A question about Turbo cooldown

[Antonio DiMarco]

I've heard many of you say that you need to idle a turbo car (in my case I take delivery of an MS3 in September) for about 30 to 60 seconds before turing off the engine. My question is whether the turbo can cool down at any point during normal driving- aka not punching it or reving within 2500-5500 RPM? Or sitting at a traffic light.

I'm concerned that I'm not going to be discipline enough to sit in my car for 30 seconds when I arrive at a destination. However I would be better at laying off the gas prior to arriving at my destination. Am I making sense?

 

[LENNY127]

taking care of a car does take some discipline, this particular turbo has some water cooling i believe but regardless due to the insane temps that turbos produce it is wise to at least if you dont have a turbo timer or you dont sit dor 30 seconds idling that you at least bring the rpms down on the last minute or two of your trip, for me i live downhill once i get in to my complex so i coast in neutral for 45 seconds or so then either turn it off or wait 30 seconds and turn it off. look at it like this , 30 seconds a days will perhaps add days , weeks or months to the life of the engine.......discipline grashoppa!!!!

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

taking care of a car does take some discipline, this particular turbo has some water cooling i believe but regardless due to the insane temps that turbos produce it is wise to at least if you dont have a turbo timer or you dont sit dor 30 seconds idling that you at least bring the rpms down on the last minute or two of your trip, for me i live downhill once i get in to my complex so i coast in neutral for 45 seconds or so then either turn it off or wait 30 seconds and turn it off. look at it like this , 30 seconds a days will perhaps add days , weeks or months to the life of the engine.......discipline grashoppa!!!!

Thank you for the pep talk Itz going to be tough but you speak the truth


I had a CX-7 for a rental a couple of weeks ago and kept forgetting to do a cool down. At one point I oculd smell burning oil. Scared the crap out of me.

 

[Protege52003]

when i hd my saab 900 turbo many years ago i would let the engine run for 30-60 seconds and sometimes longer if i was driving hard before coming to a stop. same thing when i had my jetta with the 1.8T. you don't want to fry your turbo bearings with hot oil!

-R

 

[ragindark]

Would it help to have a fan on high blowing directly into the front of my car in my garage?

 

[6262MS3]

Would it help to have a fan on high blowing directly into the front of my car in my garage?

Um, no. The turbo is at the back of the engine and is cooled by oil. that's the reason for the idle time, to keep oil circulating through the turbo without much load on it. I'm kind of happy that my house is surrounded by playground zones, I still let it idle for a bit when I park but I figure extra cool-down never hurts anything.

 

[jhowey]

Just get a turbo timer that is the safest way, I lack the discipline too but like everyone has said if you ease out your driving last minute before parking you should be fine because the turbo is water cooled.

 

[bazooka joe]

Just get a turbo timer that is the safest way, I lack the discipline too but like everyone has said if you ease out your driving last minute before parking you should be fine because the turbo is water cooled.

(yes)ya, then you don't forget and worry!

 

[Kosh]

Normal driving you aren't really putting the turbo through very much of a workout. 90% of the time you are still in vacuum. If you drive wot all the time then it is a great idea to let it cool down but I wouldn't be worried about the turbo you don't drive like a prick.

 

[clos561]

the turbo is fine as long as your not flooring it before u park..it normally takes enough time to park and turn into some places so that the turbo is cooled down enough not to get damaged. just use your common sense, honestly. your driving not us.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

That answers my question, thanks...

the turbo is fine as long as your not flooring it before u park..it normally takes enough time to park and turn into some places so that the turbo is cooled down enough not to get damaged. just use your common sense, honestly. your driving not us.

I know it's pretty much common sense, but not having owned a Turbo made me question my logic. The last thing I want to do is fry it.

 

[clos561]

I know it's pretty much common sense, but not having owned a Turbo made me question my logic. The last thing I want to do is fry it.

you fry it....dealer replaces it. this is my first turbo car too, this car has 2 forms of cooling which helps alot more and reduces cool down time..you should be alright

 

[MS3ICA]

i always let it cool down, why not take care of your turbo if ya know its good for it?

 

[zoom-zoomhatch]

It would be oh so nice if someone would make a p&p turbo timer harness.

 

[justa4banger]

turbo timer IMO is a waste of money.

They are plenty of Turbo ford running around with non watercooled turbos with over 200,000 miles and still going.
There are others though that died within 50,000 miles.

Biggest thing to concern yourself with is frequent oil changes. i won't get into a oil discussion here, but changing the oil alittle sooner than 3k miles is smart IF you beat the car on a regular basis.

I don't care what oil you run or how long you let the turbo "cool" oil will coak. Coaking will kill the properties of oil and that will ruin your turbo over time. How much time???? hell maybe 1 year, maybe 20 years. just depends.

Best thing to do is plan on driving the car normal for atleast 30 second before you shut it off. If you do have to park quick and the motor was just run hard, give it 30-60 seconds before you shut it off and be done.

IF you forget once in a while........ Oh well.

 

[justa4banger]

Oh turbo cars are not fragile.............but like anything else, if you abuse it the crap out of it and don't take care of it, it will fail when you need it most.

 

[oskinosmee]

The turbo timer can void our warr. the dealer said that it is not needed but im still getting mine installed.

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

The turbo timer can void our warr. the dealer said that it is not needed but im still getting mine installed.

my dealer has seen my tt and gauges. they didnt say a thing. warranty is still in effect. actually they thought it was a good idea to be monitoring the a/f boost and oil pressure along with proper cool downs. its funny too because i hardwired my tt right to my ignition and they couldnt care less. I let the tech take it for a spin with my CAI before i get my exhaust installed so he can see the diff. lol.

 

[jhowey]

Some dealers are cool, mazda does say a turbo timer is not neccessary but the only warranty I can see it concievably voiding is a fuse or possibly the ignition switch.

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

Some dealers are cool, mazda does say a turbo timer is not neccessary but the only warranty I can see it concievably voiding is a fuse or possibly the ignition switch.

i burnt the fuse before. i replaced it. wow. huge problem. seriously....they dont put one in stock for reasons. i dont blame them. do you need one? no. should you get one if you like to play around with you car. probably. its like reg washer fluid to rain-x fluid. do you need it? no. should you if you like to see better? probably. haha. bad example but you see what im saying.