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How to make your turbo build last a little longer

Creating extra horsepower with a Turbo Kit is definitely one of the most exciting projects you can embark on, but if you value reliability some special precautions and maintenance should be carried out on your car’s engine & turbo system.

Table of Contents

Keep your Turbo Clean
The crud hasn't helped this turbo

Keep It Clean

Dirt & crud don’t mix well with turbines spinning at 80,000 RPM. Make sure you work space is nice and clean and store your manifold, intercooler, turbo etc. away from dirty or dusty ares while not installed on the car.

Also inspect everything you can for any debris before and during install to keep your system clean.

Turbo gasket leaking
The dark line you see is where the gasket has failed

Make Sure Gaskets Are In Place And Working

Plenty of kits will come with paper gaskets that frankly blow out after a while. It’s always good to take notice of the condition of gaskets and make sure they’re seated properly to fend off boost leaks.

Turbo Manifold with crack in it
This is going to lose you a lot of boost

Check Your Manifold For Cracks

The ramhorns look great, I get it, but keep an eye on them as they will more often than not crack under prolonged heat and pressure. You can re-weld as needed but eventually you may need to replace the manifold.

Man changing an oil filter
With great horsepower comes great responsibility

Don’t Skimp On Maintenance

With the extra heat and power going through your engine, making sure that servicing is done at the right intervals with high-quality oil and filters is a must for a long engine life.
This is important on NA cars and even more important on your turbo’d car.

Turbo with oil feed lines fitted
Chances are at least one of your oil line fittings will let you down - keep an eye on them

Keep An Eye On Your Oil Feed & Drain Lines

If your oil can’t flow through your turbo properly then you’ll cook the poor thing. Make sure there’s no leaks and at higher service intervals maybe even peek inside to make sure there’s no sludge blocking the line.

Damaged Catalytic Converter
Once your catalytic converter media crumbles like this you will hear it

Check In On Your Cat

If you’re boosted and kept your cat then there may end up being blockages or damage to the media inside. Most likely you will know about a catalytic converter failure because the sweet sweet  platinum honeycomb will come loose and make an awful rattling sound over bumps and during acceleration. I know because I’ve been there. It’s actually pretty embarrassing.
Maybe pick up one of those high-flow race cats. 

Intercooler Piping with Clamp
Check over every clamp in your turbo / intercooler system

Make Sure There Are NO BOOST LEAKS! (pls)

Don’t let your build get held back on the dyno by some loose hoses or shoddy gaskets.
Specifically check your exhaust manifold gasket, turbo gasket and all hose clamps to ensure you don’t have anything loose or misaligned. The pressure will get past anything not 100% clamped down, so it’s always very good practice to double check your work and tighten down anything that you may have left loose the first time.

Pre Lubing a Turbo
Syringe full of engine oil ready to be put into a new turbochargers oil feed hole

If It’s Your First Time, Use Lube

Put a little oil in the turbo charger feed hole before your first start.
This is slightly contentious as some people say it doesn’t matter but on the off chance it can help your turbo lubricate properly upon first start it’s worth doing.

Bubbles on an air leak in engine bay
Even if you can't find a leak you will still clean your engine bay a little

Leak Test

Find any leaks during operation with Soapy Water
While your car is running you can use the soapy water trick to hunt for gas leaks. Make sure to spray around the ends of hoses to make sure your clamps have sealed.

Having boost not acting how it should can lead to all kinds of headaches and unnecessary adjustments. In Most cases if you’re not seeing the boost you want it’s a simple leak somewhere in between your turbo and the intake.

Thermal image of engine
Heat is a key component to a healthy engine

Let it Warm Up

Save your sends for once your engine is warmed up. Don’t rev out your turbo on a cold engine.
While you may be fine initially, abusing your engine will eventually bite you in the ass.

Turbo glowing red because of excessive heat
Radical changes in heat stress the steel that your turbo is made out of

Let it Cool Down

Drive your car like a granny for the last 1-2 of your drive to let oil circulate through your turbo and cool it down before shut-down.
If you stop oil circulation while your turbo is too hot this can slowly warp your turbo, eventually wearing out your bearing or turbine blades.

There are also a few turbo timers on the market which can delay engine shut-off for you.

Speedometer in dashboard
Don't take it too easy

Avoid The Strain Of Going Slow

This is actually the funnest tip. Try not to get bogged going up hills, instead of flat footing in 4th gear and going nowhere let your turbo take the strain off your engine by blipping down to 3rd and easily cruising up the hill. When your engine is giving you a ‘bogged’ feeling it’s a sign that it’s under a large load.

Staying out of boost on a hill or overtaking in the wrong gear can put a lot of strain on your engine. So go ahead and let the turbo sing! 

A turbo can seem like a liability to your engine’s health, but with a solid understanding of your system and some routine inspections you can run quite a reliable build.
In summary, all it takes is some TLC for what you have under the hood. Your turbo will be generating many smiles per gallon so pay it back with some love.

For further reading I really recommend:
My blog post on turbo charging your stock 90s civic engine
&
Donut Media’s video “Is it safe to turbo your car?”  https://youtu.be/mhC1bh5GnYY

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