# Idling to cool turbo?



## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Just drive it easy the last few miles before you shut it off & you'll be fine.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Yeah I also give mine the cool down lap before I shut it off.


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

driving it easy is the best thing the last few miles. Kind of like a cool down lap for yourself after a marathon (baring you don't passout)


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## alyupe11 (Jun 9, 2013)

I run it easy the last mile to home and idle it about 30 seconds before shutdown. I do the same with my Cummins....


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

The most common failure of automotive turbos is due to hot shutdown. This occurs when the vehicle has been running at a constant speed for a period of time and the vehicle is shut off before the turbo has had time to slow down. A turbo can spin at speeds exceeding 100,000 rpm, the faster the vehicle goes or the harder it works, the faster the turbo will spin. If a vehicle is shutoff suddenly the turbo will continue to spin without oil. Each time this occurs, the life of the turbo is shortened because of wear occurring from no lubrication. Eventually there will be enough wear to allow one of the wheels on the turbo to contact its housing. This causes the wheel to be out of balance. This causes even more contact and the turbo is usually destroyed. Allowing the vehicle to idle for a few minutes after its been running hard or allowing the exhaust temperature to cool to below 500 degrees will greatly reduce the risk of premature turbo failure.


Credit: Engine cool down (especially turbo)


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## 2013LT (Jul 3, 2013)

I guess this goes for the 1.4T as well.


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## Turbodsl Cruze (May 4, 2014)

Thanks for the advice! I'll keep doing the "cool down laps"!


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

The rpms this (1.4T) turbo spins untuned is insane.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

In the case of these little turbos, the 2.0 TD and the 1.4T because of their little turbines and minimal mass they stop spinning almost as soon as they are back down to idle.
The heavy's like the Cummins mentioned, will take almost 30 seconds to spool down.

Regardless of the spool down time, by allowing it to idle 30 seconds to minute, you are allowing the cars oiling system to bathe the bearing/seal area in the comparativly cool oil down in the crankcase, reducing the potental of 'Coking' or creating flakes of burned oil debris from accumulating in the bearing/seal cavity.

All that to say it isn't a bad thing to let it have a cooldown idle period.
Gives you a minute to catch your breath prior to your next endevor, being going into work or dealing with home things.

Rob


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Robby said:


> In the case of these little turbos, the 2.0 TD and the 1.4T because of their little turbines and minimal mass they stop spinning almost as soon as they are back down to idle.
> The heavy's like the Cummins mentioned, will take almost 30 seconds to spool down.
> 
> Regardless of the spool down time, by allowing it to idle 30 seconds to minute, you are allowing the cars oiling system to bathe the bearing/seal area in the comparativly cool oil down in the crankcase, reducing the potental of 'Coking' or creating flakes of burned oil debris from accumulating in the bearing/seal cavity.
> ...


Yeah I usually get to work with enough time to sit and finish the song that was on. Even then my victory lap is exactly that as the cops sit in the trees and hills in my last 3 minutes traveled to work. I'm used to my Subaru having the 2nd cooling tank but even then I kinda let it idle.


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

ive always let it idle after a harsh rip.....nothing wrong with that but if you dont have the time....im sorry lol!!!


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## CruzeEcoBlueTopaz (Jan 5, 2012)

I will share my experience with the Cruze turbo. I drive my Cruze 375 miles per day 8-9 hours a day almost all highway/freeway miles. I have turned the car on and off at least 2000 times in the past 2 years without ever stopping to idle before turning the car off. After 210k miles the turbo and engine are still turning and burning.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

CruzeEcoBlueTopaz said:


> I will share my experience with the Cruze turbo. I drive my Cruze 375 miles per day 8-9 hours a day almost all highway/freeway miles. I have turned the car on and off at least 2000 times in the past 2 years without ever stopping to idle before turning the car off. After 210k miles the turbo and engine are still turning and burning.


Yep, it is 100% not necessary to idle this car before shutdown after normal city/hwy driving - UNLESS you have been beating the heck out of it shortly before getting to wherever you're going or have a big, steep driveway or something.

The turbo will siphon water through itself after the motor is shut off to assist the cooling-down process and prevent oil from coking in the return line. The turbo also gets oil directly after the filter/cooler assembly.


