How long do (petrol) turbos last?
 

Hi all, I've never owned a turbo before (not even a diesel one) but as I look to find a C30 T5, was just wondering how long they're known to last before before needing changing/refurbishing (I presume there are companies that refurbish them)?

Any tell-tale signs bar a drop in power when they're starting to wear?

Years back people used to let turbos 'cool down' rather than immediately switching off the engine (after a bit of hooning) to prolong the life of them: I can't imagine anyone still doing that nowadays??

Cool Running.
 

Morning Markos, Ref.letting the engine idle before turning it off,'They' still do,the turbo carries on spooling at high speed after the motor stops,with NO pressurized oil feed,the oil that is still in the turbo,due to the high temp.then 'cooks' So leaving it running, cools the turbo and the turbo bearings.

Regards,Keith.

I always give the car a couple of minutes before switching the engine off, a turbo is a turbo, oil going to the (very) hot core will still cook if you switch it straight off after a thrash.

they last the life of the car whether that is 10 years or 30 years .. What kills a turbo is poor oil so always use the specified oil .
Turbochargers have been watercooled for many years now , so just drive it normally and you won't get any problems .

Can he hold you liable to that?
You still need to maintain turbos, they get extraordinarily hot regardless and spin very fast. Let em cool and slow always whether its water cooled or not. Water cooling wont slow down a fast turbine in dry bearings.

I agree with 'ksmi' and 'T5Sweep'. The handbook supplied with my '06' Saab 9-3 (Petrol Turbo) recommends allowing the engine to idle for 20 seconds before switching off after a run.

When I bought my previous 9-5 at 140K it had just had the sump cleaned and a new turbo fitted (I'm fairly sure a first replacement unit). It is important to use good quality fully synthetic oil in these engines for these reasons.

Regards, John.

yep he's welcome to , in normal driving you slow down well before you stop don't you and the engine is idling probably 10 seconds or so before you get to turn it off . .. dry bearings are a farce my friend … turbo problems are extremely rare on the 10's of 1000's of volvos in my 40+ years of working on them daily , the only ones that can fail are on the 1.6 D PSA engines which have probably been neglected .
Your points may be valid after a racing circuit experience but in everyday use no need to bother you have water and oil cooling the turbo .

Turbo shafts float within a high pressure cushion of oil, switch the engine off and this is instantly gone, wearing the seals and bearings. Once the seals become worn they start to weep oil, eventually losing lots. With turbos it always pays to reduce this situation as much as possible. Most people do idle a mo before switching off, but lots come to rest from high rpm and switch instantly off, something ive witnessed often.
High quality oil is indeed a good thing with turbos though as it is more resistant to oxidation aka 'cooking'.

Thanks for all the replies guys, good to hear the opinions and also to understand exactly what's going on in there.

Mate had his V50 2.0D blow an engine caused by the seals failing on the turbo... Engine went runaway... And that wasn't on a high mileage engine and it was regularly serviced.