Turbo Timers

[Tomaz]

I just bought my first turbo car today, and i was hoping for some advice on care and maintainance!

I know i will be needing a turbo timer. but how exactly do they work? What do they hook up to?

What are some tips to keep my girl lasting a long time?

[nissanK]

Are you looking for technical terms as to what they do or just a general desc?

When you do get it all installed, use it frequently. I use mine at 1min everytime I shut of the car off. 3min when I drive it hard.

[mr2mike]

Turbo timer keeps the car running to circulate the oil so it doesn't coke in the small turbo lines. keeps the turbo life a little longer. You could just idle your car and wait for ti to cool. Or if you're lazy and don't want to wait, the timer will idle it for you for a set amount of time. There's also temp. ones too. It wires into the ignition.

Depending on what car you have, they have different issues to keep them running good for a long time.

[Neons4life]

Also I believe compustar has a built in timer, which could double as a turbo timer I believe??? if so not sure which model would?

[1-Bar]

^that is correct, IIRC you can auto set to 1/3/5 minutes of run time after the car is armed....I'm pretty sure all current models can do this.

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by Tomaz
I just bought my first turbo car today, and i was hoping for some advice on care and maintainance!

I know i will be needing a turbo timer. but how exactly do they work? What do they hook up to?

What are some tips to keep my girl lasting a long time?

You usually wire it to Ignition, accesories, B+ or constant 12v and ground, sometimes ebrake if you want that option

actually a friend of mine just did his turbo timer last week on an 850 (i'm guessing thats the car you just bought) here's (http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.php?showtopic=10546) a nice writeup for it that he followed, the unit is a Greddy full auto timer, have one in my s13 but i bought the harness with it, so 2sec install :D very easy to use, 2 time settings up to ten minutes.

if you have an alarm, i have no clue how to tap in that kinda stuff

edit: also i don't know what everyone else is using for times but regular driving bs i use 2min 30 sec, hard driving i set it for 5 mins (according to some Japanese websites figures i thought these were the best times to set it for)

[Tomaz]

Very intuitive group! Yes it is my 850! lol good info guys! So, if the turbo is oil-cooled, what is a good oil you guys would recomend?

When it comes to wiring, i am quite hopeless, would any performance shop do the install on a timer for me?

I swear i am more car smart than i lead on to be, i am just new to forced induction!

[Toma]

You dont need a turbo timer..... unless you are an idiot and shut the car down immediately after a full throttle run.

By the time you drive hard, drive a block or two to your house and park, the turbo is spinning slow enough to not worry about it, and heat "coking" is pretty rare with good (modern) oils....

Most factory turbo cars never had timers, neither do diesels that run WOT all the time, and 30+ psi boost, and the turbos last 150,000 to 300,000 km

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by Toma
You dont need a turbo timer..... unless you are an idiot and shut the car down immediately after a full throttle run.

By the time you drive hard, drive a block or two to your house and park, the turbo is spinning slow enough to not worry about it, and heat "coking" is pretty rare with good (modern) oils....

Most factory turbo cars never had timers, neither do diesels that run WOT all the time, and 30+ psi boost, and the turbos last 150,000 to 300,000 km

Listen to this man, he knows his stuff

[Tomaz]

Great! Thanks guys! Even getting advice from the infamous Toma!



Now, after doing some running around last night, getting used to the new car, i have noticed that i am dumping boost around 3000RPM but then it comes right back up again. and stays. What would be casusing that fluctuation in pressure.
it doesn't seem like a constant leak, so i was thinking that it could be the wastegate?

Where else should I be looking for this loss?

[lfried]

depending on how similar volvo turbos are to saab turbos, you might even have the saab idea of a water jacket that cools the bearing housing in the turbo, ide like to think swedes share there good ideas with one another

[92gsr]

Originally posted by Toma
You dont need a turbo timer..... unless you are an idiot and shut the car down immediately after a full throttle run.

By the time you drive hard, drive a block or two to your house and park, the turbo is spinning slow enough to not worry about it, and heat "coking" is pretty rare with good (modern) oils....

Most factory turbo cars never had timers, neither do diesels that run WOT all the time, and 30+ psi boost, and the turbos last 150,000 to 300,000 km +1 I tell people this all the time.

[Tomaz]

Thanks for the info guys! Is a BOV a good investment? What does it exactly do? will it help the longevity of my car?

[thinmyster]

BOV's have no benifits except a cool sound

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by thinmyster
BOV's have no benifits except a cool sound

Then why did Rage get two BOV's for his M? I doubt it was soley for the rice factor. :dunno: (this is actually a serious question, I don't know much about the turbo world).

