Turbo cool down idle

weatherlight

Guest
Hello,

I did not own a turbo car before but in the past I heard from people that it is good thing to let the engine run at idle, to cool down the turbo in order to preserve its life. In the manual it says to idle the engine up to 2 mins after a long / hard drive as well. Is it neccessary as well for easy driving? During normal driving, I tend to enter the park lot with almost no throttle, gently letting the car come to a stop and then idle for 10-15 seconds.

I also read something about a 2nd auxiliary water pump that continues to pump water to turbo even after the engine is shut off. If this is the case, idling a bit after a calm drive does help the turbo or will it just burn unneccasary fuel?
 
Jul 29, 2013
859
1
Essex
I've always let my cars warm up and cool down for a couple minutes. Got 200k out of megane which is still going strong which I thought was good going.

Not come across a water cooled turbo before.
 
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cupraslayer

I want more bhp
Feb 8, 2008
1,543
0
northampton
Always let the car warm up and cool down when and after giving it some beans. Always make sure my oil temp is right before giving it some . When cooling down I don't take it above 2k for a good few miles and still let it have a 2 min idle cool down .
 

derelyth

Active Member
Jun 11, 2011
293
0
Portsmouth
I was told that the turbo on the 1.8 is water-cooled but I'll still be giving it some time. I have heard of auxiliary pumps but nothing on these engines yet.

The oil temp gauge is a great addition to the trip computer too IMO.

Karl - 2006 Leon Sport TDI DSG. Soon to be 2013 Leon FR 1.8TSI DSG.
 
Jul 29, 2013
859
1
Essex
I was told that the turbo on the 1.8 is water-cooled but I'll still be giving it some time. I have heard of auxiliary pumps but nothing on these engines yet.

The oil temp gauge is a great addition to the trip computer too IMO.

Karl - 2006 Leon Sport TDI DSG. Soon to be 2013 Leon FR 1.8TSI DSG.

You're right it is water cooled - just had a google. Shows how long it's been since i was buggering about with cars. I'd say if it did have an aux pump that would be very beneficial. I'd still take it easy on the last couple of miles if you have been giving it some because you want it to cool slowly.
 

derelyth

Active Member
Jun 11, 2011
293
0
Portsmouth
My local dealers tech department told me it is water cooled, do you have a link to the info you found? I'm intrigued myself as I always thought the temps reached would boil the water!
 
Jul 29, 2013
859
1
Essex
And last page on this one (include 1.8tsi) https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&ved=0CC4QFjAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fmuupublic%2Fshare%2F18TFSI.pdf&ei=ZlAcUuaSLMW70QWc9YGICQ&usg=AFQjCNHN4NN1MGuF1mrTv4iQQYJnxyosFQ&bvm=bv.51156542,d.d2k
 
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Crafoo

Crazy Fool!
Apr 30, 2005
5,498
4
At home
Just drive the car as you would normally, there isn't a specific rev range to stick to, you have to think that cars are made nowadays to put up with people that have very little mechanical sympathy, yes if you want to give it a bit of a blow through then of course it's best to have a nice steady drive for 5-10 minutes to get the temps up and then go for it, the same is true for the reverse of that too, steady 5-10 minute drive home after spanking it is really all you need, other than that don't worry too much about it is my advice.
 
Jun 15, 2013
268
2
Back in the 80's there were very few turbo bars on the road (petrols or diesels) and most were pretty specialised for enthusiasts eg. Renault 5 Turbo, Metro turbo, Sierra Cosworth, Lancia Integrale etc. By the standard of todays installations they were very basic, the Renault 5 and Metro both had carbs and huge turbo's with no management systems, they were very much on/off and could be pigs to drive (the Renault was the better of the two). To help reliability the Renault had a fan that blew on the turbo for several minutes after switching off to stop it cooking.

Move forward to today when every diesel I can think of has a turbo and an increasing number of petrols are following suit. The cooking Leon 1.2 TSi is sold to the man in the street as a replacement for the old 1.6. Can you imagine the issues there would be with the huge number of turbo cars being sold if there were very specific routines before you switched off the engine. Most owners never read the handbook for starters, they just fuel and drive.

In almost 18 years of owning turbo cars (all diesels except the recently acquired Leon) and having driven in excess of 200,000 miles in them I have never let the car idle before shutting off and I have never had a turbo problem. That includes one which we used for towing the race car.

its obviously very different if you have a non-standard highly tuned car but for a factory standard car just drive it.
 

CJRamze

Proud Seat Owner
Jun 29, 2008
2,014
2
Caldicot, South Wales
Having a car idle to warm up is a bad idea.
You should basically turn it on and drive it. Once its up to a good temprature then you can give it the beans.

It takes along time for the car to heat up from idle, and during that time your wasting fuel and creating unessercary wear on the engine.

You get in and drive it straight away and let it be warm for quite a while before you give it some lashing.

On the cooldown if your driving normally, no need for a cooldown
If you've been giving it a thrashing maybe a minute or two at idle?

But I wouldn't other with more.
 

dw911

Active Member
Mar 30, 2013
1,036
6
My local dealers tech department told me it is water cooled, do you have a link to the info you found? I'm intrigued myself as I always thought the temps reached would boil the water!

It is water cooled, but its main cooling is from the oil that also lubricating the bearings

The other reason for not turning off the ignition on early turbo cars was bucause you wanted to keep the oil flowing to the turbo to cool it down, early turbo cars especially on the 5 turbo the turbo would glow almost white hot,if you just shut of the engine the oil flow would stop, the oil remaining in the turbo would boil & carbonize on the bearings and knacker up the bearings and oil seals in a very short time

Only really so important on a moden car if you have really been ragging it, then just drive the last mile or so off boost

As some one else mentioned, never leave a car just ticking over when cold or rag it from cold
 
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weatherlight

Guest
Thanks, I guess as long as I dont drive hard, idle during entering parking lot, manuevers will be enough for cooldown. For startup in the morning, I noticed that consumption is around 3-3.5L/h for 10-12 seconds. Then it drops down to 1-1.5L, where I put in gear and roll.