Outer Limits 4x4 Board

HI,

Ive just bought an 89 TD Lux and it has a turbo timer fitted.

I once made a jaycar kit up and fitted it to another older car I once had. It worked fine and I understand their benefits.

My concern is this. A turbo timer basically has a couple of wires running into the back of it. these wires bypass the ignition key, so twist the 2 important wires together and then run a jump lead to the starter solenoid and your car is nicked.

Note the car I fitted the timer too was later stolen - though im not sure if thats how they did it, I will be sure to ask them after beating the hell out of them if i ever find them.

My question is, is this a valid concern? if so its a warning to any one with turbo timers.

Has any one got a good suggestion to stop the problem? hiding the timer perhaps?

Any help, ideas or thought would be appreciated.

1) its illegal to leave a car running without u being there - so negates the need for a timer.
2) if they want your truck, they will get it anyway.

unfortunately a fact of life, but i dislike making it so easy that i might not get a chance to notice them trying.

IM thinking a big rotty in the tray might help

A turbo timer is a waste of time anyway.
Fit a pyrometer and don't shut it down until EGT's drop below 200 deg C.

You'll probably be surprised how few times you need to wait.

KiwiBacon wrote:A turbo timer is a waste of time anyway.
Fit a pyrometer and don't shut it down until EGT's drop below 200 deg C.

x11t

Anything with water cooled centre doesn't need one IMO, not at all, and if you take it easy the last few K's home, its all good, the more electronics you can get rid of the better.

I also agree, turbo timers are a pain in the ass and on a low revving diesel not really necessary anyway.

My Mongoose alarm immobilises the engine seperate from the turbo timer.

If the timer is left running when the car alarm is activated, any breach of the alarm system will immediately shut down the engine and immobilise it.

mongoose M80

got one in the paj and GU

LTD351T wrote:Anything with water cooled centre doesn't need one IMO, not at all, and if you take it easy the last few K's home, its all good, the more electronics you can get rid of the better.

I agree, i've had plenty of high performance import cars and never use a turbo timer, just baby it home for the last bit. If you've got accurate oil and water temp guages you'll see the temperatures will often rise once you stop.

Ditch the turbo timer...... if its a water cooled CHRA and installed correctly the system will thermo siphon after shutdown providing cooling for the turbo.

If its an older air cooled core then just take it easy for the last minute of your drive home and its all good.

With modern engine management systems this would be so easy for a manufacturer to add that the question seriously needs to be asked - " why don't the OE manufacturers do it ?". The answer is that its unnecessary and illegal.

The days of turbo timers are past, and even then they really weren't required with a small amount of common sense.

At one stage I worked for a company that made turbo systems and no matter how hard we tried to tell people they were not required they still wanted them. i graphed the housing, core and oil temperatures and even showing these to people didn't seem to help.

We made a fortune every time we sold one but still felt guilty.

MightyMouse wrote: We made a fortune every time we sold one but still felt guilty.

Is that why salesmen drink so much?

It's morally wrong to let a sucker keep their money.

A steering wheel lock means they cant drive the car very well if they can get it started.

KiwiBacon wrote:

MightyMouse wrote: We made a fortune every time we sold one but still felt guilty.

Is that why salesmen drink so much?

It's morally wrong to let a sucker keep their money.

Well I actually did the design and assembly so it was 3rd part guilt...


And voidroid - I don't have much faith in steering locks, they seem to be surprisingly easy to remove.....

MightyMouse wrote:

KiwiBacon wrote:

MightyMouse wrote: We made a fortune every time we sold one but still felt guilty.

Is that why salesmen drink so much?

It's morally wrong to let a sucker keep their money.

Well I actually did the design and assembly so it was 3rd part guilt...


And voidroid - I don't have much faith in steering locks, they seem to be surprisingly easy to remove.....

unless he means the ones that are key activated?

don't most turbo timers have a control box that cuts the motor as soon as the handbrake is released, or the brake pedal is touched or any number of other things?

voidroid wrote:A steering wheel lock means they cant drive the car very well if they can get it started.

Not sure if you mean the ones that are like a bar over the wheel, but if that is what you mean they take about 20secs to remove and Im sure people could do it in less. I rate them up there with hiclones and those fuel pills.


Back on topic, this is great tech guys! I personally didnt know anything about turbo timers other than the theory behind them.

there should be a wire that connects to the handbrake

once the handbrake is down the car shuts off

also on newer models there are 2 wires that go the computer and when the car reaches 20km/h it shuts off, just in case they can bypass the handbrake. mine is like that

i dont really use it only 4wdrivin when it gets a workout but travelling to work its a waste of momney

I dont think the handbrake etc solutions make any differance as I dont mean someone stealing the car in the 30 seconds before it shuts down, my hilux is so slow they would only get 100m, I mean by cutting the wires out the back of it and wiring them together to mobilise the engine, then push starting or running a jump lead to the starter solenoid to kick it over.

basically the issue is that rather than having to open up the steering column and know which wires do what, they have been singled out by being part of the wiring for the timer. the wiring in the timer bypasses the key in the ignition.

So it appears not to be an issue with newer cars with computers or the other option is to get a quality alarm which can accomodate a turbo timer then makes that wiring redundant once its cooled down.

Looks like Im going to fit a by pass switch and hide it somewhere!

Why do you want a turbo timer ?

You seem to be going to a lot of effort for nothing.

thehanko wrote:I dont think the handbrake etc solutions make any differance as I dont mean someone stealing the car in the 30 seconds before it shuts down, my hilux is so slow they would only get 100m, I mean by cutting the wires out the back of it and wiring them together to mobilise the engine, then push starting or running a jump lead to the starter solenoid to kick it over.

basically the issue is that rather than having to open up the steering column and know which wires do what, they have been singled out by being part of the wiring for the timer. the wiring in the timer bypasses the key in the ignition.

So it appears not to be an issue with newer cars with computers or the other option is to get a quality alarm which can accomodate a turbo timer then makes that wiring redundant once its cooled down.

Looks like Im going to fit a by pass switch and hide it somewhere!

Why bother with a turbo timer anyway?
Throw it away, get an EGT gauge which shows you what's actually happening.

Turbo timers are gimmicks.

We had a guy on a trip with a turbo timer, got out at a water crossing to check the route out a little, jumped in, drove off, and just as he reached a point where you have to turn a little in the crossing, the steering lock activated, and a second later, the engine turned off.
He'd thought the car was still running when he got back in, but was in fact actually running on the timer only, he actually had his keys in his pocket.
Damn nasty to have steering lock just as you need to make a bend.
I personally hate them, and mine used to wreak havoc with the alarm system.

Its not so much that I want one, more that it was there when I bought it. Thought putting in a kill switch might have been similar effort to removing the timer thats already in there.

Think I'll just rip it out - but will probably still put in a kill switch somewhere - after having an unisrued car knocked off when i was 19 I'm a little un trusting!

I guess the main reason I thought it might have been of some benefit in keeping it is that guys (who dont really give a damn about my cars) drive them for work and will be towing moderately heavy (for a hilux) trailers, the thought of them pulling off the hwy 3/4 of the way up a hill for a piss and turning it off straight from max boost didnt really appeal.

The egt I get will have to have a loud alarm in it because I dont trust them to ever look at it either

If its a water cooler CHRA then its already pretty idiot proof.

Perhaps consider a lockable fuel shutoff valve, I haven't seen one personally but have heard of them. Not easy or quick to bypass either if installed intelligently.

you could steal ya hilux fairly easily anyway id bet, it doesnt have an ECU does it? if not, then ya just get under the hood, set the fuel pump to run, then roll start it and ya off!