[mazdavirgin]

From my understanding of turbos(I am by no means an expert) the reason for a BOV vs a BPV is to prevent surging. Alternatively if you don't position your BOV correctly you can cause stalling/hesitation. If the car is not designed to use a BOV and you have a stock system then yes the BOV would most likely(In most cases) not be terribly useful other than making noise.

[Supa Dexta]

Originally posted by thinmyster
BOV's have no benifits except a cool sound

OMG! :rofl: Maybe the one you got off ebay that hooks to your stereo..

What happens when a turbo is pushing a lot of air, and then you close the throttle? Where that air supposed to go?...

...right, out the bov!.. BLOW OFF VALVE. weird name.

[1-Bar]

Originally posted by thinmyster
BOV's have no benifits except a cool sound

WTF you apparently drive a boosted MR2.....


Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE


Then why did Rage get two BOV's for his M? I doubt it was soley for the rice factor. :dunno: (this is actually a serious question, I don't know much about the turbo world).

That beast of a setup/car is making a lot of compressed air, one BOV can't vent it properly, so another one is installed. Like ^^^ stated, it prevents compressor surge

[ToastiER]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta


OMG! :rofl: Maybe the one you got off ebay that hooks to your stereo..

What happens when a turbo is pushing a lot of air, and then you close the throttle? Where that air supposed to go?...

...right, out the bov!.. BLOW OFF VALVE. weird name.

+1

In extreme cases the lack of a bov, it can reverse the direction of the compressor/turbine wheels. Plus it helps with lag between shifts.

[wontonjohnny]

a lil off topic but,

is it bad to power shift with a turbo car?

i mean if the TB plate never closes so then you wouldnt loose the boost right?

[Tomaz]

^^^ i am sure it is bad to powershift any car, doesn't matter if it is turbo or not.

I am installing a Boost controller this weekend to give me a few ponies, but i do not want to over-boost or lean out. Does anyone know the stock boost settings for a 1995 Volvo 850 turbo? And how much increase would be considered safe for my stock system?

[thinmyster]

i meant aftermarket bovs for the most part. If he has a stock bpv or bov theres really no need to upgrade

[lfried]

not sure on stock boost, volvos tend to run in and around .8-1 bar... as for BOV, if you have a MAF your sticking to BPV... the benefits of a BOV are sound and its ability to hold higher boost over the stock BOV-BPV, another plus is it doesnt take the warm charged air and dumps it into the intake like a BPV ( atmospheric ones anyways ).

[Tomaz]

Now, here is the ultimate n00b question... What the hell is Bar? I understand psi, but not Bar

[Mr_ET]

1 bar = 14.7 psi

[Tomaz]

Awsome! good to know! thank you!

Really... i would produce that much boost stock? I just might have to research this more before i turn up the boost controller!

[A790]

Dude, don't throw a controller into your car until you know more about it. Otherwise you'll be making a thread going "HELP: Just heard some weird noises from my engine, now it won't start!".

[Tomaz]

heh heh heh, yeah, i know. But if i install the controller and leave it at stock setting, it wont do anything. Then i can get my gauges installed. and whilest i am doing all of this, i cqan do some research at work.

PS: the thread would be named "Cam: need ride!" lol

[A790]

ahaha, fair enough man. When ar eyou doing this?

[Tomaz]

Whenever i get a spare 30 mins to myself this week. Doing my allignment and fluid flushes this week. then i am going to see how much and when i can get a new wastegate! That thing is F**KED!

[Annoyingrob]

Originally posted by Tomaz
Now, after doing some running around last night, getting used to the new car, i have noticed that i am dumping boost around 3000RPM but then it comes right back up again. and stays. What would be casusing that fluctuation in pressure.
it doesn't seem like a constant leak, so i was thinking that it could be the wastegate?
Wastegate oscillation.

Is your wastegate hooked into your intake manifold? Hook it up closer to the compressor, and/or, increase the diameter of the vacuum line.

[Tomaz]

Originally posted by Annoyingrob

Wastegate oscillation.

Is your wastegate hooked into your intake manifold? Hook it up closer to the compressor, and/or, increase the diameter of the vacuum line.

I learned that it could be part of a "butterfly valve" that it could be worn out which would casue it to stick open once in a while. or stay closed.

(sorry, but i had no idea what the mechanic was talking about. I am a boost n00b)

Anyway, the symptoms started becoming more defined as once in a while, i was overboosting and hitting fuel cut, and more commonly, i was not producing any boost.

what is this "butterfly valve" he speaks of?

[ToastiER]

The throttle body is a butteryfly valve and if you have a variable intake it could have more valves in the intake runners.

....

[Tomaz]

I knew to therottle body would have one, but he was talking of a valve on the turbo it'self...

[Annoyingrob]

He's likely talking about the wastegate valve itself. If it's not moving freely, and sticking open/closed, you would get the overboost/no boost situations you describe.

[Tomaz]

problem finally solved!!! Thanks team!