Let turbo spin down at idle after driving?

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My brother has a 2009 Cobalt SS Turbo and when he arrives home, ho roars up the driveway and shuts the car down immediately as soon as he stops moving. Isn't that a bit hard on the turbo itself? He's running Royal Purple 5w30 and a Fram Ultraguard filter with aboout 9700 miles on his current OCI.
 
If it's a gas engine there isn't much you can do since the egts are around 800 on a gas engine all the time. Chances are it's a water cooled turbo. Now as far as it being at full rpm that's not likely since the turbo idles down almost immediately.
 
Most modern turbos have water cooling also and that is passive when the engine is shut off.
 
If you just got off the autobahn or race track you might want to cool the turbo. For normal street driving I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
What does the oil or filter have to do with how the vehicle is operated?


I think some oils hold up to "abuse" FAR better, based not on oil grade or weight, but their chemistry.

Not base stocks.. total, end result.

Like Pennzoil Platinum or Ultra or whatever or Mobil 1 or whatever boutique oil vs Supertech conventional, let's say.
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Point your brother towards this article: How Oil Change Habits Are Killing Turbos .

"If the engine was turned off while hot, the oil supply line can become carbonized, which means the turbocharger is no longer supplied with enough oil."


There was little to no real information in that article. It was good from a technical standpoint but really didn't answer much in the way of "Rash of turbo failures"...

Ford probably has the largest fleet of turbocharged engines in the hands of "normal" drivers (i.e.: those that are not enthusiasts) and yet they don't have a rash of turbo failures. The Ecoboosts have been out since late 2009 in some small volume cars and since 2011 in their #1 seller (F150) and later in their #2 and #3 sellers (Fusion and Escape). All those (except the early EB's) have a 10k oil change interval. We don't have a rash of turbo failures in them.

If his turbo is water cooled (probably is), as long as he's not WOT'ing it while cutting the ignition it's no big deal.
 
My cummins is down to 300 degrees and zero boost before I can get stopped from 60. Although it does climb back up to 400 degrees once I get stopped from lack of airflow.
 
Originally Posted By: Ratchetgrinder
Originally Posted By: CT8
What does the oil or filter have to do with how the vehicle is operated?


I think some oils hold up to "abuse" FAR better, based not on oil grade or weight, but their chemistry.

Not base stocks.. total, end result.

Like Pennzoil Platinum or Ultra or whatever or Mobil 1 or whatever boutique oil vs Supertech conventional, let's say.


How does that answer CT8's question about the oil filter?
 
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Point your brother towards this article: How Oil Change Habits Are Killing Turbos .

"If the engine was turned off while hot, the oil supply line can become carbonized, which means the turbocharger is no longer supplied with enough oil."


There was little to no real information in that article. It was good from a technical standpoint but really didn't answer much in the way of "Rash of turbo failures"...

Ford probably has the largest fleet of turbocharged engines in the hands of "normal" drivers (i.e.: those that are not enthusiasts) and yet they don't have a rash of turbo failures. The Ecoboosts have been out since late 2009 in some small volume cars and since 2011 in their #1 seller (F150) and later in their #2 and #3 sellers (Fusion and Escape). All those (except the early EB's) have a 10k oil change interval. We don't have a rash of turbo failures in them.

If his turbo is water cooled (probably is), as long as he's not WOT'ing it while cutting the ignition it's no big deal.


Agreed
 
I would let it idle in the parking lot for a minute just to be safe.

But yes, it was standard procedure in the past to avoid cooking your turbo to not shut the car down right away after a spirited drive.
 
I have always let the engine idle for a few minutes. It makes no sense to shut off oil flow while the turbo is at a high speed. The same goes for starting, give it a minute.
 
Roaring up and immediately shutting off the engine consistently is likely a negative.

If a person lives on top of a hill, by all means idle for a minute or so to let the turbo start cooling. Otherwise, regular old low-power driving for a few minutes before shutting down is plenty enough for a modern water/oil-cooled turbo engine.
 
I sometimes hear the electric water pump on my 335 running for a few minutes after I shut it down. I assume it's pushing coolant through the turbos, but there could be other hotspots the engineers know about.

I drive to Chicago 2x/month. In the summer sometimes at rest areas I just grab the key and lock the doors, letting the engine run while I run in. (It's nice to keep the climate control going when it's either 90 or 5F)

Generally I wouldn't worry about it. It takes maybe 3, maybe 5 seconds to spool down after full throttle. Probably less. Once I worked with an equipment operator who shut down a Caterpillar loader abruptly. Pretty sure I could hear the turbine going after shutdown. But that's many times larger than a car.
 
I don't know about that low-power driving..he tends to flog the car a bit, especially when he has his tune turned on. Kinda surprises me that he's only been caught once for speeding if you catch my drift
 
My 87 Buick Grand National is the old school oil cooled turbo - no water cooling here. I always let the car idle a minute or 2 before shutting it down. Back in the day the oils used were not as good and coking was very common from the oils basically breaking down and leaving deposits in the hot turbo heat. I always used Mobil 1 in my GN so I was already better off than most who ran conventional oil and didn't idle down to cool it off.
 
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