Turbo maintainance - care?

DGBVIPER · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:32

Always drive off boost for a good bit at the end of the journey & sometimes allow it to sit and go through one fan cycle before switching it off.
It is an old car and turbo so I try to do what I can, oil changes every 3,000miles

Meridian · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:35

My understanding is that it's a non-issue on turbo diesels because they get nowhere near as hot as petrol turbos, and thus baking is not a problem. For petrol turbos it's only a problem on old cars: I don't think any petrol turbo of the last ten years says anything about this in the manual, suggesting no-one cares. That said, I usually leave about fifteen seconds of idling after caning, but otherwise I don't bother.

miniyazz · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:35

sigma said:
Irony?

If I've come to a stop after being on boost I'll wait a while before turning it off. For example, when pulling into a petrol station.

Not quite sure where the irony in that is?

If you 'haven't had time' to not hoon it for the last few minutes, you're probably not going to be in the mood to sit idling for 30s once you reach your destination

Gaygle · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:36

I never normally am faced with a situation where i actually can come off massive boost and turn the engine off.

Normally i have to go through 40mph and 30 mph limits for a mile or two which should give it time to cool down a bit. I think mine has auxillary electronic pump that turns on after i switch off the car anyway to keep the turbos cool.

Joe T · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:38

atpbx said:
Dont cane it when its cold, after motorway driving or a good thrash give it a minute to tick over when you pull up.

Also with stop start (in the mini anyway) you have to make a very definate choice to use it as to make it work you have to come to a halt and sit with the car in neutral clutch disengaged and your foot on the brake, which is the incorrect way to be sat at a junction or traffic light, or in traffic.
So I wouldnt worry about it as most of the time you will be sat, in gear, handbrake on (the correct way) most of the time.

Can I ask why you should be sat in gear with the handbrake on?

Firestar_3x · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:39

sovietspybob said:
I never let it boost till the oil temp (not water temp) is above 75degrees

I'm sure the lack of education with turbo cars causes a lot of the diesel engine issues that are oh so common nowadays.

How is that even possible, I can't get my car moving without some boost.

Gaygle · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:43

I know on some cars, you can get third party pieces of equipment in which you can "turn off" the turbos (maybe it just leaves the wastegates fully open to get 0psi boost). Maybe he means that? Then again, he may mean that he just doesn't use full boost until the engine warms up a bit.

Turning off the turbos until it is warm is taking things too far IMO.

[TW]Fox · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:49

atpbx said:
Also with stop start (in the mini anyway) you have to make a very definate choice to use it as to make it work you have to come to a halt and sit with the car in neutral clutch disengaged and your foot on the brake

No you don't - the foot on the brake is not a requirement for stop start to function. The car must be in neutral and stopped for it to cut out, but you don't need to have your foot on the brake unless it's an auto.

sovietspybob · 24 Jul 2012 at 12:59

Firestar_3x said:
How is that even possible, I can't get my car moving without some boost.

What i mean is i don't go above 0 on my boost gauge so the turbo doesn't spool. With a pretty old skool petrol turbo engine you can drive it quite happily with no boost atall as my turbo doesn't spool until over 3k RPM

Meridian said:
My understanding is that it's a non-issue on turbo diesels because they get nowhere near as hot as petrol turbos, and thus baking is not a problem. For petrol turbos it's only a problem on old cars: I don't think any petrol turbo of the last ten years says anything about this in the manual, suggesting no-one cares. That said, I usually leave about fifteen seconds of idling after caning, but otherwise I don't bother.

My 2002 Diesel Toyota Yaris has a sticker just inside the door on the side of the dash saying to 'refrain from hard driving for the last few miles of the journey to prolong the life of the turbo'

Zuban · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:08

I follow the guidance from A. Graham Bell's forced induction performance book, which is pretty much drive the last few minutes of your journey off the boost but keep the revs sufficiently high, 2-3000rpm so that there is enough coolant and oil flow through the engine, and also enough airflow over the radiator/oil cooler etc. and let the car idle for about 30 seconds after you stop before switching it off to let the turbo spin down, he mentions theres not a lot of point letting it idle for too long as there is neither enough coolant/oil flow nor any airflow over the radiator etc.

seems to make sense so its what i do and sometimes i use a higher gear to keep the revs up and just coast the last but home in the gt-four.

