How Common Is Blown Turbos?

I had a Passat 1.8T from new. I passed it on to my Father with 155K miles. Its still going strong with several more miles on the clock. Also uses little oil. I have experience of high milage diesel turbos. Never had any problems just made sure that regular servicing carried out. Turbos are normally reliable.
 
If the turbo is looked after ie allow it to cool off after a hard run and treat gently when warming up these days they should last as long as the engine, I know I always let my tdi run for a few minutes to
(a) cool down the turbo slowly and
(b) wind it down,
I have heard that the old fashioned quick blip on the throttle before you turn off is a sure fire way to kill a turbo quickly, spins it up then stops the oil / water cooling just when it needs it most!
 
I think there were a few turbo quality problems on the first cars which causes early life failures but they are pretty reilable now.
Following tdiman's suggestions will certainly maximise turbo life, particularly the shutdown procedure.
The worst case scenario is pulling into motorway services and immediately switching off after thrashing the car for an hour or two. The turbo is literally red hot and still winding down from 150,000+ rpm without oil flow or pressure to cool and lubricate the bearings. What little oil is there can bake onto the turbine shaft and repeated abuse will eventually lead to bearing failure

Cheers Spike
 
I believe some Jaguar models have an electric oil pump that supplies oil to the turbo for a short while when the engine is turned off. Can't remember which one but I know I've read it.
 
Honest John website states that low mileage A2s (ie ones that tend to sit about without being used) have a problem with blown turbos
 
Back
Top