Motor Oil

[R.O.R-2.0]

running dino wipes out your turbo?

BS.. i have had a TDI turbo on my car for LOTS AND LOTS of miles, and never once ran synthetic thru it..

GT1749VNT

[SolarSteve]

running dino wipes out your turbo?

BS.. i have had a TDI turbo on my car for LOTS AND LOTS of miles, and never once ran synthetic thru it..

GT1749VNT

I'm not making it up.  Thats what the mechanic told me...

I'd rather run the less expensive, dino oil and change it every 3K, but I have heard from a number of sources on forums and now this guy that the dino will eventually kill the turbo.  Its to the point where I'm not sure what to do.  I would love to see some kind of professional data showing turbo life on dino and another on synthetic.

[rallydiesel]

Running vegetable oil fuel is way worse on the engine than using dino oil for lube. You should have no trouble with the Rotella 15w40. If you decide to go with the T6, 10k mile OCI will be fine as long as your rings are in decent shape.

[mystery3]

15w40 is really thick for a modern engine. What does the manual suggest? Whatever you go with you don't want to switch back and forth between synthetic and traditional oils. I run synthetic usually elf or motul in everything except my bug and old bmws they get castrol 30w and 20w50 respectively.

[Toby]

The issue with camshaft wear usually come from running oil without enough ZDDP, which is a high pressure additive needed for good flat tappet/cam life. The zinc is hard on catalytic converters so it has all but disappeared from gasoline engine lube oils. This is not much of an issue since small stuff usually has pretty light valve spring pressures so the loading of the cam/lifter interface is not to high. Now a BBC with a cam and some valve springs is another issue, which is why virtually all "big" motors use roller lifters these days. Rollers also reduce the internal friction significantly. 5 hp in a 2.3T Ford 4 banger.

I suspect that the mechanic mentioned above was referring to dino oils "coking" the exhaust housing. This can be a problem, which is why water cooled center sections were all the rage at one time. Most coking is the result of coming in at high speed and shutting off the motor with the turbo still screaming and the exhaust housing aglow. Without some oil flow to carry off the excess heat the oil cokes in the housing. You can eliminate the problem by driving sanely before you shut down and/or letting the motor idle for a bit before shutdown. Remember the Turbo Timer? Is this an issue with a TDI? I suspect not, just because they are getting run on cars like RORs without problems.

[R.O.R-2.0]

i still treat my turbo like a turbo.. im fully aware my car needs a cool down period if ive been building substantial heat..

my college is at the top of a big hill, by the time i find a parking spot, and get all my things together, and get ready to actually head to class, my car is cooled off (usually around 2 mins of idling)..

i always harp on my friends about shutting their turbo cars off with the turbo still spooled..

but uh, if a certain oil were bad for these turbos, then i would think my turbo would be WELL DEAD by now..

once, i drained oil out of my car that SHEENED OFF THE DRAIN PLUG like water. i saw that and the eyes about popped out of my noggin..

couldnt believe my engine was running that crap.. it was after i heat seized it, so i didnt wanna waste a fresh change of oil on it..