Turbo Manifold Stud Issues On Track Days Help!

[LAGWAGON]

Hey all,

I have had a constant issue that i am sick to death of with the nuts that hold the turbo to the manifold rattling loose on track days. I have an SR20det in my datsun 1600 and initially thought the problem was due to the low mount manifold. I painstakingly made a new topmount manifold thinking that gravity would fix the problem but alas it hasn't. the nuts wind their way up the studs resulting in the car sounding like a truck due to the exhaust leak.

i've pulled the turbo off and pulled the studs out. has anyone else experienced this?

i also noticed that the merge collector area of the manifold has been very hot and had some flaking on the outside. not sure of this is common either.

any help would be appreciated

[giant]

hi mate

it is probably the studs stretching we had the same thing happening once.

you need to by inconel studs or good oem ones, then use locks tabs too , no more problem!

hope this helps

[Victory]

I had to replace my exhaust manifold studs at only 100k because two of the had simply broken off and I do not even drive that hard.

A track day would create enough heat to expand the studs to the point where the nuts could come loose. OEM exhaust studs are known for their inability to cope with the heat and it is common to have to replace them. As "giant" has suggested the use of lock tabs would also help and provide that extra level of security.

[LAGWAGON]

Ok, well i've ordered some oem studs and locking tabs from nissan, and have bought some nifty little locking nuts that are slightly crimped at one end.

I was going to buy stainless studs, are the oem ones better? Are the oem studs inconel?

also would this recurring problem have anything to do with how the exhaust is hung? it has a hanger in the middle and at the end of the system. i just want to totally eliminate this happening again!

[Ant97GTR]

+1 for inconel studs....not sure if the OEM ones are (I'd suggest not).

I had the same problem with my GTR...did a few track days and the exhaust studs stretched due to heat. Replaced them with inconel ones and not a problem since....cost a few $$ though.

[LAGWAGON]

+1 for inconel studs....not sure if the OEM ones are (I'd suggest not).

I had the same problem with my GTR...did a few track days and the exhaust studs stretched due to heat. Replaced them with inconel ones and not a problem since....cost a few $$ though.

oh ok, where can i get the inconel studs from? any engineering type shops? how much is a few $...

[Duncan]

nissan had the same problem too. thats why they put the locking plates on.

[Roy]

Stainless bolts and nuts are nto that great. Really stainless isnt that great a material, especially since they grow a lot with heat and they are nto all that strong in tensile strength.

Yeh, OEM or inconel

[LAGWAGON]

cool, well got the oem studs and locking plates plus the locking nuts. I'm just going to have to see how it goes at calder, fingers crossed!

thanks everyone for their help!