[sleepdoc]

I just thought I would throw out there how I treat my turbo's. It might be over-cautious, but my past RX-7 experiences have molded my behavior.

1. I always warm it up before getting on boost. I do not even put the car in gear until at least 30 seconds of running when it is completely cold. I don't hammer it until my oil temp is somewhere between 180 and 240. I came to this point since it feels like my car is not getting full boost until at least 180 degrees. If the ECU is pulling boost/timing, then the car is not ready for me to hammer it.

2. I try not to go over 250 oil temp. If I am over 250, I will take it easy until she cools down. My best times at the track have been right at 240. after 250, the car gets a bit slower.

3. I take it easy a few minutes from shutdown. If I have been on boost, I let her Idle a bit to let the turbo's cool down.


Maybe I am just making myself feel better by following this pattern, but it would suck bad to have a turbo failure....

[orosie]

Originally Posted by sleepdoc

I just thought I would throw out there how I treat my turbo's. It might be over-cautious, but my past RX-7 experiences have molded my behavior.

1. I always warm it up before getting on boost. I do not even put the car in gear until at least 30 seconds of running when it is completely cold. I don't hammer it until my oil temp is somewhere between 180 and 240. I came to this point since it feels like my car is not getting full boost until at least 180 degrees. If the ECU is pulling boost/timing, then the car is not ready for me to hammer it.

2. I try not to go over 250 oil temp. If I am over 250, I will take it easy until she cools down. My best times at the track have been right at 240. after 250, the car gets a bit slower.

3. I take it easy a few minutes from shutdown. If I have been on boost, I let her Idle a bit to let the turbo's cool down.


Maybe I am just making myself feel better by following this pattern, but it would suck bad to have a turbo failure....

That all sounds good, accept for the idling for 30 seconds after starting your engine cold. All of the oil is in the crankcase, and not fully flowing through the engine when you first start, so the best method (and recommended by BMW and Audi) is to start driving immediately, and just take it easy. The oil will distribute much faster to all moving parts of the engine, thus reducing initial friction and wear.

Cheers.

[rambino]

^^^ 2nd that. I read this as well

[addy85]

Originally Posted by orosie

That all sounds good, accept for the idling for 30 seconds after starting your engine cold. All of the oil is in the crankcase, and not fully flowing through the engine when you first start, so the best method (and recommended by BMW and Audi) is to start driving immediately, and just take it easy. The oil will distribute much faster to all moving parts of the engine, thus reducing initial friction and wear.

Cheers.

+1

[thekurgan]

+1, on the money, there is no reason to beat the shit out of it when it's cold.

[stressdoc]

+1

I also like to listen to the engine periodically, and of course change oil every 5k.

[AJerman]

Originally Posted by orosie

That all sounds good, accept for the idling for 30 seconds after starting your engine cold. All of the oil is in the crankcase, and not fully flowing through the engine when you first start, so the best method (and recommended by BMW and Audi) is to start driving immediately, and just take it easy. The oil will distribute much faster to all moving parts of the engine, thus reducing initial friction and wear.

Cheers.

Oil pump?

The oil will circulate fine, it won't hurt your car to idle, but you SHOULD start driving immediately because there are many other things than just your oil temperature that needs to be up before you gun it. Things like the transmission, rear end, etc, they all need to be warmed up too. Sitting and idling up to temp will give you a false impression that the car is ready to be hammered on.

[trueblue]

I still have my 7 for beating around. Went from twin sequential turbos to single turbo and now purchased a car with twin parallel turbos. Have been stuck on the snail for over 15 years. People tend to get a little paranoid after being bitten by a blown turbo or engine.

[Dubbedoutbimmer]

Originally Posted by AJerman

Oil pump?

The oil will circulate fine, it won't hurt your car to idle, but you SHOULD start driving immediately because there are many other things than just your oil temperature that needs to be up before you gun it. Things like the transmission, rear end, etc, they all need to be warmed up too. Sitting and idling up to temp will give you a false impression that the car is ready to be hammered on.

hmm never thought of it that way but yea makes complete sence good call

[Former_Boosted_IS]

I was always under the impression that warming up the car before boosting only offered benefit with forged internals. Since the forged pistons would expand under heat it made sense to protect things, but does it offer any benefit with magnesium coated pistons?

