Blew up my street car's turbo

Turbo #4 for me was my 2005 Legacy GT's IHI VF40 while driving north on I-5 Sat near Lynnwood, WA... I was towing a lightly loaded Wells Cargo trailer, well under the Max weight allowed by Subaru for this make.

This turbo made it about 15K miles after the last one in this car broke its waste gate in such a way it was not repairable in 2009. The prior two turbos where in my Mazdog 323GTX rally car.

The center section no longer connects the two fans but it looks like all the bits stayed together so no shrapnel passed through the motor.

The car made some fantastic smoke while I lipped it home after dropping off the trailer at one of my job sites. I got real lucky this all happened 1 mile from where I could leave the trailer for the night.

I think it is time for a new car for me.

Sheeit man you've had bad luck with them thangs. I've blown up a lotta car parts but have yet to essplode a turbo. You've been going through em like a Frenchie at a plate of escargot, WTF is up with that?

Better turbos then gearboxes. Less costly and easier to swap.

A turbo lives a very hard life. Good oil and a little tlc goes a long way. Turbos don't like short run cycles and hot shut downs. There is a lot of confusion about cool down. I have often heard that you should let the engine idle for some length of time before it is shut of. It is important to understand that this is only necessary if there was a significant load on the engine shortly before. If you live at the top of a big hill it is a good idea to let the engine idle for a minute or two before you shut it off. On the other hand if your neighborhood is flat, the turbo is about as cool as it will get when you pull into your drive way. This is where good oil helps.

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Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.

Touche'. I bet I've gone through at least 4 gearboxes...

I can think of a few cars where step one of replacing a turbo is "Remove engine".

Actually it's "Place engine in service position" which is a euphemism for "We crammed a DOHC V6 engine in the very freakin' nose of this thing and we strapped turbos to the bottom side of it where you can't get to them so to do anything at all to this thing you have to remove the engine."

New turbo installed, oil flushed several times, new filters etc and it is all good now.

I found a small crack in the oil return line that likely let some of the slippery stuff out causing the oil light to flash on for a very short bit a few days ago when I was driving with much enthusiasm pulling long high g's turns.

Speaking of the oil return line, that was likely the trickiest thing I have ever installed on a car, I ended up attacking it like an orthopedic surgeon, long tools to remotely prod and poke it into place.

Quote
derek
New turbo installed, oil flushed several times, new filters etc and it is all good now.

I found a small crack in the oil return line that likely let some of the slippery stuff out causing the oil light to flash on for a very short bit a few days ago when I was driving with much enthusiasm pulling long high g's turns.

Speaking of the oil return line, that was likely the trickiest thing I have ever installed on a car, I ended up attacking it like an orthopedic surgeon, long tools to remotely prod and poke it into place.

that little rubber penis that goes straight down? (I assume its similar to a WRX/STI?) I hate that thing, worst part of installing the stupid turbo.