Exhaust leak??? I think

[JuGs]

Ok i havnt posted in a while but I think I have a bad exhaust leak. I cant find it for the life of me either. At idle it sounds fine but under acceleration you can hear it and feel it bog the car down a fair amount. Being that i can hear it under acceleration I want to say its between the down pipe and manifold area but I find nothing. Everything is tight and sealed up from what I had checked. I havnt had a chance to pull everything off yet but what else can cause the slow spool and slight bog?

Before this happend you could hear the turbo spool nice and clean and now when turbo sppol you hear the exhaust leak and no turbo but I am getting boost.



EDIT

One leak i have shouldnt be the issue since its been there since i put the turbo on. I have a external WG off the o2 and the dump tube has only one bolt since its a ebay o2 housing and i couldnt line up all holes with both gaskets in. I ran it that with no issues at all till now. Im positive thats not the leak causing my issue.


I did double check and tighten everything up and still the same. Its only when under boost or acceleration/with a load on the car. just reving it and at idle theres nothing

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Ok i havnt posted in a while but I think I have a bad exhaust leak. I cant find it for the life of me either. At idle it sounds fine but under acceleration you can hear it and feel it bog the car down a fair amount. Being that i can hear it under acceleration I want to say its between the down pipe and manifold area but I find nothing. Everything is tight and sealed up from what I had checked. I havnt had a chance to pull everything off yet but what else can cause the slow spool and slight bog?

Before this happend you could hear the turbo spool nice and clean and now when turbo sppol you hear the exhaust leak and no turbo but I am getting boost.



EDIT

One leak i have shouldnt be the issue since its been there since i put the turbo on. I have a external WG off the o2 and the dump tube has only one bolt since its a ebay o2 housing and i couldnt line up all holes with both gaskets in. I ran it that with no issues at all till now. Im positive thats not the leak causing my issue.


I did double check and tighten everything up and still the same. Its only when under boost or acceleration/with a load on the car. just reving it and at idle theres nothing

Method 1 : Run a bit of Seafoam through the system. This will -certainly- verify if you do have a leak elsewhere and where it is.

Method 2 : Take everything apart. Check the manifold for cracks. Reassemble using new hardware/gaskets and copper spray.

Question 1 : The leak that you are sure isn't the problem, is it before or after your 02 sensor?

 

[Boostdriven]

What waste gate do you have, what boost controllers and how much boost are you running? Depending on what boost controllers u have and how u have it plummed in with the waste gate its possible that your waste gate starts to open a bit early and that's where u hear the exhaust leak being that its an external dump as well as slower spool up.

 

[JuGs]

Method 1 : Run a bit of Seafoam through the system. This will -certainly- verify if you do have a leak elsewhere and where it is.

Method 2 : Take everything apart. Check the manifold for cracks. Reassemble using new hardware/gaskets and copper spray.

Question 1 : The leak that you are sure isn't the problem, is it before or after your 02 sensor?

I didnt think of the seafoam idea yet but will try that. The leak i know isnt it is before the O2. Its a recircilated wg off the O2 housing and leaking right at the bottom of where it dumps back into the O2. Its been that way since i installed it and never has been a issue.

What waste gate do you have, what boost controllers and how much boost are you running? Depending on what boost controllers u have and how u have it plummed in with the waste gate its possible that your waste gate starts to open a bit early and that's where u hear the exhaust leak being that its an external dump as well as slower spool up.

I dout its has to do anything with that. It just randomly started the other day. I have been driving the car fine for about a month with this setup just fine. But Its a ebay wanna be tial WG with a turbo smart mbc and im running about 16lbs of boost. That did cross my mind about the WG being bad/opening to early but if i get on it itll boost but not as strong as it was. If i get a chance Ill tear it apart this weekend.

Ill try and get a video if possible but Ill try the seafoam thing and go from there

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

I didnt think of the seafoam idea yet but will try that. The leak i know isnt it is before the O2. Its a recircilated wg off the O2 housing and leaking right at the bottom of where it dumps back into the O2. Its been that way since i installed it and never has been a issue.

