SR20's SUCK, recurring leak

[towlie]

Originally Posted by fliprayzin240sx

You sure the flanges are not warped? Also, like already stated, since its an aftermaket manifold and you fucked the DP up from bottoming out...are you sure the manifold isnt cracked to hell? I'm willing to bet the manifold is cracked on the collector before anything else...

when my leak first started I had the stock manifold, i didnt install the aftermarket until i was replacing everything. i bought it secondhand perhaps it was fucked up idk, scrap metal now anyways so it doesnt really matter lol.

Im not running a diesel or mitsubushi turbo so using grease or rtv in place of a gasket sounds sketch, also i really dont want to spot weld any bolts.. but thanks for the suggestions

[Broadfield]

I never ran any sort of gasket on my Full Race GT3071R setup... obviously no leaks. I wouldn't attempt this on some of the thin wimpy flanged manifolds out there though. As stated by others, you would need to make sure the flanges are true on both the manifold and exhaust housing. You could always glue some sandpaper down to a board then run both mating surfaces across it to make sure they are good to go. Any weird spots will show up instantly after a few passes. You can then address the issue(s) accordingly.

[SLiDe_WaYz]

Buy the mr gasket copper one from enjuku I have it. Seems to do the trick for me. Haven't blown a gasket yet.


Then again I've only been driving it daily for about 2 weeks in the past year it's been on there

[towlie]

ill inspect the stock manifold for any sort of imperfections, and the turbo.

Was the gt30 top mount? does that make a difference in using a gasket or not?

[Kingtal0n]

The only thing I disagree with is the welded nuts theory. Are you poor fellows off your welded nut brains?
What happens when you need to take the turbocharger off- You packin' a grinder and some new studs and nuts in the trunk? Its not like a tattoo!

[Broadfield]

If it's just a tack weld then you can still break the nut loose without any repercussions.

[towlie]

tacks arent hard to break dude. thats just a little to, er, extreme for my tastes lol. plus i dont feel like going to the hassle of trying to find a decent welder locally

[!Zar!]

Exactly.

Lock tabs, safety wire, even regular lock nuts all require the manifold to be removed in order to remove the turbo.

I tried all sorts of bullshit, and in the end the stainless steel gasket and tack welding it has left me trouble freeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[Sileighty_85]

Originally Posted by Sileighty_85

wait so, your using the S15 gasket on an AM manifold?

is the Port flange a one piece design?

If so thats your problem. You cant use a S15 MLG with a one piece flange cuz of the rivets used to hold the MLG together are keeping the flange from sealing properly

Never got a response on this so just wanna throw this back up

[Luvs2slide]

I never had an issue using the s15 layered gasket and oem locking tabs. I just tighten the 4 bolts real good. Drifted hard with this on OEM mani and aftermarket SS ones.

Can you take some pics of the way it sits now? Is there any visible warpage you can see? Can you still feel the exhaust gases leaking?

[fliprayzin240sx]

Well either way, you're gonna have to pull the whole manifold/turbo off. When you take it off, you should see the soot on where its leaking. Depending on where it is will dictate your next course of action. If its leaking between flanges, I'm willing to bet one of the flange is warped. If its not, then its coming from a crack on the manifold.

[towlie]

Originally Posted by Sileighty_85

Never got a response on this so just wanna throw this back up

Sorry dude, yeah pretty sure its a one piece design and yes I am using the s15 mlg. Defiantly a possibility, interesting idea. Happened to you?

Originally Posted by Luvs2slide

I never had an issue using the s15 layered gasket and oem locking tabs. I just tighten the 4 bolts real good. Drifted hard with this on OEM mani and aftermarket SS ones.

Can you take some pics of the way it sits now? Is there any visible warpage you can see? Can you still feel the exhaust gases leaking?

Yeah ican get pics of everything tomorrow night after work i really don't feel like touching my car right now LOL. Parked it in the shop that's as far as I'm going :| edit: and no I haven't tried to see if its still leaking in the same spot, turned it on to re park it and I could hear it clearly so I assume yes same place.

Originally Posted by fliprayzin240sx

Well either way, you're gonna have to pull the whole manifold/turbo off. When you take it off, you should see the soot on where its leaking. Depending on where it is will dictate your next course of action. If its leaking between flanges, I'm willing to bet one of the flange is warped. If its not, then its coming from a crack on the manifold.

