The subject of oil changes comes up fairly frequently on this board. The following is a special issue that turbo owners might want to consider.

I have a '96 850 Turbo wagon. After all the oil is drained during an oil change, the turbo obviously isn't holding much oil for the bearings. Since the turbo won't be re-lubed until a few seconds of running after the oil change, I always try to pre-lube the system first before running.

This involves two things:

- filling the new oil filter with oil before I spin it on. This ensures that the oil filter is full when the car is first started

- turning the car over for a few seconds with the ignition disabled, before running the car

You have to be somewhat carefull about disabling the ignition. Just pulling off the coil wire to the distributor isn't the right approach, as the power stage/coil is still generating high voltage and you risk damaging the coil if you run it with no load. It is better to disable the input to the coil. You can do this by disconnecting the triggering signal to the coil. According to my Motronic 4.3 service manual, on 850's from 1994 onwards that is pin 1 on the coil, a blue wire, closest to the front of the car. The other wire on the coil (pin 15, red) is the power to the coil. To disconnect the blue triggering lead, you need an 8mm wrench or nut driver (I find the nut driver to be easier to use). To make sure the nut and washers don't drop down into the bowels of the engine compartment, loosen it with the nut driver but remove it by hand.

Change the oil, disable the trigger signal, and run the starter for a few seconds (not too long, because you don't want too much unburnt gasoline in the engine). The turbo and all other parts of the engine should be nicely pre-lubed now. With the starter and ignition off, reconnect the trigger signal, and you are ready to roll.

I also highly recommend the use of a synthetic oil for the turbo as well.

Garth Gullekson