PA34 Owners Organization Forum Forums Thread Like Summary - Time between overhaul for the turbos

There was recently a post on the FB Seneca group which incidentally talked about time in between overhaul for the turbos. My Seneca V turbos (in use on my TSIO360RB1B and LTSIO360RB1B engines), were last overhauled around 650 hours ago. There was some mention to expect OH around 700-800 hours.

Anyone have experience with turbos on a Seneca V (ie. the engines above) needing to be overhauled around that time frame...or....longer?

Also, what to watch for to indicate it's time for the overhaul. It was mentioned degradation of performance at altitude, but I'd like to know more.

I received this very useful reply back from Gary Main regarding time between overhauls for Turbos. This suggests something "better" than the 700-800 hours we've seen bandied about.


Brad,
The turbocharger is rated to the TBO of the engine. We find that a good time to start thinking about overhaul is 1000 -1100 hours because the bearing housing to turbine housing relationship starts to degrade. I have enclosed a little maintenance tip that helps explain this and you can keep an eye on it. Just have your mechanic look at this area specifically at annual inspections in addition to the normal inspections called out for in the maintenance manual.

The cost range for this units will be between $5500 and $7800 in 2025. Hartzell has raised the price on the parts for these units quite a bit in the last few years. The turn time for overhaul is running about a week.

Sincerely,
Gary Main
Main Turbo Systems Inc.
FAA Approved Repair Station# MAMR190K
Certificate No: EASA.145.6274
(800) 847-8815 or (559) 635-3322
www.mainturbo.com