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Turbo Cool Down Period

30523 Views 16 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  robin_bga


hi guys

regrarding the saftey period in which one should exercise before switching an 1.8T off, i have had many conflicting opinions about this. could someone please advise me of this. i have been told a 30sec idle must always be adhereed to before switching the car off, surely this makes sense, but as for the practicality of it it can get VERY frustrating.

please can i have some feedback regarding this.

thanks alot!
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unless you're racing around at very high RPMs a cool down period is unnecessary. during normal driving .... and even most fast driving... your turbos wont get hot enough to need a cool down period.
Originally posted by bhb399mm@Dec 16 2004, 07:26 AM
unless you're racing around at very high RPMs a cool down period is unnecessary. during normal driving .... and even most fast driving... your turbos wont get hot enough to need a cool down period.
but also in the climate the car is in i would sugest a cool down for the turbo as this will in the long term increase reliability and servicability of the turbo.
thanks for your informed and educated help. i will take stead to your advice
I used to drive a turbo'd escort and the advice i got was to make sure the engine rpm was at idle before switching off, dosnt really answer your question though!
bhb is correct. 'My understanding' to explain is as follows;

A standard boost turbo will not require cooling unless say you have been on a trackday or somethink. If boost pressure is high the turbo works harder and heats up obviously (ie like rally cars when they glow they are so hot). If the engine was switched off then the metal cools too quickly damaging seals etc and thus damage long term can be caused.

For a standard Audi turbo I doubt it will ever get that hot or hot enough to require idle before being switched off.

I use a standard Volvo T5 hard most days and have never seen it need cooling or need seals/turbos replaced.
its not a must BUT if u can,y not.wont hurt.
i know that a ball bearing turbo doesnt need to b colled down.
not sure wut A3 got???!!!
Hi there, spoke to a couple of Audi mechanics, and they all said the 1.8T does not need a cooling down period ... just my 2 cents.
my s3 has a over run even when i turn the engine off there is a cool down prosess .goes of gfor like 5 mins befor the car completly turns its self off (scubbys skylines eveos all have thes) does your car go completlty quite after u trun off the ignition. if it does its diffrent from my s3 and mabi u could get the over run off a s3 to sort your issue
i normaly leave mine for 10-20sec on idle before turning off, just to make sure no oil is left in turbo i guess
If you're driving hard then just make sure that the last mile is driven calmly to prevent any hotspots in the turbo. You shouldn't really leave your car on idle for any length of time if you can help it. Especially when warming it up the morning for example, you should drive off straight away.
yeah thats what i was told at audi, in the mornings drive off straght away to prevent the car sucking in a load of crap, and on a hot day give the engine one good foot down rev before pulling off to flush out any substance that may have been sucked in during hot days, well thats what i was told, As for the turbo, my friend had his car remmaped and after a few weeks his turbo went bump and that was it he needed a new turbo. I must say he didnt do any justice by thrashing it about
I thought apart from the heat issue, it will stop the problem of the turbo still spinning at high rpm then you turn off the oil supply(ie switch off the ignition).
my mechanic said just a few seconds with normal driving and up to 1-2 minutes after hard driving...
I have a volvo 850 turbo engine does it fit 850 GLT? I just ask suggest to a Volvo repair and they said it's identical but I have to do a complete swap and check the engine ECU also
i have an 1999 a4 1.8t that has been remaped and chipped boosting 210 bhp . Recently it has an intermittent fault where sometimes it will hesitate and judder really badly under boost have read other posts saying that it happens and then when the car is stopped and restarted it seems to clear up . well mine does the same ive only had the car a week and its starting to wind me up just a bit now!!! any advice would be greatly appreciated ive never left my car to idle before turning off (cooling down period etc) . i have to be honest the car has been given quite a bit of stick since ive had it but has full service history etc so expect to be in top nick it runs beautifully except for the boost issue
Hello everyone,
I always leave my Audi A3 2.0l 8l to idle in the morning and after driving for atleast 1-2mins everyday, i didnt know about that, and the reason to why i do it is because my valve seals seem to be a problem because every morning i get a short term blue smoke of about 20-30 secs.
I could be wrong but that is what i think.

Cheers
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