turbo timers

[rusty1972]

Just wondering what peoples opinions are on turbo timers? A mate tells me that i should idle engine before turning off?

[Disco_owner]

They are Illegal , don't waste your Money. :)


get a Pyrometer installed preferably upstream , let your EGT drop down to 220-200 deg c and shut off your engine..:BigThumb:

[Basil135]

My theory is this:

There is no way I am going to walk away from my car while it is still running - bad guys, slipping out of park, good samaritans telling me the car is still running etc....

So therefore, if I am going to wait with the car to turn off after 1 minute, then I may as well delay turning it off myself.

This means:

1) Save money by not paying to install a theft device
2) Other issues as above are eliminated
3) I know the car is turned off...


My advice - idle the car for about a minute at the end of your journey, and save the hassle and money of a timer...



BTW - I didn't know they were illegal....:o

[dullbird]

can someone explain about the whole waiting for your turbo before you switch your car off

because what i dont understand is no one brings there car to a stand still from 3000 rpm so as your pulling your car up the turbo is not under load...so why in hell do you have to wait a minute to stop the car?

i appreciate the engine will be hot but i cant see how 1 minute is going to sufficently cool down your turbo anyway

[Xavie]

If they were illegal I doubt they'd insure them in a vehicle.

I like timers, I think they are good. Especially when out bush and it doesn't matter if you let it run when away from it. This is the illegal part however.

I do a lot of highway and hilly areas and when I get home I will happily park the vehicle in the driveway and walk away from it. And If I have anything in the vehicle I can lock the doors anyway and not set the alarm. If a burgular did get in, they are only going to be 1 minute down the road.

Xav

[Lost Landy]

I think the idea has merit but in the real world having a incorrectly fitted turbo timer is just asking for trouble. I used to be in the japanese import circle and had a few mates incinerated after their car crashed but kept spewing fuel out over the red hot exhaust manifolds as the electrics were still timed on.
Though with diesel fuel is some what safer.
I know some of the better Brands of timers only keep the engine running when the hand brake is on, that would be a bit better lol.

[Disco_owner]

If they were illegal I doubt they'd insure them in a vehicle.

I like timers, I think they are good. Especially when out bush and it doesn't matter if you let it run when away from it. This is the illegal part however.

I do a lot of highway and hilly areas and when I get home I will happily park the vehicle in the driveway and walk away from it. And If I have anything in the vehicle I can lock the doors anyway and not set the alarm. If a burgular did get in, they are only going to be 1 minute down the road.

Xav

the same arguement goes hand in hand with Illegal Lifts and Massive tyres etc , insurance companies are still insuring heavily modified vehilces.

What is illegal is being able to remove the keys from the ignition with the engine still running. and if your keys are still in the ignition with the Engine running then you might as well stay inside for an extra 2-3 minutes and then shut the engine off, in my case if I've been driving the vehicle hard for a while and I know that I'm soon to be approaching my drive way I start to drive conservatively so that EGT drops down to 250-300 , By the time I'm in my drive way the EGT has dropped sufficiently enough to turn the Car off after a Minute anyway , so how would an electronic timer know hot Hot the exhaust is inside your engine ?

[Xavie]

I thought it was illegal because you were away from a running vehicle (I know that part is illegal)? I thought because you still had a quick cut off (the button on the timer) it would be okay? I think the thing is they are not illegal but they are used illegally?

Your right about the lift, I never thought of that. Mine is all done with RTA approval so it never occurred to me.

I guess cause I turn off the highway and then up hills to get home Driving without pushing the turbo doesn't really happen.

Xav

[vnx205]

... .... .... in my case if I've been driving the vehicle hard for a while and I know that I'm soon to be approaching my drive way I start to drive conservatively so that EGT drops down to 250-300 , By the time I'm in my drive way the EGT has dropped sufficiently enough to turn the Car off after a Minute anyway ,... .... ...
Like you, I am in a position to drive the last few hundred metres to home at very low revs with almost no throttle and then I idle down the driveway, By the time I pull on the handbrake and gather up any bits and pieces like the groceries, the turbo has had much more than the recommended 10secs cooling off period, so it is hardly an issue. In fact I suspect it would have cooled down long before I even get the handbrake on.

