I have a 97 saab 900 se turbo how do i change the oil in the turbo?

[timothy_amadore]

Someone told me that there is oil in the turbo and if you don't drive the car for a while the turbo would go bad and you need to get a new turbo. So i been thinking that like every thing else that has oil, needs to be changed. So how do you change the oil in the turbo? When i change the motor oil every 3 months is that the oil from the turbo too.

[Krissy Boyd *****]

Yes the turbo utilises the oil from the engine. Only if an oil pipe to the turbo breaks or bursts then you will have a problem. If you have not driven the car in a while make sure you run the car up to temperature before setting off. Also allow 30 seconds before turning the engine off to allow adequate cooling to the turbo.

[Mark F]

The Turbocharger is lubricated with engine oil. All the oil gets changed at the same time except for the bits that are trapped in the low spots.

The problem with turbo's is they get very hot, which can tend to cook the oil still in the turbo when the engine is shut off and the oil stops flowing. The best way to reduce that is to practice a cool-down procedure. Don't shut off your engine right away when you get to your destination. Let it idle for 1-3 minutes before you shut it down. This will allow the turbo to cool down, thus preventing the oil from buring inside the turbo and coating the insides with carbon. This practice can double the life of a turbocharger. I highly recommend the use of full-synthetic oil as well.

[Vipassana]

It uses oil from the engine.

Changing your engine oil, changes the turbo oil.

[Mr. KnowItAll]

It constantly recirculates the engine oil through it. So there is no way or need to change the turbo oil.

[Robert M]

Hopefully, you have been using a premium synthetic oil in your Saab. If you have not, there is a high probability that you have coke build-up around your turbo bearings. Although the engine's oil supply feeds the turbo, the higher heat generated by the exhaust system (which makes the turbo operate) will cook oil that doesn't have a high sheer point over time. I recommend that you use a de-sludging chemical before you change the oil in your car, like butyl cellosolve. This chemical chemically reacts with any sludge build-up, dissolves it, and prepares the way for a better lubricant. The only oils I recommend for your Saab are: Mobil One, ELF, and Amzoil. Using anything else will probably cause a problem over time. I, myself, have owner 3 European based turbo cars and have never had any turbo problems using these higher formulation oils. On cars I have personally serviced, I will sometimes remove the turbo oil feed pipe, and inject this chemicla directly into the turbo bearings. I hope you won't have to do this. One way to tell about the amount of denegrated oil in your engine is to remove your oil filler cap, and look on the underside of it. If it has brown waxy gooey coating on it, so will the entire inside of your engine, including the turbo. Good Luck!!