As this is my first turbo diesel i want to try and keep the turbo healthy. The horror stories of death by turbo failure are not a nice thought therefore i'm looking for advice.
My turbo seems to "spool" up from around 1.6krpm with max torque delivered between 2k and 2.5krpm with max power delivered at 3.6krpm. After 3k miles i find i mainly drive between 1.8 and 2.4k rpm with the occasional burst up to max power. Can i assume that driving within this range my turbo is constantly in use; if so should i be concerned about this if i am to keep the turbo in good shape for years to come?
I'm finding it odd adjusting to the diesel way of life. At this stage there no way i could give up 180bhp and 400nm of torque but i cant help feeling i'm thrashing my car sometimes because of its low down power as i like to treat my cars gently/well so they last a long time. Should i be worried?
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Should i be worried?
No.
Do not worry or drive worrying about how fast your turbo is spinning. In fact toodling along not spinning your turbo may cause it more damage.
Only two things to worry about with turbos. Dont spool it to high revs when oil is cold, or turn it off immediately after the turbo is spinning without allowing the car to idle for a moment or two.
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< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
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With this in mind, am I (or anyone else in my situation) better off trying to use 'no boost', 'minimal boost' or 'some boost' when I join the (relatively quiet) dual carriageway half a mile from my house in the mornings?
At the moment I try to change up when the revs touch 1,500 under light acceleration - which must make me the slowest 530D driver on the road (until the oil's warm anyway).
Any advice would be very gratefully recieved,
Thanks in advance.
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I've no experience with turbo charged cars but have used over 100 machines with turbo charged engines, there has been 2 failures. 1st on a badly maintained machine with over 5,000 hours under it's belt, the second on a well maintained machine which does alot of start/stop, full load/no load work with over 4,000 hours.
Your turbo will thank you for allowing the engine to reach operating temperature before the berries are administered and will thank you again if you allow it to idle for a minute before you shut it off after the berries are administed.
They like clean oil and will run just without a hitch with oil and filters changed on time.
Don't worry about prolonged periods under load, there are motors that have to run under full load with over 30psi of boost, and they had better keep pumping out the power for years with just oil and filters. Or else...
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With 180PS (177bhp DIN) and 400Nm of torque I take it that this is a 2.2 litre Toyota/Lexus turbo diesel, possibly in an Avensis T180? In which case I would not worry. It will be well engineered ;-) Although max torque for this engine is between 2000-2600rpm I think. I looked at one as my next company car. Enjoy.
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>> 2.2 litre Toyota/Lexus turbo diesel possibly in an Avensis T180? >>
This fits with the OP's comment "max torque delivered between 2k and 2.5krpm", the T180 is strangely lacking in torque below 2000 compared to many contemporaries though pull like a train from 2000 to 3000.
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Cheddar I would agree and never drove one. But looking at graphs the 2.2 150PS looks a lot more driveable both on power and torque. The 180PS looks more on/off instead of linear.
Anyone seen the power/torque curves in the brochure? The 180PS engine is shown on the graph but only for power from just under 2000rpm to just over 3600rpm (ish) - the line does not get shown for lower revs! The 150PS is a little better for torque graph. It's the 130PS engine that shows more rev range. I know this is marketing and graphs but the fact they are "peaky" in delivery says something doesn't it? Assume the power and torque curves steep.
Never even drove the 2.2 150PS I had lined up for 3 days test drive. The Mazda6 was very nice, drove well on a brand new engine and the wife liked it better than the look of the Avensis. Avensis was cheaper per month but I did like the Mazda6. Test drove it late one night to see if I like it on clear A roads with the Xenons. Came back over 150 miles and nearly 3 hours later ;-)
Now the Mazda on a 2.0D 143bhp diesel seemed to like to rev.... and drink diesel ;-( 360Nm torque apparently.
Lack of fuel effiency hopefully taken care with increase in car allowance recently.... there's hoping.
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My wife has an IS220d and it has a bad flat spot in power delivery below 2000 rpm. That said, I am led to believe that a software modification is available/imminent to help overcome this. Pulling out of junctions requires a bit of care - get it wrong and it's easy to stall
That said, the flat spot is no worse than the one in her previous A4, and the IS doesn't run out of steam at 3K either.
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Excellent - i always idle for 1 minute after driving anyway and i start the car as soon as i get in letting it idle for about 15secs whilst i do everything i need to do before setting off.
Always take it slow / under 3krpm and no hard acceleration until engine is fully warm so sounds like i'm doing all i can other than sticking to service intervals :)
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OldSkoOL......it is nice to read about someone doing the right thing with a turbo diesel but I have a problem in this connection. Currently I run a Jazz and although it is a wonderful vehicle in almost every respect, I am getting weary of the hard suspension and how tired it makes me on a longish journey. Therefore I have been considering alternatives which would provide greater comfort / better ride and prefer to go to diesel so as to get Jazz-like mpg. I would be buying second-hand and my short list of vehicles all have *turbo* diesel engines. Problem.....I suspect that very few owners know how to treat their engines in the way you have described....so....would I be buying trouble / repair bills? NB: I always study c-b-c breakdown for 'what's bad'.
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That is what would always worry me - i'm new to diesel turbo cars within this last year and always thought about previous owners too. I think as long as you can ensure that the car has come from a private owner and not a hire car or fleet purchase / and if you buy off autotrader you can guage how much they care about their car it will be a great buy especially Jap motors - which i personally love.
At the moment i have a Auris T180 07 plate and just picked up our new Rav4 XTR 57 plate both diesels which we love. On my T180 i did as much right as possible. Never labored the engine, varried the speed, never went over 65mph for the first 5/600 miles, took it easy on the brakes. Varried the throttle, gradually increased Rev's, gave it a motorway run after 1000 miles, also gave it brief acceleration bursts upto max power 3.8krpm after 1000 miles. Started reaching 4k / 4.5k / 5k gradually and always let it cool down for up to a minute after.
Thing is i couldnt sell this as an extra if i sold in the short term - my car no matter how much i look after it would go for the same as a car that has been thrashed from new. THerefore guage the owner and be assured that Japanese is great quality - I know how much attention to detail they put into the smallest components and how they have the whole board plus product advisers discussing the smallest of components and how excited they get at the simplest of mechanics and electronics. Thats gives me faith in any car.
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Thanks for that reply, OldSkoOL. You and I are on the same wavelength....perhaps the same generation...ahem. Do let me know if and when you are willing to part company with your Auris.
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