[Mr. 5]

I start driving right away, but never hit boost until about 5 minutes of driving (If I even hit boost).

[orosie]

Originally Posted by AJerman

Oil pump?

The oil will circulate fine, it won't hurt your car to idle, but you SHOULD start driving immediately because there are many other things than just your oil temperature that needs to be up before you gun it. Things like the transmission, rear end, etc, they all need to be warmed up too. Sitting and idling up to temp will give you a false impression that the car is ready to be hammered on.

The point is that even though the pump is distributing the oil, running right away (easy) will warm up the oil quicker, thus allowing better flow. I agree that other parts of the car need to get up to temp as well.

[stressdoc]

Originally Posted by Former_Boosted_IS

I was always under the impression that warming up the car before boosting only offered benefit with forged internals. Since the forged pistons would expand under heat it made sense to protect things, but does it offer any benefit with magnesium coated pistons?

This is a really complex materials science issue that involves the relative changes in microstructure of the materials of the engine internals during warm up. Different materials expand (and contract) at different rates, and there are no simple general rules regarding forged vs. cast materials. That said, for some specific cars/engines such a rule is correct.

[Former_Boosted_IS]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

This is a really complex materials science issue that involves the relative changes in microstructure of the materials of the engine internals during warm up. Different materials expand (and contract) at different rates, and there are no simple general rules regarding forged vs. cast materials. That said, for some specific cars/engines such a rule is correct.

Do we know if there is enough contraction/expansion on the N54 to warrant a warm up time to protect against enemies that are normal with forged parts?

[BmwFanFL]

I've thought for a long time that cars should have a 'break-in' and a 'warming up' built in tune (that could also serve as a valet switch).

Why not let the engine logic enforce low boost / low throttle during these periods. The override could be buried in the idrive menu, making it impossible for all except car wash attendents and valet drivers to use ;-).

I don't have a boost gauge, so maintaining no boost when cold is hard to verify. I wish I could get 2 or 3 extra gauges (boost, water temp, oil pressure) on my idrive/nav display as an option......

[wj4]

Originally Posted by sleepdoc

I just thought I would throw out there how I treat my turbo's. It might be over-cautious, but my past RX-7 experiences have molded my behavior.

1. I always warm it up before getting on boost. I do not even put the car in gear until at least 30 seconds of running when it is completely cold. I don't hammer it until my oil temp is somewhere between 180 and 240. I came to this point since it feels like my car is not getting full boost until at least 180 degrees. If the ECU is pulling boost/timing, then the car is not ready for me to hammer it.

2. I try not to go over 250 oil temp. If I am over 250, I will take it easy until she cools down. My best times at the track have been right at 240. after 250, the car gets a bit slower.

3. I take it easy a few minutes from shutdown. If I have been on boost, I let her Idle a bit to let the turbo's cool down.


Maybe I am just making myself feel better by following this pattern, but it would suck bad to have a turbo failure....

I pretty much do the same.

1. Every morning upon starting, I just wait until the RPM drops to below 1k RPM. I don't wait for it to go down to the normal idle stage, around 600 RPM though.

2. I always shift at 4k or below if the temperature is below 210 degrees.

3. I also drive easy for a couple of miles before my destination point. This is why a turbo timer is not needed in modern turbo cars. I never just do WOT pulls and turn off the car immediately though.

[TiAg335i]

Albeit these are good practices, I don't believe it is entirely necessary on a motor as advanced as the N54.

[sleepdoc]

Originally Posted by orosie

That all sounds good, accept for the idling for 30 seconds after starting your engine cold. All of the oil is in the crankcase, and not fully flowing through the engine when you first start, so the best method (and recommended by BMW and Audi) is to start driving immediately, and just take it easy. The oil will distribute much faster to all moving parts of the engine, thus reducing initial friction and wear.

Cheers.

Thanks for the tip. I might cut that part out of my "protocol" ....