Australian 4WD Action - June 2018

DO I NEED TO

LET MY

AFTER DRIVING?

TURBO COOL

I

t’s a question I get asked

all the time. “Do I need to

let my turbo cool down

after driving?” To answer

this we need to

understand the difference in

cooling an engine and cooling

the turbo on it.

ENGINE COOLING

Modern diesels are all water-

cooled. They have a fan that

varies in speed, dragging air

through the radiator. Regardless

of road speed, the hotter things

get the more the fan helps to

keep the cooling system

working. When you stop the

engine, the cooling system

effectively stops being cooled. If

you measured the water

temperature with an external

gauge at this time, you might see

it continue to go up a little before

dropping as the engine naturally

cooled. Remember the engine is

cooled by the cooling system.

TURBO COOLING

The turbo on the other hand is

not cooled as such. It might be

a water-cooled type but this

isn’t cooling the hot exhaust

housing. The turbo is designed

to be part of the hot exhaust

system and so is very durable

to heat. In particular, the

exhaust part of the turbo is

designed to get hot. Since

exhaust gases keep it hot, it’s

only logical that once you shut

the engine off the turbo

temperature can only cool

down, unlike the cooling

system on the engine.

THE ANSWER

So in summary, all engines

with a cooling system need a

cool down after long sustained

full load or towing. If you shut

the engine off immediately

after coming off full load, the

engine cooling system will

continue to get hotter before it

cools down. Backing the foot

off a few kilometres before you

stop is the best cool down you

can give it as you are still

moving with lots of air going

through the engine bay. So do I

need to cool down my turbo?

Not really... but next time you

should consider cooling down

your engine anyhow before

stopping immediately after

heavy towing if it’s turbo or not.

Safe Fourwheeling

Andrew Leimroth

Berrima Diesel

The “Original” Diesel Experts

Andrew from Berrima Diesel has the answer

WORDS BY ANDREW LEIMROTH, PHOTOGRAPHY BY 4WD ACTION

CONTACT

BERRIMA DIESEL SERVICE

Old Hume Hwy, Berrima, NSW 2577

(02) 4877 1256

http://www.berrimadiesel.com.au

DIESEL TECH WITH BERRIMA DIESELASK THE EXPERTS

WWW.4WDACTION.COM.AU