Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Modern Turbo Engines

We all know the auto industry is moving to modern turbo, small displacement engines to meet weight and admissions goals.

Ford EcoBoost, Toyota Tundra/Tacoma, etc - it's not really going to go away.

Old school line of thinking was to provide a warm up/cool down period for turbos. Still necessary for you guys running turbo engines?

What oil changes have you made? That is not OCI or UAL - but have you upgraded the oil you'd use vice NA engines of the past?

Anything else you guys find yourself doing differently?

For a truck, I could see the cool-down if you just finished a heavy tow job. Maybe let it idle a few minutes and circulate. I roll a lot of highway miles in my turbo F150 and change the oil about every 6k. I think the manual specifies a longer duration, but I don't see the sense in pushing it. My brother turned 250k yesterday on his 2012 3.5L EB F150 and it has seen a pretty good mix of city/highway. That truck has seen oil changes at 5k intervals its whole life. He needed new valve cover gaskets a few months back and internals looked clean. As to oil brand, he uses Mobil1, while I use generic paired with a Ford oil filter.

If I was driving a turbo performance vehicle and pushing it hard, I would definitely let it cool down afterwards and would probably change oil at 50% of the recommended interval. Keep those turbos happy and don't let that oil get dirty.

Edit: I will add that I was anti-turbo for a while, until I drove the N/A versions again the forced-induction versions. Had a V6 Accord and a 2.0Turbo Accord and the turbo model had more torque on tap at nearly all RPM, with the V6 not being a slouch to start with. No contest on a V8 F150 vs the 3.5 EcoBoost in the same department, being torquier at 2,000-4,000RPM. I know there are more moving parts in a turbo setup, but being able to add boost when you need it and being able to cruise with practically no boost and a smaller displacement engine does make sense if you are looking to have fuel economy while also having power in reserve when you want it.

If I think about it, I'll remote start my EB in the morning. I read something a while back about the cam phasers (a known issue on previous model years) needing to be bathed in oil. I talked to a few mechanics about using an oil stabilizer, but they hadn't had any issues on modern models.

I tow periodically, mostly during hunting season. But not heavy, a 10 foot enclosed or a 12 ft utility. Never done a cool down other than I'm probably backing up, so I suppose that is a slight cool down. As Jpro said, the torque curve at low rpms makes towing a joy.

Use mobil1 synthetic. 6-8K miles.

Sitting around 85K on a 2020, no problem free.

I had a late '70's Saab turbo that ate two sets of turbo seals that made me swear off turbo's ever since. $750. each time negated what ever fidgety fast turbo kick I got or the great four cylinder gas mileage. That was a year or two before they had the inter-cooled version of that engine which probably made lots of a difference. I was using Mobil-1 oil back then, but it was only offered as a 5w20 or some such really light weight oil viscosity. Turbos run hot and those Saab seals couldn't take it. When I bought my last Ford truck that 3.5 EB was an option. Nope, one of those V-8 dinosaur engines for this guy. The wife thinks she wants a van, but Toyota's have been 4 cylinder turbo since 2021. People seem to be hanging on to those 3.5 V-6's and there might be a lesson there.

My ex-wife had a Subaru back in the 1980's with a turbo that had very bad turbo lag. In that era, and my understand up until the last 15 or 20 years turbo lag was typical. Also the longevity of turbos were very poor. The one my Ex had died in less than 80,000 miles.

Fast forward to today. I purchased an Acura RDX in January and it has a 4 cylinder turbo that has absolutely no lag that i can detect. It is my understanding that the modern turbos make power early in the rpm range and the torque curve is fairly flat. I know that he Acura will outrun the 2014 Toyota Highlander I had with a naturally aspirated 6 cylinder of approximately the same horsepower and torque rating.

My research before buying the turbo indicated that modern turbos are going well over 200,000 miles on many of the vehicles using them in the last 10 or 15 years.

Talk about SAAB's...it only took GM 7-8 years of owning SAAB to drive it into the ground. I have a very low opinion of the 14th floor at GM, which used to be where the GM execs made the decisions.

Anyway, back to SAAB. Yes, they had turbos starting in the 1978 model 99, and those turbos were usually good for 50,000 miles, if you did not follow warm up and cool down procedures. The oil would 'coke' on the turbo bearings if shut down before it had a chance to cool down. Once you heard a turbo 'rattle' on cold start up, you knew replacement time was coming.

I used to sell SAAB's, and the engineering that went into them was incredible, having been designed and engineered by many of the same guys that made the Swedish Viggen military fighter jet.

