LINK HERE

So lets discuss. I want a turbo timer when I finally get the car going. The seller has near perfect feedback and the timer is CHEAP. Most likely CHEAP in more than one way, but oh well.

Anyone have experience w/ cheap turbo timers or recommendations for an alternative cheapy?

 

I don't think anyone on here uses a turbo timer.
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The best turbo timers for our cars is oil change at 3K for dino, 5K for synthetic.

 

 

My turbo is oil cooled only, I'm going to incorporate a turbo timer for that reason. (and for the sake of being lazy and not wanting to sit in the car 2 or 3 minutes after I park, and for the "cool" factor of getting out w/ my keys and the car runs for 2 minutes on its own, chicks dig it) lol

 

My buddy uses a Greddy timer. I will be using a cheap one when the day of boosting arrives. Choose wisely and I may follow suit. They are actually very simple devices and cheap insurance. I don't think I would want to go long without one.

We have had several people on this forum wear out turbos prematurely with no real explanation as to the cause. Then Phil makes clear the fact that timers are not used often here. 1+1=? Of course, the cause and effect relationship isn't that clear cut, but suffice it to say that a timer is very cheap insurance unless your turbo costs $159 new. They are a cheap prophylactic device and I don't scoff at them.

 

Turbo Timers are a useless waste of money. They seriously make no sense.

Do you really run the **** out of your turbo car immediately before you shut it off? I don't know about you, but I don't go do full boost pulls up my driveway then turn the car off...

Useless.

 

1+1=10
(if that statement makes sense, you are a geek.)

 

Exactly, I ALWAYS drive easy when I'm within 1 mile or so of where I'm going. My previous turbo(Garrett) was 8 years old before it died and it was never ran with a timer.
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I am a geek.

So then why do people run turbo timers?
Why does the miata turbo community generally not run them?
I don't want one, and I would like to know why somebody might try to argue that I would need one.

I understand that they allow the turbo to cool with oil flow, but there is still fresh exhaust gas flowing through it. If I just don't go flat out for the last 1/4 to 1/2 mile before I arrive at my destination, then what's the point?

Appologies if that counts as a thread-jack, it seems pretty on-topic to me.

 

Well, if you have a turbo timer you never have to remember to slow down on your drive home, you can just mat it and live worry free.


lol


Seriously, my friend w/ a MK3 Supra turbo has one, I helped him install it. It's really helpful because for the few minutes his car is cooling down his fans are running to help cool the engine as well. I heard a while back the hottest time for an engine is several minutes after shutting it off, as the coolant is no longer flowing through the hot block/head and things are just sitting there absorbing heat.

If that wasn't enough motivation to spend $40 for a cheap ebay turbo timer, it's for the giggles. (insert gay smiley here)

It puts a grin on your face when you're cruisin and we pull up somewhere and get out and walk off while the car is running, people look at you like, "dude, you left your car running...." and then you're a hundred feet away and it shuts off on its own. It's just cool.

Pretty sure it's JDM tyte too.

 

Owned by double post.

 

Heres my take on it;

Take apart a turbo timer. It cost maybe 5$ to build one, honestly. If they were REALLY that important wouldn't you think OEMs would use them??

STI, EVO.*, BMW 135, 335, Audi S4, R32, 33, 34 Skyline, Bugatti Veyron perhaps?

Its a generally accepted principle that you should let the engine idle and cool after running it hard. Heres an acceptable solution, don't run the fawk out of it and shut it down?

Sorry I just refuse to believe they're ever useful, no matter what anybody tells me. Corky Bell himself could call me a fucktard for refusal to buy into the need for a timer and I'd still refuse. My views from a mechanical side are solid, but my personal opinion beyond mechanical are very tainted. Not sure if I ever posted anything about this before, but I had a friend spend a **** load of money on a Supra build (he should've had someone else build it, yes...) to watch it burn down in a parking lot. Something burnt / rubbed / cut a hole in the fuel line and started spraying fuel onto the down pipe. After discovering the car was starting to catch on fire, he shut it down... Alas, that stupid turbo timer mounted in his dash kept the car running pumping 110 octane fuel into what was a very small containable fire. He eventually managed to get the car shut down but it was too late, the damage was far beyond done.

