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Old 10-07-2003, 07:09 PM   #1
Neaners
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Default The REAL truth about Turbo Timers?

So which is it? Do you need a turbo timer or not?! First I hear that you do... Then recently I hear, "naw... you don't REALLY need it.." Then a bit later, my s**t gets jumped for running my car hard and turning it off. They all tell me that I ABSOLUTELY need one. Then a few of us were talking about it the other night at the Pasadena Starbucks Meet and I hear about how even Subaru says that there is no need for one. I just want to know once and for all, should I spend the small amount of cash and get one, or is it all just 'bling'???
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Old 10-07-2003, 07:12 PM   #2
JB1
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Default well..

I wouldn't consider a turbo timer bling but.. Look at it as an extra precausion to take to prolong the life of your cars turbo. I don't swear buy it but I use one. no harm in being careful.
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Old 10-07-2003, 07:18 PM   #3
teiva-boy
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With a stock turbo, IHI turbo or any other water and oil cooled turbo; you do not need a turbo timer.
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Old 10-07-2003, 07:26 PM   #4
eric m.
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Quote:
Originally posted by teiva-boy
With a stock turbo, IHI turbo or any other water and oil cooled turbo; you do not need a turbo timer.
that is correct. and i would like to add that subaru of america has issued an offical statement that notes that a turbo timer is not required for the wrx and no harm will be done to the engine or turbo by just shutting it off after driving. it's mainly something cool to put on your car because you can. like a boost gauge. you really don't need it on a stock car but it's fun to look at.
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Old 10-07-2003, 07:28 PM   #5
Sharp Stick
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Default Turbo timer a good idea.

You can not go wrong outfitting yourself with an ignition timer. Before it was a "turbo timer," non-turbo and mechanical supercharger guys were using the same idea. It's been around a long time, and now you can rig your Sube with one in an hour, for about $150 (think I used the Apex unit). Besides the neato factor, after a hot run it's smart to let oil circulate. Oil coking is not a myth, and it's been happening to fast guys for ages.

Cheap insurance to let your car idle down for a minute or two after every drive.

STICK
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Old 10-07-2003, 07:32 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally posted by teiva-boy
With a stock turbo, IHI turbo or any other water and oil cooled turbo; you do not need a turbo timer.
Yes and no. Under easy regular city type drivng, yes, you can just shut off a water cooled turbo.

If you are driving hard enough to make the exhaust housing glow and you shut off your engine, the 2 ounces of coolant sitting in the water jacket is not going to do diddly squat. You must follow a cool down precedure under this condition.

So... if you have a water-cooled turbo, it is OK to shut the car off without a cooldown period under easy normal driving conditions.

Matt
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Old 10-07-2003, 08:03 PM   #7
WRXzard
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Default

The average WRX driver.

Jump in
Start
WOT
brake
WOT
brake even harder
WOT
brake (because CHP on the side of the road)
WOT (because the CHP cant see you now)
Brake (jump out before the engine shuts off)

I think we all are spooling fools (At least I am)

If only takes a few good times to coke up the bearings at some of the temps that the turbo can get to. And as far as SOA states (Normal driving conditions see above ) there should be no problem.....

That turbo can Glow.

I learned the hard way.

WRXzard
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Old 10-07-2003, 09:50 PM   #8
boysetsfire
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If you are really worried about it you can save yourself a 100 bucks or what ever they cost and let your car idle for 30 seconds or so after a hard drive then shut it down yourself.

-Marc
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Old 10-07-2003, 10:32 PM   #9
Neaners
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Quote:
Originally posted by boysetsfire
If you are really worried about it you can save yourself a 100 bucks or what ever they cost and let your car idle for 30 seconds or so after a hard drive then shut it down yourself.

-Marc
Dude, I am already about 10 min's late for everywhere I go ...
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Old 10-07-2003, 10:42 PM   #10
sigma pi
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or just dont drive hard b4 you get there or get one like i did on iclub for 40$ new
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Old 10-07-2003, 11:32 PM   #11
vile
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this argument will never be settle....get one if u think u need it

as a side note, i do have one, blitz dtt, luv the peak hold
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Old 10-07-2003, 11:37 PM   #12
hyp36rmax
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didnt i already tell you about this? lol well, for stock cars at least one is actually not needed because the way our cars are cooled, but in fact it wont hurt it if you have one, esp if your car is highly modified or even light tuned it wont hurt muchto have one, its more of a peace of mind kind of thing, the term 'bling' i think is a crock of ****, and is very overated, anyhow, how ya doing janene ?
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Old 10-08-2003, 12:36 AM   #13
Neaners
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Quote:
Originally posted by hyp36rmax
didnt i already tell you about this?
Actually no. It was the theory that BOV's actually add horsepower is the coversation I believe we had....

