I always let my truck idle for 3-5 mins after I run it hard. I'm trying to duplicate what a friends turbo timer does on his Toyota Supra (about a 800hp ricer) w/ a bigger holset than we've got. Is this needed to keep oil flowing through our turbos so they don't get super hot and cook what ever oil settles in them, or do they need this proceedure at all?

 

Yes they do need to idle to allow for the turbo to cool down so you don't bake the oil in the turbo. According to my Banks guage, my truck takes around 1 minute to cool to 300-325 pre-turbo, and after pulling a moderate load (6K) it only take about 1.5 minutes. I haven't towed extremely heavy after I put my guages in yet to judge how long it takes to cool. If your waiting 3-5.... your more than fine, I would probably say max 3mins after a heavy load.

 

What kind of timers are people using? How do you like them? What would you do different?

I'm new to this whole turbo thing. I'm thinking a timer would be a good thing for me to have, but I want to learn more.

 

Great question. I was wondering the same thing. Is cool down time needed on a bone-stock truck after normal city driving? What is the 300-325 a measure of? Is this something on the stock guages?

 

Mine's a 2nd gen, but I've seen temps up to 1200.
Not towing anything, just passing on the freeway.

Usually cools down to just above 300 coasting down the freeway offramp.

Normal city driving it gets up to 900,
then takes about 30 seconds of idle in the driveway to get it down to 300.

Totally stock fueling and timing wise.

Figure if you're a member of this site, or others like it, your truck won't stay stock long.
Might as well get the guages now, so you have a good baseline for when you start turning things up.


My alarm has a turbo time built into it,
many users have gotten one from a user here, hvanflee.
Pretty sure his banner rotates through up above with the other advertisers.
Found his site, http://cool-downtimer.com/


phox

 

Try this web sight. I found that there not to many turbo timers made for our trucks. The few I have found are just not functional and are ugly. Their just out dated. I have the Greddy silver with blue LCD screen. All you have to do is take your keys out and it starts the countdown. No buttons to press. They have adjustable preset countdown modes and automatic modes. Greddy has a volt meter and uses the alternator to determine the length of countdown. Blitz uses boost and amount of time driven to determine. I just leave my presets on 2 minutes for normal driving and 4 minutes for racing or pulling. The directions are in Japanese but all you need is a volt meter and the wire diagram in the directions. Then you tap into the ignition wires. It takes about 30- 60 minutes to find out what wire does what and install.
Or find your local Import racing store and they should have them in stock and can install it for you. It beats waiting in your truck or doing major damage to your turbo. It's amazing how many people don't even know what they are doing to their turbo. That's because when you buy a truck the dealership does not tell you to let it cooldown. But it’s right there in the owner’s manual.


http://www.overboost.com/obs/browse_...e=Turbo+Timers

 

This is right out of the Dodge Service Manual:

"The most common turbocharger failure is bearing failure related to repeated hot shutdowns with inadequate “cool-down” periods. A sudden engine shut down after prolonged operation will result in the transfer of heat from the turbine section of the turbocharger to the bearing housing. This causes the oil to overheat and break down, which causes bearing and shaft damage the next time the vehicle is started. Letting the engine idle after extended operation
allows the turbine housing to cool to normal operating temperature. The following chart should be used as a guide in determining the amount of engine idle time required to sufficiently cool down the turbocharger before shut down, depending upon the type of driving and the amount of cargo."

 

I have a quick disconnect on my keyless entry fob. I just disconnect the fob lock the doors and leave the truck running. However if I am going to be out of the truck for a while I have to wait for it to cool down.

 

I have Howard's cool-down timer as well: www.cool-downtimer.com. It is a great product, very inexpensive, install is a snap, and Howard has always chimed in when folks had questions on install and the like. I would definitely recommend.

 

So on OVERBOOST .COM they have two timers.. which one is better? Blitz or GREDDY? i like the size of the blitz but i have never heard of them till now. I have heard of GREDDY and a buddy of mine swears by them. but the unit is huge...i'm going to run out of space for stuff soon...

 

I love my blitz turbo timer.... silver, relatively cheap($120), and most importantly SMALL

 

tcr, it's an easy way to protect your truck and not have to sit in it until it's cooled down. Do you need it? no. Do you need to cool down? Yes as you've seen above. The timer gives you a lot of other options. When I leave work in the winter, I can start the truck, set it on six minutes. go back in punch out and when I get back the trucks ready to go and it will be there. Need to make a quick stop in a store and don't want to sit, set the timer. Even in the yard it's good prtection against going over the 10 minute idle. In the winter I set the timer and go back inside. There were a couple days this past winter where nothing went right getting out the door, the truck didn't idle over 10 minute and you know it's going to be there.