Resolved FP Race Manifold Cracked

[TSIMonsteR]

Steering away from this manifold is nonsense. I've put over 15k miles on mine. It's seen two winters already and hanging off of it is a 20lb turbo with no bracket support. I DD this car every day going offroading on the city roads, seen every single pothole in the city and it's still holding strong. I have vents in my hood and when it rains, my manifold gets a steam clean. Hell even when I get impatient to work near the manifold after cool down, I take a bucket of water and drown it. It refuses to die. Now that's quality.

Agreed, I was rather surprised. I suspect just something either unique to my setup or a manufacturing flaw caused it to crack. My fiance maybe getting a DSM... and it will have an FP Manifold when/if she does! I love the way it makes the car sound/feel.

 

[gieri002]

WOW!!! That is GOOD QUALITY, I think Ill order my FP manifold tonight!

 

[TSIMonsteR]

It will probably burn off pretty quick. A decent welder can weld the crack with no problems. I welded my cracked 2g manifold 2 years ago and it was still holding great when I took it off today. Nickel rods and preheat/postheat.

Since it isn't large, I may go that route. I still haven't taken it off yet to thoroughly expect but pan to do so Saturday.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Agreed, anyone who lets one or two instances of a bad product deter them from purchasing is crazy. FP's customer service has proven yet again how awesome they are, that in itself should warrant loyalty! Their products are probably one of, if not the most, reliable and reputable around.

Makes me want to go check my manifold, though She's been hiding under my blingified JM heatshield for a year now.

 

[My1GLaser]

Makes me want to go check my manifold, though She's been hiding under my blingified JM heatshield for a year now.

I read your thread on installing the DNP mani and saw your update about getting the FP race mani instead. How do you like it compared to the tubular as far as performance? I am sure the cast holds the heat in better, but what about spool characteristics and top end performance.

How much was that JM heatshield? I sprayed my FP mani with VHT paint, but we'll see how good it looks in a month.

 

[TSIMonsteR]

I just sold my JMFab HS for $70, so you can find good deals if you are willing to go used. It was just a little too "bling" for me, but performed great. When I took it off is how I actually found the crack. There was a large black spot on its underside so I checked the manifold and found the crack and stupidly verified that it was leaking by putting my finger near the crack and revving it up. After 1 quick rev and 1 burnt finger later, the crack was confirmed leaking, . (sometimes my idiocy amazes me, hindsight is certainly 20/20)

I just snapped some pictures to send over to FP. Apparently I have had my manifold just over a year now so we'll see if they're able to help me at all. If not, I'm wondering how much its going to cost to weld this up.

 

[pboglio]

Guys, put the downpipe support bracket back on. The factory might have actually been on to something when they designed it. Knock on wood I don't have any problems though I have less than 5k mile on mine.

 

[ElectronVTEC]

Dumb question but is that bracket only applicable to 7 bolt motors? I have a 6 bolt in my '94, would that bracket fit?

 

[Jafro]

Guys, put the downpipe support bracket back on. The factory might have actually been on to something when they designed it. Knock on wood I don't have any problems though I have less than 5k mile on mine.

^^ Is a wise bit of advice. Having encountered this on my car as well as others, I can explain it.

Nothing else holds up the whole weight of the exhaust except for a bunch of wobbly rubber hangers. Since the exhaust is the length of the car and heavy as hell, gravity and inertia affect it under acceleration, braking and turns. The turbo is bolted on like a fulcrum in a near-90° angle 2 feet higher up than the bend in the downpipe, and the exhaust works like a huge pry bar against it. Also, the motor torques and moves around on the front and rear motor mounts, so there's always stress on everything bolted up between the exhaust and the head. If you don't have the bracket, your "flex section" isn't doing anything to relieve pressure on your exhaust parts.

Your oil drain tube also gets wiggled around and cars without the bracket are usually caked with oil. You will rarely remove it without snapping at least one of those stretched bolts. It's held on with aluminum bolts.

Now with the facts out of the way, I have an opinion if it's worth anything to anyone. It's extremely cheap insurance even if it's never been a problem for you. It will become a problem sooner without it – than it would with it... so make sure it's there. Let your flex section do what it's supposed to do. I don't care if I break the flex section because that would do nothing but improve my performance... but my turbo, o2 housing and manifold... I care about those. Exhaust leaks suck when they happen there, from both a price and performance standpoint.

