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Do I Need A Turbo Timer?

garetb16

By garetb16,
in Four Door Family & Wagoneers

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NISSAN GTR Veteran

NISSAN GTR

Posted
Posted
No, just drive it gently (ie not high revs and full boost) for a few minutes before you get to your destination, or leave it running for a minute or 2 before you turn it off
spot on , no need for turb timers just stay with your car for a couple minutes
RB25PWR Proficient

RB25PWR

Posted
Posted
spot on , no need for turb timers just stay with your car for a couple minutes

Personally I love my turbo timer. They cost peanuts and worth every penny. When you stop your car the last thing you want to do is sit in it for 2 minutes twiddling your thumbs, especially after a late night, or arriving at a party, or anything really. Especially when you have passengers or family in the car, it's awkward to explain to them that you can't walk into the restaurant with them just yet because your car has to idle for 2 minutes. Don't be a tightass, buy one.

toddlls Proficient

toddlls

Posted
Posted
Also, make sure you check with your insurer and state regulations about the legality of having a turbo timer installed...

Good point, realistically they are not necessary. The last few minutes of your drive just take it easy & drive casually until your ready to park it.

Providing your not thrashing the pants until you turn the car off the air passing through engine bay & your oil pump pumping oil through the engine will be getting the temperature of the turbo down sufficiently.

If for some reason you are unable to do the said casual drive, then sitting at idle for a few minutes will achieve a similar result-however more temperature remains in engine bay due to it sitting still & still running-not enough to do damage on any of the 3 turbo'd cars I've owned & countless trucks I have driven by using this method.

Timers are handy tho-they can cover you for any unlisted situation above lol, but roadside laws can prevent their lawful use so best to spk to your local M.O.T about when & where they can be used if at all

For the record-I have one on my current car & use it as a back up

hope that helps

pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted

This question seems to come up a lot on here.

If you do a search you'll find several posts already....

I agree with most of the replies above saying the turbo timer is unnecessary. I had one on one of the 4 turbo cars I've owned and I must say its got to be the most annoying thing I ever did and it also makes you look like a tool IMO.

If you're on a public road etc its illegal to walk more than 1.5m from your car while its running, so its pretty much pointless. Not just that, but it will affect your immobiliser/alarm so your car is potentially not secure while the turbo timer is armed (depending on the setup). Mine was a pain in the neck because it messed with the central locking...which was tied into the alarm remote.

Secondly, you shouldn't need to run it for more than 1 minute after you stop (unless you've literally been redlining it up your street and then instantly pull over and stop). Most of the time if you're cruising along at the speed limit the turbo will be sitting idle. Its only when your revs go above say 2000rpm that its actually doing anything, and when you're cruising at constant speed it will already be starting to cool.

The reason for leaving the engine running is so that it still has oil & coolant flowing through it while it spins down and cools. These days with ball bearing turbos (incl factory one) its not as big a deal and like I said above, unless you're a leadfoot who is constantly on boost, it really is a waste of money. Even without one, it would take a lot of turning the car off while its red hot before it gets any damage. FWIW your engine also gets hot and will cool down just fine with no coolant running through it.

To put everything in perspective, if your driving style is such that your turbo is always hitting near max boost all the time, I really doubt the turbo timer will save your turbo. On the other hand, if you drive like most people, only hitting boost when accelerating and then cruising at the speed limit, you shouldn't ever need to think about it.

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