8V71TI's more maintenance?

[Nonchalant1]

I have read here somewhere that the turbo's are a lot more maintenance than naturals, but I don't see what that work is, if anything. I went through all the maintenance items in the DD operators manual book and did them, but what is there to maintain on the turbos?

Doug Shuman
1978 53MY

[mikep996]

Doug,


In the day-to-day operation of the engines, I don't really see any additional "work" for a TI other than checking the hoses and the normal eye-balling of the various engine components.

However, in the long term, TIs require more "maintenance" in that there are more components that require attention...more things to "maintain." The turbos themselves will eventually require replacement/reconditioning, as will the oil lines to/from them. The intercoolers will need cleaning and/or repair, and other added TI engine items induction system hoses, etc. Of course, the fact that more power is produced also means there is more wear on the engines so the time between engine overhaul is less.


To me, it would be more accurate to say that the cost of OPERATING a turbo motor is higher than operating an NA motor. But I don't see that it is more "work" to maintain it in a general sense. And then again, operating cousts are directly related to how much you use them. If you bought a newly overhauled NA and a TI and put 1000 hours on them, the cost to "maintain" them both would probably be essentially the same. But if you put 10,000 hours on them, there will be a huge difference in the price of "maintenance."

That's the way I see it. Others may disagree and I have a feeling we'll soon find out...