Fast forward to today, and you have water cooled bearings, with their own radiators in many cases, better oils and the turbos are now lasting a long, long time.

With my 2022 Jeep Wrangler and the 4cyl turbo, I take it easy when the engine is cold and I do let it idle for 20-30 seconds before shut down, then I'll open the hood to assist in cool down. It does get hot, very hot, under the hood, and there are all kinds of electronics under there, and electronics generally do not like heat, so I let the heat out.

Old habits die hard, lol.

Doing some research as I'm looking at a new Tundra. 24

I've always run Amsoil in my Tacoma but not the top stuff, I think with the Tundra, should the deal get done - I'll bump it to the top tier stuff. Increase of 30 bucks (also more oil, 7.7 qt). Supposed to do better with the heat. Toyota states no cool down needed for city driving, no cool down needed for "high speed driving" up to 50 mph. If the truck sees 62 or hills, they recommend 1-2 minutes of cool down before shutting off the truck. UKN if that means idle or, if you come off the highway - spending 1-2 minutes at city/low speeds.

It's buried in the owner's manual so you have to hunt for it.

Not a bad idea. Some of the new turbo truck engines, like the Chevy 2.7L Turbomax, have electric water pumps that continue to run after the engine is shut off.

I haven't seen that yet on the Tundra. I'd imagine there's some syphon cooling going on when you shut down via the oil channels but still - I bet 95% of people buying new turbo style vehicles aren't giving a cool down period. (not that this is the reason for the Tundra 22/23 engine issues)

My wife just bought. Ford Ranger Raptor. Amazing truck, 405 HP and 430 ft/lbs torque from the 3.0 Ecoboost V6. Suspension just soaks up anything you want to throw at it. Just a couple of weeks after she bought it, Ford Performance came out with a tune that bumps the HP to 455 and torque to 536 ft/lbs. Naturally, we had to have that. Turned an already amazing truck into an absolute monster. About the most fun you can have with your clothes on!

Anyway, to answer the OPs question, I do let my turbos spool down for a few seconds before killing the motor. Figure it can’t hurt. Also use only full synthetic oil and no more than 5000 change intervals. Cheap insurance in my view.

John

That’s a lot of HP in a mid size truck, bet it will scoot, 471 in my GW at 6,300 pounds, and it will fly, but the 3.6 double turbo they put in GW is like 515 HP, I will stick with big V8.

I forgot to mention that my new Acura has engine “Stop Start” which stops the engine when the vehicle is stopped and restarts the engine when the accelerator is pressed. Fortunately the Acura has a button that you can press when first starting but you have to remember to push the override button each time. There is a kit available on-line that will defeat the Start Stop feature but I have not gotten one yet.

Now when driving on the interstate at high speed and then exiting to enter a business or residential area the autos with Start Stop will cut the engine off at every traffic light. This cannot be good on a turbocharger.

Seems like a good idea to me, as I love Amsoil motor oil. '24 Tundra 1794's almost 10k off here so I've entertained the idea too. The particular one I started looking at was made in late June of this year, using the improved parts that were suspect in previous models.

They're getting 25's in next month - I'm weighing my options. All I really want is a Limited TRD Off Road, nothing more. They have exactly 1 of them coming in next month.

Otherwise the 24, if it's still there so I can compare - I expect to have pretty good discounts on.

The landowner where we hunt whitetails has the TRD Limited, 2023 model with 25000 miles. He's had no problems with it at all so far. One guy (no idea if it's true) told me that Toyota was shutting down the plant in San Antonio for a short while to only produce the replacement engines they are recalling/warrantying, then they'll start full production of the '25's.

Dealer says 25s on the lot next month. I might wait for them.

My current Camry and former trucks/4Runner I'd always do 10k mile full synthetic changes.

This '23 F150 3.5 I do 5ks myself and will do 10ks at the dealer just for paper trail and extended warranty stuff should it be needed. I always turn the start/stop off, and go gentle the first few miles and let it sit 20 seconds or so before shutting it off.

Don't know if it'll all help, but hope so.

Got a pard works for Toyota not a salesman anyhow he said Toyota going to be sending them Long blocks to replace the v6 motors in the tundras that are letting go. They said Toyota has never done long blocks always been short blocks.

Wonder how hard it would be to put a 3.5 ecoboost in a non Raptor Ranger. Or even a different ecoboost. There’s bound to be a bunch of them available .probably need a transmission swap too.

Does Procharger offer anything?

There’s a lot of plumbing on an twin-turbo Ecoboost. Adds to complexity on swaps, I’d imagine.

