Why Do Most Modern Cars Have Turbo Engines? Are They Going to Be Reliable?

A Master Automobile Technician shares why most modern cars have turbocharged engines. We first dive into what are turbos, what they do and how they are constructed.

Then we go into their problems and reliability concerns.

TCCN Automotive Inc.
Toyota and Lexus Specialist Repair

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#thecarcarenut #toyota #lexus

[aquapisces]

This gentleman is not just a mechanic, he is a true educator.

[frankbiz]

When I listen to you I feel like I'm in a collage classroom listening to the best professor on the subject. Thank you so much for giving us your valuable time.

[Rottieman-hd]

You are the “ gold standard “ of YouTube automotive videos. The explanations are very much appreciated. I’m retired from the automotive biz. We drive Toyotas because they will give us the least amount of problems. I would suggest anyone who owns a Lexus or Toyota listen and learn from this man. Thanks for the vids. 👍

[bohdanked]

One of the best down to earth explanation of turbos on YouTube

[H.pylori]

The only problem with this excellent video is that this man's shop is not in my city.

[RareGenXer]

So in short: onerous government CAFE regulations have ruined automobile engines and dramatically raised their cost, maintenance and complexity while at the same time reduced their reliability.

[mikemayne]

The wise Car Nut said it best, maintenance. I have a 2016 Cummins Ram diesel. I drop the oil plug every 4, 000 miles, no exceptions! Ram recommends 10, 000 mile intervals, that’s why the dealer shops are full of broken down trucks. I have 211, 000 miles on my Ram, zero issues. But I maintain it to a very high level. Nobody does maintenance of any kind anymore. Such a shame not to take care of your vehicle with the new car prices as high as they are.

[justinbosley]

This is hands down the best automotive channel on YouTube. I even told my 66 year old father who worked 40 years in the automotive trade about and he loves it!

[dbsantanapr]

Not that I want a car with a turbo, but if it’s unavoidable I will happily drive and maintain it according to your instructions. Thanks!

[prakashnarismulu]

Owned and ran a number of BMW turbos diesel and petrol for past 25 years. No issues . Tip is to follow gentle warm up throttle on cold start and to allow the engine to idle for one minute on shut down to cool down the engine oil and turbo cooling effect . Great review .

[philipbearly]

I worked at a nuclear power plant for 23 years. Our 2 standby emergency generator sets were 2 1000 hp Caterpillar V12's coupled tail to tail with generator between (yes, one ran backwards). Each engine had 2 turbos, one for each bank. In our training, we learned that turbo speed and power is a function of unburnt fuel, yes, the fuel is still burning in the exhaust turbine, and turbos run at 80, 000 to 200, 000 rpms under full load/ engine speed. Our exhaust piping was too long (back pressure) due to building design, and I have seen the cast iron housing literally glowing red hot due to that. It meant down rating the gen sets by several hundred kilowatts. We had to disassemble and inspect each turbo every 3 months, then they had to pass emergency startup testing weekly. These gen sets would go from shutdown to full rpm/ load within 4 seconds. Each engine had 2 air starters at 250 psi air pressure to achieve 4 second load pick time. One time an intercooler leaked cooling water into intake manifold, causing 8 of 12 cylinders to be hydrolocked. That engine did not turn 3 degrees when they did the weekly test. This incident caused full overhaul/inspection of each engine. It was astonishing when I pulled out the precombustion chambers/injectors and saw standing water in the piston tops!

[speakeasy]

I truly enjoy your videos. I'm almost 60 and have owned many vehicles which I maintained properly. I've never had a engine failure. Just bought a 2.5L turbo vehicle and look forward to many miles ahead.

[needmoney]

My strategy for dealing with this question is to never buy a car having a turbo engine.

[AlbertaDMode]

By far this is the BEST mechanical engineering review of all pros and cons of turbo vs naturally aspirated. Again, I've learned so much more about turbo engines, especially when a turbo doesn't do much during cruising speed. Thank you again for all your hard work, sir!

[BillinSD]

Reliability is suffering. Not will, IS. You always bring a good conversation and leave it to consumers to decide. Thank you

[dw]

PLEASE create a video on CVTs... driving conditions that shorten their lives, how to drive to lengthen their lives, maintenance. Good CVTs and not so good CVTs.

Thank you for all you do for us!!!

[CrackerSmith]

I've had multiple turbo cars since the 80s models. I've broken some and learned a little for the others. If you drive turbo cars hard, you really need to change the oil every 2500-3500 miles / 6 months. and let it cool down properly. Taking it real easy the last 10% of the way home and letting it idle for a few minutes before turning it off usually achieves this easily. Meanwhile, I can beat up on my N/A vehicles all day and change oil every 5k/ 6 months. I am going to so miss these N/A era cars!

[walawala-fods]

In glad you did this. So many people forget Toyota has had turbos for ages, including the Hilux. Nobody says the Hilux turbo is bad

[wjgrandcherokee]

Thanks for the explanation! I was an automotive tech for GM for 20 years and no longer do it. I watch your videos and love that you explain everything in detail. This is great because I love to stay up with the knowledge of the automotive world. I also never really learned the correct difference between a twin scroll or sequential turbo. Every day with nothing learned is a day wasted. Thank you a million times over for teaching me something new!!

[eddieBoxer]

The car nut mechanic is the best top of the line mechanic on Youtube.