Doesnt the mini cooper s have a water pump that stays on after the engine is off to keep coolant flow going through the turbo? I remember reading about a recall because of it.

dwarf · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:08

Your turbo will be spinning all the time the engine is on, it just isn't spinning fast enough to be producing boost until 3,000+ rpm.

If you can't get your car moving without boost I'd suggest something is wrong. Is your handbrake on?

sigma · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:11

Berger said:
Dunno, I plan my journeys so know when I will fill the car up.

Well thanks for letting me know. Not that I know what point you're trying to make now?

miniyazz said:
If you 'haven't had time' to not hoon it for the last few minutes, you're probably not going to be in the mood to sit idling for 30s once you reach your destination

I guess I should thank you too. Thanks for letting me now how I think and act

Cristian · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:11

Joe T said:
Can I ask why you should be sat in gear with the handbrake on?

This I would also like to know. That means you keep your foot on the clutch abusing your clutch assembly whilst also abusing your handbrake cable (which is not designed to be pulled 100 times a day)

The only problem with neutral/brakes on is if it's night time and there are repeated long stops - you dazzle those behind you. But in terms of effect on the car it's much much better than always keeping your foot on the clutch whilst in gear.

Not a big fan of the start/stop system. Why does everybody implement it? Because it helps cutting down on emissions and meet the ever increasing demands of the EU. But as far as reliability is concerned I doubt it will have 0 impact on o turbo (water still flows through the block, yes but the turbo will be sat still).

On the other hand the impact will probably be negligible for the first 100k miles and by that time turbos are out of warranty anyway so I don't see why manufacturers would care.

Myshra · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:31

paradigm said:
Given my car(s) have an oil pump that continues to run after the car is switched off, no I don't bother with a cool down routine bar driving a little less vigorously toward the end of a journey.

Are any cars made without this now? Seems like such an obvious thing to do.

atpbx · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:32

Joe T said:
Can I ask why you should be sat in gear with the handbrake on?

Because thats how you are taught to sit a stop sign, and at the lights, both on a motorbike (accept with your left foot on the ground, right foot covering the brake and right hand applying the front brake) and in a lorry.
And if I remember correctly its how I was taught to do it in a car as well.

You sit IN gear at at stop so that if you are hit up the arse the engine stalls as you foot jerks off the clutch.

matthab · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:33

Ive heard the Cupra TSI runs its coolant for 15minutes when the engine is turned off to aid the cooling down of the turbo.

atpbx · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:35

[TW]Fox;22412442 said:
No you don't - the foot on the brake is not a requirement for stop start to function. The car must be in neutral and stopped for it to cut out, but you don't need to have your foot on the brake unless it's an auto.

My bad.

Jonnycoupe · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:38

Myshra said:
Are any cars made without this now? Seems like such an obvious thing to do.

Very few cars have auxillery electric oil pumps. Infact Im suprised to hear the Audi has... to be honest I would expect it to be water.

Much easier to do a coolant one as the principle of coolant is heat management through flow rather than bearing support with pressure. Bit easier to implement two pumps on a cooling system.

paradigm · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:43

Jonnycoupe said:
Very few cars have auxillery electric oil pumps. Infact Im suprised to hear the Audi has... to be honest I would expect it to be water.

You're right, the Audi is a water pump, my bad. My Leon Cupra R has both (only coolant as standard).

mjt · 24 Jul 2012 at 13:50

atpbx said:
Because thats how you are taught to sit a stop sign, and at the lights, both on a motorbike (accept with your left foot on the ground, right foot covering the brake and right hand applying the front brake) and in a lorry.
And if I remember correctly its how I was taught to do it in a car as well.

You sit IN gear at at stop so that if you are hit up the arse the engine stalls as you foot jerks off the clutch.

News to me!