exhaust manifold gasket problems

[400whptsi]

i was wondering about the exhaust manifold gasket. i have been posting threads about boost creep i finally found my last leak its leaking from the front by the manifold turbo area. i cany pin point an exact place though. ive pressurize the system to 20psi and spray soapy water all around the area and not getting anything. my guess its maybe the bottom of the exhaust manifold gasket because thats the only place i cant get the soapy water. i replaced the gasket 1000mi ago when i rebuilt and modded the engine. i guess the question i am asking is is it commom on these cars for it to blow out that quick? and from the info i provided do you guys agree that that is the problem? you guys have been very helpful so i hope you can help me with this. thanks

 

[arodgst]

I just had the same problem and it turned out that the manifold to turbo bolt was loose and I replaced the gasket and tightened it back up and now no leak. And the only way I could tell I had a blown gasket was by taking off the turbo to manifold.

 

[BoredDSM]

I am a little confused. You sprayed soapy water on your exhaust manifold? and how did you pressurize it? Easy way to tell if your exhaust manifold is leaking is if you have soot in the leaky areas and also if your o2 readings are skewed because of the mixing air. Its common for the bottom of the manifold to leak because most people cant get a torque wrench under there to torque the entire manifold down evenly.

 

[400whptsi]

i built a booost leak tester out of rubber tube and pvc and a valve stem and put the air compressor on it. and i put the soapy water around the head where the maniford bolts up and i m not getting bubbles i cant get water on the bottom of it.

 

[jay-red]

are you sure your manifold isnt cracked? when i took off mine to replace it not only was it cracked on the top, but underneath where you couldnt see without taking it off.

 

[debbie]

I saw a guy on the tv use a peace of paper.
What the guy did was he went round the manifold with a piece of paper, and if there was a leak the paper would flap round as the exhaust gasses hit it.
I'm thinking that you might beable to poke abit paper in there and see.

Hope this makes sense

 

[400whptsi]

thanks ill try thr paper trick and if that doesnt work ill take it all apart thanks again for all the input

 

[turbophein]

i built a booost leak tester out of rubber tube and pvc and a valve stem and put the air compressor on it. and i put the soapy water around the head where the maniford bolts up and i m not getting bubbles i cant get water on the bottom of it.

a boost tester will only pressurize your intake side, not the exhaust side...