ElectronV... PM me your VIN and I'll look up to see if the part's different. My assumption is it's the same since everything else is interchangeable between 6-bolts and 7-bolts, but we all know what assumption is.

 

[Jafro]

Thx for the PM. Made it easier to verify that they're all the same. I dug through the '90's as well, and it's also the same. So the following part numbers is what's needed for all 89-99 4g63-T's.

1. is the bolts that hold it to the block.
2. is the bracket.
3. is the bolt that holds the exhuast to the bracket.

...about aftermarket downpipes... My Apex'i N1 3" downpipe had the tab on it and it lined up perfectly with the bracket and everything else on the car. Best fitting pipes I've ever seen. I would imagine most major brands also have them, look carefully. It would be behind the flange obscured by everything.

If aftermarket pipes came without it, just a simple square tab of 3/16" steel with a 7/16" (11mm) bolt hole in it welded onto the pipe is sufficient. After the bracket's on the block with your exhaust bolted up, just place the tab against the pipe and the bracket and that's where it goes. Start with a 2" piece so you can cut it down to the bolt center, but leave plenty of contact surface where it attaches to the pipe. Any exhaust shop should be able to add it in a few minutes for cheap. Free if you can find a gearhead with at least a flux-core welder. MIG/TIG if you want it pretty.

 

[TSIMonsteR]

My car didn't come with one and nor had I heard of it. If I can locate one, I'll put it on,

 

[TSIMonsteR]

I just snapped some pictures to send over to FP. Apparently I have had my manifold just over a year now so we'll see if they're able to help me at all. If not, I'm wondering how much its going to cost to weld this up.

The car was actually in a wreck recently (other guys fault) and has been in the body shop for a while and I was just recently able to get my manifold off.

There are a couple of hairline cracks in the collector and this one on the outside here that I believe matches one of the ones on the inside.

I am going to email FP again, hopefully they'll still be able to do something for me.

The only pic I have is from a cell phone, sorry . The crack in this picture extends up the 1st runner a bit.

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

Interesting thread guys. Mine developed a crack that I noticed wideband fluctuations almost right away so I found it before the crack got too big.

Does this look like a structural crack?

I'm pretty sure FP has it handled though... I must say that Aniel was VERY HELPFUL in getting me another manifold shipped out right away. I will be returning the cracked one back to them for assessment.

 

[TurboDSM90]

Interesting thread guys. Mine developed a crack that I noticed wideband fluctuations almost right away so I found it before the crack got too big.

Does this look like a structural crack?

I'm pretty sure FP has it handled though... I must say that Aniel was VERY HELPFUL in getting me another manifold shipped out right away. I will be returning the cracked one back to them for assessment.

So when are you getting the new one so we can tweak your map some more? CMI is march 7th Eben, you want a timeslip still right??

I should have my car running real soon here

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

So when are you getting the new one so we can tweak your map some more? CMI is march 7th Eben, you want a timeslip still right??

I should have my car running real soon here

NICE! -Glad to hear it man! I can't wait to see what a 40R does to an AT car! I'm still down but I thought CMI was the 3rd week of March! I guess I'd better get busy then The replacement manifold will be here today so that will be taken care of.

I have a bunch of logs captured in v3 so I might just drop in the v3 chip & set the AEM WB for 0-5v today as well... I'll hit you up then.

 

[stroked_AWD]

My Fp is still in mint condition it had to be a fluke or something fp makes some of the best stuff out there.

 

[TSIMonsteR]

I ended up having to get mine fixed at a local machine shop. FP responded to the original email, but the car was in a wreck and got stuck in the body shop for a month, after that, I couldn't get my phone calls or emails returned.

only cost me like... $15 to get fixed though. Would've been more to ship it to FP... still kinda bummed about though... and a little bitter, I must say, bet meh.

 

[jakelandry]

Just as a warning. I advise against wrapping your fp manifold with header wrap. I just pulled my wrap off to find that my fp manifold has 4 cracks, 2 of which run 3/4 the way around the runner they reside on. I apologize for bringing a resolved thread back but I feel this is the appropriate thread to post in.