HermanH's PASSAT Site

Tools Required

Greddy Turbo Timer III Installation

The Greddy Turbo Timer is a programable timing device to control the amount time that a turbo charger equipped engine is allowed to idle before shutting down completely. This is referred to as the "cool down" period. Cool down periods are used to ensure that the oil that flows through the turbo's bearing/bushing section does not cook onto the turbo's prop shaft. This is a condition called "coking". It's similar to baking on a glaze to a surface. Eventually, a large buildup of coke will redender the turbo useless and cause irreversable damage to the entire turobcharger unit and possibly to the engine itself.

Modern day turobchargers such as the one found on all VW 1.8T's, have additional cooling capabilities since a water jacket surrounds the prop shaft but what we are worried about here is shutting off the engine immediately after a prolong drive under forced induction. When the engine is off, the water/coolant stops flowing as does the oil. What oil is left will be left to bake. If you have ever popped the hood of your engine after say 2 minutes under high boost, the glowing red turbo should be all that you'll need to convince yourself a cooldown is necessary.

If you are the type that can always wait in the car for a cooldown, then a Turbo Timer isn't all that necessary. And with a stock boost of 7psi max., I would say it's not necessary to consider at all. But like some us that have boosted the pressure to 14psi or more, I feel it's cheap insurance.

The following instructions is quite lengthy due to the location that I utilized. If you are going to locate the Turbo Timer in the cubby, you can skip all of the steps that refer to the tunnel console.

Please read the following installation instructions here: http://www.audiworld.com/tech/elec31.shtml It would be a good idea to print this article out before you begin working on this project!

INSTALLATION:

1. I prepped the turbo timer by removing the white connector; this is used by some Japanese manufacturers but will not be used on the Passat:

2. Begin removal of the console - remove the rear ashtray and door to reveal (2) 13mm nuts. Under the armrest area, remove the rubber pad to reveal another 13mm nut:

NOTE: there are two more screws just under the main dashboard, which the console attaches to; one screw on each side.

3. To remove the handbrake, you need to insert a small screw driver under the crook of the handle cover; there's a small access slot that allows you to release the cover so you can slip the cover forward and off the handbrake.

4. Once the console is free, you will need to also remove the fuel door switch by squeezing the two prongs of the switch from under the center console.

5. We will now cut out some plastic in the recessed area to make way for the turbo timer:

6. With the turbo timer snuggly in it's position, we now begin the task of hooking up the electrical; the ground wire was mounted on one fo the handbrake nuts. The hard plastic connector to the harness was wrapped in foam to avoid any rattling.

7. We now must remove the gauge cluster. This is the hardest part of the install. To remove the cluster, you must first remove two screws behind the decorative cover over the steering column. The are on the far corners behind this cover but it IS possible to get them out; it just takes time! Once this cover is loose, there will be two more screws behind it that allow the cluster to be removed! Also remove the top portion of the steering column to access the ignition switch.

8. Remove the lower valence of the dashboard and the fuse cover. Locate fuse #6 and find it's corresponding wire behind it. Refer to the Audiworld instructions for more details.

9. Route the turbo timer harness up into the dash and towards the cluster. You will need to cut open the netting of the huge cluster harness and locate the 10ga. black wire; this is where the "green" turbo timer wire taps into. The "red" turbo timer wire must be taped into a constant +12V source; I elected to use one off of the rotary light switch; once you've complete this part, rewrap the webbing and/or use tie-wraps; reattach the cluster and remount back into the dash.:

10. Remember the #6 fuse? Cut the blue/black wire of fuse #6; wrap up the end that's still attached to the fuse box so it doesn't short anything. Take the remaining wire and extend it with some additional 22 ga. wire to the 22 ga. red wire from the ignition switch; there should only be ONE red wire of this size. This is what allows the alarm to function while the turbo timer continues to supply power to the entire car.

11. Be sure to test the functionality of the system before buttoning up the dashboard.