Idling turbocharged engine?

aceshigh

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2004
Messages
75
This thing really bothers me. It might just be editorial thing, but still. Everytime that they have turbocharged car in Top Gear, they just drive it to halt and shut down the engine. Everyone who knows something about engines and turbochargers knows what problems this causes?

So am I the only one who's bothered with this?
 
What's wrong with doing that? :?
 
i am going to just to the assumption that any super car with turbos is going to have some sort of turbo timer system that keeps the turbos lubed with oil while they spin down.. but then i could be wrong

TF
 
Viper007Bond said:
What's wrong with doing that? :?

Due to the extreme heat inside a turbo (particularly after you've been giving it some) you need some time to pump oil through the turbo and cool it down - letting the engine idle for a little time achieves this.
 
The_Finn said:
i am going to just to the assumption that any super car with turbos is going to have some sort of turbo timer system that keeps the turbos lubed with oil while they spin down.. but then i could be wrong

TF

They might, or they don't might ;)

But EVO's doesn't have one, Imprezas doesn't have one, basicly any turbocharged "basic"-car doesn't have one. And it's very serious thing, forgetting to idle the engine even for once could cause serious damage to the turbocharger.

And it's the oil that needs to be cooled ;)
 
the cars on top gear are press cars. no one takes care of press cars. In the scale of things, press cars rate higher on the 'abuse chart' than rental cars...
 
fbc said:
aceshigh said:
And it's the oil that needs to be cooled ;)

Really? I always thought it was the components themselves.

Yeah, it's the hot oil staying in one place that causes all the problems in the bearings.
 
aceshigh said:
fbc said:
aceshigh said:
And it's the oil that needs to be cooled ;)

Really? I always thought it was the components themselves.

Yeah, it's the hot oil staying in one place that causes all the problems in the bearings.

sort of both... hot oil in a hot turbo does bad things... the continued flow of oil cools the turbo internals as well as the oil itself plus trubos spin mighty fast 80,000rpm up to 120,000 rpm so the oil does 2 things cools and lubes the bearings if you shut off the motor right away the oil will stop moving and coke (burn slightly and get sticky) inside the lines and channels inside the turbo meaning you get less lube for your bearings and thus more wear plus and the next time you are running the car the coke will not let the oil flow properly so you will get less cooling and more stress on your turbo.. it takes time but coke build up can actually clog the oil lines which is almost insta-death for a turbo

TF
 
aceshigh, you are perfectly right about turbocharged cars, but then again, motor journalist doesnt care about the cars (since its not their's), they drive like bloody maniacs and they rape the demo cars like there is no tomorrow.
 
every now and then u get to see them shutting the engine down and then talk about the car's handlng etc.
 
STIs and EVOs both have turbos that are both oil and water cooled. That keeps the temps down dramatically. I would assume most other factory turbo cars have water cooled turbos as well....
 
flyingfridge said:
the cars on top gear are press cars. no one takes care of press cars. In the scale of things, press cars rate higher on the 'abuse chart' than rental cars...

True say.

We bought an ex vw canada media Passat (family VW discount plan dealie)... In the year and a half that we had the car, before the warrenty expired, just about everything had issues at one point.
 
cookting said:
STIs and EVOs both have turbos that are both oil and water cooled. That keeps the temps down dramatically. I would assume most other factory turbo cars have water cooled turbos as well....
watercooled ball bearing turbos dont get as hot as oilcooled only so its not a big deal espically on a stock turbo thats built for reliability not all out performance.
 
bbc.co.uk/topgear/ said:
Do they normally show them shutting down the engine on Top Gear?

Hardly ever. And even if they do, they usually turn it off to say two or three lines about it, then start it back up.

I fail to see how this is a big problem in that the cars the test do not belong to anyone here.
 
fbc said:
Due to the extreme heat inside a turbo (particularly after you've been giving it some) you need some time to pump oil through the turbo and cool it down - letting the engine idle for a little time achieves this.

Letting the turbo's cool down with an idling engine isn't healthy either. You just need to drive easy when cooling down the turbo's.

And what worries me most is that those press cars aren't broken in. I'm even scared that they drive them hard when the engine is still cold.
 
do diesel engines have the same problem?

could explain why our previous patrol needed the turbo replaced 3 times
 
best example of treatment of a press car. Look at the Cheverolet Lacetti. It is being thrashed right from the get go.
I have the opportunity to ride in some media cars, and they're never great mechanical condition
 
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