About turbos and diesels...
I have an 08 Dodge with the Cummins. My hunting pard has an almost identical one. Last year his turbo went out and it cost him about $2500 for repairs. These trucks have an exhaust brake. It works like a Jake brake but that runs off the compression valves while the Cummins version runs off the exhaust valves. The Jakes are stronger but a whole lot louder. The exhaust brakes don't sound much different than normal engine braking. The exhaust also runs the turbo. His mechanic told him to run the brake all time as it will blow the crud off the turbo parts and make them last considerably longer.

I don't know if the newer small diesels are the same but it might be worth checking into.

I have heard the same about using the exhaust brake a lot or all the time if possible. I have two Ram trucks with the Cummins and our RV has an 8.9L Cummins. We use the exhaust brake most of time on all three of them.

Looks like my deal for the 2024 Tundra may be on this Saturday. We'll see how it goes.

I actually drove a '24 1794 yesterday and it was very nice. Build date was July '24 on that one. Super smooth and quiet.

I lost my turbos Monday on my 08 f350. Dang things are new, less than 20k miles atleast. Thank God it was only a broken map sensor. All I seen was dollar signs. Thing was as gutless as a chevy....

Not sure on this truck if I need to cool them down but I still idle for a few. Old school in me

Deal was done. Pretty impressive. Run 1800 rpm at 75 and almost zero boost.

That's a beauty! Congrats.

Thanks. Too easy to speed in it compared to the Tacoma.

Gonna be a bitch to keep clean but when clean, it's great.

Nice truck. Not showing the pic to my wife. She wants a taco real bad, that one would cost me more

Beautiful truck, Teal. Congrats!

This last week our daughter was in town. She'd rented a new Dodge 1500 with the mega cab. I can't believe how much wasted space there was in the back seat. I'd rather have all that room in the bed. I'm not sure which engine it had. It was a gasser and it really moved. She'd just touch the pedal and it was flying.

I loved my Taco but once you got to about 3000 lbs towing, it got pretty noticeable. Rated for 6k and 3k wasn't "dangerous" - just you definitely knew it was there. I could pull a pair of sleds easy or an ATV but we're thinking of next year finally pulling the trigger on a SxS and at 2k lbs for the machine, not including trailer - I wanted "more".

22 Taco TRD Off Road I traded for the Tundra -





Thanks, the color is growing on me. In the shade it looks black. In the sun the dark blue to purple to some red almost at angles. It's not a chromatic color but I'd bet there's some pearl mixed with the flake.

A sharp looking Tundra Teal, but you are going to like your new truck, but the Tacoma color. That was real apparent over the weekend washing my red GMC compared to my gray GMC. Even water spots show up as gray on a darker colored exterior. I might have missed it, but what engine is in those new ones? My friends with the older Tundras like them all except the gas mileage.

This one has the 3.4L Twin Turbo. 389 hp, 479 torque. It's interesting, cruise at highway speed - 0 boost on the gauge. It's so damned easy to scream along, truck moves.

I'm debating on having it ceramic coated to help with clean up. Just don't want to give up the truck for a week.

ETA - it's a Limited Trim package with the TRD Off Road added on as an option.

After the Taco, there were some things I knew I didn't necessarily want/need. Leather seats and the moon-roof namely. So this one doesn't have it. Has a faux leather but the seats are heated and ventilated. Which is nice. Light air on the back while its still warm out.

Nice truck! I picked up a new F150 a month ago with the 2.7 and have been really impressed so far. I also had it ceramic coated and it’s well worth losing it for a few days.

I also traded a 22 Tacoma in on the F150 and while I loved the Tacoma it was just a bit under powered.

100mph in the Taco vice 100mph in the Tundra - two VASTLY different feelings in the seat of the pants! One thing I really didn't like about my Tacoma was the amount of bump steer it had. Thing was twitchy as hell at speed.

Then again - it was a gokart in the woods. I know of a few places I went with it - specifically hunting, I can not go with the Tundra.

One other thing the Tundra is missing over the old Taco. A 120v plug in the bed. Not a huge thing, all I ever used it for in the Taco was Christmas tree lights and decorations I'd put back there and then turn on during the season while bumming around town. Kids liked it.

I caved.....folded like a lawn chair.......

Sweet! 1794 or Platinum/Capstone?

1794. I guess Toyota is trying to make room for 2025's, as this one was $10k off. It's a very impressive ride, and mine behaves exactly as you describe at 75mph on the hwy.

Very cool. Be interested to see how your experiences parallel mine over the life of the trucks. All told I think I ended up about 9k off list. Maybe some change more, dunno exact number off top of my head.

