Turbo timer

[ricot83]

just wondering if how anyone has hooked one up before. and if its even possible with our alarm systems

[Saabn]

It's very possible, ive seen saabs with them before. first step would be to remove the reverse lock which is pretty simple. Everyone on this site will tell you that it is a waste of time and money, but i think it would be worth it. If you want info on how to take the stupid reverse lock out let me know, i will also pm the e mail of a very helpful person who has a greddy full auto turbo timer on his ng900 if you would like

[BlinD]

I always just give mine a minute or so depending on how I drove it of sitting time.

[ragtopcav]

Turbo timer? It has been discussed on the boards before, really cannot say whether anyone has done it yet. I think we're waiting for someone to try :wink: . Saaabn is quite right, the starting point is removing the reverse lock [or perhaps a modification so it's a neutral lock]

One question about them, do they have a turbo temp' reading device to know how long to idle the engine before off?

Sorry just more questions and no answers.

[Saabn]

Unfortunately you can't modify the reverse lock in any ways, it is a plate connected to a spring- connected to the ignition (if that makes any sense ). Its only purpose is to ensure that when you park your car you leave it reverse. If you used a turbo timer you would have to rely on your parking brake. I find the reverse lock annoying, it is alot easier not having it, you can leave the car in any gear that you would like. I will say, however, i almost never leave my car in nuetral, just in case, but i do not have a turbo timer.

[ricot83]

my car is automatic, so my biggest concern is the alarm and wiring

[Tweek's Turbos]

Originally Posted by Saabn

Everyone on this site will tell you that it is a waste of time and money,

I think I am in that crew. I have no idea what it costs, but I am content just sitting in my car till the song I'm listening to finishes up for a cool down period.

[ricot83]

well i got a timer for like 20 bucks so why not try it

[ragtopcav]

Originally Posted by ricot83

well i got a timer for like 20 bucks so why not try it

Why not indeed.

[PunktKruger]

Why not? How many times do I have to tell you kids that Turbo Timers are bad? :P To avoid having to retype what I've said before, I'll just do a couple of cut-and-paste jobs:

Originally Posted by Some brilliant guy

Not only is a turbo timer in a car that requires you to put the car in reverse to retrieve the key an unlikely combination, but turbo timers are about the worst security risk you can put your car in short of leaving the doors unlocked with the key in the ignition.

You want your car stolen, go right ahead and install a turbo timer. I'll swing by to pick it up tomorrow at around 4am.

Originally Posted by That same brilliant guy

Turbo pressure isn't the problem with turning your engine off, it's temperature. There are plenty of ways to monitor the temperature of just about everything under the hood, but you don't need to. Truly, if you just take it easy on the turbo for a couple of minutes before turning it off, you'll be just fine.

If you run your car hard and blast the turbo into the red a lot, just make sure you make an extra lap around the block before you go home, or keep it below 3,000 RPM and your foot off the floor for the last couple miles before you shut'er down.

For those wondering, all a turbo timer does is continue to run the engine after you shut it off. This continues the supply of oil to the turbocharger while the bearings are still hot. Normally, when you shut the engine off the supply of oil stops flowing to the turbo charger, and leaving a little bit of oil in the turbo charger and its bearings. If your turbo is really hot and this oil can't get cycled out, or newer, cooler oil can't get cycled in, the oil left inside the turbo can cook and over time may turn into sludgy build-up.

I don't condone turbo-timers because beyond being a lazy man's way of taking an extra bit of time to cool your car down, they present an incredibly easy method for someone to start your car, if they know what to look for. I have a friend who's had his ride stolen three times, twice the car was started with the turbo timer.

Originally Posted by You wouldn't believe what this awesome guy

Anyone with a pair of pliers can steal a car with a TT, if they know where it's at. I liken it to having an external and easily-accessible way to hotwire a car, without needing to really even know how.

