Howdy all Brickers...a newbie to the brickboard. I just bought a 1994 850 turbo wagon and we love it. The power is awesome and the ride is tight. The car was serviced every 5,000 miles on time and was serviced by the same dealer it was bought from. Everything is in excellent condition. My question is...Now that the car is at 95,000 miles should I change engine oil type, weight, or time between changes? The dealer uses Valvoline 10w30. Will certain oils help/hurt the turbo. I also have a 1992 940 Turbo sedan with 155,000 miles. This also has used 10W30 its entire life. It uses (burns) a quart per 2000 miles. Is this because of the turbo? Should I be worried about that consumption? Is there a sure fire oil out there that could solve this problem, and spare my 850 T from using this much in the future?

Thanks for your help

Original owner of a 1995 850 turbo with 76K miles.

Have used Mobil 1 Synthetic 10-30 weight since break-in at about 10K miles.

Been using Mobil 1 in all family vehicles since 1988. Honestly can't say it helps, but certainly hasn't hurt!

I have 170K miles on my 850T and change oil and filter every 5K miles with whatever oil is on sale. It doesn't burn a drop between changes. I am counting on it being the same at 300K. I would stick with what's been done in the past.
--
Tom 69-1800S, 72-1800ES, 96-850T

With that loss/consumption, you might have a turbo seal leak. Simple to fix, cheap etc.... I would not hesitate with 95K to run a full synthetic like Mobil 1. Open you your oil fill cap and look at the oxidized crud around the rubber gasket, and then run Mobil 5/30 for 10+K mikes, and the motor will shine like new!

Mike

A biased answer, since I've been using and selling AMSOIL for 26 years.

I've changed a lot of cars to synthetic with over 100,000 miles. In the 26 years, there have only been two or three (that I know of) which leaked-- come to find out, they leaked before the change.

synthetic oil will evaporate much more slowly than non-synthetic, so you might see a decrease in consumption. On the other hand, there is no mechanic in a can, so if there is a mechanical problem synthetic isn't likely to fix it. It does not replace missing metal or seal/gasket material. It won't stop stones from taking out the windshield or headlights. It won't keep you from being rear-ended at the light.

Far as viscosity, you can stick with the manufacturer's recommendation if that suits you. I use AMSOIL 0w-30 in 3 turbos and a Dodge van.

I've used Mobil-1 10W30 in mine since new. I've also used Mobil-1 5W30 on wife's Honda since new. Both are the manufacturer's recommended weights.

I still use dino-juice in the '86 Porsche and '88 Merc. The Porsche still doesn't use oil. I use whatever falls readily to hand for the Merc, it could be anything from 10W30 to 20W50 Castrol. I'm not brave enough to change from dino-juice to synthetic late in a car's life, I've heard stories of doing this and then sprouting oil leaks like a colander. I have done this on my lawn equipment with no leaks. Yet.

-Punxsutawney Phil

'98 V70T5M, 120k mi., iPd stabilizer bars, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, Valentine-1, Mobil-1 always, e-code headlight lenses, Dunlop SP5000s

'86 944NA (that OTHER 944) 58k mi., factory HD sway bars and Fuchs forged wheels, Valentine-1. e-code Hellas, Yokohama AVS ES100s

I'd stick to the manufacturer's viscosity recommendations and also use a synthetic in a turbo. I have 92,000 on my 95 turbo wagon and change at 5,000 miles, 10W30 Mobil 1.

Welcome to BB!
--
Erwin in Memphis, '88 745t 183,000 miles, '95 855t For Sale

I have read the replies which are good, One thing not mentioned and very important,,,,,FLAME TRAP....
Turbos utilize air flow as source of input. This source will come from the easist place. If airflow is resricted due to lack of service for intake, via air cleaner or flame trap, then it will pull from the crankcase. This is what results in oil consumption, and oil in the intake hose to turbo. I highly recommend routine replacement of the flame trap. Other failures caused by clogged flametrap are engine seals popping out. This is for all models in general. The turbo models place a much heavier load on proper airflow, which is why you will see more of these issue on the turbo equipped vehicles.

Excuse my mechanical ignorance here - I have read that the turbo doesn't have a flame trap. Help!! If there is one in the turbos I'm going to go looking for it having read so much about it in many posts.Can anyone confirm?

Rick.