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Just bought my first turbocharged car, any maintenance advice/ general tips?

One simple principle has already been stated umpteen times above: be gentle when it's cold. But there's another chapter to that tale. Water warms up faster than oil. So even though the needle on the water temperature gauge may be sitting pretty at 90 degrees centigrade two minutes after you set off, that doesn't mean your oil is as warm. Once that needle hits the normal range, it's a good idea to take it easy for another two or three minutes before using your big toe liberally. There is also absolutely no need to let the motor idle before moving off after it's been standing overnight but simply be gentle.

As has also been repeated above, if the motor's been spinning at high RPM either because of traffic-light GPs or sustained high-speed freeway driving, it's good practice to gently drive the car home for at least three kilometres. If driving those three kilometres isn't an option, i.e. you've just arrived at the Harrismith/Colesberg Ultra City on the N3/N1 after a long stint of 120km/h+, let the motor idle while parked for about two minutes before switching it off.

It's the golden rule of car ownership: have mechanical sympathy.
 
let the motor idle while parked for about two minutes before switching it off.
This is generally a terrible idea if you have driven the car hard

driving hard and letting the car stand still and idle is just as bad as immediately switching the car off. If the car isnt moving there is no air moving through the radiators that's meant to transfer the heat.

at a track, after your laps/drag race, take a sort chilled drive to let the car cool a bit
on the road, keep it chilled the last couple of km as mentioned.
 
This is generally a terrible idea if you have driven the car hard

driving hard and letting the car stand still and idle is just as bad as immediately switching the car off. If the car isnt moving there is no air moving through the radiators that's meant to transfer the heat.

at a track, after your laps/drag race, take a sort chilled drive to let the car cool a bit
on the road, keep it chilled the last couple of km as mentioned.
Like did you read everything else he posted or just half a sentence selectively
 
Like did you read everything else he posted or just half a sentence selectively
my response is only aimed at the part where he says you should idle your car while stationary. Which is the wrong advise.

Hence I only quoted that portion.
 
This is generally a terrible idea if you have driven the car hard

driving hard and letting the car stand still and idle is just as bad as immediately switching the car off. If the car isnt moving there is no air moving through the radiators that's meant to transfer the heat.

at a track, after your laps/drag race, take a sort chilled drive to let the car cool a bit
on the road, keep it chilled the last couple of km as mentioned.
Wrong spot, G-Spot.
 
So when putting my foot down, i notice some lightly coloured smoke from the exhaust. Most online forums seem to indicate the turbo being the cause? Anyone experience this?
 
my response is only aimed at the part where he says you should idle your car while stationary. Which is the wrong advise.

Hence I only quoted that portion.
Okay. As he mentions, if you are UNABLE to drive the last bit slowly, THEN it is better to idle as opposed to just switching off.

To me this seems like the better thing to do. When the engine is running, the oil pumps, water pumps, possibly radiator fans are still moving and circulating the hot liquids through the engine. There’s now a larger surface area for the liquids to cool as the cooling system is now included. If you just switch off, in most cases circulation stops.

Care to explain technically how this is bad advise in this specific situation when you are unable to drive the last bit slowly.
 
To add to this, some greyish-black smoke could also indicate overfueling.

Also, @Joshmeister, is it sustained smoke while flat-footing or is it just a puff at a particular point in the rev range?
It's only at a certain point. It's not constant and when the car is idle and I rev it, there's no smoke. It's only once I push it that the smoke appears
 
CHECK OIL <<<< FILL OIL <<<< CHECK OIL <<<<< and MORE OIL ... Cant express how important this is as TURBO cars drink oil ... I didnt check oil every time I filled fuel and had to replace my engine due to bearings.....
 
Okay. As he mentions, if you are UNABLE to drive the last bit slowly, THEN it is better to idle as opposed to just switching off.

To me this seems like the better thing to do. When the engine is running, the oil pumps, water pumps, possibly radiator fans are still moving and circulating the hot liquids through the engine. There’s now a larger surface area for the liquids to cool as the cooling system is now included. If you just switch off, in most cases circulation stops.

Care to explain technically how this is bad advise in this specific situation when you are unable to drive the last bit slowly.
The engine is not the only thing that needs to be cooled after hard driving, and idling only serves the motor, No other components. Idling also compounds heat in the engine bay.

What is cooling your exhaust, brakes, gearbox and diff (if you have one) Those also get very toasty with hard driving, And those rely on air cooling in most cases. Some even have fluid coolers of their own. also not covered by the rad fans.

Ok maybe I miss spoke, But some people, And I see this daily, drive the balls off their cars and park it, and use the "idle" excuse as a get out of jail free card. This should never be the solution. Adapt your driving style to account for this instead of idling the car and hotboxing your engine bay. I've driven/raced turbo cars for close to 15 years, and unless you are rushing someone to the ER there is no reason to resort to idling the car.
 
You have a + 16 year old turbo car. This is a computer forum. <- remember this

The turbo is a known failure point on that cars. <tons of threads about this >

Best advice join a MPS car group and ask for their advice. Each turbo car is different.

So when putting my foot down, i notice some lightly coloured smoke from the exhaust. Most online forums seem to indicate the turbo being the cause? Anyone experience this?

Best advice for any high performance car.

: be gentle when it's cold. But there's another chapter to that tale. Water warms up faster than oil. . Once that needle hits the normal range, it's a good idea to take it easy for another two or three minutes


I recommend you look at the service history. Turbo heat causes other items to fail. Best find a good indie MPS mechie and ask advice.

Post engines pics.

MPS Turbo play

 

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