Dino oil vs synth and turbo timers..

some say synth ashes, other say dino oil will coke in the turbo.

a good friend of mine that races turbo DSMs recommended dino and a turbo timer.

any thoughts?

Turbo cars are like race horses, both need cool downs after heavy use. Once you understand why oil cokes in a turbo, you just don't shut down the turbo till the turbo cools down for a few minutes. PERIOD. As for timers, it's ok if you shut the vehicle down in the 'booneys' somewhere. Using timers in a 'public' place is just looking for problems, not practical.

im not sure what that guy is tlaking about.............most of my friends run turbo timers in the city, and have no problems at all............they are definetly a good upgrade to give your turbos some extra life.


as far as oils are concerned.......heres some of the reading ive done:

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Synthetic oil and conventional oil are perfectly mixable, so you don't have to do any preparation to switch from one to another. There is no film left by synthetic oil. As a matter of fact, you can even make your own blends by mixing the two types of oil. There's no real benifit from making a blend, though, so don't waste your time.

It is a mandatory regulation that all oils must be compatible, so all those stories about not switching to dino from synth are bull****.

The ONLY advantage synthetic oil has over conventional is that it's a tiny bit more durable. It's a little more resistant to breaking down under heat and shearing (being smashed tightly between two parts). This added durability is almost immeasurable when compared to a good quality conventional oil. Motor Trend did a test where they put 50K miles on two identical engines in an identical manner (staff vehicles). One had synthetic and one had conventional. At 50K miles, they pulled the engines apart and took measurements. There was no difference... except the engine hat had synthetic oil and 7.5K mile oil changes was gunked up and the engine with conventional oil and 3K changes was clean. The funny part is, the extended oil change benifit is a catch 22. Even though synthetic oil lasts a bit longer, you can't leave it in longer because the whole purpose of changing oil is to rid the crankcase of contaminants from blow-by.

To sum all this up, me and Motor Trend both think synthetic oil is a waste of money unless you plan on leaving it in for 10K miles, which isn't a good thing to do.

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tech at KKK and garrett turbos recommended Shell Rotella T 15w-40 (http://www.rotella.com/products/rotella_t.html) for turbo engines..........its also the leading brand for huge turbo deisel engines.

if it can deal with the stress of a turbo 18wheeler.....its good enough for any turbo.


the ONLY reason you would really need a synthetic oil is if you live up north, and have to start the car at extremely low tempratures.

On a turbo it is better to run synthetic. It DOES have at least somewhat higher heat tolerances, and when oil is being constantly run through a $1000+ turbo, you want the best. There is no reason not to run synthetic, unless you are trying to save money. Just run synthetic, and change your oil every 3k. Also, go ahead and get a turbo timer, because if the oil just sits in your hot turbo it gums up. The turbo timer just allows it to cool down, and therefore not gum up your turbo. Plus turbo timers are just cool.

I ran Mobil 1 synthetic in my TT stealth for 60k miles with no problems, but the engine was never stripped down. I have pulled a SBC apart that always ran Mobil 1 and it was very clean (at 100k miles).

I used a Greddy Turbo Timer on the stealth and it worked great. Only problem was that a lot of people would come up to me in a parking lot to tell me that I forgot to shut off my car.

as far as the motortrend article goes.. I doubt they beat the ever living piss out of those cars constantly like I do mine ;)

is a turbo timer needed even just after a normal trip around the city?

I think if you have some patience, you can get around the turbo timer thing. Just let the car sit at idle after a cruise or race. :alert:

Seems like the same thing to me.

Jordan, After I race the car I will let it sit a few minutes before shuting down. As for just cruising no abuse I just shut it off. I used this method for a yr, had the turbo rebuilt at the end of the season and had no problems with coking...etc

I also use pensoil 15w50, and change it every 1000-1500 miles. Few more things get as big of an oil pan as possible and use an oil cooler and your good to go;)

the reason I didn't wanna go the turbo timer route, as i am pretty sure I would have to bypass the passkey system.. which i do NOT wanna do.

also, my concern with using dino oil is road racing.. engine oil temps tend to sky rocket!

Here's some more info on oil and turbo's if you're intrested.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000433

Good Luck!

Jordan,
I have friends (and competition) who run turbos and on my own DSM I do the "turbo cool down". In my job (flying on the ol' HC-130 Herks) we even use a 2 minute cool down period before shutting down the motors to lessen coking. Coking occurs mostly after you boost the motor pretty hard and then shut it down a few minutes later. I know in the TT Supra and DSMs I run with often that any spirited driving results in a cool down period of about 1-2 minutes before shutting them off. I like the idea of a turbo timer and think they can be used fine despite the PAS key. It's usually an easy hook up and it helps during those times that you forget to run the cool down. $100.00 for the timer versus $800.00 - $1300.00 for a turbo. In regards to the dino oil versus synthetic, I prefer synthetic but agree there is very little difference if you drive normally and change your oil every 3000 miles. I happen to live in a very hot humid state and the blower cranks up the heat in the engine compartment so I like a little extra insurance. From what I know of your past with the fastblackcar, I'd lean towards synthetic especially road racing. All the turbo owners I run with use it and recommend it. Hell Mobil 1 evenhas a special blend formulated for turbo (& blower) cars. I don't know what the difference is but it's about $4.75 a qt. Well I know it's a lot of babbling and you may be looking for more facts but I hope it helps. Take care and good luck.

Eric

my thoughts about the passkey is that when you remove the key, it cuts ignition.. not sure how you would get around that


**update**. I have a FAST system now, I bet there is an easy way to do it :)

Jordon, here's some info I came across while doing some research for a turbo setup: www.innovativeturbo.com/Turbo%20Tech/turbo%20Oper%20Proc.htm

It's got some basic maintenance tips, and some good pics and explanation in the main menu...

J,
I'm no expert on PAS but could it be used for starting the car only? Or is it designed to shutdown the car if removed? Most turbo timers are simple to install and usually go through a signal from your E-Brake. I never thought about it though since there are so few turbo'd F-Bodies. How close are you to getting the fastblackcar up and running with the new set up? I need to bring my Z out to Tx and check out the scene. ;) Well maybe a PAS expert can chime in. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Eric

I remember that you had a clifford alarm right Jordon? If you put a remote starter on it and you have the right model the alarm can act as a turbo timer (there is an actualy "turbo timer" option). Yes Passkey must be disabled (simple resistor job under the dash) but you now have a clifford remote start and starter kill and everything.