ThermoSteel anyone used it?

[Blaze2gDSM]

This product is made by cargo (cargobluemagic.com) and is called ThermoSteel. It says it is a high temp metal repair kit that is supposed to make cold welds that are good up to 2400F/1316c. I have looked around the net and have seen a few people who have used it on exhaust manifolds and other such parts. I have a 14b exhaust housing that I was looking to repair and I was thinking about trying this product. The MSDS is readily available on the site and says it is completely unflammable, withstands direct flame and has a melting point of 1316c. Has anyone tried this product? Can anyone verify that this product either could work or has worked for them? The reason I am thinking of this product is all the problems associated with hot welding the housings that I've heard about. I'm either gonna try this product or I'm looking at a tdo5 housing on ebay the 7cm2 one that is usually on there. Any help/comments are appreciated guys and if nobody has used it I guess I will have to be the guinea pig and let you know.

 

[OneBad2L]

I used Thermosteel on my atv to patch a crack in the muffler. It's been a bit over a year now and it's still sealed and holding well. If I remember right though at first it has the consistency of 5/30 motor oil which made it a pain to work with. For an 8th inch crack or larger you'll need to use a metal screen beneath or it will drip right through.

The temp range shouldn't be close to an issue for our manifolds or turbine housings but that's just a guess..

 

[Blaze2gDSM]

This stuff is definately thicker than motor oil and gets mixed together in the jar. I have already bought it and read all the instructions I was just seeing if anyone else had tried it. Thanks for the heads up though. It seems like no one has ever tried this on an exhaust housing and I'm honestly thinking its going to be perfect. These arent wide cracks at all just the typical wastegate cracks and a pretty mean crack I can see looking into the intake side of the housing. It seems like someone would have at least tried this with the cost of exhaust housings.

 

[ToughTalon]

For future reference; I have MIG welded several exhaust manifolds for EGT probes and several exhaust housings for adding external wastegate dumps and fixing cracks. All without a single problem after repeated use and several years of abuse. I used a standard Lincoln 'Pro-MIG 135' model with a 75%argon 25% CO2 mix....

 

[SrKegler]

Sounds interesting, where do you buy it. I have a downpipe that's cracked, will give it a try.

 

[Blaze2gDSM]

If you are talking about the thermosteel its 8 bucks for a 3oz jar at autozone.

 

[Rob10_99]

The "melting" point may be 2400F, but I'm sure it's not very hard at 1500F. I'm thinking peanut butter at 2kF

 

[Blaze2gDSM]

Well the problem with welding the turbine/exhaust housing is the fact that I've always been told that the best way to weld cast would be small beads following by peening the weld and allowing everything to stay very cool between welds. This has been said to be the best way to weld cast by multiple peopleI have talked to. The problem with this is that its impossible in such a small confined area. Plus with welding I would have to have a professional do it, most wouldn't want to and others would probably just make it worse. Plus with the cost of welding it I might as well just buy the housing off of eaby.

 

[Rob10_99]

For future reference; I have MIG welded several exhaust manifolds for EGT probes and several exhaust housings for adding external wastegate dumps and fixing cracks. All without a single problem after repeated use and several years of abuse. I used a standard Lincoln 'Pro-MIG 135' model with a 75%argon 25% CO2 mix....

Mig works fine for most exhaust manifolds. I would say Mig it. Just make sure your welding surface is rust free and oil free.

 

[Blaze2gDSM]

The bottle actually says it gets stronger with heat, the msds does not verify this but it makes me wonder if its a viable solution

This is not the exhaust manifold we are talking about though. We are talking about the exhaust housing.

 

[Defiant]

Sure. Why should glue have a problem on a turbo exhaust?

 

[knochgoon24]

That stuff baked right off my exhaust manifold.

 

[Rob10_99]

Aww defiant did you just make that!

 

[Defiant]

Yeah. Five years ago.

 

[My1GLaser]

You weld cast with high nickel content rods (or wire). Preheat it to 350-500*F. I can't remember what the interpass temp is, but you have to keep it NOT cool during welding. Then you put it in an oven at 300* for about 30 min, and let it cool very slowly over about an hour. Like put it in the sand or in a metal bucket with a piece of steel over it. If you don't keep the heat high enough then the weld will weaken and crack before it even cools down.

Mine had a huge crack in it and held for over a year after I welded it. So did my 2g mani that was all cracked to hell.

 

[And_44]

I have a tubular exhaust manifold on my 1990 Talon TSi. Well not sure how old it is was on there when I purchased car and had the crack on it then as well. I was thinking about buying a new manifold but thought I would give this a shoot for about 7 bucks was a good investment. The tube runner from #1 Cylinder weld was cracking at the base at the collector area and emmiting a very annoying putting noise. So I applied Thermosteel around the whole base and while letting it dry I removed my unneeded emission vacuum lines. A little over 3 hours later I came out and the stuff had cured pretty well on outside so started up the beast and took it for a slow drive to heat up the interior to let it dry faster. Took it down street parked it and took a peak at the stuff, it went from the really dark grey almost black stuff when I put it on to a light grey/white substance about as hard as cement with a foamy texture. Also my exhaust manifold is no longer putting. And I've noticed a HUGE differnce in my boost. Instead of the gas's getting out at crack which was pretty noticable at idle. They now flow through the turbo like they should. I'm very impressed but time will tell how long this fix will last. Now the lifter tick is noticable;( I do plan on porting a 2g manifold or just investing in a Evo or FP manifold soon, but not right now $ is an issue. Also removing the vacuum lines from the emissions smoothed out my Idle ALOT. It wouldn't jump rpms or anything but the tone would change at idle in a up and down pattern steadily. Now to build or buy a MBC for that missing Wastegate solenoid. Owner b4 had a MBC and removed solenoid;( Left me with neither. But still at 8psi car still pulls like a raped ape. Thermosteel gets 2 thumbs up in my book.