Are you curious on what a turbo timer does for your car? If you do, then this article is the perfect content for you.
Most car geeks especially those who owns a turbo charge engines, knows that they need to take good care of their engine as a whole. But they are also aware that they need to take car of their turbo as well.
So in this article, I’ll discuss to you what is turbo timer and if you really need one for your car.
What is a Turbo timer?
A turbo timer is an electronic gadget or an accessory that will help keep your engine running for a specified period of time even after you turn off the key.
So this tiny thing that is commonly attached behind the steering wheel, has control over your ignition system allowing your engine to cool down before shutting off.
Why do you need to cool down your engine?
Basically, modern engines don’t need to cool down before you turn off the engine. Most people nowadays simply just turn off the key right after they hit their garage.
This is specially pertains to vehicles with naturally aspirated engines, meaning that there are not turbocharged engines.
However, turbocharged engines are said to be more complicated and requires adequate care to prolong its life. One of which is to have it cool down first before shutting down the engine.
Why Turbos Need to Cool Down?
Turbochargers require oil to provide optimum high boost performance. Its parts are moving at an incredibly high speeds which produces intense heat and pressure.
With that said, turbochargers needs constant flow of quality engine oil to help lubricate these parts (compression valves and intake/outlet fans). Turbos have inlet pipes into the turbo’s hot side and outlet pipes going to the oil filter (or directly down the drain pan).
If you suddenly turn off the engine right after a long drive, some oil will be trapped to the turbo’s hot components which will result to a thing called “oil baking”.
This will fasten the serviceable lifespan of your turbocharger.
Now there are many myths and perceptions about turbo timer’s role or function, if it’s really an essential tool for preventing oil baking inside a turbocharger.
Let me give you some reasons why turbo timers are quite useful and some reasons why you should definitely avoid them.
Reasons Why You Don’t Need a Turbo Timer
There are several reasons why most people see turbo timers as just a waste of time and money.
First off, modern turbochargers have coolant lines. Meaning that turbos are “liquid cooled” so it doesn’t need some period of cool down before turning off the engine.
The other known reason is today’s quality of oil being offered in the market. Most synthetic even those mineral oils are considered high quality and can help resist high heat temperature. This means that oil inside the turbo will not get cooked as more people believe.
These are the two reasons that most people know about turbocharger’s oil baking controversy. However, there are other reasons to consider why you really don’t need them!
Traffic is a Big Contributor
If the main issue here is the process of cooling down your turbocharger, then traffic simply is the answer!
Depending on your location (most cities do have their traffic jam problems), getting stuck in a traffic helps your turbo to cool down naturally without any use of a turbo timer.
Here in Manila, you can get stuck into a traffic for 3 or even 5 hours especially in the rainy season. Once you reached your destination, there’s no need for you to wait for a couple of minutes before shutting down the engine because your turbo doesn’t even reached its normal performance.
People that Don’t Drive Hard
Are you a regular driver that don’t mind driving modestly and is satisfied driving without reaching the red line? If yes, then you don’t need a turbo timer.
Most regular people never drive their cars hard enough because they simply don’t need to. Vehicles are even equipped with cruise control features which lets you drive in a nominal speed without reaching your engines maximum power and torque.
What does this mean? Turbo timers are designed to help cool down the turbocharger in your engine. But if your turbo wasn’t used to its maximum capacity, then it won’t heat up that much and cooling down isn’t necessary.
So ask yourself, do you often drive hard and have a heavy foot on the gas pedal? Do you love to hear that turbo boost when driving? Do you often reach the 3 or 4 mark on your RPM gauge (a habit by drivers with ECU remapped cars)? If your answer to these questions are no, then you don’t need a turbo timer.
Reasons Why You Need a Turbo Timer
Now, it seems from the facts above that you really don’t need a turbo timer. You probably even thinking that it is truly a waste of money and time (installation). Some may even think that it can mess up your ignition system.
Well, that ignition system thing is unlikely to get messed up as the installation of this gadget is pretty simple and straightforward. You just need to tap three wires (ignition, power and ground) into your ignition system and you are done, simple as that!
Of course, there are some reasons why turbo timers comes in handy for some car owners.
People Who are Always On the Go
If you are a busy individual and is always on a rush, then you probably have a habit of shutting down your car immediately after reaching your garage or destination.
If this sounds like you, then you really need a turbo timer!
Regardless of city you are living in, there’s no denial that sometimes after a long drive, you just can’t think of cooling down your engine anymore because fatigue kicks in. So tendency is, you turn off the key right away after parking your car.
And not cooling down your car can give a negative effect on your turbocharger.
Car Owners Want Some Interior Aesthetics
Believe it or not, most people who are enthusiasts love to make their cars unique from others. As such, they install lots of gadgets or accessories to make their vehicles look cool and aggressive.
Most of the time, car owners who don’t mind if they really need a turbo timer or not, do install this gadget into their cars for that “added aesthetics”.
And that is quite true. I mean, just look at the pictures above. Imagine that gadget on your dashboard, it will really turn your boring gauge cluster into a cool, aggressive and technologically-advanced looking dashboard!
You Just Need them No Matter What
Okay, installing this gadget highly depends on your car and basically how you drive. That’s the main points of this article so far.
So do you really need a turbo timer? For me it’s a big yes! Why?
Hear me out. It doesn’t really hurt if you install a $20 gadget on your car especially if you know that it can also be beneficial from time to time.
Okay lets say that you don’t drive hard and you always got stuck on traffic. Yes that would mean you don’t need a turbo timer, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t completely need them. Why?
Because sometimes you also do long drives and sometimes you also need to get into full throttle especially if you are in an uphill, going to overtake, or in an expressway. That will unleash your turbo’s optimum performance which requires cooling down process.
So turbo timers may not be a necessity for some people, but it is still much better (and an advantage) to have one than nothing right?
Summary
Did I just made a detailed review about turbo timers? I hope I did so you may have learned something from this post.
Now you know that I am not against turbo timers and in the future, I might install one in my cars.
If you want to know where to purchase turbo timers, here are some of the best brands in Amazon that you can choose from.
