Glowing red. [Merged 1-7] Exhaust, turbo, glow, hot

[Goblin]

I know that if you drive a TSI hard and pull over and look at the turbo at night it will be glowing red and that is normal.

but...

If you are driving a TSI grandma style and pull over and look under the hood DURING THE DAY and the turbo is glowing red is that a bad thing?

If so what possibly could be wrong with it?

 

[oVaBoost]

(Should have added .. and thx ..) At least, do an engine management attachment and shove in 550's and larger injectors to work with those larger cams...and that "Wally 255...."

Having good oil pressure and no overheating is good to have ... just the exhaust temp is extremely high due to a very lean A/F mixture - just need to 'rich' things up some to get you were you belong.

Someone on here can help you get the proper setup that you need due to your larger cams so you can get that A/F ratio close to the 14.7:1 ratio for best performance and effective power.

I can't offer the help since I'm bone stock and have no interest (thus, no knowledge) in any forms of mods being .. esp where I'm planning on restoring my Laser and want to keep it in stock form being that I'm an early 1989 build.

Good luck as always - DSM

would 550s and afc work or could i do 550s and a 2g maf and no afc?

 

[NHerron]

i dont not have a wideband the manifold only glows at highway speeds 50-55+mph at 2600-2700 rpm automatic and dont get into boost

Manifold only glows coasting at highway speeds right, so that means closed loop operation. Closed loop operation can't run lean unless the o2 sensor is bad in an unusual way. Failing 02 sensors usually make things very rich as they go bad, kind of a convienet safety feature. Maybe it's bad making things rich and the rich mixture is burning off in the manifold, I'm not sure.

Are you using oil?

 

[talon2gbuyer]

if your gonna do it then start with 550's and either link or an afc as a last resort. Link is ideal though.

 

[oVaBoost]

Manifold only glows coasting at highway speeds right, so that means closed loop operation. Closed loop operation can't run lean unless the o2 sensor is bad in an unusual way. Failing 02 sensors usually make things very rich as they go bad, kind of a convienet safety feature. Maybe it's bad making things rich and the rich mixture is burning off in the manifold, I'm not sure.

Are you using oil?

valve stem seals do leak a bit of oil into the exhaust and only glows red when on highway driven normal the middle of the manifold and turbine housing but not intown driving i can do a hard pull and go home after that and wont glow at all

 

[NHerron]

I bought this car using lots of oil, leakdown results were 20-30%, cylinders were completly shot. Anyway the engine took about a quart every 100 miles and I ASSUMED that was why my manifold was glowing after a while.

 

[DSM1G90]

Using that much oil ... must have left a smoke screen behind you.

 

[oVaBoost]

I bought this car using lots of oil, leakdown results were 20-30%, cylinders were completly shot. Anyway the engine took about a quart every 100 miles and I ASSUMED that was why my manifold was glowing after a while.

yeah i dont think low compression causes manifold to glow it would smoke real bad im thinking my issue is more on a lean side for my mods to much air and not enough fuel im going to throw 550s in and a afc see if it helps im kinda tight on cash for dsmlink at the moment and for larger injectors

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Everything on my car is in normal working order, (good compression, no leaks, no burning fluids, 186-190 coolant temps) and my manifold always glows at night after going 70+ mph for a while.

I think that's pretty much standard operating procedure. The only time you would see this is if you hop out of the car at a thruway rest area, and pop the hood. My advise would be to let the car idle for about 5 minutes before shutting it off. That always makes my glowing fade out.

 

[oVaBoost]

Everything on my car is in normal working order, (good compression, no leaks, no burning fluids, 186-190 coolant temps) and my manifold always glows at night after going 70+ mph for a while.

