The question is.. Do our cars have one? Do they need it? I was just wondering because I have heard of some nasty things that can happen to a turbo car if the car is driven hard, and then shut off shortly after.

 

Car doesn't have one from what I have read. Yeah it can be bad so don't drive it hard and shut it off.

 

usually the last couple of miles before you get to where youre going you take it easy to let the turbo cool down

 

Thats what I do ..... and on exteme hot days I try to let it coast down a hill before I go home just to release some of that engine bay heat cuz it is a HOT **** ...

 

They dont need it........ Same reason why WRX & Sti's dont.....

Current turbo engines have far greater cooling capacity and coupled with technological advances, makes this
practice no longer necessary. This explains why information about a cool down is not included in the Owner's Manual.

To further explain, the heat contained in the turbo charger will begin to vaporize
the coolant in the turbo charger after the engine is stopped. The hot vapor will
enter the coolant reservoir tank, which is the highest point of the coolant system.
At the same time that the vapor exits that turbo charger, coolant supplied from
the cylinder head flows in to the charger. This action cools the turbo
charger down. This process will continue until the vaporizing action in the turbo
charger has stopped or cooled down.

 

That being said, most of the ones I have rebuilt for the compressor upgrade have severe coking on the turbine shaft and piston ring seal.
It then glues the turbine housing on with coked oil that has weeped past the piston ring.
Just dont hammer it before you put it to bed. Just like folks have suggested.

 

Interesting info. Question: Is there a DOWNSIDE of letting it cool down/idle for a couple mins? I mean, would this have any negative affects at all or is it simply not necessary?

 

if your worried about it....i would let it cool down at least 30 secs to a min

 

There is no downside to letting the car cool down. It will only benefit you in the long run. Although our car has the advancements of letting the turbo cool down, letting the car actually cool down will extend the longevity of your turbo. I personally just added a turbo timer to mine. Rather be safe than sorry.

 

Info on which one you went with? How was the install?

 

Totally unnecessary...if it needed one, GM would have put one on it...just don't shut your car off right after running a WOT 1/4 mile and you will be fine...

 

Went with greddy. It was installed by a shop.

 

pretty much..........i can't see myself going hard on it then shutting it off immediately, it will always still run for another minute or 2 before it's shut of after being hard on it because i'm not gunna go WOT on a residential street

 

i would never do that to any car, my street goes down hill to my house and if i hit the top of it at 20 mph, ill have enough momentum to pull into my driveway with out hitting the gas. haha.

Also, I dont want to start another thread, but I looked and im not sure but, the No Lift feature... can that be used at any time? Like lets say im driving at normal throttle to keep engine revving, and then i want to shift from lets say 2 to 3, can i just leave my right foot where it is and then shift to 3rd? Or does it have to be from a stop and full throttle?

 

Has to be at least 95% throttle and near the red line...do a quick search...this has been discussed several times...

 

thanks man, ill keep the search button handy

 

well the ss cobalt i believe is oil and water cooled isnt it.....my turbo on my LS is not water cooled only oil....so in my case i did install a turbo timer

 

that would be correct

 

i think im just gonna get a command start, security system with a turbo timer on it.

 

What timer did u use because I'm
Looking to get one for my turbo cobalt as idk what to get haha any advise?

 

If you live at the top of a hill and routinely hammer up it and then shut it down when you get home, you will be relying on what the GM designers figure is sufficient protection - their requirement that you only use synthetic oil in the engine. That oil has significantly lower ashing (the thing that harms the bearings) than dino oil, and they are probably right that you are safe.

I run another car with turbo, use dino oil and have an Accusump cool oil reservoir for shut off protection. I don't bother with one on the LNF, although I don't have the touching level of confidence in GM that one of the other posters does. "If GM thought we needed it they'd have put it there"? Gee, I guess that's why there has never been a recall on any GM vehicle - they must alwasy make the right call first time?

 

Turn my heat all the way on and let it blast with the windows down when im coming down my dirtroad very slowly

 

You guys are missing the point. This isn't a cooling issue in the sense that your engine (water) cooling has much to do with it. All keeping the heater on will do is bake your feet!

It is a localized OIL overheating issue inside the turbo bearing that occurs after the engine is shut down and the very hot turbo bearing fries the oil that is now sitting statically inside that bearing. The only way to deal with it is to use an oil that doesn't fry easily, and/'or to arrange for a supply of cooler oil to be forced through the bearing for a minute or two after shut down.

The passive turbo timers are elegant in their simplicity. Many are just a small 1 quart or so oil reservoir (the one I use utilizes a steel bottle the size of a hand held propane torch). This is plumbed into a 'T' fitting in an oil line feeding the turbo bearing, with a one way valve stopping flow back into the supply side. The bottle fills up maybe half way when the engine runs, and then when it is shut down, the oil in the bottle goes back into the bearing through a calibrated orifice for a short time to cool the bearing while the rest of the turbo is radiating heat.

If you don't want to rely solely on the anti-ashing capabilities of synthetic oil, one of these units is an easy way to go - no timers to keep the engine running and that sort of thing.

 

Between the synthetic oil that is much less prone to coking, and the additional water cooling of this turbo, we don't have a need for a turbo timer. The turbo cools off quite quickly, relatively speaking, between the oil and coolant both cooling it off.

The classic reasoning for a turbo timer was around oil coking up in the turbo bearing and oil passages due to excess turbo heat. What was happening is that people would be hammering on their car and then immediately turn off the car. The oil would then stop flowing once the engine is turned off (and therefore the oil pump) and the oil was sit in the turbo and cook, leaving deposits that would eventually clog the oil passages and cause turbo bearing failure.

Synthetic oil is much less prone to this, and with the additional measure to keep the turbo cool, the turbo timer isn't needed for this car. Technology has progressed. The coolant system is even designed now to cause and allow a small amount of flow once the engine is off to continue cooling the turbo for a period of time. I haven't heard of anybody having turbo failure due to lack of a turbo timer with this vehicle.

 

There is a recall on pretty much every vehicle made regardless of who built it. It's just not front page news when its not an American company.