Turbo timers are for lazy people. Those guys that can't take an extra lap around the block or keep their foot out of the turbo as they roll through their neighborhood before turning your car off use turbo timers. Running synthetic oil really helps to prevent oil coking to begin with, and all it truly takes to keep from ruining your turbo is avoiding excessive turbo use for the last minute or so before you get where you're going. If you swing into the parking lot or driveway of every place you go at 100mph after finishing what onlookers would describe as circuit racing without the circuit, you probably deserve to coke your bearings anyway.

I don't mean to be impolite, but there just isn't any good reason I've found to use a turbo timer, no matter how cheap you got it for. In fact, you couldn't pay me to put a turbo timer on my car. You couldn't even pay me to have it professionally installed.

[ricot83]

dude ill b the first to say that if your car is able to be stolen while the turbo timer is running it, u and the idiot that installed it are freakin morons. There should be at least 3 safety switches on it, first if the brake is depressed the car shuts off!!!!... number two if u so choose you can have the car shut off when the emergency/parking brake is released. Number 3 if the car is automatic, u have to hit the break to shift it thus turning off the car...if the car is standard u must hit the clutch, which in turn wired correctly will also shut off the car. so all these arguments about your car being easy to steal.... u just need to install the tt correctly. so whomever's friend's car got stolen 3 times...he is an idiot

i remember all the cars i have driven with turbo timers, or my buddies' cars that had them..properly installed, i tried everything to move the car and nothing worked, so like i said if it is properly installed in the car the worry of it being stolen, is 0

as for oil coking...it is beest to let the car idle no matter what anyone tells u especially when we are talking about people with programmed ecus and such which will result in higher boost, thus more stress on the turbo

[PunktKruger]

I seem to see alot of missing letters in your post. Care to fill in the blanks?

As you'll note, I clearly stated that hopping into someone's ride while the timer is running isn't the only way to steal a car with one. You can easily start any car with a turbo timer installed. No "safety switch" will save you from dash-mounted hot-wiring helper, no matter what the actors in 2fast2furious tell you.

dude ill b the first to say that if your car is able to be stolen while the turbo timer is running it, u and the idiot that installed it are freakin morons.

Yes, because they installed a turbo timer in their cars. I knew you got the point of my post.

There should be at least 3 safety switches on it, first if the brake is depressed the car shuts off!!!!

Brakes aren't electronic, meaning you need a mechanical switch for this. Easily defeated.

number two if u so choose you can have the car shut off when the emergency/parking brake is released.

If you've been driving around hard enough to need a turbo timer when you lazily get out of your car after a hard run, your brakes are probably hot too. If you pull your parking brake with hot brakes, you'll warp you rotors. Clever.

Number 3 if the car is automatic, u have to hit the break to shift it thus turning off the car...if the car is standard u must hit the clutch, which in turn wired correctly will also shut off the car.

Again, mechanical switches are easily defeated.

so all these arguments about your car being easy to steal.... u just need to install the tt correctly.

Or not install it at all.

so whomever's friend's car got stolen 3 times...he is an idiot

I'd hardly call the guy an idiot. In fact, he likely knows more about cars than anyone I've ever met, but you're right, it was pretty idiotic of him to install a turbo timer in his car in the first place, and then not take it out when he got the car back. (The third time was a different car, and didn't have a turbo timer. He'd learned by then.)

i remember all the cars i have driven with turbo timers, or my buddies' cars that had them..properly installed, i tried everything to move the car and nothing worked, so like i said if it is properly installed in the car the worry of it being stolen, is 0

I think that says more about your ability to steal a car than his ability to install a useless timer on his ride.

as for oil coking...it is beest to let the car idle no matter what anyone tells u especially when we are talking about people with programmed ecus and such which will result in higher boost, thus more stress on the turbo

Of course it is, that's ideal, but we're talking about the need for a turbo timer here, and there just plain isn't one when you can just as easily take it easy before you shut your car off, even waiting an extra 10 or 15 seconds at idle before you shut your car off. Maybe you don't realize, but it's not a good idea to leave your car idling for over 2 minutes at a time.

[ricot83]

dude honestly again u shouldn't install devices like this out in the open anyway. i am going to give it a whirl and add a relay so my alarm arms when it finally shuts off. anyone that has enough knowledge to hotwire my saab and get it to shift without a key in it and drive it... b my guest. u should install a push start button too...this would deter people no?

i apologize for missing letters, as i am using a wireless keyboard, and the batteries must be dying.

for someone like myself that always seems to be running around this is more of a convenience than anything else.

