CT26 Turbo Blanket: anyone else have a blanket??

Brad_91

New member
Hey all,

Just picked one up fairly cheap, and I'm curious to hear if anyone has any thoughts on turbo blankets.. there are a few old threads discussing them briefly.. my engine temps tend to rise in traffic/ at red lights since I added a dp and removed the heat shield. I'm hoping this solves my problems! I also have a turbo timer so cooking the turbo shouldn't be an issue at all right???

All input is appreciated :)
 

Brad_91

New member
No one else has one? I'm just curious if anyone feels this could be bad for the stock turbo.. I really only want it to keep my engine bay cooler. some people on other forums are arguing that this could cook the oil and cause turbo failures in the long run. I daily drive the car, so its rarely is pushed hard. I'm also assuming using the turbo timer avoids any issues with trapped heat in the turbo?
 

MrMcQuacker

New member
Honestly, to me I think its all preference. Most people just either wrap or get the dp coated, and that right there is usually pretty helpful in terms of radiating heat from engine bay. I think. Others will chime in on this eventually, we will see.
 

Brad_91

New member
Cool! I do have a ceramic coated dp, and my engine temps are fine 80% of the time. It's just on really hot humid days that I see it rising in traffic. This summer I will provide some feedback on whether the turbo blanket helps at all. Probably also gonna get some new coolant :)
 

phattyduck

New member
Have you verified that your fans and cooling system are in good working order? You shouldn't ever see the stock gauge move above the middle unless something is wrong (it stays there from about 150*F to at least 205*F). The radiator fans turn on at 195*F.

Unshielded exhaust components shouldn't change the engine water temp significantly. That said, it would be good for the rest of the components in the engine bay to keep that heat in the exhaust as much as possible. The stock heat shield and a wrapped or coated down pipe should be sufficient though.

-Charlie
 

CSAlltrac

New member
Thermal coatings, factory heat shields, and turbo blankets will play no effect on your water temps. If you're getting hot when standing there is another issue present. I would first do a flush and get some new coolant in there with correct mixture. A water wetter isn't a bad idea either. Make sure your fan is working as well. If it still happens might be time for a new radiator or other components. As for blankets, it's one of those topics that you can find people that swear by them and people that avoid them like the plague. I personally have zero expierence with them, I don't think I would do one on a stock turbo before the factory heat shield.
 

Brad_91

New member
Thanks for the input! I know for sure that my fan works (I hear it running periodically). I think my heat shield was removed because of the downpipe. It no longer fit properly. I am in need of new coolant as its been a few years.. that could very well be my issue. If the problem persists this spring/ summer I will dig deeper into the issue I guess. It was never very bad but the temp gauge would obviously move from its running temps which scared me!
 

Brad_91

New member
Do you guys think the positioning of the stock turbo could heat the hood up enough to cause damage to the paintjob? The hood has an obvious hot spot after long drives which concerns me as well. I would hate to see the hood need repainting in the long term because of a lack of heat shield. Another potential reason for the turbo blanket? :shrug: as long as there are no real "cons" of having it on ill try it out :)
 

Meenya

New member
Not sure what DP you got there but you should still be able to use stock Heat shield if you are using stock turbo maybe bending/modifying it a bit.
And in my opinion I'd put it back on...it's surely better with it then without one.
 

Brad_91

New member
Hmm alright. I still have it so I could check it out this summer. I'm pretty sure it did just require some bending and I didn't want to do it at the time. It's a Berk downpipe.. I do have a turbo blanket now to try too so I guess I'll try both options if I can!
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
The hood has insulation stock from the factory to protect the paint job, if yours is fairly intact I imagine it should be decent enough. If you have none or its missing or really torn out, there's some other aftermarket options you can apply as far as heat reflective tape/insulation goes to protect the paint. Summit should have a few to start
 

Brad_91

New member
True I should look into it. The insulation has been removed for a long time.. It wasn't there when I bought the car. An st205 I've seen had the insulation but it had water soaking into it and was overall deadweight imo.. I'm sure there are aftermarket options that look better/ weigh less if I were to go back to insulation.

No one has ever used a turbo blanket though as an option? Even on different vehicles? Seems like they are less popular than I thought they would be! They seem like a fairly efficient way to keep the hot side hot and the rest cooler..
 

phattyduck

New member
They are a good idea on aftermarket turbo builds, but there is a nice factory (stock looking!) option - why not use it? I have some extra insulation in a few key spots under the stock heat shield, but not a complete blanket around the turbo.

-Charlie
 

Brad_91

New member
Doesn't the turbo blanket do much more than the stock heat shield would though? I mean I'm sure it is overkill for stock set-up's, but it should definitely improve heat isolation. It only wraps the hot side of the turbo which should theoretically keep the cold side of the turbo a lot colder too. The guy I have bought it from claimed to be able to touch the wrapped hot side after spirited driving. The heat shield certainly didn't work that well for me :twisted:
 

Meenya

New member
Are you suggesting that there is no heat from exhaust manifold that is covered by OEM heat shield?

I'm not saying that turbo blanket doesn't work...just saying there is more to heat than just the hot side of the turbo;)
 

Brad_91

New member
Ya you are right, the exhaust manifold is still an issue I guess. I have noticed the difference now that my heat shield is gone. I understand that the exhaust manifold can get just as hot as the turbo as well, as I've seen plenty of dyno pulls of race cars with glowing hot manifolds+turbos..

I don't know all that much about cars relative to most everyone on this forum, hence the constant questioning haha. I was told again by the previous owner of this that when installed can cover a bit of the exhaust manifold also. I have never seem one before so I will find out what it covers/ how well it works once it arrives. I'm curious to see if I can have this on with the heat shield at the same time. It's been a year that my heat shield's been removed and like I said, I noticed that my temps were getting higher. I will also be changing my coolant this spring which could very well my issue :shrug:

This spring I will be playing a bit with both my OEM heat shield (if I can find it in my pile of parts) as well as the turbo blanket.

P.S. I keep saying I'm waiting until spring, because even though it technically is, we just got 10 cm of snow yesterday where I live :bangshead:

Still waiting patiently for the damn snow to melt/ salt to wash off the roads!
 

athousandleaves

New member
Generally keeping all the heat inside the pipes makes for faster flowing gasses and possibly a more responsive turbo.

You shouldn't damage the turbo or anything with the blanket, I've seen some guys run them because all 3 of the heat shield mounting bolts snapped in the turbo/manifold.

Plus like Meenya said, the manifold is still exposed which will serve to cook your alternator and oil filter and paint. Wrapping the stock manifold is pretty much impossible to do tightly without gaps unless you have a tubular one that is easy to wrap.

Seeing as you're questioning your coolant quality you should grab one of those cheap coolant testers and check it out. If it looks rusty, oily or doesn't measure up then you know where to start. Also I believe the overflow bottle should have about 600ml of fluid in it to be at the MAX line.

Other ways to combat overheating would be to get a higher pressure rad cap, do a cooling system flush and also check that your temp sensors are still in spec.
 

Brad_91

New member
Thanks for the Input! I'll check out your link. I will be checking what I can do about the manifold too. I guess a ceramic coating would be the best route since, like you said, it would be hard to simply cover.. The car should be coming out soon!! :)
 
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