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## EcoDave (Mar 7, 2013)

Sheesh!
thanks for the last two posts, I was getting very worried reading through this thread. 
I have always been shutting off my car as soon I get to my destination.
I'll take the precaution from now on and let it idle for 30 seconds before shutting it down.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

You should be good on the victory lap unless you want to finnish the song thats still playing.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I always do for a few seconds, but don't think it's really necessary. 60K miles and no turbo issues thus far.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

I really think it's completely unnecessary unless you're drag racing, stop and shut it off instantly repeatedly lol. 

It's not the same as the big turbos, especially big rigs doing serious work under a near full duty cycle.


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## 2013LT (Jul 3, 2013)

Great. A little reassurance as I always shut it off and go go go


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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

No need, at long as you weren't racing it or abusing it right before shut off.

These are not old DSM's that needed turbo timers folks.


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## PanJet (Jun 18, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> The turbo will siphon water through itself after the motor is shut off to assist the cooling-down process and prevent oil from coking in the return line. The turbo also gets oil directly after the filter/cooler assembly.





2013LT said:


> I guess this goes for the 1.4T as well.


One minor difference between the 2.0 diesel and the 1.4 turbo; the 1.4's turbo is water cooled; the diesel's turbo is not. That _may_ inspire some to idle cool the diesel more than the 1.4, but still not likely urgent unless heavily used immediately prior to shutdown.


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## dieselbrnr (Sep 17, 2013)

Turbo journals are being oiled when you open any door before startup. that's what all the clicks and noises are about. even when car is shut down you will hear it occasionally feed the bearings some oil. this should prevent the coking associated with hot shut downs


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

PanJet said:


> One minor difference between the 2.0 diesel and the 1.4 turbo; the 1.4's turbo is water cooled; the diesel's turbo is not. That _may_ inspire some to idle cool the diesel more than the 1.4, but still not likely urgent unless heavily used immediately prior to shutdown.


To be more specific, the 1.4T is water and oil cooled. 

The whole oil cooking issue isn't really an issue with a quality synthetic oil unless you're track racing the car. Since the turbo is exclusively oil cooled and presumably expensive, care should be taken to use the best oil you can afford to.

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## TheDog (Mar 27, 2014)

I had a VW diesel (2004 Jetta) for 100k miles. My take on idling is that it should only be even maybe needed if you go from a high speed, high load driving experience to stopped very abruptly. For example, a rest area at the top of a mountain pass or stopping at a fuel station just feet off the freeway. In normal destination driving you exit a high speed road (if you were ver on one) then have a few miles or at least blocks of put put driving to get to where you are going. Those blocks should be enough to bring the turbo down from extreme temps. There just isn't a ton of mass to cool in our little turbos.


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## Erastimus (Feb 9, 2012)

Almost all of the war stories about turbo hot soak after shutdown and resulting coking of the oil on the bearings goes back to the hot rodder aftermarket days. All auto manufacturers are now committed to engineering the **** out of turbos so as to keep happy customers for 100,000+ miles and also committed to turbos as probably the only way to meet future CAFE standards. Small displacement engines with superbly engineered turbo systems = meet CAFE Standards + happy customers. No need to drive easy the last mile or sit there and idle the engine for a minute. As someone noted, those clicking and humming sounds before and after the engine is turned on/off is either oil or coolant circulating around the turbo. VW uses a 5 minute reverse coolant flow to the turbo from the cold side of the radiator - it is a separate small pump and you can hear it running after engine shutdown, if you listen carefully.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Erastimus said:


> Almost all of the war stories about turbo hot soak after shutdown and resulting coking of the oil on the bearings goes back to the hot rodder aftermarket days. All auto manufacturers are now committed to engineering the **** out of turbos so as to keep happy customers for 100,000+ miles and also committed to turbos as probably the only way to meet future CAFE standards. Small displacement engines with superbly engineered turbo systems = meet CAFE Standards + happy customers. No need to drive easy the last mile or sit there and idle the engine for a minute. As someone noted, those clicking and humming sounds before and after the engine is turned on/off is either oil or coolant circulating around the turbo. VW uses a 5 minute reverse coolant flow to the turbo from the cold side of the radiator - it is a separate small pump and you can hear it running after engine shutdown, if you listen carefully.



Very interesting!


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