I hate to tell you but that has been an issue since day one. Think of how we preach about boost leaks. Pre-02 Exhaust leaks are just as bad. That front 02 is what meters the AFRs and tells the ECU what adjustments to make. With bad readings you are essentially telling the ECU that you're running lean and it's adding more fuel to compensate. I had the same issue and that was my case. Caused very severe symptoms at an increasing level until I found it.

The leak may have gotten worse or your 02 may be going bad due to the rich conditions it's seeing. The gap may have gotten worse, or you may have a new leak. Either way, the point here is that ANY exhaust leak before the 02 is bad and a problem.

 

[Boostdriven]

Another thing you can try is disconnect your boost controller completely and don't run any boost lines to the waste gate, this will keep the waste gate completely closed. Take it out for a drive and try to build some boost and listen to see if its still has that exhaust leak. Be careful not to over boost it.

 

[JuGs]

Another thing you can try is disconnect your boost controller completely and don't run any boost lines to the waste gate, this will keep the waste gate completely closed. Take it out for a drive and try to build some boost and listen to see if its still has that exhaust leak. Be careful not to over boost it.

Ill give that a shot....wont hurt any and it could tell me all i need.

I hate to tell you but that has been an issue since day one. Think of how we preach about boost leaks. Pre-02 Exhaust leaks are just as bad. That front 02 is what meters the AFRs and tells the ECU what adjustments to make. With bad readings you are essentially telling the ECU that you're running lean and it's adding more fuel to compensate. I had the same issue and that was my case. Caused very severe symptoms at an increasing level until I found it.

The leak may have gotten worse or your 02 may be going bad due to the rich conditions it's seeing. The gap may have gotten worse, or you may have a new leak. Either way, the point here is that ANY exhaust leak before the 02 is bad and a problem.

I see your point yes. It could of getten worst but only way i can fully seal it is to go with no gaskets. If i did that id have to use high temp rtv/sealant. O2 is good it cycles just fine.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Try swapping out with aluminum/metal gaskets coated with copper spray. This has always worked for me as I have terrible luck with Pre-02 leaks in every DSM I've ever owned. Lol.

Either way - The leak is hurting performance and you should take some time to address it. Trust me.

 

[JuGs]

Yewh i been wanting to adress it. yes it should of been address befofe i installed it but it wasnt a concern at that moment. with my busy life i guess u can say its hard to get the car cool enought to work on it. i have to drain coolant n remove radiator to oull it off. its a pretty tight area to work in. im gonna try the wg dissconnected today and see my results. thanks alot for the tips

 

[LiquidX]

I've had luck making gasket sandwiches. Use copper rtv or exhaust cement to join them together and it should work for you.

This is also in regards to the o2 to down pipe gasket.

 

[JuGs]

Well with the WG disconnected its still there. Possible partly stuck open WG? So how do I exactly do the seafoam method? what source is best a TB nipple or the brake booster?

gasket sandwichs sounds like what ima have to do. It wont et done till this weekend since i have work n class all week.

Ok upon more research I believe its my WG. I havnt taken it off yet but I read several threads about the springs getting to hot and weakening. All sounds alot like my issue so Ill be tearing it apart this weekend testing and checking it over.


Funny thing is i always tell people never buy ebay. But the 2 items i had to buy off there are causing my issues. I guess thats what i get for lack of funds and needing my car on the road again....Thanks again for all the tips it was helpful to steer me in the right direction. My minds been so cluttered with other stuff and I could think straight . Ill report back after the weekend

 

[JuGs]

Ok I finaly got to fix the leak. It wasnt the spring but I replaced it any ways. It ended up being the bottom half of the gasket blew out. Now my issue is the spring I put is was a 10lb rating spring. I had my MBC set to 16lbs. I spike to 25 and then poof car falls on its face hard. I dont think a 10lb spring should be doing this. I guess I got a wrong spring or something.

With the spring being stiffer than I wanted as long as i be careful it should still function correctly right? Im worried it might not be opening at all