Handy little spot...

I put 435k miles on a 1999 Ford Power Stroke with zero turbo issues. Warmed it up on cold mornings babying it until she was up to temp but never a cool down ever. Heavy truck and did lots of towing.

Sample of one for sure but the reputation of that motor alone should alleviate most of your turbo concerns imho.

I’m fine with turbos on diesels, but not so much on gassers….at least for an eye to simplicity/durability. I’m not a Ford person, no matter what they have. I’m also feeling betrayed by Toyota for not having a V8 in the lineup and subbing in an unproven twin turbo 6 with teething pains…..very Ford-ish of them. Diesels are becoming my favorites, for sure. Old or new, just seem to be better at most things I want from a truck. YMMV.

Research the gm 2.7, you’ll like what you find. 680cc long stroke jugs, inline 4, single dual volute turbo with each volute taking two cylinders pulses and not fighting other pulses, fast spool up. No lifters. Same long warranty as the diesel. 5 mains (the Ford 2.7tt v6 only has 4), it’s built around the turbo as a truck engine from ground up, one of only 2 engines gm engineers couldn’t kill. It’s basically a 21st century gas powered 4bt cummins. Clever in its routing of cooling fluids and oils for super fast warm up in winter and cool down. They knew it would be driven by stop and go lead foots with 2 minute drives lol.

310hp, 430 ft/lbs. weighs nothing, boost only loses 0.05% power per 1000’ vs 3% of NA, at 4000’-5000’ I have 90 ft/lbs more than 5.3 v8 at 1100 rpm less and within a couple hp. I mostly tow with mine and love it. 48,000 miles so far not a single issue. Effortless grunt. The gm engineers said with the 8spd in 1st gear it puts out more axle torque than the older 8.1 liter big block and its 4spd. The 8spd is light also. Single best truck engine in all half tons f you research them all. Lowest total cost of ownership and zero common warranty issues. That’s why has same warranty as the diesel. Came out in 2019, no issues, added power in 2022.5, still no issues, added 5 yr warranty 2024.

Light front end benefits offroad and daily handling. Gm is building the only true truck engine in half tons. Not some square or short stroke multi platform engine. No def or emissions headaches.

It’s basically the blend in performance and economy of the 3.0 diesel and 5.3v8 with non of the issues of either and so many other benefits. Well done gm.

Now build add two more cylinders to it which would put it at 4080 cx (4.1 liter) with 465 hp and and 645 ft/lbs for the 2500/3500’s and offer the same benefits to the bigger boys. The 2.7 is the right size for half tons. The turbo moves as much air as another bank of cylinders but can fit in your hand lol. It’s 57mm Borge Warner top end dual volute and gm specifically chose the turbo first and then designed the engine around it.

Oh and 87 octane is what it’s designed around and runs awesome on.

It’s as close to proper truck cummins formula as you can get. Inline, single turbo, long stroke. Cummins is extra long stroke. Brilliant move by gm imo. It’s the only long stroke engine in half tons. The camaro engine v8’s are short stroke, the think the ford v6’s are square and surely the new one from dodge is short based on too many cylinders and turbos but similar hp to torque numbers. Trucks like more torque than hp, bring on the long strokes. The work(ft/lbs) we are after not the speed of work(hp).

To the new owner don’t sweat Amsoil or any of that. I did that at first with my new baby and too slick and used oil, just let the dealer put in what gm engineers wanted and no issues lol. I tow lots so change oil every 3000 miles and that is all. And try different gas stations on fuel, it will take a bit of trying tanks between brands but I notice with regular from petrocan it feels faster. I’m in Canada.

Stinky
How much weight are you towing and at what altitude?

4” lift, 33x10’s, lifted cargo trailer about 3000lb and 400 lb fuel tank in box pls 500 lb of tools and recovery gear. Then whatever kids and gear for mission we are on. The kicker is we fly. Left lane, 75-80 mph stints to fishin holes for weekends etc. And we do because it’s nothing for the truck lol. We have to go slower with my buddies 5.3 which is more er typical tow speeds but if we are heading out first or heading home we just leave him to go his jolly pace. My trailer has tandem 3000lb torsions so rides good. Camper conversion with diesel heaters ice fishing holes solar etc. Straight hunting and fishing rig. Left lane regular traffic speeds for left lane. Had a 6.2 for few weeks and towed briefly with it and at same speeds got same mpg lol so the 2.7 can put out similar work. Elevation 4000’ where I live. I actually have more torque here than the 6.2 but about 60 less hp. That’s the beauty of boost and this long stroke big jug 4-banger.

