We called it coking or oil choking. You really aren't cooling the turbo so much as just putting a new layer of "cooler" oil in the shaft area. See, as oil gets hot, it breaks down and leaves deposits on the shaft and oil supply tubes. This will eventually leave restricted pathways to the turbo for new oil. And after a while, the turbo dies of lack of oil. Not from overheating, usually. My proof? I have a TSi AWD 14b 150,000 mile stock original turbo. Auto-xed and all. There are two rules for long lasting high heat turbos, fully synthetic and every 3000 miles.

TTs are worthless. IMHO.

/<

PS. If the turbo is glowing, you should probably let it cool for a little longer than 30 secs.

 

You're correct, and you just showed why turbo timers help turbos cool down. The turbo timer keeps oil pressure up so that new oil is supplied to the turbo, preventing coking, which would happen if the engine was shut off suddenly. It IS about cooling the turbo, so that when the engine is finally shut off (and oil pressure drops) the oil doesn't create deposits in the turbo.
Turbo timers are cheap and convenient, so I think it would be wise to consider getting one to protect one's investment in a car.

 

What are some good turbo timers to consider and price ranges? Also curious if anyone knows an answer to the second part of the question as to whether or not we are getting the titanium. If not it seems that the Mitsu tech manual was right the only new thing we are getting on the Evo is the the flashy new badging It doesn't mention in there that the USDM gets screwed out of all the other great stuff that makes an EVO an EVO (read: Evolution of an existing product). Whether you actually wanted ACD, AYC or 6spd still would have been nice to have it offered as options

 

My take on it is...whatever you like. Some people can wait the 30sec or so...other people just don't have the time.

Most modern turbo vehicles don't really need to wait.(Coolant cools turbo) I just have one for added insurance.

Whatever floats you boat I guess.

As for yannotmi...I think that you have to give yourself the prize if you think that turbos don't spin in vacuum.

 

I have only owned one turbo powered car, a Volvo back in the late 80's. The first turbo wore out at about 70,000 miles. When I had it replaced the tech told me about the benefits of cool-downs. After that I always let the engine idle for about a minute before shutting it off.

The second turbo lasted 159,000 miles.

Yeah, I would say it was worth it.

 

TT is not there to cool down the turbo in 30 sec or so. TT is there to let the turbo to slow down to the minimum speed, so it will not be spinning long after you shut the engine down.

Of course, if you ran your car very hard and then stopped, longer cooling might be smart thing to do and I would set the TT to at least 3 min after such an event.

All that said, I usually keep it running for about 30 sec or so and then turn the car off. Also, I have a TT already for about 5 years (got it as a birthday present) and it still didn't make it inside my car. Some people would say lazy, so you bee your own judge on this!!

Have a or two

Mr. AWD

 

Not to detract from the childish back and forth banter between some members, but exactly how does a turbo timer work? I know that it lets the car run after exit for an amount of time that you set but can some one shed some more light on it i.e. you turn off your car but the engine is still running even with the key out of the ignition, how soes it accomplish this? Are there any security risks associated with this?

 

Basically, the TT is just an electronic device that is wired in the ignition. The car keeps running to the specified amount of time set on the TT until the the time expires and shuts off the car. very brief description....maybe yannotmi would care to elaborate?

 

A turbo timer actually forces the turbo (or more specifically the oil in it) to cool down slower. If oil cools too fast from a very hot temperature, it can semi-harden which would cause very obvious problems when its inside the turbo. The turbo timer lets the very hot oil in the turbo circulate with the cooler oil in the rest of the system so it can cool slower, rather than being stuck inside.

As I said in the 2nd post, the benefits have never been fully proven, but I have not ever seen any evidence that having a turbo timer can hurt anything, therefore I use one, just in case the theory is not total BS.

 

Tear it Up,

Are there any security risks with a turbo timer. hypothetically say you set the timer to 3 minutes (hard driving conditions) and you leave your vehicle. Would it be possible for someone (scum-sucking thief) to break in to the vehicle and modify the turbo timer and make off with the car? I mean, theoretically for someone who does not know all of the specifics of a TT, a thief could just keep resetting the TT to allow extra time. If you can't tell, I am a newbie to a lot of car tech stuff so take it easy on me if these are stupid questions.

 

The turbo timer only works with the e-brake on, assuming you hook it up normally. So a person driving off would burn up the rear brakes or be real slow. Also im not sure if time can be added while it is counting down. If the turbo timer were to turn off for any reason, the car would shut down. It also works with alarm systems, so you can arm your car normally.

 

What TearItUpSports said. Also because there is no key in the ignition, the steering wheel locks if you try to turn it.

 

Thanx for the info

 

description of what a turbo timer does:

lets the the engine run without the key in. PERIOD.

no added benefits but convienience...

purpose of the function of a tt:

to allow the car to cool down and to not give the car a "hot shut down" ... like k_fabec said oil coking is the thing ur trying to prevent and just simply letting the car idle after boosting around a bit will keep ur turbo from coking as little as possible... i know some guys with new turbos like to wait 5 mins or so for it to cool down sufficiently..a bit overkill but hey, if u spent 600-1200 bux for a new one i'd like to protect my investment.... heres why i bought a turbo timer....sometimes i do a bit of "spirited driving" on my way to a destination and i might be a bit late, i dont like to wait in the car for the 2mins (6 if i really was getting on it) for the car to cool...so just set the timer, lock the door, and walk away...





god i so want an evo ....

 

actually, as far as security goes, there are Security Systems you can buy for a car that have built in turbo timers. The clifford I had in my saturn had one, all I needed to do was install a turbo on the car and it would have worked. . Anyways, I'm sure if you got one of those, the system would have a way of keeping your car secure. That wheel locking thing is a good point as well...