Turbo Timer
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2003 1:30 pm
Hi all,
After yet another long absence, I'm posting again to reply to questions from Joshie and Tweaky, but others may be interested too, especially as the warm weather is coming...
As we all know (don't we?), our turbos are sensitive beasts which should be looked after for a long life. The most important thing for oil bearing turbos (like what we have) is to warm them (or rather the oil) before really making them spin fast. That's why we all make sure that the oil temp has reached the second mark on the oil guage before really "using" the turbos (don't we all?).
However the secondary issue is cooling the oil properly. Since the turbos get f***ing hot, when the oil stops moving, it can effectively boil and cause coking, resulting in loss of lubrication (bad). Even fully synthetic can do this, especially when it gets old. The answer is simple: Let the turbos and oil cool whilst it is circulating, by idling the engine for a few minutes after a hard run.
Of course if you have friends like mine, they'll take the piss out of you for sitting in your car for a few minutes after arriving. The solution is to use a turbo timer which automatically keeps the engine running even after you have got out and locked the doors.
So which turbo timer? IMO the best are those which are combined with a boost gauge, as:
a) They are cheaper then getting separate boost guage and turbo timer units
b) The turbo timer can change its time according to how much boost you have been using
c) Boost gauges are quite handy (or at least just a fun toy) so it's a good excuse to get one anyway.
The only two I know of are the Blitz and Defi HUD units. The Blitz is good (I fitted one to my Scooby) but finding a place to mount the display is a bit of a pain. The Defi HUD however is FAR better (design and build) and since the display is HUD (that's 'heads-up display') it's easily mounted on the dashboard.
So if you want to know more about the Defi HUD, see this post.
After yet another long absence, I'm posting again to reply to questions from Joshie and Tweaky, but others may be interested too, especially as the warm weather is coming...
As we all know (don't we?), our turbos are sensitive beasts which should be looked after for a long life. The most important thing for oil bearing turbos (like what we have) is to warm them (or rather the oil) before really making them spin fast. That's why we all make sure that the oil temp has reached the second mark on the oil guage before really "using" the turbos (don't we all?).
However the secondary issue is cooling the oil properly. Since the turbos get f***ing hot, when the oil stops moving, it can effectively boil and cause coking, resulting in loss of lubrication (bad). Even fully synthetic can do this, especially when it gets old. The answer is simple: Let the turbos and oil cool whilst it is circulating, by idling the engine for a few minutes after a hard run.
Of course if you have friends like mine, they'll take the piss out of you for sitting in your car for a few minutes after arriving. The solution is to use a turbo timer which automatically keeps the engine running even after you have got out and locked the doors.
So which turbo timer? IMO the best are those which are combined with a boost gauge, as:
a) They are cheaper then getting separate boost guage and turbo timer units
b) The turbo timer can change its time according to how much boost you have been using
c) Boost gauges are quite handy (or at least just a fun toy) so it's a good excuse to get one anyway.
The only two I know of are the Blitz and Defi HUD units. The Blitz is good (I fitted one to my Scooby) but finding a place to mount the display is a bit of a pain. The Defi HUD however is FAR better (design and build) and since the display is HUD (that's 'heads-up display') it's easily mounted on the dashboard.
So if you want to know more about the Defi HUD, see this post.