Hi All,
Does the engine need to sit idle for a small amount of time to let the turbo cool down? The reason I ask is that I have a turbo diesel Rodeo and two turbo tractors that all need about a minute of idle time so the oil in the turbo does not "cook" inside the turbo housing and do damage to the bearings. If the answer is yes can I fit a turbo timer?
Cheers,
Andrew

 

What year V70 do you have? You can install a turbo timer, but you don't have to. I have a turboed s70 I have had no problems just turning my car off after a long period or even a short period of driving. Hard or not hard driving as well.

 

The turbo will last alot longer if you allow it to cool down.

The owners manaul might even say you need to.
I know the older cars even had a sticker on the dash telling you the same thing.

 

so driving it easy the last couple of minutes on the way home would be sufficient ? or sitting idle ?

Im thinking of getting a turbo timer so I dont have to worry about it when im in a hurry and for when other people drive my car.

is it difficult to install ? what is involved ?

 

The owners manual for the 06 V70 recommends allowing the turbo to cool by idling. It doesn't suggest any specific/temperature time period, however. Its actually more worried about gunning the engine on startup or shutdown.

I let it idle about 30 seconds on the theory (unproven in practice) that it takes that long for cold oil to circulate and that long for hot oil to be replaced by cooler oil. My wife? She just shuts it off.

The problem with "normal" driving is that the turbo is spooling via hot exhaust gas even at lower rpms.

Any number of 1980's Chrysler owners can tell you about what happens to too hot turbos that are shut off. Oils are better now, but....

I'm thinking of switching to synthetic on the theory that it has a higher "boiling point" so to speak and will therefore resist coking better.

 

i would definitely give it no less than 30 seconds idling. if my car were turbo, i'd probably leave it on a minute or more, depending on how hard i drove it. a turbo timer would be a good investment. in my owners manual it even says not to "race" the engine and then immediately turn it off. and my car is n/a. so if i do some spirited driving i give it 15-20 seconds of idling before i shut mine off, and before that a cooldown period of easy driving. it's not just better for the turbo, it's better for the whole engine.

 

What I do, and works very well.....
All these will vary depending on the lenght of the trip and the speeds traveled, and the RMP range.

Once your motor is fully warm....then 30sec. to 1 minute.
If it was freeway driven for a long period of time, over 30 minutes, then 1+ minute(s).

Turbo timers are a good investment, but not really necessary if you do it your self.