1pcarnut

Been looking for an 06 S and pretty familiar with the issues. Drove an 05 turbo this week, and wow. So, now I'm wondering about a turbo. I've searched and come up with tons of oil consumption threads, some using enough to keep an oil company in business (like a qt/400 miles) yet are considered within "normal" limits according to Porsche.

So, two questions:

1. For those that have had a first gen turbo, did the oil consumption get worse as the miles got higher, like around 80-90k miles, or did it stay consistent?
2. Did the oil consumption produce any negative results such as catalytic converter failure, combustion chamber carbon build-up, CEL issues etc?


Thanks!

pranqster

We broke ours in on the highway driving back to NM from Brumos (FL). We only have a little more than 30k on ours but we have used 3/4 of a quart every 7,000 to 8,000 miles. It gets changed around every 10k miles. I do not believe in the Porsche recommendation of around 20k.

Rob M Budd

I have 88K on my 05. Owned it for 4 months , 4K so far & it used a quart.

hahnmgh63

I drove my '06 Turbo S all the way cross country and it used a little under 1qt of oil, on frequent short trips of 50 miles or less it seems to use more, after about a week of constant short trips it will use about 1/2qt. Plugs looked normal when I changed them a few months back and I bore scoped the cylinders with my fancy new Snapon video borescope inspection tool and all looked normal.

1pcarnut

Thanks.


Hadn't considered that the long distance stuff would use less oil but maybe that makes sense, thanks. I go to San Diego every other month which is a round trip of 1k miles, it would be nice not to worry about adding oil during the trip.

Cole

I'm nearly at 100k on mine. Consumption has been the same for the life of the car. Sill runs great.

seankrider

I'm convinced the oil consumption is through the breather tubes, spraying around all over. Some guy installed a catch-can outfit that looked so good, that I was compelled to print out pics to try to tackle someday. That, and I thought there was a bulletin about changing out one of the hoses or tubes into or near the driver's side turbo or intercooler, as one of the flanges was known to go bad (or something like that - bad paraphrase).

I have not noticed a change whatsoever in consumption, relative to mileage on the car - mine is purely a factor of how hard I drive it. And nothing indicates a problem elsewhere in the vehicle related to this loss of oil, which would probably corroborate the escaping theory above.

(See you around Folsom.)

1pcarnut

Hey Sean,
Interesting theory. I seem to recall some scary stories about catch cans for turbos but can't think where I read it. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. Based on the responses the oil usage seems to cover quite a range.

Saw that you are in El Dorado Hills. Hopefully we will cross paths sometime.

ArneeA

Roger, ours don't consume oil as much as what I've read online. I did clear out the oil in driver's side intercooler pipe due to turbo blow-by; it's common for 955TTs, it seems.

Sean and Roger, I lived in Folsom for a few years as well. Though the last time I was up there, it was hot as hell; I didn't remember it being THAT hot (100+).

You guys are close to Thunderhill and Laguna Seca...good places to play with the 955TT.

hahnmgh63

Audi recommends that the dealer clean the lower Intercooler pipes of oil on every 15K service on my RS6. I have installed dual catch cans so their is one on each bank of the RS6 and they do catch a little oil but not as much as I expected. I may pull my lower Intercooler hoses on the Cayenne to see how much is there.
There is no problem and only benefits of using catch cans, especially on Turbocharged cars as the extra cylinder pressure under high boost tends to cause more blowby and then higher crankcase pressures. The only thing different for the cans compared to normally aspirated cars is that in most instances, where you want to plumb them in on a Turbocharged car requires a closed circuit catch can and not one vented to the atmosphere. The better catch cans allow easy cleaning and have some kind of media (kind of like brass, copper, or aluminum brillo pad, steel wool) on the inlet side to help the PCV gases to condense the oil & moisture out so it doesn't get passed downstream to the Intercoolers and the intake tract. The catch cans will have nothing to do with your oil consumption though, just what enters and coats the inside of your intake system (Intercooler & pipes, Throttle body, Intake manifold & Intake ports).

CarreraCup03

The turbo's use oil. That is a fact. I dont think this should stop you from buying a turbo. I always have a qrt of oil in a bag in the back of the car. Small price to pay. I absolutely love my car.

roberga

when I need to top off oil I just drive into the dealer. They top it off and I leave. Never have to pay. I do bring doughnuts on Saturdays once in a while.

mcbit

Mine has used a litre every 4000-4500km regular as clockwork for the last 50k km, so topping up is never a surprise and I can do it at my convenience.

Cole

FWIW.

Our Saab 900 Turbo used oil.
My MR2 Turbo used oil.
My 951 Turbo uses oil.
My Audi S4 Turbo Used oil.(and filled the drivers side boost hose).
My CTT uses oil.

Just part of the game with A) high performance motors and B) Turbos.

1pcarnut

Cole, how much is yours using (CTT) if I might ask, just for a data point?
Thanks.