[RESOLVED] FP Race Manifold Cracked

[mikelv]

I was hoping you guys would take a look at this.
Good thing a good friend of mine was looking closely or I would have never noticed. Here is a few pictures. Hopefully FP will do something for me. This manifold is barely a year old, with no more than 25-30 runs on it. This car is never daily driven, so last time I checked, that's about 8 miles of driving. I would say realistically, there's about a 1000 miles on this manifold between here and there driving, dyno pulls, and passes. Nice....


It seems to have cracked on every runner and they all end before the turbo mounting platform. Except for the extremely large crack in the front. I would like your opinions on this and wonder if FP would do anything for me regarding this. Needless to say I'm extremely disappointed considering the small amount of time on this manifold. I can assure you that every turbo bolt was torqued to specification outline in the shop manual. Let me know what you guys think. Sorry for some of the blur, my camera was difficult to keep steady.

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[nytescion]

Did you ever start the motor and immediately go out beating on it before it was warmed up? or shut it off after hard pulls? Just trying to eliminate possibilities. I drive on mine like you stated (not being daily driver and only a few passes on it) but Haven't gotten to the year bench mark yet. But it seems to be ok.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

Holy crap. Considering the material they make them out of, something had to have happened beyond their control with that one. Ever wash your car after some hard driving?

 

[turboglenn]

Wow! That's a lot of cracking for a manifold even that has been abused! I would hope FP will cover that because it almost looks like there was some improper materials used in the alloy to cause it to crack that much, there's got to be something that is expanding and contracting at different rates in that material (guess it could be the wall thickness varying too much causing areas to contract and expand faster/slower than other parts of the manifold)

If they won't warranty it you can always have it welded or brazed up but it may continue to crack afterwards judging from the amount of cracks already there. I've fixed a lot of cast mani's in my time and that's got to be one of the worst i've seen.

Best of lucj with it and if in the worst case you can't get another and no one local will try and fix it I"ll give it a go if you cover the shipping both ways just for the chance to examine the part up close to see what's up with the amount of cracking going on

 

[my dreamt dsm]

I was looking into one. Makes me second guess. Maybe your manifold was made on a Friday with the last leftover materials in the bucket. But I hope fp will help you out someway.

 

[TSIMonsteR]

That sucks! Was it leaking? Did you have the coated or non model?

 

[mikelv]

Wow! That's a lot of cracking for a manifold even that has been abused! I would hope FP will cover that because it almost looks like there was some improper materials used in the alloy to cause it to crack that much, there's got to be something that is expanding and contracting at different rates in that material (guess it could be the wall thickness varying too much causing areas to contract and expand faster/slower than other parts of the manifold)

If they won't warranty it you can always have it welded or brazed up but it may continue to crack afterwards judging from the amount of cracks already there. I've fixed a lot of cast mani's in my time and that's got to be one of the worst i've seen.

Best of lucj with it and if in the worst case you can't get another and no one local will try and fix it I"ll give it a go if you cover the shipping both ways just for the chance to examine the part up close to see what's up with the amount of cracking going on

Thanks Glenn,
I am going to talk to them tomorrow and see if there isn't anything they can do. That would be awesome if you could take a look at it and see if there isn't anything that can be done. I'll shoot you a PM and let you know.

Man, I beat the crap out of mine and have no cracks. That sucks! Was it leaking? Did you have the coated or non model?

Yes it was coated and as you can see most of that wore off. It looks like they use some sort of DEI exhaust spray or what-have-you.

Did you ever start the motor and immediately go out beating on it before it was warmed up? or shut it off after hard pulls? Just trying to eliminate possibilities. I drive on mine like you stated (not being daily driver and only a few passes on it) but Haven't gotten to the year bench mark yet. But it seems to be ok.

Negative on the cold starts or driving. This car has been driven mostly in South Carolina summers, and only raced and tuned for the track. I was worried about maybe some cold starts, ect...but never seen rain or anything cold for that matter. This car was always turbo timed after hard pulls, and never left for any reason to crack.

Holy crap. Considering the material they make them out of, something had to have happened beyond their control with that one. Ever wash your car after some hard driving?

Big negative on that as well, the only time this motor has been washed is the first thing of the day. Usually before I go to a show, meet or the track. I have NEVER washed the motor right after a run or anything to that affect. I didn't think it would every be that extreme.

...it almost looks like there was some improper materials used in the alloy to cause it to crack that much, there's got to be something that is expanding and contracting at different rates in that material (guess it could be the wall thickness varying too much causing areas to contract and expand faster/slower than other parts of the manifold)

That's the only explanation I can think of is something in the material. This manifold was purchased about 18 months ago, and honestly has only ran a handful of passes. Other than that the car sits mostly. For now, I have another FP race manifold on my DD that I can use, and throw a stocker on there. But either way I'm not too confident in ever purhasing a cast iron from them, or probably anybody ever again.

