Letting the Turbo Cool Down Before Shutting the Car Off

[briansmart]

At the Outsmarting the Dragon event, I learned something very interesting from our Canadian 450 CDI "brothers in Smart." You must let the turbo cool down before shutting the car off. Not sure exactly what the duration of time is, but I imagine it is based on how long ago the turbo was running before you parked and the duration the turbo was running.

This - along with the Evilution / Forge dump valve - will help extend the life of your gas 450's turbo.

I also learned of something that would help make letting the turbo cool easier. You can separate the fob and key. It seemed that all of the Canadians had done so. I believe that 24-42 has done it as well. So of course now I'm going to. You can now leave the car running, get out, lock the door and do other things while waiting for the turbo to cool down. its recommended that you get the blade copied on a bigger key (and safely store the original blade) so that its easier to turn and remove.

You can now leave the key in the ignition at all times. Even if someone breaks into the car, they cannot start it without pressing unlock on the fob, which you have tucked away safe and warm with you.

[jetfuel]

...Brian..the cool down of the turbo is the life of the turbo....if not allowed to cool down the carbon seal/rotor oil will boil/coke to the point that it will not seal properly and start to leak...

jetfuel...not boiling

[jwight]

Ha! That explains what Rob was wearing around his neck and why his car was always running. We learn something new every day.

I think other turbo cars in the past had the same recommendation to let them run before shutting down; don't know about newer turbo cars.

[jetfuel]

...almost all turbos Dad...they all have oil lubricated bearings and a carbon/rotor seal to keep the oil from going up in smoke....BTW awesome movie, this two guys smoking pot all day ..ahh?...sorry..'70s flash back...but the main reason is preventing coking or oil boiling on the face of the assembly...it will turn into hard carbon and then into $$$...

jetfuel...not up in smoke....

[sato7]

dont some turbo cars have a separate oil pump that is independent of the ignition for this purpose? to continue to pump oil to the turbos until they cool down sufficiently...

[cassini75]

well you cant lock the car while running, but once its turned off, after a given set time, the car will lock itself out, doors will still be unlocked but it cant be started till the FOB has unlocked the car again.

Don (24-42) was the first i saw with the Fob on him with a knob in the car, i took that and made my own polished stainless one, and cut down a MB key (ilco X83 MB39) to fit

i dont really have a set time for letting the turbo to cool down, but longer is better and sometimes i forget, but i know after a long haul, or pushing it hard like the dragon, it needs a few minutes to cool down.

The Diesel turbos in our cars i read are more durable than the ones in the gassers, but doesnt hurt to give it some cool down time,

I still need to invest in a scan guage of sorts, which is why i have the TV in the dash, planning on running a small computer with a obd2 hooked up and displayed on the dash all the engine info

[smartie yank]

If you want to learn about turbo temperature find a buddy with a diesel pick up. Many have a pyrometer or exhaust gas temperature gauge. Watch the gauge while driving and you will see how it varies directly with load or work. Low speeds and light throttle keep turbo speeds and temp down.

Going 25mph down your residential streed helps cool your turbo down compared to pulling off the freeway and into the gas station at the end of the ramp.

Treating your turbo nice is kind of like normal acceleration vs full throttle through 4 or 5 gears from every stop light.

[Turbo42]

Can you say turbo timer ;)

[cassini75]

from what i have read, they cant be directly installed into smarts, turbo timers that is. some people use the scan gauge that has a timer in it, before they shut down

[rfernatt]

I had a turbo GTI 1.8T a few years back and the VW guys always recommended at least a 2 minute cool off period if you'd been running it hard. I always tried to take it easy the last mile or so to accommodate the turbo.