I'm really dreading taking it off again, its a pretty big pita! I'll keep my eyes peeled for any signs and post pics to. It's only ran for 5-7 minutes total since everything has been installed,would it show soot or other signs of leakage already?

[Sileighty_85]

Originally Posted by towlie

Sorry dude, yeah pretty sure its a one piece design and yes I am using the s15 mlg. Defiantly a possibility, interesting idea. Happened to you?

Its cool,
Nah seen it happen a few times

[R33E8]

You can always try making your own gasket using flexible graphite sheet/graphoil.. It's really compressible and could easily conform to any minor defects in the mating surfaces.. Mcmaster carr has some, I think it's less than $20 for a 12x12 sheet that is 1/16" thick(which is what I use)..

[di-devol]

Problem solved.

[Sileighty_85]

That's nuts, Im surprised how many ppl have issues with that gasket.
I have an unknown AM manifold, Oem gasket with stock locking hardware daily and drifted the car for 5 years now and never had that that gasket blow, even bashing my exhaust and down pipe on all the shitty roads over here

[sharpe_corners]

Originally Posted by !Zar!

Exactly.

Lock tabs, safety wire, even regular lock nuts all require the manifold to be removed in order to remove the turbo.

I tried all sorts of bullshit, and in the end the stainless steel gasket and tack welding it has left me trouble freeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

+1917327376376373647637364737336746365736547354774 637436463+7436436

[arg23]

[QUOTE=di-devol;4429564]Problem solved.
QUOTE]

Love this. If surfacing hadnt resolved our issues back in 2009 we were going to do exatcly this. Came up on another project recently as well, wasnt certain I could weld inconel though...

[towlie]

Lol, that's yours Tim? I dunno ive been considering tacking it. I really DONT wanna have to do this a third time -_-

[di-devol]

Naw, it's something Alex showed me when I was having the same problems. I used one of those really thing steel gaskets that failed alot. Getting the multi-layered one and locking tabs fixed it for me.

Hope you fix it man.

[huffandpuff00]

hey zach,
Sorry to hear you are having a leaking problem. I never had a problem with it leaking... this is the same gasket I was using with it installed on my car and Im reusing it on my car now. I think its the normal 2 layer.

[towlie]

Originally Posted by di-devol

Naw, it's something Alex showed me when I was having the same problems. I used one of those really thing steel gaskets that failed alot. Getting the multi-layered one and locking tabs fixed it for me.

Hope you fix it man.

thats my plan of attack, it should fix it. I hope

Originally Posted by huffandpuff00

hey zach,
Sorry to hear you are having a leaking problem. I never had a problem with it leaking... this is the same gasket I was using with it installed on my car and Im reusing it on my car now. I think its the normal 2 layer.

No worries, tomorrows my day off im tackling it then. picked up this gasket:



Looks legit

[huffandpuff00]

so you are going to tack the bolts?
Im ordering my exhaust tomorrow, so ill hit you up when it shows up next week

[towlie]

Nah, Alex suggested I use FRSports copper lock nut. Above post was a typo my bad i was at work. If that fails I doubt I'm going to touch it for another year LOL. And word just shoot me a text

[towlie]

update, sorry for taking so long stupid life has been keeping me busy lol

heres the SUCKY sr



Manifold in question'



lol



Found the problem.





into the scrap metal bin!



anyways, i think the only aftermarket manifold im ever going to run is Full-Race. my SR runs fine now, few kinks here and there i need to find time to straighten out but i fixed this, no more leaks! got me to work yesterday. thanks duders fot your help

[!Zar!]

Wow, that thing is super shitty.

Stock SR manifold that is honed and extruded, then ceramic coat it > your butt cheeks.

[SLiDe_WaYz]

Originally Posted by !Zar!

Wow, that thing is super shitty.

Stock SR manifold that is honed and extruded, then ceramic coat it > your butt cheeks.

This, waiting to get mine back, it cost 170$ total. That was buying a old stock manifold shipping it off to get it honed ext, and getting it ceramic coated.

[codyace]

For the record, Stock Manifold time and time again is the best T2 manifold available Leave the tubular junk for the hood poppin hardparkers

Originally Posted by !Zar!

Wow, that thing is super shitty.

Stock SR manifold that is honed and extruded, coated, and modded for external gate > your butt cheeks.

Corrected for level 10 awesomeness

[towlie]

yeah, i definatly learned my lesson lol. i dont think ill be doing any fancy flow work with the manifold anytime soon, i never want to take it off again!!

also,

[codyace]

External gate FTMFW