Mechanic & Turbocharger Repairs for Athol Park

This page is about turbochargers, and the single most useful thing to understand about them: a turbo that has failed has usually been killed by something else.

A turbocharger spins at over 100,000 rpm. The shaft is supported on a film of engine oil, and there is nothing else holding it off the bearing surfaces.

That means three things matter enormously:

Oil condition. Degraded oil coking in the bearing housing is the most common cause of turbo failure. The oil in a turbo gets far hotter than the oil in the sump, and worn-out oil bakes onto the bearing.

Oil supply. A partly blocked feed pipe starves the bearing. These pipes narrow with carbon over years and are worth inspecting whenever a turbo is replaced.

Oil interval. Turbo engines are less forgiving of extended intervals than naturally aspirated ones. If a car is turbocharged, keeping the oil changes short is the cheapest insurance available.

So when a mechanic Athol Park drivers use quotes a turbo, the right question is what killed it, because fitting a new one to the same oil supply gets the same result.

• A whistle or siren that rises with boost and is louder than it used to be
• Blue smoke under acceleration, which is oil past the turbo seals
• Loss of power, particularly with the car going into limp mode
• Oil consumption climbing with no external leak
• A rattle at idle, which can be the shaft moving in a worn bearing

Plenty of low-power complaints on turbo engines have nothing wrong with the turbocharger.

Boost leaks. Any split hose or loose clamp between the turbo and the engine lets pressure escape. The car feels flat and often logs an underboost code, and the fix is a hose clamp.

Wastegate or variable vane sticking. Carbon builds up and the mechanism seizes, giving either no boost or too much. On diesels this is very common and often cleanable.

Intercooler. Blocked externally with debris, or full of oil internally, both reduce charge cooling.

Sensors. A boost pressure sensor reading wrong makes the engine manage boost incorrectly with a perfectly healthy turbo.

Let a turbo engine idle for thirty seconds before switching off after a hard run. Oil keeps circulating and carries heat out of the bearing. Switching off hot leaves the oil sitting in a very hot housing, which is exactly how it cokes.

2/208 Grange Rd, Flinders Park, seven minutes from Athol Park. A mechanic Athol Park drivers use should ask what killed the turbo before fitting another.

Call (08) 8443 7900.

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