Newer outfits with these turbos are a no-go for me. But, I only buy used vehicles, usually with around 100k miles or more on them.

Did a lot of researching into the 3.5 ecoboost as we were recently shopping for a 1/2 ton pickup and liked the fords. What I learned created an absolute line that I would not buy an ecoboost. Sounds like if you own it from brand new and are religious about oil changes at no more than 5k miles, you might be alright.

Reality is, as the motors get smaller and output increases, the engineering tolerances are tighter and tighter to get that performance. Just makes for very little room for error in those motors. I will stick with my crappy mileage from my 5.7 toyota motor for a while longer.

Yeah Ford was first through the wall and got bloody and has made lots hesitant based on things they had to work out in the first few years. Agree they are stilly too busy for me although I have a Ford maverick turbo 4 as commuter now so my 2.7 chev basically only tows for hunting and fishing weekends now.

If you examined the turbo option now you’d prolly find the gm 2.7 would make your approved list. 6 years out and not a common warranty issue or any issue. Find the YouTube’s with the gm engineers talking about it, 2-3 good videos, it’s the real deal. Gm did it right by developing it as a truck engine from the start, they knew the push back they would get on putting a 4cyl in a half ton and that if it had issues it could bury gm...so they made sure this thing would become another legend. And even on gm forums you see it is the least talked about thing. The v8’s and diesel and 10 spd trannies all having issues. Typical emissions stuff on the diesel, lifter dm issues on the v8’s, some major internal issues on the 6.2. The 2.7 has nothing. They been out long enough now getting over the 100k miles without issues. Lots of keeners engineer types bought them early and have been documenting everything.

So don’t let Ford breaking through the wall issues at the beginning cloud things for boosted gas motors a dozen years later. The industry got to benefit from those early lessons. Can almost thank them for taking the leap. Because it’s the best truck motor I’ve driven since early gen1 cummins. Glad they got the party started, a turbo is such a good way to move air with benefits that far outweigh anything another bank of cylinders can give. I won’t get down with v6 twin turbos though. It’s pretty remarkable that gm let the turbo determine the best configuration for their new half ton truck motor, their engineers talk about it, they could have built it anyway they wanted but the best way and most efficient way turned out to be inline long stroke big jug and the displacement chose itself for output levels they wanted and therefore the number of cylinders was simply a byproduct of those factors.

And i said earlier it weighs nothing but not really true, yeah it’s 160 lb lighter than the v8 but it’s still as heavy as a modern 3.5 liter Na v6. It’s not some lightweight four they just added a turbo to, it’s built like the diesel for those boosted cylinder pressures which are less than the diesel but up closer to them than the low pressures of a na engine, forged bottom ends, hardest cylinder liners known to man etc. It’s worth your research time. It’s a 166 cu in big block of a 4-banger lol. It’s no ‘little 4-banger’. 666cc short stroke jugs in a 5.3 Fyi. This has 680cc long stroke jugs fed with up to 22 psi as needed, and it doesn’t need much boost at all to get out of its own way.

Remember the gm engineers said it it one of the videos, it’s one of only two engines they’ve ever developed they couldn’t kill. Their warranty shows their confidence. And that 6 years on the road now without a peep in industry and a few hundred million American v8 lovers drooling for a chance to sh1tcan the retardation thought of putting a 4cyl in a half ton are still drooling for the chance to poo poo it. Nothing but crickets lol. Gm did boosted truck motor right with this one.

Interesting.

I bought a new '24 Tundra , loaded SR5 on 10-30-24 and absolutely love it . I like Teal went from a Tacoma to the new Tundra, the driving and ride improvement is amazing . BTW, I got the Tundra , better equipped , for 7K less than a loaded Ford F150 XLT.

I changed the oil at 2,600 miles and sent a sample for analysis . I put a Toyota filter and Valvoline 0-20 synthetic , extended protection in it . I will change it again at about 5-6K and send a sample . Toyota calls for 10 K intervals , even on the first oil change. I just can't wait that long. After the first 10 K I'll change it every 5 k .

Speaking of engines , fun fact, the Tundra and Tacoma engines are assembled in Huntsville, Alabama.

Fun fact, 2Dogs, you have the best handle! I’m jealous👍

I assume that’s in reference to the old joke of course and not that you just have 2 dogs. Correct?

Being in the market for a new AWD SUV, it won't be a 4 cylinder, hybrid, turbo or have a CVT.

Why do you ask?

Hahaha, I thought so...very good Sir