[johndglynn]

Hi

Have been running turbo's for 16 years, no probs yet touch wood.

Oil is your top priority - keep it clean! Never change oil without changing the filter too. Try to change every 5000 miles maximum, use a modern oil so less sludging will occur, The most a semi-synthetic will cost is £5 more than a mineral oil for 5L and it's well worth the extra for the cold start protection and the general efficiency.

Turbos are beautifully simple but require specialist maintenance because of the miniscule tolerances involved and the speeds they run at - a decent turbo is balanced to about 200,000 rpm. Bearings need to run in nice warm clean oil or they will wear very quickly - when they wear, the shaft can move in and out and the turbine blades can contact the housing, big repair bills. A straight recon with new seals and balancing will cost about £160 or so.

Main rule after the oil is don't bottle it from cold - wait until the guage is at least half way to normal operating temp as cold oil is less viscous - won't feed the turbo to full effect. You can do as Tom says and let it idle for a while, but the easiest way is to drive off-boost (low revs) for the last few miles of your journey so the turbine has a chance to slow down and stop before you switch off. Oil in the turbo is what you want, so don't know what he means there.

Cheers

JG