RichieB5

At roughly what milage does 2.7T turbo failure occur? Curious for people who have had failures what their milage was, and for those who are still running strong what milage they are at?

Also, assuming I were to get a car with about 120k miles on it and the turbos were in working order, realistically, how long would they last with the car chipped given regular oil changes. I would assume I would really be risking it....

2.7VT

If you take care of the car and don't put the turbos under more stress then was meant from the original equipment manufacturer (turning the car on immediately redlining it then shutting it off) it should last you through 200k. What is likely to fail are wear and tear fixtures such as seals you may get some oil leaks here and there you know wear and tear stuff that is in place so a turbo can work. If the car your buying has spotty maintenance records or was modded improperly there could be issues immediately. Best of luck with your purchase. Oh yea good Karma helps too bad Karma is how I explain all turbo failures anyhow.<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a6/msgs/696155.phtml">---&gt; YMMV = Your Mileage May Very</a></li></ul>

absolutcq20v

I'm a firm believer that turbo failures were/are largely in part to driver's input...specifically getting 'on the boost' before the turbos (oil) has had a chance to warm up. The turbos just have a brass bushing as a bearing...once it's overheated or oil starved, it's all over.
Search for 'Rules of turbo ownership' for the golden rules...and don't worry so much; there are much more likely things to fail.

Just Me

Some go at 50k. Others are strong at 150. Not too much data beyond that.

Key to turbo life is proper care:

- drive easy until oil is warm
- cool them down after hard runs (very hot)
- change oil regularly (5-6k)with good synthetic. I used M1 5w30 in my S4. 0W40 has even better specs. ELF 5W40 reputedly very good.
- dont run too thick and oil! Much misinformation about oil. The usual problem is too thick (when cold), not too thin (when hot).

Chipping does put a bigger strain on them, btu its mostly in heat. Do the above and the heat should be controllable.

Grant
Grant

paulroad

There is no rule. They are either good or they are not. Just warm up, cool down, use synthetic, and take car of it.

MarkW

I am at 106K and still going strong on the originals

john in cincy

110k, original turbos, still going strong!

IanB

And you don't know what the turbo's are like, or more importantly how they were treated. That being said, even at 50k miles the turbo's can go. Mostly I would look for a one owner, or two owner car (or a car with 120k mi that was only 5k to buy) that way if/when they went I could pay for the 3k in repairs. JMHO.

IB

LEH82

I will be your best friend for life I got quoted $3k for parts and $7k for labor...total $10k to install new turbos into the 2.7T engine...I do not look forward to this service whatsoever.

LEH82

x it....hopefully it doesn't just rely on that.