Quote:
Originally posted by hyp36rmax
the term 'bling' i think is a crock of ****, and is very overated,
No way ... just another adjective ... rice, bling, ghetto, honda ... all excelent adjectives for the attention getter that shows off with crap. LOL

Quote:
Originally posted by hyp36rmax
anyhow, how ya doing janene ?
Hey, I am doing great Eiji!! You will have to show off your new car when I come up next (later this week). Wanna race down Ave P again?? NOT! I am a perfect example that not ANY dickhead can drive fast in a straight line!!

~ Janene
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Old 10-08-2003, 12:48 AM   #14
nqwan
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Quote:
Originally posted by mattjk


Yes and no. Under easy regular city type drivng, yes, you can just shut off a water cooled turbo.

If you are driving hard enough to make the exhaust housing glow and you shut off your engine, the 2 ounces of coolant sitting in the water jacket is not going to do diddly squat. You must follow a cool down precedure under this condition.

So... if you have a water-cooled turbo, it is OK to shut the car off without a cooldown period under easy normal driving conditions.

Matt
no, a turbo timer is not required for our car under any condition. subaru designed the car so that one is NOT needed.

here's the explanation: once the motor is shut off, the coolant left in the turbo will vaporize and rise to the coolant reservoir tank, which is the highest point in the coolant system. to make up for this, coolant is displaced from the cylinder heads to the turbo. thus this natural circulation (flow caused by difference in temperature) of coolant through the turbo will cool it down, so a turbo timer is not needed on a wrx. whether or not this applies to other turbo'd cars depends on the design of their coolant system.
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Old 10-08-2003, 01:08 AM   #15
mattjk
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Quote:
Originally posted by nqwan


no, a turbo timer is not required for our car under any condition. subaru designed the car so that one is NOT needed.

here's the explanation: once the motor is shut off, the coolant left in the turbo will vaporize and rise to the coolant reservoir tank, which is the highest point in the coolant system. to make up for this, coolant is displaced from the cylinder heads to the turbo. thus this natural circulation (flow caused by difference in temperature) of coolant through the turbo will cool it down, so a turbo timer is not needed on a wrx. whether or not this applies to other turbo'd cars depends on the design of their coolant system.
Yeah, I read that too.

The fact is, that the thermal siphoning is not enough if you run your car hard enough that the exhaust housing glows, like I said above, and SPD Tuning says the same thing:

Quote:
And one still needs to take a cool down lap at the track and perhaps should not stop at the top of a mountain pass to enjoy the view if you have been on the boost all the way up, but for the other 99% of the time there is no need to let the engine idle for a minute before shutting off ignition. Even when the engine is off, the cooling water will circulate past the turbine bearing housing.
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Old 10-08-2003, 01:19 AM   #16
nqwan
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Quote:
Originally posted by mattjk


Yeah, I read that too.

The fact is, that the thermal siphoning is not enough if you run your car hard enough that the exhaust housing glows, like I said above, and SPD Tuning says the same thing:

i'm just passing on why subaru has offically said one is not needed. i personally have a turbo timer and use full synthetic oil just in case the natural cooling is not enough
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Old 10-08-2003, 01:24 AM   #17
mattjk
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Quote:
Originally posted by nqwan


i'm just passing on why subaru has offically said one is not needed. i personally have a turbo timer and use full synthetic oil just in case the natural cooling is not enough
Me too Better safe than sorry I always say.
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Old 10-08-2003, 01:33 AM   #18
ImportVenom
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Quote:
Originally posted by mattjk


Me too Better safe than sorry I always say.
Yeah that's what I say. I asked a Subaru tech of nearly 20 years, and he said to ALWAYS turbo time the car. He said maybe short city trips it's ok not to. But if you've been on the freeway for a while, at least let it cool down a minute or two. That water cooling thing just doesn't do much. Subaru just says that because they don't want their customers complaining about how the car "needs" a turbo timer but doesn't come with one. Sure it's not necessary, and I'm sure your car won't die anytime soon if you don't turbo time it, but it's better to be safe to preserve the long-term longetivity of your car.
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Old 10-08-2003, 01:33 AM   #19
Kean
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Default Re: The REAL truth about Turbo Timers?