One thing I've noticed, because I do run this on about a 650hp application, is after some big runs at night, she was glowing cherry. But never, ever saw water or cold materials directly after. I always let it air cool.

Man, I'm not sure what to do, but I guess I will talk to them and see what they say. I usually don't have the best luck with these sort of situations. I was planning on getting my driveshaft but now it looks like I have to purchase something I already thought I was set on.

 

[Highbooost]

That manifold has to be defective period. I have never seen a stock one crack that bad, I mean those really aren't cracks, more like splits. Knowing FP they should take care of that and those that might become skeptical from buying I would throw those thoughts in the garbage, this isn't even the exception let alone the rule.

Later Dr Turbo

 

[Spoolin18]

Shit, they make some of the best stuff peroid. I can't believe that. After seeing that, I think I will go with the MHI E3.

 

[My1GLaser]

Awwww crap! I have mine sitting on the workbench ready to go on today if I ever get off my lazy ass. I hope I have better luck, but mine is only about a 375whp application right now.

 

[nytescion]

Well this is the FIRST manifold from FP that i have seen do this. I know alot of other people who have this manifold on their cars. A few of them with similar hp as him. To everyone who has one of these manifolds or was going to buy one I would still do so. This is extremely rare, I wouldn't let this steer you away from buying one.

 

[crimsondragon]

Mine's rusting. Coating came off as well but cracking never seems to be an option for it. I definitely wouldn't question if it's defective or not. FP must have sold hundreds of these manifolds by now and this is definitely a first. Sooner or later, all companies will let one bad apple slip.

 

[TSIMonsteR]

Well, I have seen SBR and E3 manifolds crack as well as others. So to rule this manifold out wouldn't be wise. I do plan to take mine off soon to make sure there are none though.

 

[fwdmaster]

Wow, those are some nasty cracks, my fp manifold is jet coated with no problems or cracks, I think your manifold was from a early bad batch

 

[steve]

What exactly were you hanging off that and was it supported in any other way than the exhaust manifild?

 

[Steve93Talon]

What turbine housing are you running with it? Considering they designed this thing with their big AR bolt-on housing in mind, I'm wondering if maybe high boost pulls in a smaller MHI/PTE/BEP housing with big turbine side backpressure put more heat into it than it can take.

 

[daren_p]

What turbine housing are you running with it? Considering they designed this thing with their big AR bolt-on housing in mind, I'm wondering if maybe high boost pulls in a smaller MHI/PTE/BEP housing with big turbine side backpressure put more heat into it than it can take.

Thats a good point. Maybe its just the pics but that mani looks to be "well used", especially if it only does have 1k on it. I probably have atleast 15K on my FP mani & it still looks like basically it did after a couple days driving (still has origional coating colour on head flange & the reat of the mani is the greyish colour it turns after a couple hear cycles).

Memories of SBR mani's pooped into my head after seeing those pics

 

[jdbl14]

I've seen people running t-28's and 16g's with this and no problems. something must have been wrong. Like others have said this is far from common with these guys. I'm going to be buying one soon, and i hope i never see this happen.

 

[nytescion]

holset hx40 on mine currently gt30 at 30 psi....

 

[MaNGiNa24]

Keep in mind one failure doesn't mean the product is a dud. FP's sold hundreds of these manifolds and from what I can see this is one of the first failures publicly posted. Any product sold is going to have one or two defective units and I've seen plenty of oem 1g, 2g, evo 3 and sbr manifolds crack in my day.

I wouldn't worry about it, if you're within FP's return policy they'll take care of you

 

[TSIMonsteR]

What turbine housing are you running with it? Considering they designed this thing with their big AR bolt-on housing in mind, I'm wondering if maybe high boost pulls in a smaller MHI/PTE/BEP housing with big turbine side backpressure put more heat into it than it can take.

His profile says FP3065, which I imagine would be one of the turbos this manifold was designed around

 

[burkgonzo]

Seems like a bad apple. I have'nt seen a FP with that much cracking ever. Hope they work with you!

 

[Black_Bullet]

Only thing negative I can say about my Fp mani is the discoloration. I didnt think Id ever see one crack like that without sledge hammer abuse...

 

[toofast82]

Must have been made on Monday
Hopefully, FP takes care of this for you at no cost. Definitely the first FP manifold i've seen on the forums like that though

 

[lacroixdp]

That manifold has to be defective period. I have never seen a stock one crack that bad, I mean those really aren't cracks, more like splits. Knowing FP they should take care of that and those that might become skeptical from buying I would throw those thoughts in the garbage, this isn't even the exception let alone the rule.

Later Dr Turbo

I guess the good 'Dr.' hasn't been around many manifolds, if you've never seen one crack that bad.

This is the first FP manifold I've seen crack, however. Lord only know's what caused it, but to jump to the conclusion that it is a manufacturing defect is jumping the gun to say the least.