I know this topic has been discussed at great length previously.

Perhaps it would be useful if someone who has fitted their vehicle with all those sensor like EGT upstream and downstream from the turbo could volunteer to post some actual figures to allay the fears of those who think that a turbo takes forever to cool down.

What I had in mind (for this generous volunteer) was a series of temperature readings with accompanying revs and a description of the amount of throttle opening at about 10 or 15 sec intervals. It would need to be done for the last few hundred metres of driving and after stopping, for however long it takes for the temperatures to drop well below what would be safe.

Sounds simple enough doesn't it. As they would say on Top Gear, how hard can it be?"

Any volunteers?:D

Unless someone is prepared to do that I am afraid the topic of turbo timers will raise its ugly head every few months.:p

[Disco_owner]

Alright Alan;

I'll volunteer

But I would prefer a passenger taking these measurements whilst I am driving or vice versa , I personally feel it's not safe to be looking at Gauges whilst driving and taking measurements at same time ?? :o

what exactly do you have in mind and I will try and take measurements of ?

1) Amount of Boost

or // Throttle position ?

2) EGT ? Deg C

3) Engine Revs ??

and would this test require vehicle to have been driven under heavy Loads for a Long periods of time before heading home? so we can mimick a worst case scenario?

and how far before heading home should i start taking measurements 1 km 2 km ....5 kms ? few hundred meters ...?

[vnx205]

Thanks for the offer.

Quite right about needing a passenger. So now we need a second volunteer. It's a pity I don't live closer.

The answer to some of your questions will be determined by the results you are getting and what you can conveniently do.

I suppose the worst case scenario would be to tow a heavy trailer flat out up a big hill to get the temperature about as high as it is ever going to get, but we have to be a bit realistic.

Something that was representative of what people normally do would be more useful.

What you described about the way you arrive home would be similar to what a lot of people do a lot of the time. So just follow your normal routine.

It might be useful to also have another common situation like pulling off the freeway into a servo.

But I don't think it is my job to tell you what to do.:D
After all you are the one who is taking the trouble to try to provide some real life figures to try to help people understand what is happening under their bonnet.

It's not possible to cover every single circumstance. I'm sure whatever you decide will be useful.

[Disco_owner]

Since i volunteered for this task, I really had to have an assistant
to help me take measurements as I deemed it to be unsafe looking at gauges every 15sec
intervals and taking measurements whilst driving.

so the Data I've provided is from a typical days drive to see a friend
up at Berrowra just up the F3 freeway , about a 15-20 minute drive from home.


0 time is the end of the Freeway where we actually start
to take these measurements,now at this point EGT had droped down
from 540ish to 434. because of the end of Freeway
traffic conditions





http://www.aulro.com/app/uploads/13705/EGT_results.jpg


As You can see from the time I pulled into my driveway till the actuall
time where the engine was switched off is 3 minutes. personally I don't think
that was a long wait to be sitting Idle inside the vehicle for EGT to drop down
to this EGT point. I 'm also assuming Ambient Temp will play part on how quickly/slowly
EGT drops off down to 200 on a day that's let's say 35 deg c outside

[isuzurover]

Great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vnx205]

Blimey!
Talk about efficient and thorough!

I need a bit more time to think about all that data, but it looks to me as if the temperature drops very quickly immediately the boost drops. In fact about 66 degrees in only the first 30 secs of idling along.

[vnx205]

After the impressive work by Disco_owner on this project, I thought I needed to make a small contribution.
Something that stands out, I think is how quickly temperatures drop when you back off.
I suppose though there would be a little bit more of a lag before the metal in the turbo dropped.
What is supposed to be an acceptable temperature to shut down?

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7404/turbotg8.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[Disco_owner]

Thanks Alan,

Also another thing worth Noting is that once EGT reached 200 deg or thereabouts "which is usually my cut off point " the drop off rate of EGT is very Slow from this Point onwards , i think it took another 2 minutes or so for EGT to drop down from 200 DegC to 170 DegC with engine idling. I'm not quite sure how the 200 Deg Cut off came about ? I think this was a figure that was accepted by a few of us here on one of the Tubo-Timer threads??:D