I've discussed this before with people, and before you say "Common sense says, just press the button to turn it off." Go light your car on fire and see if your brain functions properly. I've had a car fire myself, and take my PERSONAL experience... It doesn't work like that. Rational thinking doesn't function when you're under that kind of panic / pressure if you've never experienced it before.

Was it the turbo timers fault the car caught on fire? Absolutely not. Did it make things worse? I honestly believe it did.

So letting it sit and idle, potentially warming the engine up even further if you have a bad cooling system is going to help things... how??? I've had more than one car that got hotter the longer it sat at idle than a slow cruise down the street. Poor cooling capacity / poor flow fans..

Its your money, its your car. If you're worried about it and want to spend the money, by all means.

Here, for the shock factor:

We were waiting on some tuning then it was good to go for about 30psi. This was easily a 1000+rwhp car after tune. Insurance totaled the car, even after tons of attempts to negotiate he got less than 1/2 his investment back.

 

I have one, but only because it makes people scratch their heads.

FWIW - cost isn't much of a factor. Mine's completely hidden, so as long as it keeps the engine going and cuts out if the parking brake is disengaged, who cares how much it cost, right?

 

Useless.

Its another one of those ricer things.

 

They started using water cooled turbos instead.

I can see the point. It would be useful if you're were running a track event and didn't have a full opportunity to cool things down after the session. I know my buddy always sat in his car to let it idle after a session. Not a big deal unless it's the middle of the summer and you'd rather go sit in the shade of a canopy than sit in your hot car. It's got a safety and convenience value IMO. And if a car can't recover from a hard beating sitting still at idle, then there's something wrong. The fan(s) and cooling system should be able to manage that.

 

to elesjuan - my friend has a huge aftermarket radiator, 2 huge flex fans, and an adjustable fan thermostat that triggers the fans to come on... ON TOP OF A FULLY FUNCTIONAL COOLING SYSTEM aka OEM coolant thermostat.

Cars shouldn't get hotter sitting at idle. Well, yes, to operating temps, then their FUNCTIONING thermostat opens and allows coolant flow, at about 20*F above that your fans trigger... preventing an idle-overheat.

Are you suggesting people w/ compromised cooling systems on high performance cars actually operate them? I don't know anyone who would drive around the block w/ a cooling issue on their performance car, they'd fix the issue, then cruise.

Your friend's engine fire sucks.

 

Seems like most people have them for the "bling" factor. The majority of people i have come in contact with also have no good reason other than "to let the turbo cool" yet they don't have an oil temp gauge telling them if its already cool or not.

Ricey IMO

 

What I'm suggesting is that a car sits at idle it maintains temp and might possibly even warm up. I still fail to see how letting an engine sit at idle with a functioning cooling system or not is more beneficial than just shutting it down? Your post stated, and I quote: Lets assume for the sake of argument, that is infact a true statement. "The hottest time for an engine is several minutes after shutdown." That being said, what difference does it make if you shut it off immediately after parking, or waited 30 seconds to a minute? You're still shutting it off, and it'll still be "The hottest time for an engine" to come, several minutes after shutdown.

See what I'm saying? That makes absolutely no sense at all. You HAVE to shut it off eventually, so by that fact, if the above statement was true ANY added time onto your idle or run time would make absolutely no difference at all.

Does your friends Supra have an oil temp gauge? Maybe a liquid cooled turbo, none the less? If he has an oil temp gauge have him drive around for an hour, don't run the **** out of it and shut the car down after coming to a stop. Don't let it idle, just shut it off. Watch and record, or better yet, video his temp gauge. Go drive for another hour identically to before, come to a stop and let the timer do its "job." Video that. Post them on youtube for all to see, prove the world wrong, or at least the non-believers of crap like turbo timers. I'm highly skeptical there will be even any difference at all.

Yes. That engine fire sucked big ****. Ruined some perfectly good donuts.

 

I personally don't like leaving my car out of gear when I park it. After all the next pull of the parking brake on a 15 year old car could be a seized rear caliper.