[PunktKruger]

Well, suit yourself. I speak from experience and from the point of view that superfluous items such as turbo timers are for the fast and the furious crowd and not the car enthusiast crowd.

[ricot83]

u r right about brakes not being electronic, but correct me if im wrong but when u hit the brake your brake lights come on right? but that wouldnt be electronic...of course not

as for all this fast and furious talk, i just finished reading a few posts about people blowing turbos on modified cars, i.e. running more boost do to ecu or what have you and at least 4 out of the 8 , which is at least half of the turbos, failed due to coking. lack of letting the car idle. yes i would love to sit in my car and let it idle for a minute, in fact i dont mind it at all... the problem arises when u have children in your car, or any type of passenger at all. do u think they would enjoy sitting in the car when they are anxious to get wherever u r goin. i doubt it... like i said it is more a convenience thing than anything else. oh yeah and i just read what you said about letting your car idle for two minutes. Most new turbo timers are automatic and judge time by temperatures, and such....whatever... the people I know that have them installed usually have them programmed for no longer than 45-50seconds and that's pushing it...

back to my original question if anyone has any idea how i can wire this in let me know. or if anyone has installed one.

thanks
rick

[PunktKruger]

u r right about brakes not being electronic, but correct me if im wrong but when u hit the brake your brake lights come on right? but that wouldnt be electronic...of course not

So you're suggesting using an electronic relay installed on the wires used to run your brake lights? You do realize that this circuit is regulated by the mechanical switch at your brake pedal, right?

as for all this fast and furious talk, i just finished reading a few posts about people blowing turbos on modified cars, i.e. running more boost do to ecu or what have you and at least 4 out of the 8 , which is at least half of the turbos, failed due to coking.

Not surprising.

lack of letting the car idle.

No, lack of letting the turbo cool before you shut down the car, not letting the car idle. Try this:

1. Install a temperature gauge to measure the housing of your turbocharger.

2. Heat the turbo up with heavy acceleration, long periods of use, etc.

3. Record the temperature.

4. Now spend 5-10 minutes driving the car around slowly, keeping your foot out of the turbo as best as you can.

5. Record the temperature.

6. Now go rev the heck out of the turbo again, trying to get the temperature to the same level recorded in step 3.

7. Go park the car somewhere and let the car sit and idle for 5-10 minutes.

8. Record the temperature.

In case you don't feel like spending the time doing this, let me break it down for you: $100 says the temperature recorded in step 5 is as cool as or cooler than the temperature recorded in step 8. Why? Airflow, that’s why. You’ll cool your turbo faster and more effectively while moving around, and it’s really as simple as that. This easily proves that taking “cool down time” before parking your car is as effective or more effective than sitting and idling, making your turbo timer a waste of money and time.

do u think they would enjoy sitting in the car when they are anxious to get wherever u r goin. i doubt it...

Aside from not needing to sit and idle, who says they have to sit in the car with you?

oh yeah and i just read what you said about letting your car idle for two minutes. Most new turbo timers are automatic and judge time by temperatures, and such....whatever... the people I know that have them installed usually have them programmed for no longer than 45-50seconds and that's pushing it...

Yes, I know how they work. Timing it for 45 seconds would probably be enough to cool the turbo down adequately to prevent coking, but often times it may not be enough.

back to my original question if anyone has any idea how i can wire this in let me know. or if anyone has installed one.

You should be able to obtain instructions from the manufacturer of the timer, I’d assume.

[ricot83]

thanks for your help

[PunktKruger]

Who makes it, btw? What model? I could try to find you an installation manual or something online.

I don't really like timers and I disagree with their use, but who am I to stop you from putting it on? It's your car and your call, all I can do is give you whatever advice I have.

[bkrell]

Great to hear pros and cons but let's please keep it civil folks! :wink: I don't think we need to equate turbo timers with laziness

[ricot83]

lol
its an hks turbo timer