Proper maintenance of a car extends its useful life and avoids headaches for its owner. Passing the periodic inspections, checking the fluid level and checking the condition of the tires are some of the good practices that must be carried out to always have the car ready. All this care also results in road safety, since a car that is up to date will be much more reliable than one that is not, hence the importance of having the ITV in force.
Keeping maintenance at bay does not mean that we are safe from the fact that the car will not suffer unexpected breakdowns. Sometimes an unforeseen event arises that needs to be repaired and the same happens when the vehicle accumulates many kilometers on it. The deterioration of certain parts over the years makes it necessary to replace them. Some components, such as the transmission chain, can cause costly repairs of the order of 3,000 euros that, on the other hand, are unavoidable.
However, the human factor can also help prevent breakdowns that in some cases require us to make a significant financial effort. In the same way that to know the state of the clutch, you only have to spend a few seconds, as we explained in this article, we can also avoid serious breakdowns with the car’s turbo by devoting very little time to its care: one minute when starting and another minute when parking
The turbo is a supercharging system that helps the engine perform more and consume less. In the 1940s we find the first cars equipped with a turbo engine, although this technology has become popular in recent decades due to restrictive emission regulations. For this reason, all diesel cars and most gasoline cars are equipped with this technology so as not to contravene the law.
In essence, what the turbo does is help compress the air going to the engine, sending more oxygen to mix with more fuel. In this way, by increasing the amount of combustion, more power is obtained without increasing the level of emissions.
The turbo takes advantage of the energy generated in the combustion engine to increase the power of the vehicle. Thanks to this, cars with a smaller displacement have an extra contribution of power without the need to consume a greater amount of fuel. In addition, as the circulation tax is related to the displacement of the car, the lower this is, the lower the rate will be.
The Euromaster workshop chain explains on its blog that there are a number of parts that can be damaged when the turbo does not work correctly. When we see on the dashboard that the fault warning light comes on, it is a sign that the system fails. We can also warn that the turbo is not working properly if we notice a loss of power or bluish smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe.
As we have said before, car care contributes to its good performance. The way you drive is very important, because if we do it smoothly, without heavy acceleration or sudden braking, the engine does not suffer as much wear as when we drive aggressively.
To safeguard the good condition of a turbo engine, you have to forget about bad driving habits and be very scrupulous when driving. The rule of thumb is to let the car warm up at idle for a minute before driving off. That is, leave it at the minimum speed without external help, such as stepping on the accelerator.
Once this is done we can move on. The best thing to do is to do it smoothly without stepping on the accelerator too much and without making sudden maneuvers until the engine has warmed up.
Upon reaching the destination we must repeat the initial practice. That is, before turning off the car engine we have to let it idle for a minute. In this way we will prevent the oil that remains between the engine parts from burning and forming a small carbon that, in the long run, will end up increasing the risk of breakdown.
It should not be forgotten that a turbo failure is one of the most expensive repairs. Its replacement will force us to disburse a figure close to 3,000 euros, according to the RACE on its blog.
