as steady, thicker will be slower but will it cushion the bearing firmer? I think there are three most important parts of motor oil friction, Flashpoint and TBN. I've done my research on the various oil filters that fit the B6. One of the filters that will fit on the B6 which has the same bypass pressure will actually go down to 3 microns.

WP1144 x2 internal filters 3@50%-6@99% micron and 14@50%-36@99%. bypass 2.5. operating pressure 14 bar. GPM flow 6.87.

950/4 single filter. 20@50% 50@99% micron. 2.5 bypass. Operating pressure 14 bar. GPM flow 15.85.

The two filters are very much alike other than the Micron rating and the gallon per minute flow rating. My question is does viscosity grade effect gallon per minute flow? And if so, would the wp 1144 be riding with an open bypass in the B6 because of the finer filtration restricting flow? How much does the oil pump flow per minute?

I'm going to copy this info over to the oil filter thread. The wp 1144 is used in a lot of small displacement diesel motors period we're such and particles May matter more as there are tons more because it's diesel.




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[WB650]

My car is at 165K and the turbo recently cracked at the wastegate. Fun times. Swapped in a used turbo with 130K and in good condition. Still getting a slight underboost but its not dumping all the boost like before. Hoping just an N75 but not worried anyways bc I just picked up a 2015 Mazda6 GT to replace the B6 so the B6 needs to be sold

[MCT9891]

It's worth mentioning that the 2.7T is more of a turbo-killer than 1.8's due to the location and immense heat the turbo's are put through...

[SleeperAvant]

What would help is to know what the turbos typically fail from and what oil was used. Coked line? A bit more insulation on the feeder and make sure a synthetic oil is used. Coking in the bearings, address heat soak and again verify that the right oil was used. Lots of ways that a turbo can go, not all can be fixed with PM.

I personally run Rotella T6. I've read about BAT users on VW Vortex using high ZDDP racing oils like Brad Penn 20w50 for further protection, especially those built engines that see high boost and high rpm.