Believe it or not, our way of driving can cause some breakdowns in the vehicle. They can be small oversights, which could become a problem in the long run, but also something that, in reality, is more frequent and that we do not stop to observe. One of these aspects can be done very well directly when parking .
Do not turn off your car engine immediately
Between 10 and 15 years usually pass from the time a new car is purchased until it is finally removed, depending on the use that is required of it. And even if it changes ownership during that period, following the guidelines can extend its life by many thousands of kilometers, keeping it in good condition and thus increasing its residual value if you decide to sell it.
In any case, it is worth mentioning that there are certain daily aspects in which we do not usually stop to observe, and that in the long run can lead to our suffering some breakdowns in our car. For this reason, it is important to know an aspect that can be considered more than fair so that problems do not come with us.
We talk about that, after a journey, be it through the city or after a long trip, we tend to turn off the engine directly, but the truth is that this is a practice that could be harmful, where it can even cause breakdowns in the turbocharger , a one of the most expensive parts to repair.
What is happening
This is because, today, the vast majority of vehicles have turbocharging , which is a system that compresses the air that circulates to the engine and sends more oxygen to mix it with a greater amount of fuel. By raising the amount of combustion, you get a much more efficient increase in power and consumption.
Without going into distinguishing the different types of turbochargers, in general they are mechanisms that work thanks to a turbine that rotates driven by exhaust gases. A centrifugal compressor is fixed to its axis, which is responsible for taking the air that comes from the filter and introducing it under pressure into the cylinders.
It is there that this type of mechanics reach high temperatures when they are operating at full capacity, where it reaches a number of revolutions per minute much higher than that of the engine itself, which means that, if we start quickly as if we stopped the engine dry after a long trip, we risk that this turbocharger suffers, it ends up breaking and we have to face its replacement , something that is not cheap (about 1,000 euros).
Better leave the engine idling
For this reason, and as something very well to value, experts advise that, regardless of the type of fuel our car consumes, we must park and leave the engine idling for a few minutes and take advantage of that time to collect and leave everything tidy.
Idling helps the turbo to continue to be properly lubricated and in this way the turbine bearings do not suffer. In addition, the engine temperature stabilizes before stalling . In this way, neither the parts nor the moving components will wear out so much, and our pocket will save the repair.
To observe, is that one of the signs to know that there are problems in the turbo is that we begin to notice that it loses power and that when accelerating we hear a kind of whistling . It will be even worse if blue smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe; there, yes or yes we will have to visit a workshop.
