Anyone else blowing out turbo gaskets?

[PMan_S13]

I probably have been going threw these things like one every 2-3 months

.. I'm talking about the gasket between the turbo and the downpipe. I don't have a v-band clamp, all I can do is put a gasket in there.. I've tried different brands but nothing really seems to last all that long. Metal gaskets last a little bit longer, but they melt at high boost and eventually blow out like all teh others.. this is more annoying than anything else.

Just wondering if anyone knows of a nice long lasting gasket out there someplace. ?

[DammitBobby]

Interesting I don`t use one at all.

[DRIFTEADOR]

if it's not making a seal without a gasket, it's probably warped. take it to a machine shop and have it planed. you shouldnt need a gasket

[huguetpj]

I probably have been going threw these things like one every 2-3 months

.. I'm talking about the gasket between the turbo and the downpipe. I don't have a v-band clamp, all I can do is put a gasket in there.. I've tried different brands but nothing really seems to last all that long. Metal gaskets last a little bit longer, but they melt at high boost and eventually blow out like all teh others.. this is more annoying than anything else.

Just wondering if anyone knows of a nice long lasting gasket out there someplace. ?

Weird.... You shouldn't have any issues with the seal between the turbo and downpipe... there is no real pressure back there. I've had lot's of problems between turbo and mani until I found out you should not use black iron (bad translation?) for manifold flanges. I changed them with calibrated steel (bad translation?) and all is good now.

As drifteador said, it's probably warped. Take the turbo and downpipe to a machine shop to have the mating surfaces re-surfaced.

[rn240sx]

You shouldn't need a gasket between the turbo and downpipe..

I never did and still dont and i have no leaks..

Most likely the downpipe flange is warped thus leaking out the ex gas and burning out whatever gasket u put there..

[MarkEmark]

I probably have been going threw these things like one every 2-3 months

.. I'm talking about the gasket between the turbo and the downpipe. I don't have a v-band clamp, all I can do is put a gasket in there.. I've tried different brands but nothing really seems to last all that long. Metal gaskets last a little bit longer, but they melt at high boost and eventually blow out like all teh others.. this is more annoying than anything else.

Just wondering if anyone knows of a nice long lasting gasket out there someplace. ?

I've replaced the same gasket at least 5 times....it may be that they're ****ty gaskets, but sometimes the bolts loosen as well (even though lock nuts are used and the downpipe has a built in flex-pipe).

[huguetpj]

I've replaced the same gasket at least 5 times....it may be that they're ****ty gaskets, but sometimes the bolts loosen as well (even though lock nuts are used and the downpipe has a built in flex-pipe).

If you're bolts are loosening then no matter how good they are you will burn gaskets. I should know, I fought those kinda problems for a year, until I forked out some dough on some nice calibrated steel flanges and caterpillar manifold bolts. Lot's of money, but it made my year.

[SSS]

That is definetly my motivation behind getting a v band setup for the dump pipe to turbine housing. 1 bolt vs 4. And no gaskets.

[PMan_S13]

I didn't even consider just not using a gasket at all.. I guess that is the answer.

It will be fine for a while. but as soon as the gasket blows there is a nice big exhaust leak sound.. Might as well just take the thing out and see how that works.

And yes, if you can get a v-band, do it.. they are so much nicer than bolting up flange to flange. 3 of my friends use them and I really wich I had too.

[Jeff240sx]

If you blow a gasket and leak exhaust, you're flanges aren't flush together, either by design error or warpage. Running gasketless will only magnify this.The best bet is to take it to a good welding shop, and have them cut and reset the flange, imo.-Jeff

[WDRacing]

Use nuts with safety wire holes, grab some .041 safety wire and lock them down. Or use some high temp lock tight.

And again, I've never seen a gasket used there...lol.

[540sx]

sorry if this is a stupid question.

I am new to motor building and am installing a turbo.I have not installed yet just clarifying before I do.

DO you need gasket between turbo and mani?

Based on what you said I am guessing don't need.

[PorkChopExpress]

an old trick to get a seal between manifold and turbo is using grease to make a carbon seal.

[480sx]

First post

Its good your searching atleast.

.. I'm talking about the gasket between the turbo and the downpipe.

