What happens if the turbo quits?

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MountainDude

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MountainDude
If the turbo quits, does the engine continue running as a naturally-aspirated engine, or does the engine quit?
Thank you
 
in most failure scenarios you should still have a normally aspirated engine.
 
The engine can quit depending on your altitude if you don't get it leaned.

Do realize it is an emergency since there's no way to know how it failed and if there are now exhaust gasses blowing out possibly causing a fire or if the engine ingested parts of the turbo when it failed and the engine will be failing shortly
 
Depends on the failure, if the compressor turbine grenades then bad things could happen from metal pieces getting into the engine. But if it just stops then you are usually just flying an normally aspirated machine.
 
Rgbeard said:
- and if that's at altitude, it means you're making zero power until it comes down to a more NA-friendly level.
Click to expand...

You'd be almost in RVSM airspace to make 0 power. A lot of NA are generating some power up to the low 20's.
 
Wouldn’t it be a bit worse than NA as there would be parts restricting exhaust flow a bit, no?
 
Yeah, and even extra worse in a turbo-supercharged engine like the TSIO-360, which operates over sea level atmospheric at normal cruise power. You can probably maintain level flight at a low altitude, but not much more than that. But I don't know.

I came within what my A&P says was a few seconds away from my turbo seizing. It started making grinding noises about 80 NM from the field, but lasted the flight. I was ready to do the turbo loss checklist at any moment, which is basically firewalling the throttle and leaning out the engine.
 
MountainDude said:
If the turbo quits, does the engine continue running as a naturally-aspirated engine, or does the engine quit?
Thank you
Click to expand...
This will depend on how exactly it quit and what you mean by quitting. Stuck wastegate, etc will all have different consequences for the engine
 
Depending on power setting the engine may quit from flooding.
If you’re at 15,000 running 75% power and the turbo goes. You’re now likely giving the engine way too much fuel.
If engine quits and turbo failure is suspected, lean first as opposed to the standard “mixture full rich” engine failure checklist item. This should be called out in the emergency section of the POH.
 
I have had MANY turbo failures in cars, street and track. Almost all involved lots of drama, and NEVER did the engine just behave like a NA engine. At best significant power loss due to intake restriction. At worst metal fragments directly into engine. Most of the time RAPID oil loss.

In a airplane I would consider turbo loss a get on the ground right now sort of emergency.

The exception would be something like a wastegate stuck open (or stuck closed if you reduced MP to avoid overboosting) but this is technically not a turbo failure per se.
 
Consider the failure mode of a turbo “stoppage”. How would it stop? Either the turbine or compressor sides bind/lock up or the shaft binds. Before the shaft binds there’s probably metal being made; If a seal goes, then oil is going out. If the turbine or compressor binds, there was likely metal being destroyed; In the case of the compressor, metal is probably being ingested. In the case of the turbine, then maybe you’ll be ok, but you’re more likely to prang the plane just because things “sound” bad...my 2 cents.
 
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