Angelo,

I'm not 100% sure about a mitsu 3kGT but from owning my Audi S4 I've learned there are certain caveat's w/ taking care of and owning a turbo engine...

1) Only use Synthetic Motor Oil. Not partial synthetic much less old school "dino" oil. The problem is the turbo is cooled by your engine oil. Non-synthetic oils just break down much to quickly w/ the added heat from a turbo. Bad oil will quickly mean a burnt up turbo... one thing you don't want. (I shouldn't have to add that you need to change it regularly). Have your oil analyzed to learn if it needs to be every 5k or if you can go longer. Some Audi owners are able to go as long as 10k miles between changes due to how clean the oil stays.

2) Only drive aggressively after the engine oil is warm, and definitely NEVER when the oil is not at operating temp. You need an oil temp gauge for this. For example I know with mine as soon as my oil temp gauge moves I'm golden. I should add that my engine coolant is at operating temp for about 5-10 minutes before the oil gauge starts to move.

3) After "spirited driving" you MUST allow the engine to cool a bit before shutting it off. A lot of times the turbo may be glowing red hot and simply turning off the engine in this state is a HUGE no no!! This is one reason turbo timers are very popular.

4) Check for Vacuum leaks in the intake. Having them can be the death of a turbo.

HTH <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />