Yes or no for turbo timers?

[kalilay]

Basically just wondering whta the general opinion of turbo timers is around here...should i invest in one or not? i dont race its just a DD and has basically no performance mods as of yet? maybe wait till more performance stuff gets done , or is it a good idea now? thanks guys!

 

[The_EE]

Yes.

Doesnt matter if you dont race, its for the DD. basically, it keeps the car running after highway driving so that the turbo can cool down some and the oil doesnt sit and cook. If you just shut down the car after a long drive, the oil will cook and much like everything else that cooks, it gets harder and leaves deposits which will shorten the life of your turbo. Its cheap insurance, get one and call it a day. One of the easiest TT's I have installed is the HKS model, its plug and play. Plug in the harness, attach the wire to the emergency brake and your basically done. Takes about 30 minutes for a novice which I was.

 

[LTUDSM]

a turbotimer is a good idea anyway if your car is moded or not ,cause u don't need to waste time sitting in the car and waiting for a turbo to cool down and some of the TT have some other funcscions like volt metter,0-60mph time,speed time,rpm's reading,you deff should get one i think one of the best is the a greddy cause its really easy to install the alternate to greddy is HKS which is easy to install also

 

[MyBeatGSX]

Yes.

Wet CHRA's are for ####ies. Take those coolant lines off and get a turbo timer.

 

[92awddsm]

You dont need or even have a use for a tt on your n/t. Even if you do turbo it, if you use a watercooled turbo, the turbo timer will do little or nothing for the car. If you decide to go with a non-water cooled turbo, then yes, invest in a turbo timer if you dont want to sit with the car idleing for a few minutes after a hard drive.

 

[kalilay]

hey guys...sorry about that Keith...I think you're the only one that caught on that my profile listed a NT car...that was wrong by the way ....i must have sounded pretty stoopid asking whether or not a turbo timer was a good idea to put on a non turbo car ...anyhow thanks for the help guys i really appreciate the time people take to post replies!!!!

 

[91tsi2wd]

yea bro i have the greddy full auto turbotimer and i love it - get the harness it saves a lot of time (just plug and play)...cheap on etremepsi.com got it delivered to my door with harness for $103

 

[TheClaw]

Meh - I've never seen a need for TT's on a watercooled turbo.

If you just adjust your driving a little bit, and drive like a normal person for the last 2 minutes of your drive - your turbo will be fine. Just don't boost 50psi for 5 mins then shut your car off.

 

[carsaval]

I'd say yes, but i wouldnt say freak out and buy one today. Go do some research first, get one that you like the features of and remeber ease of install is simple unles your like me and have a factory alarm then your f'd and have to take your dash apart so you can splice your wirring harness:::sniffle:::

 

[nuclearpenguin]

I'm set on not getting a TT.

http://members.shaw.ca/costall/1000Q/answers-terms.htm#whatisaturbotimer

Just don't run real hard and then immediately shut your car off. In the time it takes you to drive back down the return road while at the track, you should be ok.

 

[DGajre777]

A turbo timer is a lazy device.

If you have a wet bearing turbo, you don't need one.
If you have a ball bearing turbo, you don't need one.
If you drive for an hour on the highway and pull into a rest area and can't keep your car running for 30 seconds to a 1 minute before turing your car off, then yes, you need a turbo timer.
If you do WOT runs on the street (while staying under legal speed limits and don't street race), and feel the need to shut your car off 1 second after you finish your runs, then yes you need a turbo timer.

You can take the $100 for a turbo timer and buy some mods to make your car go faster.

 

[v2ner]

A turbo timer is a lazy device.

If you have a wet bearing turbo, you don't need one.
If you have a ball bearing turbo, you don't need one.
If you drive for an hour on the highway and pull into a rest area and can't keep your car running for 30 seconds to a 1 minute before turing your car off, then yes, you need a turbo timer.
If you do WOT runs on the street (while staying under legal speed limits and don't street race), and feel the need to shut your car off 1 seconds after you finish your runs, then yes you need a turbo timer.

You can take the $100 for a turbo timer and buy some mods to make your car go faster.

I second that.

 

[kalilay]

mixed opinions i see ...ill do some research and keep what you've all said in mind...thanks a lot i appreciate it!

-Adam

 

[Dream On]

I personally wouldn't pay for one, but I'd install it if it was a gift.

 

[olmytsi]

I like my turbo timer because besides letting the car cool down (i have a oil cooled only 50 trim), i can also start it on a cold morning, set it to the max and go back inside while it warms up

ps: you can find used tt for cheap nowadays, no need to spend $100 on a brand new one. Also, there have been a few threads asking this same exact question.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

So most people dont really need turbo timers then, since most are oil and water cooled.
How funny when I had my big16g, it was always 1min turbo timing, now with the 50 trim which is only oil cooled, i only have it for 10 secs. 20secs if i do longer harder pulls.

With this new knowledge I learned today, I gueess I would say if you are running t25, or other water/oil cooled, then it wouldnt be worth it, that is if the turbo timer you are going to get is more than $50 shipped to your door.

BUT if it only cost $25 brand new shipped to your door, and you want to be notified by people that your car is still running when you leave so you can say "it turns off by itself, turbo timer, or you plan to upgrade to a bigger turbo that is only oil cooled.. here ya go
http://cgi.ebay.com/JDM-DIGITAL-FUL...9QQihZ012QQcategoryZ33742QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I plan on getting that one above for my beater GSX, ill do a full/install/review whenever I do, just like all the ebay parts the beater is going to be using, so keep on a look out in the DIY secion.