I think that's pretty much standard operating procedure. The only time you would see this is if you hop out of the car at a thruway rest area, and pop the hood. My advise would be to let the car idle for about 5 minutes before shutting it off. That always makes my glowing fade out.

so pretty much your saying it could be normal like i could drive around town all nite do some hard pulls and manilfold wont be red at all or drive around town for hours and will look fine

 

[NHerron]

I was referring to the cylinder walls being trashed and oil was not being scraped off the walls, therefore being burnt in large amounts. Oil added to the mixture would make things rich so it might be burning off in the manifold

It could be normal, I guess I never noticed though

 

[sparky028]

I just put a new big 16g turbo, tubular heat wrapped manifold, 255 walbro, FPR @ 40psi.
On the way to a car show my dad was behind me. when I was in the line up to get inside I smelt alittle burning and seen smoke. I pulled the car off to the side and opened the hood, the manifold was bright red through the cracks of the heat wrap. The car has 3" no cat and stock injectors right now with stock tune.
Also my dads windshield was covered with clear dots from my car while he was driving behind me on the way. My mechanic was playing with the throttle body etc. could the car be running very rich even with the FPR at stock pressure. I have link and new injector but have yet to install. Thanks for the help

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

I just put a new big 16g turbo, tubular heat wrapped manifold, 255 walbro, FPR @ 40psi.
On the way to a car show my dad was behind me. when I was in the line up to get inside I smelt alittle burning and seen smoke. I pulled the car off to the side and opened the hood, the manifold was bright red through the cracks of the heat wrap. The car has 3" no cat and stock injectors right now with stock tune.
Also my dads windshield was covered with clear dots from my car while he was driving behind me on the way. My mechanic was playing with the throttle body etc. could the car be running very rich even with the FPR at stock pressure. I have link and new injector but have yet to install. Thanks for the help

A big 16g with stock injectors and a stock tune tells me it's running lean. Lean = hot and I bet that's why your manifold is glowing red-hot.

 

[legacy22]

Hey guys, new to this forum and dsm's. Bought a 1991 Talon TSI AWD from a buddy for 500 bones. Hadn't been running for about 5 years. Well I got it running and after tons of research discovered that the Forge BOV (Part #FMDVECL102) wasn't hooked up to recirculate. Thus resulting in stalling and sputtering when cruising. Also burned through a 1/4 tank of gas driving 40 miles. So I drilled a hole in my FI intake pipe between the MAF and the turbo and threaded in a piece of pvc ran a hose from the bov to the intake. It ran good no sputtering or stalling but my guess is it was super lean cause when I got home from my 1/2 mile test drive the header was glowing red hot and also it didn't appear to really be boosting during my drive. My aftermarket gauge read 10psi but felt like no boost. I've searched and haven't really been able to find a similar circumstance. I since hooked up my A/F gauge and it was reading lean at idle and would cycle as I give it gas. Also I routed my vacuum lines via voodoo diagram. Hopefully I didn't break any of the forum rules as its late and don't have time at the moment to read through them all as I have to get up for work in 5 hrs. Any ideas or help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

Also as far as fuel delivery I have a treperformance 255lph fuel pump. Upgraded fuel rail, 450cc injectors. I noticed there'd no fuel pressure solenoid just vacuum from the intake to the FPR.

 

[91-GS]

Welcome to the forums!
What A/F gauge do you have, narrowband or wideband? Get a wideband so you know exactly how lean it's running and can adjust accordingly.
Also go ahead and change the fuel filter and the "sock" (strainer) on the fuel pump. If the car has not been running for so long, chances are some trash got into the system and clogged up the filters.

Was she building boost before the mod (and releasing it as BOV opened), and how much?

 

[ShadowTalon]

BLT. Probably have a boost leak somewhere causing the turbo to overwork itself. What did you do to get it running? Are using a real wideband or some crappy A/F gauge that came with the car?

Buying a car that hasn't run for 5 years is going to require a bit a maintenance on your part (fuel filter, plugs, wires, timing belt, tranny and transfer case fluids, etc).

 

[forcfedtalon]

Look here↓↓ as I did when I had picked up a barned dsm..


DSM 4G63 Maintenance Guide - DSMtuners

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

Check your timing too. If it's off a tooth this some times happens

 

[handsome_black]

Also check and see if the exhaust is clogged. Plugged cat perhaps.

