Exhaust leak???? coming from Turbo area...ideas welcomed

[Nismo_180sx]

Hello all.....

Well I one day started getting this sound that sounded like my exhaust had a hole in it. The 240 sounds like a weedeater. I got the car up on a lift and searched through the exhaust and no holes to be found and no hot air coming from exhaust connections where the gaskets are. It sounds like its coming from around the turbo area. Is this a common thing or what. I'm not sure if its the O2 housing/dump pipe/downpipe gasket on the exhaust turbine or if it is the turbo its self. I dont believe its the exhaust manifold gasket. Maybe the gasket between the turbo and exhaust manifold. Also my boost gauge stays steady at 0psi at idle and throttle no blue smoke and my HKS BOV blows off still. Any Ideas or personal experiences with this kind of problem?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks......Jeremy

[sr20detmaybe]

this just happened to me anbout 2 weeks ago, when mine had an exhaust leak like this, it turned out to be the gasket between the turbo and the exhaust manifold, somehow the nuts had backed off and the turbo came loose from the manifold and the metal gasket in there had blown also. its not to bad to fix it though. This was the first time taking my turbo off and it took me a total of like 3-4 hours, damn those hard coolant and oil lines, heheh.

[ILikeMy240sx]

this just happened to me anbout 2 weeks ago, when mine had an exhaust leak like this, it turned out to be the gasket between the turbo and the exhaust manifold, somehow the nuts had backed off and the turbo came loose from the manifold and the metal gasket in there had blown also. its not to bad to fix it though. This was the first time taking my turbo off and it took me a total of like 3-4 hours, damn those hard coolant and oil lines, heheh.

ding ding ding!!

those turbo nuts come off fairly easy. check that. Also your o2 housing to turbo connection.

[Nismo_180sx]

Thanks for the information.......

I will deffinately check those spots out and get back to ya'll.

Thanks again......Jeremy

[ser2102]

that happened to me too, luckily i caught it before i started driving the car. be prepared for a long day of swearing and frustration haha. those bolts are such a PITA

[Nismo_180sx]

Thanks for the heads up........

But I think if I can swap turbos on a Z32 300zx TwinTurbo I can change out the turbo on anything LOL. Now that is a nightmare......Engine pull is a must.

Thanks..........Jeremy

[Nismo_180sx]

Ok.....

I went and checked it out. I noticed that on the O2 housing where it bolts up to the turbo, loking at it from the front the left stud/bolt is missing. Can anyone tell me if there is supposed to be a bolt there or a stud. Thats more than likely where my leak is coming from....God I hope so.

Thanks,

Jeremy

[ser2102]

im not sure if its a bolt or a stud cause there are both studs and bolts in those locations, im sure you can just put a bolt in there and call it good, if its too long then just cut it a little shorter with a grinder. hope you get it to work! maybe you should get a new gasket and some high temp thread locker if you can find it.

[Nismo_180sx]

yes deffinately. Either way I think I'm going to just replace all the turbo gaskets and the exhaust manifold gasket. While I have the exhaust manifold off I think I mite take the dremel or a grinder to it and port it out a little and get rid of the AIV and EGT.

Thanks....

Jeremy

[Eli]

It must be the turbo to exhaust manifold. Do whatever you can to keep those bolts on cause if you dont you will be pulling off your exhuast mani and turbo including everyting around it constantly.

This usually happens because you don't have all the proper mounting points for the whole exhaust system bolted on. AKA your exhaust system's weight is almost completely supported by your turbo, thus pulling it down.

Things that could preven this problem from occurring is have a downpipe with a flex section or fabricate more mounts for your exhaust system.

[Nismo_180sx]

Yeah, that sounds about right....makes sense. I would love to get a downpipe with a flex or get a flex pipe welded on. Also that would deffinately help if I decide to get a stainless manifold and help with cracking prevention. I had flexes welded onto my 300zx's testpipes for that same reason cause all the flex and weight is on the turbos. After spending $2,000 on some turbos you deffinately want to take care of them!

Thanks for the tip man....

Jeremy