Turbo warm up and cool down

3rd gen 3.4 TT. Does anyone upon startup allow the oil to warm a little before driving and after driving allow the turbos to cool down before turning off the engine?

 

I let the oil circulate before driving and I've heard here somewhere to let the turbos cool down after using them hard.

 

Start the truck, give it a few seconds, and then gently drive it until warm. The gasoline direct injected motors like to dilute the oil with fuel, especially when cold, so you want to minimize the amount of time the engine is running when cold. Dont be the guy that remote starts it and lets it idle for 20 minutes.

There is very few situations where you would need to idle and let the turbos cool. In almost all situations you will have to drive gently before coming to a stop and shutting down. Plus the turbo cooling loop is a separate loop from the engine and has an electric pump so it probably can keep flow through the turbos even after shutting down.

Maybe if you were towing in the mountains on a 2 lane highway, and pulling a steep grade, and there is a view point or something where you wanna pull of and stop, you might consider giving them 30 seconds to cool down. But pretty much any other scenario i can come up with you would already have gently driven or idled the engine while moving before coming to a stop and shutting down.

 

Normal driving, normal temps no need. No harm either

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn5hrhTEERQ I've learned a lot from this guy. Hope this helps with your question.

 

Oil pressure build and wait till the fan dies down before heading out. Gently drive till the water temp comes up. I don’t tow at least not yet. I let the engine idle for about 1 minute before shutting her down.

 

Thanks for all the good info. I started this thread after I watched the YouTube video from The Car Care Nut on turbos. I also worked at a power company that had the F-550 aerial lift that prompted you to cool down the turbo after certain freeway driving

 

It only reduces your chances of cooking the bearings before warranty expires. Siphon (convection) or electric cooling, the bearings quit more readily if they are overly hot and oil supply cuts abruptly.

 

I'm on my 3rd turbo gas powered vehicle. All 3 had oil and radiator fluid cooling for the turbos. I start up and go. I get to my destination & shut off. No issues with any of them. This living NY northern NY (really cold winters), Virginia and now Florida.

If there was a owner's manual procedure required I would follow it. When I researched the Ford Ecoboost in my 2018 Expedition, the engineers had systems in place to keep them cool.

Do what makes you comfortable but if engineered correctly, you don't have to worry about it. Think of all the turbo motors in cars these days. Think a college girl or soccer mom is even thinking about it? Nope they just drive them.

 

FYI from the manual..

 

@DRP Thanks for that. I knew I saw somewhere else .

 

I like to let the RPMs settle on start up which is less than a minute. For cool off, I try to follow the manual. If I am doing some slow city driving after the freeway, I think that covers the 1-minute cool down.

 

I always installed a turbo timer on my builds . Especially if it’s a journal bearing turbo(s) . After spirited driving in the cars or any driving in these new trucks with the little snails the oil can coke up after shutting down the engine . The buildup restricts flow over time to the turbo can starve for oil upon start up and cold weather initial driving . Ball bearing turbos can handle some wear but not a journal bearing . The 0/20 oil helps but nothing like letting the oil and turbos cool down before shut off . Just my .02

 

I drive the truck normally and don't get spirited with the pedal until the temp gauge is at normal operating temp. This is so the oil is flowing as freely as it should. Same for cool down. Pop your hood, put your hand near the turbos. It's unfair to expect the little oil that is in the center section to withstand that, and it takes a while for that little bit of oil to remove enough heat to matter. When towing in the mountains I am usually in the 3 minute cool down range simply because I'd rather that than a mechanical failure while in use.

To each their own, though. I'm cautious because this truck is my 20 year plan, even turbocharged. I'm not looking to cook a turbo and cause other issues as a result.

 

meh, start it, drive it and park it in under 3 miles 5 days a week normally. she has been doing this since our 2012 tacoma and even during our -20F snaps. havent had an issue on any of her vehicles or my 4runner. as far as cooldown, nothing special on the 23 tundra. just park it and go inside. thats what the electric pumps are for on the air to water intercoolers and the if i remember the turbo's have a separate cooling system. plus our short 20-30 sec drive to the house once we enter the sub division at under 20 mph helps.

this will probably set off someone

 

So I shouldn't work the engine hard up a mountain then immediately pull off the road and shut it down...Check.
I also shouldn't drive 80mph, drift into my parking space and immediately shut it down...Check.

BTW...I wouldn't suggest doing the above even with a naturally aspirated engine.

 

DRP, what page in the owners manual is that “ idle before shut down “ info?

 

Was 176 in mine. I just searched "turbo" on the pdf version. There's only a few entries so it was easy to find.