Your talking about the gasket between the turbo and the manifold. You need a gasket between the turbo and the manifold.
Modified by 480sx at 8:16 PM 6/2/2008

[Florida240sx]

no gasket

[480sx]

You can get pressures between 1-30 psi in the manifold pre-turbine, you want a gasket for that. Its directly linked with how much boost your turbo is putting out. @ 10 psi, there is roughly 10 psi worth of back pressure in the manifold, give or take a few psi.

The chance that the flanges might be slightly warped or warp given time is another one of the reasons you want to run a gasket.

[BoostFab]

talking about back from the dead.

[sdtouge]

**** gasketsweld the turbo to the manifold. and the outlet to the turbo. or get a vband.done

[480sx]

**** gasketsweld the turbo to the manifold. and the outlet to the turbo.done

This is a horrible idea.

[sdtouge]

why? its a great idea. you can still rebuild the turbo too. this way bolts never come loose and gaskets never blow.i welded my outlet to my turbo after the bolts came loose/gaskets blew etc. when you go drift at an event, and one of those gaskets blow it ruins your day.

[480sx]

Are you going to weld each bolt hole shut too? Why the FK would you make a huge mess out of your manifold/turbo when you could just.. Weld the nuts to the studs..

You might be able to rebuild the turbo, but you will never be able to use that manifold with any other turbo except a direct replacement. What happens if you crack the housing?

That gasket isnt going to blow unless the turbo is already loose from the manifold, meaning you didnt do something right.

[sdtouge]

they still blow... especially on bottom mount. its ok, my manifold was only a few hundo (2). crack the housing welding it? i dont think that would happen. if it cracked on its own then just weld the crack.i dont know. i think welding things like that is very beneficial if you actually track your car and when it blows its not just worse gas mileage on your daily commute. if thats the case then yes its retarded, otherwise i think its excellent.

[WDRacing]

For the record...welding the turbo itself to the manifold IS NOT a good idea. If you want to do something like this yourself...that's fine, but do not recommend things like this in MY forum.

There are literally a bazillion different ways we can tackle any scenario here fellas. The key is to think through something and not make rash choices.

I just put an email out to a manufacturer that I used to use for custom gaskets. When they reply I'll be able to list everything they offer in the copper line for the all Nissan/Infiniti cars as well as turbo related products.

If you use copper you don't have to worry about anything "blowing out" and it's reusable.

I'll take that route over welding any day.

WD

[C-Kwik]

they still blow... especially on bottom mount. its ok, my manifold was only a few hundo (2). crack the housing welding it? i dont think that would happen. if it cracked on its own then just weld the crack.i dont know. i think welding things like that is very beneficial if you actually track your car and when it blows its not just worse gas mileage on your daily commute. if thats the case then yes its retarded, otherwise i think its excellent.

Cast iron is not so simple to just weld. Generally, cast iron parts are somewhat thick and requires that you heat the entire object to a certain temperature before you weld. And at that, no arc welding, period. Electrical welders produce too much local heat too quickly, causing different expansion rates across the object. The object will typically break when it is cooled down from welding. Even when welded with oxy-acetylene, it still needs to be cooled down slowly over some length of time to prevent cracking.

This can be a real pain if you weld the cast iron turbine housing to a stainless steel manifold. Actually any metal without the same expansion rate would likely present stress issues when up to operating temperature. Stainless steel is a common manifold material and tends to expand quite a bit with heat. Expect cracks if you do something like this.

One should really not be blowing gaskets between the turbo and manifold. If they are, it is likely because the hardware is coming loose. Use appropriate locking hardware or safety wire to prevent it from loosening. Gaskets are much more likely to blow out if the connection loosens. Not sure wqhat kind of gasket is being used by everyone else, but I never had issues with the stainless steel one I used. Even when the nuts werre loosening themselves, the gasket remained in one piece. By contrast, the composite and graphite impregnated gaskets fort the wastegate would blow as soon as the wastegate came loose. That stopped as soon as I started to use safety wire to prevent the bolts from backing out.

[PMan_S13]

Seriously, who responds to a post that is almost 3 years old?

Thanks guys... but I'm on my third car since then

[WDRacing]

Just showin you some love bro

[moulton712]

most of the time we tack weld the bolts on the studs. if needed you can still separate everything easily. works great.