Installation of Starbo G-12 turbo timer.
Having bought one of these for a steal, it wasn’t too much of a chore to set it up, although did involve a significant amount of interior disassembly to wire up the handbrake switch and find the tachometer signal wire. I thought I’d post what I’d done as there seems to be no information about installing these on the web.
Wire identification:
Three large diameter wires Blue, Green and Red – These may or may not be housed in a three pin plug that connects to the wiring loom. Mine had spade terminals on them and was in a three pin plug.
One White, large diameter wire: Mine had a bullet connector on it.
Two smaller wires, Blue and red. Both of mine had bullet connectors on them.
Large Red: Connects to constant +12V
Large Green: Connects to ignition wire and activates timer when it senses the key is switched off. (ie: IGN1)
Large Blue: Connects to a secondary ignition wire. (ie: IGN2)
Small Red: Handbrake sensor. This wire will have +12 V on it, and when grounded through the handbrake switch, it will allow the timer to operate. The timer will not function without this connection.
Small Blue: Tachometer signal wire. When connected and the engine is running the green IGN light on the timer control panel will flash, and the engine revs will be displayed if you switch to tacho mode. The timer will not function without this connection.
Large White: I assume this wire connects to the start wire to crank the engine for the auto start feature. I did not connect this wire. The auto start feature is not well designed. There is no detection of whether the vehicle is in neutral, therefore even with the handbrake on there is a chance the car may move if the engine is cranked. Not only is this not good for your starter motor, it is not good for pedestrians or cars parked in front of you. I am also unsure of how the timer detects that the engine has started, it appears to try to crank the engine for around ten seconds. It has never taken 10 seconds for my car to fire, therefore the timer may run the starter motor for too long – also not good.
To set the turbo timer (when on manual) or clock, hold down the small set button and push the one to the left for hours, and the right for minutes. In auto mode, the turbo-timer sets an idle time based on your revs and the duration of your trip. If you idle in traffic for a while it even reduces the time required.
Good luck and feel free to distribute this information around the web as there is no setup info available for this turbo-timer.
