Home / Modify Cars / Turbo Timer Install
The following information is intended as procedural reference only and may or may not match the requirements of your vehicle. Use at your own risk and always observe proper safety precautions. This DIY is copyrighted by Robin Yang. Permission is given to redistribute the contents without alteration provided you cite the original author and provide a link back to the original page.
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Figure out where you want to mount the turbo timer. I mounted the HKS boost controller and turbo timer behind the glove box. I reasoned they are both "set and forget" devices I can hide away. It takes less than a minute to remove the glove box if I need to access them. Each is held in place to the object above it with adhesive-backed velcro. The yellow connector just above has a plastic anchor that protrudes below the metal plate. I used a foam spacer to compensate. Whenever I mention splicing wires make sure you have enough to connect that splice to the turbo timer. You will need one 12 volt SPDT (single pole double throw) relay in order to lock the car while the turbo timer is still running. I used a 30 amp Bosch relay (P/N 0 332 209 150). I also used Radio Shack 1/4" Quick Disconnects (P/N 64-3131) which fit directly onto the turbo timer and relay connectors. |
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Step 1: Whenever you work with the electrical system you should disconnect the negative battery cable to make sure you don't accidentally short-circuit something. I'm lazy and tend not to but do so at your own risk. Step 2: Use a phillips screwdriver to remove the three screws circled in red underneath the steering wheel. The top two screws have a pointed tip while the bottom screw is flat. |
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Step 3: Pry the top of the steering wheel housing off. I found it's easy to do by inserting your thumb as shown and lifting straight up. I used both thumbs but I couldn't do that and take a picture at the same time. |
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Step 4: Pop the fasteners circled in red by pulling straight back and let the panel hang down. This will give you easier access to the bottom steering wheel housing and ignition connector. Step 5: Gently remove the bottom steering wheel housing. Pay attention to the ignition light circled in green as you remove the housing to make sure you don't damage it.
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Step 6: The ignition connector is on the left side of the steering column. This picture was taken looking over the top of the steering wheel. You need to pop the interlock (circled in red) off before you can remove the connector. It's pictured here removed halfway. |
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Step 7: The yellow wire circled in red is +12v always on. Splice that to the red wire on the HKS turbo timer. Note: when splicing make sure you don't bridge the yellow wire to ground. That will blow the 15 amp ignition fuse in the engine bay. If that happens the idiot lights won't light up when the key is in the "on" position. There is a spare 15 amp fuse in the driver's footwell fuse box. Be sure to replace it! Step 8: The black/yellow wire circled in green is +12v only when the key is in the "on" or "start" position. Splice that to the green wire on the HKS turbo timer. Step 9: At this point I like to use a multimeter to test both connections and make sure the splice wires are getting correct voltage. Once you're happy put the steering wheel housing back on. |
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Step 10: Remove the front center console trim (steps 1-3) to expose the parking brake switch circled in red. Splice the grey wire on the HKS turbo timer to this. When the black plunger on the switch is down the connection is open. When it's up as pictured it connects to ground. Normally the parking brake has to be engaged in order to run the turbo timer. This is a safety feature but there are times (like at track days or autocross) when I want to run the turbo timer with the parking brake off. I connected the turbo timer's gray wire to a switch and from there to ground. That gives me an easy way to enable/disable the turbo timer. If you want to avoid having a safety override altogether simply connect the turbo timer gray wire directly to ground. |
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Step 11: Pull straight up on the passenger side door sill trim to remove it. There are seven fasteners holding it in place. The front two are circled in red.
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Step 12: Pull the rubber door seal away from the side panel trim as seen in this picture. Step 13: Remove the side panel trim. Push it sideways to release the two lower fasteners and then pull it straight back to remove it. |
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Step 14: After removing the side panel trim this is what you'll see. Unplug the connector circled in red to give yourself more work room. The ground point circled in green is a good place to connect the turbo timer's ground wire. The bolt just above that is a good place to secure the relay if it has a mounting tab. Otherwise there is plenty of space under the side panel trim to tuck it away. |
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Step 15: This shot was taken looking up from the footwell. Note the connector you removed in the previous step at the bottom of this picture. Carefully cut away the black electrical tape wrapping the wires (circled in red) to expose more wire. Step 16: The black box with the yellow label is the keyless immobilizer unit. It's a hard reach but disconnect the two connectors circled in green. I used a flat screwdriver to disengage the connector latch with one hand while removing the connector with the other. The smaller connector is relatively easy to remove but the larger one is harder. Have patience. |
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Step 17: Cut the black/yellow wire on the larger connector in two, leaving enough length on both ends of the wire to work with later. Be careful not to confuse this black/yellow wire with the one attached to the connector circled in green. Step 18: I attached a male spade fitting to one end of the black/yellow wire and a female spade fitting to the other end. That way if I ever want to remove the turbo timer it's a simple matter to reconnect the two. Step 19: Cut two 8" lengths of wire and attach a male spade fitting to one wire and a female spade fitting to the other. Connect these wires to the black/yellow wires you cut in Step 17. These will attach to terminals 30 and 87a of the relay later on. |
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Step 20: Reattach the two connectors to the keyless immobilizer unit. You can also reattach the large connector at this point. Step 21: Attach one of the black/yellow wire extensions to the common terminal (30) on the relay. Attach the other black/yellow wire extension to the normally closed terminal (87a). Attach the blue turbo timer wire (+5 volt accessory) to terminal 85. Connect terminal 86 to the car's ground. Terminal 87 is left unused. This picture shows the relay secured in its final position. The theory is when the turbo timer is active it sends +5 volts to the relay's coil, which cuts the connection between the black/yellow wires and tricks the immobilizer unit into thinking the engine is off, thus allowing you to lock the car while it's still running. Take the car for a test drive and make sure it and the turbo timer are working correctly. Step 22: Reassemble the parts in reverse order. You're done! |