Exhaust Manifold & Ex Gasket Issues

[Mr_G]

Hey guys,

Recently after completeing my first track day on my 130,000km r33, i blew the gasket between the turbo and the exhaust manifold. Car runs standard turbo, 200rwkw with fmic, 12psi of boost, and turbo back exhaust + exh cam gear, PFC

The car now makes a tractor like sound, but still goes very strong, but boost seems a little laggier & car is a way lot louder. I do have a new gasket to go on, but got my mechanic to also have a once over of the area.

What he noticed was that their was a stud head missing from one of the exhaust manifold bolts that hold it onto the block. Taking a closer look, it looks like the head of the bolt fell off, and the thread is still in there attathced to the manifold/head...

From having a quick geeze around, it looks like the gasket around that area between the block and manifold is starting to frey apart.

Question is:

Should I just replace my turbo to manifold gasket & not worry about the exh manifold gasket to block, or should I replace both gaskets,and get the rest of the screw thread out of the head, aswell as replacing all the studs that run from the manifold to the head?

From what I heard, its very hard to use "Easy out" on the broken stud, as alot of the "Easy outs" mainly fall apart, hence, having to take the head off, and getting the stud taken out..

So whats my best option here guys?

Has anyone had this happen before, and if so, whats the cost involved if I have the exhaust manifold taken off and replaced with a gasket? (Just trying to gauge some pricing)

Any info, help, tips would be most worthwhile

[Beer Baron]

definately do both gaskets mate. particuarly if you have one nut missing. you realise that they are studs that the manifold sits on so it's possible that just the nut has fallen off and the stud is still there? you should probably replace the studs too.

this will certainly not get an better over time, bite the bullet and do them now.

[grim32]

totally agree, i did all mine and it didnt cost much. at least there is no fear of snapping a stud next time the manifold comes off. you can get the new studs from your local exhaust shop.

[Mr_G]

grim32, did you do yours urself or did you get a shop to do it?? If you got a shop, how much did it cost? Did you have any broken studs in the head?

At the moment, it looks like ill be doing both of them, but not till I finish up uni exams (3 weeks)...

Yeah, its just the stud that is stuck in there I believe, so hopefully can get it out...

[wrxhoon]

Take the manifold out and you may find that the stud ( not number 6 i hope ) sticks out and you can grab it with multigrips . If broken at the head level drill the centre and use an easyout , you should be able to get it out , i have done it before , its common on the rb25 engines .

Usualy number one or number 6 will snap , when you put the new ones on make sure you do them up with a torque rench .

Either way it has to came out you can leave it like that .

[Mr_G]

wrxhoon:

Its number 6 unfortunately (closest to the firewall)... Definately will have to use easyout to get it out, as there is no way you can get multigrips to remove it...

Well once taken out and replaced with new ones, probably wont ever need to change the gasket again (only plan on having the car till I finish uni)

Also replacing the turbo to exh manifold gasket, as thats the one with the biggest leak at the moment (sounds like tractor)

[wrxhoon]

That makes it a bit hard but still doable on the car , after drilling it heating it up to 100 degrees will help .

Dont be surpriced to find the manifold bend and not fitting when you try to put it back , you may have to drill the first and last holes a little to make it easier to fit . Make sure its not cracked , as they are known to crac as well , they are so long.

[Mr_G]

Jerry, ive kicked in the stick cause i want my car fixed asap and dont really have the time to do the job for another 3 weeks (uni exams), so will be sending car off to get work done to it on Monday (Greg @ Autosport Kirrawee, just down from Chris @ sspi)

He quoted me roughly $500 in labour... I was prepared for 800 worth of labour, oh weel, its good enough for me if he can do it, plus I dont really wanna stuff it up as it sounds very tedious

[grim32]

grim32, did you do yours urself or did you get a shop to do it?? If you got a shop, how much did it cost? Did you have any broken studs in the head?

At the moment, it looks like ill be doing both of them, but not till I finish up uni exams (3 weeks)...

Yeah, its just the stud that is stuck in there I believe, so hopefully can get it out...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i paid about $70 for all the studs,washers and nuts. had to get a guy out from threadweld to remove 2 broken studs, i tried to get em out with an easy out but they wouldnt budge, think he charged me $100, cause i made a bit of a mess with them and he removed all the other studs for me while he was there. putting the new ones in was easy, just locked 2 nuts on the stud and screwed them in. the guys number is 0418246531, if you need him. hope this helps you out.

[Abo Bob]

I hate to disagree with people I like but f**k that's a lot of money to fix something that's not really broken.

My girlfriends R31 has 4 broken studs in the same style as you have explained. It's a very common thing in Nissan engines. I haven't bothered replacing the studs that are broken because there is no exhaust leak. It's been like that for at least a year. Prior to that it had 2 missing with the stock exhaust manifold but I discovered the problem when putting some extractors on. I broke another 2 then and the car is fine.

Please do replace the turbo to manifold gasket. I did this at a track day on my R34 and that is necessary because the thing is leaking.

I suggest you save your money until (or for if) the manifold leaks and I bet it doesn't because it has a nice seal already. I just removed the exhaust manifold from my R34 a couple of hours ago and even with every nut and bolt removed it required some real effort to separate it from the head.

[grim32]

yeah i respect your opinion and somewhat agree, but in my case i had to take the manifold off anyway. so while it was off i wanted to fix any potential problems that i saw while i had the oppitunity. yeah sure i spent a few bucks, but on the other hand it doesnt leak. if i didnt change the studs would it have leaked, well maybe not but i didnt want to chance it. plus i hate working on that side of the engine bay, the turbo requires a 3/4 spacer to accept the t4 compressor,very tight fit. thanks.

[Edge]

If you take an item off you should put a new gasket on every time!

[Edge]

If you take an item off you should put a new gasket on every time!