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Get more from your car and protect your engine
Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | Prevention is always better than the cure and looking after your vehicle and keeping it well maintained is the best way to avoid costly repairs. With more components and a more complex design, turbocharged engines are a little different- which means they benefit from a bit of special treatment when it comes to driving and everyday care. We offer five driving and maintenance tips to keep your turbocharged car in tip-top condition.
- Oil!
Proper oil management is the single most important aspect of turbocharger care, and will extend the lifespan of your engine. Oil helps to lubricate the moving parts of your turbo, and your engine needs a constant supply of the right kind of high quality oil to work effectively. Make sure you choose the right quality oil for your engine.
- Warm up your engine
Oil needs to warm up before it can effectively lubricate your engine, which means it’s a good idea to take it easy on the accelerator pedal until your car has warmed up. This is because when you first start your car, the cold oil is at its thickest, which means the oil pressure needs to be higher to pump it round the engine. This puts extra pressure on the oil seals. As the engine temperature increases, so does oil temperature. This thins the oil, enabling it to run more freely and lubricate the moving parts of your engine. So wait at least 10 minutes before putting your accelerator pedal down.
- Cool down
Just as you need to warm up your engine, you need to let it cool down. Extended journeys and high speed driving creates a lot of heat in your turbocharger, and if you turn off the engine whilst it’s still hot, you can cook the oil inside, leading to unnecessary buildup of carbonised oil inside your turbo. To avoid this, leave your engine running for a couple of minutes to cool down and circulate the oil before switching the ignition off.
- Cruise carefully
It might sound simple, but the faster you accelerate and drive, the harder you push your turbo and the more stress you subject your engine to – which will reduce its lifespan. Turbochargers are rigorously stress tested to ensure that they can stand up to lots of driving at high speeds, but that doesn’t mean they are invincible. So when cruising, try to go light on the accelerator, using the minimum amount of force required to maintain your desired speed. In addition to protecting your engine, this will also help you to improve your fuel efficiency.
- Use your gears
If you’ve got a manual car, it can be tempting to rely on the power of the turbo for tasks like overtaking and driving up long hills, rather than using the gears of your vehicle as you would in a non-turbocharged vehicle. Don’t. Driving in this way puts unnecessary strain on your turbocharger, and giving it a break and dropping down a gear when passing or climbing hills will help to prolong the life of your turbo.
