Turbo Timer

[Shane Garard]

Hi All

I would like to know if I need a timer for my ute? I do mostly town driving, also a couple of times traveling around the coast and over the weekend towing a boat and also to goto the tip. I have been sitting for a minute when I have finished travelling I hope this is ok till I make up my mind in buying the timer.

Thanks

 

[muc the truck]

a turbo time will increase the life of the turbo but with modern cars it is an embuggerance . The turbo timer overrides central locking and inbuilt immobilisers so its rather complicated to wire up so you can run a turbo timer and have a locked car . You may as well sit and wait a minute before locking your car because with a turbo timer that's what your will have to do anyway unless its a old car.

A turbo timer is also a theft risk as you only have to cut two wires and join them up and you have ignition circuit on . Bust the steering lock and your off.

 

[macka17]

Turbo timers only. Basically. for older veh's doing long legs at road speeds with Turbo' spooled up.
(Basically loaded)
NORMALLY.
When you come down from cruising roads\speeds\rev's.
and drive around a bit in traffic.
The Turbo has cooled itself down. Just drive OFF turbo for a coupla whatever.
Up.Down the rev's. Then park and turn off.
It's fine.

BASICALLY. DON'T come down off cruising rev's with everything loaded.
and turn straight off.
THAT...They DO NOT like it. and what the Timer is there for.

 

[Snoo]

What Macka17 said. If the last few minutes of your trip are just cruising (50kmph through town after towing at highway speeds, coming back from the tip with an empty trailer etc) then no need for a turbo timer. If you're happy to keep idling it for a minute even better, happy days.

 

[Swaggie]

Just get into the habit of sitting in your vehicle for 30secs to a couple of minutes before you turn it off, depending on the type of driving you did... Well that's what I've done over the last 10 years or so...

 

[Aaron Schubert]

If you allow it to cool a little before shutting it down you will be fine. I had an EGT gauge and turbo timer on my 80 Series Land Cruiser, and it was only after pushing the vehicle quite hard (cruising at higher speeds), towing etc that the turbo needed time to cool down.

Usually by the time you've pulled off the road and driven through town they are more than cold enough. The only times we noticed it was pulling into service stations right on the main road.

If your vehicle is manual you want to be sure the hand brake works very well, and I believe you aren't allowed to leave your vehicle running anyway, so they are kind of catch 22.

I'd just be aware of the way you are working your vehicle and give it some time when needed to cool down

Aaron

 

[dabbler]

I was taught to sit with engine running after long highway runs and listen for odd sounds masked by tyre noise. Petrol or diesel. I still do it now.

 

[Hoyks]

They might have been worth it with the old turbos that had bearing bushes that has oil only being pumped through them to cool them down, but with modern water cooled turbos with improved bearings I think they are a waste of $$.
My last turbo diesel I sold with 275000km on the clock and the factory turbo still installed, it has now done over 400000 and still has the stock turbo.
It wasn't babied, but got to cool down on the 2km of 50km/h streets from the highway to my house and was fed good oil.

Leaving a car running and unattended is illegal anyway. Are you in that much of a hurry that you need to shut down and leave the vehicle immediately after doing highway km?

 

[Chatty]

I'll back up what everyone else has said - I just use common sense about turning the engine off - if I've been pottering through town at 50 km/h I'll give it 30 seconds. If I've been pottering through the caravan park at 10km/h I'll switch off straight away. If I pull off the highway for fuel, I'll let it cool down for a couple of minutes.

The other thing to remember is that they are not legal in any way shape or form - the regulations require that an engine turn off when the ignition switch is turned off. If you were to have an accident (say the vehicle moving while the timer was running) then your insurance would disown you.