Quote:
Originally posted by Neaners
So which is it? Do you need a turbo timer or not?! First I hear that you do... Then recently I hear, "naw... you don't REALLY need it.." Then a bit later, my s**t gets jumped for running my car hard and turning it off. They all tell me that I ABSOLUTELY need one. Then a few of us were talking about it the other night at the Pasadena Starbucks Meet and I hear about how even Subaru says that there is no need for one. I just want to know once and for all, should I spend the small amount of cash and get one, or is it all just 'bling'???
Subaru/FHI has made this clear since June 2001 as outlined in their TechTips: "FHI's posistion regarding this is that it's not necessary to perform a "cool down/idling" procedure, as was recommended with past turbo models."

http://www.subaruwest.com/PDF_files/...1_techtips.pdf

http://www.spdusa.com/turbo_timer.htm

Please keep in mind that I (personally) would never "run hard" and then just shut my car off. After a hard drive I always take it easy for about a mile to allow all of the vehicle's components (engine, drivetrain, brakes, etc) to return to their normal operating temperatures (common sense).

- Kean
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Old 10-08-2003, 01:39 AM   #20
mattjk
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Default Re: Re: The REAL truth about Turbo Timers?

Quote:
Originally posted by Kean


Subaru/FHI has made this clear since June 2001 as outlined in their TechTips: "FHI's posistion regarding this is that it's not necessary to perform a "cool down/idling" procedure, as was recommended with past turbo models."

http://www.subaruwest.com/PDF_files/...1_techtips.pdf

http://www.spdusa.com/turbo_timer.htm

Please keep in mind that I (personally) would never "run hard" and then just shut my car off. After a hard drive I always take it easy for about a mile to allow all of the vehicle's components (engine, drivetrain, brakes, etc) to return to their normal operating temperatures (common sense).

- Kean
Welcome to a couple of posts ago!
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Old 10-08-2003, 01:47 AM   #21
mattjk
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Quote:
Originally posted by ImportVenom


Yeah that's what I say. I asked a Subaru tech of nearly 20 years, and he said to ALWAYS turbo time the car. He said maybe short city trips it's ok not to. But if you've been on the freeway for a while, at least let it cool down a minute or two. That water cooling thing just doesn't do much. Subaru just says that because they don't want their customers complaining about how the car "needs" a turbo timer but doesn't come with one. Sure it's not necessary, and I'm sure your car won't die anytime soon if you don't turbo time it, but it's better to be safe to preserve the long-term longetivity of your car.
Thank you for saying that. I didn't want to open up a big can of worms... but since you already did?

We're talking about common sense here. A couple of ounces of hot coolant (Coolant flows from the bottom of the heads, to the block, out to the heads again, and then into the turbo). By this time, the coolant is HOT! These couple of ounces of HOT coolant (vaporous coolant according to Subaru) is not going to do anything to 15 plus pounds of glowing cast iron.

In fact, when idling your car, the cooler exhaust flow and cool air in the compressor does much more to actually cool the turbo down, than does the coolant.

But hey, if you are lazy, go right ahead and just shut the engine off after you beat the car.

Edit: I'm not going to beat this issue anymore. I think there is plenty of info in this thread alone for neaners to make up her own mind.
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Old 10-08-2003, 02:03 AM   #22
Kean
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Default Re: Re: Re: The REAL truth about Turbo Timers?

Quote:
Originally posted by mattjk


Welcome to a couple of posts ago!
That's what happens when I watch TV and take too long to hit the "Submit Reply" button.
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Old 10-08-2003, 02:30 AM   #23
Neaners
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Quote:
Originally posted by mattjk

I think there is plenty of info in this thread alone for neaners to make up her own mind.
absolutely! and i thank you all for your input!

~ Janene
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Old 10-08-2003, 02:33 AM   #24
dachoe
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Quote:
Originally posted by boysetsfire
If you are really worried about it you can save yourself a 100 bucks or what ever they cost and let your car idle for 30 seconds or so after a hard drive then shut it down yourself.

-Marc
Ahh the good 'ol ghetto timer.

(My friend, standing next to his idling car)
Me: "Why you standing next to your car, and why is it on?"
Him: "Turbo timing."
Me: "HAHAHAHAHA"
Him: "Shut up, it's the same thing."
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Old 10-08-2003, 11:23 AM   #25
crowbar
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Default

Quote:
Originally posted by eric m.


that is correct. and i would like to add that subaru of america has issued an offical statement that notes that a turbo timer is not required for the wrx and no harm will be done to the engine or turbo by just shutting it off after driving. it's mainly something cool to put on your car because you can. like a boost gauge. you really don't need it on a stock car but it's fun to look at.
like a kaminari bB body kit?
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