 

[andymoraitis]

Wet CHRA's are for ####ies. Take those coolant lines off and get a turbo timer.

If you don't have something worthwhile to contribute, please don't.

For the original poster, they're not necessary but more of a convenience on a dry bearing turbo. I always drive mine easy the last couple of miles after I've been romping on it and then let it idle for 1-2 minutes. On a wet bearing housing it's not a necessity at all. If you have the patience to sit for 1-2 minutes while cooling down then you can get away without having one and put the money towards something else.

 

[xioca]

Why buy a turbo timer, when without it gives you an excuse to sit in your car for an extra 20 seconds?

I don't see the need to spend $100 for something that is free, and is as simple as letting your car idle for a little bit.

 

[blackbyrd]

I got a high powered alarm off ebay for 100bucks, included a turbo timer! Two for the price of one, haha.

This topics

 

[MyBeatGSX]

If you don't have something worthwhile to contribute, please don't.

That was worth while. Wet CHRA's are a waste of perfectly good thermal capacity in your coolant. Use it to cool off something that needs to be cooled off, like the engine. Proper turbo timing works just as well and makes for no hastle when taking the turbo on and off, there are that many less places for coolant to leak from, and you aren't running your coolant through a 500+* center section.

Do you have proof that its nessesary? Where's the are reliability tests? Do you even know the coke point of modern synthetic oil? Or once again is this just a case of, well that's how its been done for years, I have no real fact to back it up I'm just going off what I'm used to?

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef6d0b0

I ran my s16G dry for 3 years and it didn't have a milimeter of shaft play when I sold it. I also currently run my e16G dry, as I will with any turbo I ever buy.


Turbo timers > wet CHRA's

 

[Defiant]

That was worth while. Wet CHRA's are a waste of perfectly good thermal capacity in your coolant. Use it to cool off something that needs to be cooled off, like the engine.

Coolant isn't only for cooling. It's also for stability. When more of the engine is at operating temperature, more things are going to be closer to engineered specs. A water-cooled spool will have a much more consistent temperature -as will its seals and bearings- and thereby a closer control on those parts' operating tolerances.
I'll stick with a watercooled spool until I get to LeMans, just like I'll stay with the factory water-cooled oil heat exchanger. And I'll drive lightly for the last two miles to the pits, go through the shut-down checklist of turning off everything in the cockpit and putting up the sunshade before turning off. So I'll have no earthly use for a turbo timer. And I'll put that hundred bucks toward the next set of tires.

 

[nightspeed87]

i got a tt for 50 bucks so I was like hell might as well.
But im still on a stock 14b which are oil/water cooled . Therefore I shouldnt need it until I upgrade to a oil only turbo ( if I even do ) correct? Just take simply everyones post.

MyBeatGSX
Wet CHRA's are for ####ies. Take those coolant lines off and get a turbo timer.

and why would you take off a cooling device? Are you talking about on a stock turbo? Even if the coolant was hot, sounds kind of iffy, but I guess if its worked for you then be my guest.

 

[Rice Over Wheat]

Aside from cooling, my apexi tt is useful wired to the o2 and a/f, so I can use it as another reference point aside from afc and logger.

 

[v2ner]

Please tell me you actually have a wideband o2 sensor.

 

[MyBeatGSX]

Coolant isn't only for cooling. It's also for stability. When more of the engine is at operating temperature, more things are going to be closer to engineered specs. A water-cooled spool will have a much more consistent temperature -as will its seals and bearings- and thereby a closer control on those parts' operating tolerances.
I'll stick with a watercooled spool until I get to LeMans, just like I'll stay with the factory water-cooled oil heat exchanger. And I'll drive lightly for the last two miles to the pits, go through the shut-down checklist of turning off everything in the cockpit and putting up the sunshade before turning off. So I'll have no earthly use for a turbo timer. And I'll put that hundred bucks toward the next set of tires.

WTF
You're going to compare a street car to LeMans LMP car that sees WOT for 12-24 hours at a time? I'm sure they do need wet CHRA's just to keep the entire rotating assembly from welding itself into a shapeless lump of metal.


Show me some proof that street turbos need to be water cooled to stay within tolerances or to stay reliable. Like I said, 3 years daily driven, 20psi, no problems. Coking is not an issue with synthetic oil.

A water-cooled spool will have a much more consistent temperature -as will its seals and bearings- and thereby a closer control on those parts' operating tolerances.

Do you have any data proving that? What does the temperature change of the bearings in a wet CHRA's look like as opposed to a dry CHRA's during a 3rd gear pull? There's a reason a wet CHRA is usually offered as an OPTION on most turbos, it just isn't nessesary. Its for people too lazy or too cheap to get a turbo timer.

The bearing housing on the Evo (and 98% of all turbo cars on the road today) is water cooled. Water cooling of the bearing housing is something developed in the '70s when oil was not as good as it is now. It was developed to keep the bearing housing cooler after engine shutdown and avoid oil burning on the shaft. It is still used today by all manufacturers but these days modern oils do not burn on the shaft even after hot shutdowns.

http://www.evonation.com/tuning.html