 

[legacy22]

Welcome to the forums!
What A/F gauge do you have, narrowband or wideband? Get a wideband so you know exactly how lean it's running and can adjust accordingly.
Also go ahead and change the fuel filter and the "sock" (strainer) on the fuel pump. If the car has not been running for so long, chances are some trash got into the system and clogged up the filters.

Was she building boost before the mod (and releasing it as BOV opened), and how much?

I have an auto meter a/f gauge and whatever o2 sensor was in it. Looks brand new though. The guy I bought it from put $1400 in aftermarket parts before he got it running so all the stuff is fresh.I know the sock on the fuel pump is good cause I just put the fuel pump in when I got it after drained the gas tank. And yeah it was building 10psi and you could actually feel it boosting. But running super rich as in like 1/4 tank for 30-40 miles. It was releasing cause I could hear the bov andmy gauge showed pressure drop quickly. Does anything ever happen with the factory wastegate? How can I know that its functioning properly? I've been contemplating an external wastegate.

BLT. Probably have a boost leak somewhere causing the turbo to overwork itself. What did you do to get it running? Are using a real wideband or some crappy A/F gauge that came with the car?

Buying a car that hasn't run for 5 years is going to require a bit a maintenance on your part (fuel filter, plugs, wires, timing belt, tranny and transfer case fluids, etc).

Going to do a BLT tonight. All I did was set thefiring order on the coil pack right and replaced the CAS. I put new NGK BPR6ES gapped to .028 and it has new wires.

Check your timing too. If it's off a tooth this some times happens

Timing is good I've checked it several times..

Also check and see if the exhaust is clogged. Plugged cat perhaps.

Its running open downpipe, no cat :/

 

[brian9397gsx]

Have you set your ignition timing? If your holding 10psi i would guess your wastegate is working fine. What style mas do you have?

 

[legacy22]

Have you set your ignition timing? If your holding 10psi i would guess your wastegate is working fine. What style mas do you have?

Mass airflow sensor? Stock I believe. And I've adjusted it by ear until it doesn't misfire. Timing light is in the mail. I just don't understand why vented to the atmosphere it boosts fine but recalculated it boosts but makes no power difference. Also when I got back from my drive I noticed the coolant was boiling and there was oil sprayed on my hood. More than usual. It leaks from the valve cover gasket.

 

[SALTYPILLOW]

I got a full exhaust on my dsm (1998 Eclipse N/A GS) and everything is fine but I just noticed while its running at idle the headers are glowing red. The car does have some idle issues (used to not idle at all but fixed that with new IAC motor as stated in my other thread) The car currently starts and idles then it idles high at about 3000rpms. When its idling high, it is not overheating. I have the fan running off a toggle switch (how I bought it) and both fans work fine. So I'm basically just asking if the headers being cherry red at idle is bad (besides the idle issues) and if there's a way to fix it. (If it needs to be fixed or if this is normal) I'm not driving the car right now, its a work in progress, I'm just trying to get it to run right.

 

[Insane20]

The tubular steel headers are actually thinner then the stock cast ones. Since they are thinner they can get hotter faster. One thing people do is heat rap their headers. You can try that.

 

[DogWhistle]

The red color, obviously, is because of the heat. At 3k rpm, the engine is running as if it were cruising on the highway and the header is not getting the higher airflow it would if you were moving down the highway.

In my experience, glowing headers tend to indicate a rich mixture. At 3k rpm with no load, that is very possible.

Glad to hear you got the IAC fixed and keep working to bring the idle down to a reasonable number.

 

[SALTYPILLOW]

The tubular steel headers are actually thinner then the stock cast ones. Since they are thinner they can get hotter faster. One thing people do is heat rap their headers. You can try that.

So its basically normal for the headers to get red like that? Like will it hurt anything if I don't heat wrap it? Or do you think it will be fine? (Kinda strapped for cash)