Todays experience

[98240]

Well this morning I started the car up and I noticed that my car wasnt boosting correctly(boost leak). So I pull over and fix the problem in the parking lot. I went to class, when i got out of class I started the car and noticed the car was a bit louder then usual. On my way home I notice that the car now seems to sound like it has no headers on it at all. It got louder as I progressed down the road. Well I park the car in the garage and notice that there is a spark(blue flash coming from under the turbo near the wastegate). I dont know what this is and I cant work on the car since it is to dark out and the light in the garage sucks. I am wondering what could be wrong with it. I hope it is the ssac manifold or the downpipe that cracked and nothing else. What do you guys think it could be other then a cracked manifold. What could be the worst thing? Anybody ever have a similiar or same problem? I am trying to get ideas for stuff to look for tommorow when I tear the car apart so I can get right to fixing it. Thanks for the help.

[NateDogg]

Sounds like your spark plug wires are grounding onto the turbo. try to separate the wires from the turbo at least an inch until you can afford some good plug wires like NGK or Aurora or Magnecor.

[24DSXY1]

How could the spark plug wires cause the motor to sound like a manifold with a hole in it?

You must have been bit by the SSAC virus.

[DammitBobby]

I agree it is probably a cracked manifold or loose downpipe, wastegate or turbo.

[98240]

it ended up being the wastegate. One of the bolts came loose and the other one was about to fall out luckily it didnt fall out while I was driving yesterday. Well I am going to go get some locktite and put that junk back on. Thanks for the replies and help.

[C-Kwik]

Loctite won't work. It will burn off at the heat the wastegate sees. A mechanical locking system will be the best and probably only real solution. Options include Stage 8 bolt hardware or a safety wire system.

zerothread?id=135390

[hek1620]

this is a regular occurance with my kae-t!

[98240]

thanks, I will have to this this when I get the revhard mani I just bought

[Florida240sx]

Tried loctite...gasket maker...now using electrical tape...

[DammitBobby]

I am wondering if these will work any better??

http://www.atpturbo.com/Mercha...e=FST

[Chezedik]

What about just a toothed washer?

[CleanSfourteen]

How could the spark plug wires cause the motor to sound like a manifold with a hole in it?

You must have been bit by the SSAC virus.

Actually, solid core spark wires do have a funny habit of grounding to paths of low resistance, such as an exhaust system. Alot of eltro-magnetic interference is produced by a coil that is putting out 15,000-45,000volts of electricty.

[RyanAwesome]

hmmmm i know those hold pretty good. they are made oblong so it holds. porsche uses them all over the place in their cars.

[C-Kwik]

I wonder if being copper is an issue or not. Would the heat cause the locking portion to work itself out? Similar designs of harder metals defintely work. I'm just not sure about those.

[C-Kwik]

What about just a toothed washer?

I've tried serrated with poor results. I would speculate toothed ones would not fare any better.

[RyanAwesome]

I wonder if being copper is an issue or not. Would the heat cause the locking portion to work itself out? Similar designs of harder metals defintely work. I'm just not sure about those.

i would try to find the steel ones if you could. i was only speaking of the design of the nut, not necessarily the material it was made of.

[lrb_2000]

lock washer? works for me.