I had the infamous lawnmower sounding exhaust leak on my FD...

i pulled them over the weekend and found this:

lotsa cracking in the manifold

and I *think* the gasket in the top right is the fubar one... when i pullet it off it doesn't lay flat like the others and has some burn marks on it...

mazdatrix wants $400 for new gasket set! my buddy spent $100 for this JZA80!!


can i re-use the other 3? or get custom ones made?

what should i do about the manifold crack? will it be a problem? the center crack runs deep....

 

Cracking is typical and should effect performance or sealing. I would suggest either taking the turbos to a machine shop and have them flatten the sealing surfaces or spend a good amount of time with a flat block and sandpaper to knock the high spots off.

I'd replace all the gaskets, it takes so much labor to go in there might as well just do it once.

If your exhaust leak was big you might also check the small bolts that attach the hot side to the center section of the turbos. They are small bolts so be very careful to not overtighten, just check to see that they are all there and tight.

Jeff

 

is it possible to just get a center section to bolt my turbo's to?

i'm guessing I can't fix it....

 

It's a bugger, but all new turbos is the only official solution. There is one turbo shop that has cast an all-new manifold section that can be bought separately. It's designed to avoid cracking more than stock. Unfortunately, they were still rather expensive, and only worthwhile IMO when rebuilding the set. The most affordable option is a newer set of turbos, or simply a brand-new set.

Those gaskets and flanges are looking tired, but it's hard to tell if they are actually leaking. Is there matching soot on the heat shields and engine block?

Dave

 

you can find newer turbo's of this forum in between the 150-250 range. this would take care of your mani. problem and maybe the seller of the turbos has extra gaskets laying around. just a thought

 

Hey can u snap a pic of the stock turbos for me?

 

car has no shields.. guess previous owner "forgot" them...

this is what it looks like... tell me what u think

 

holy **** thats dirty

 

hey i've only owned the car 2 weeks :p

and i'm already having to pull it apart... cleanlining up the previous owners mess is not my first priority... getting the car running properly is

 

I would source some heat shields before putting all that back together. That rust you see all over the housing and manifold is probably from rain water splashing against it. As well, IMO not having heat shields there causes the manifold to crack much faster since it creates greater temperature extremes.

If your priority is to get it running, and that's all, then I guess it's fine to bolt together what you have. Although it's dirty as anything, I don't see a particularly noticeable leak. So a slight leak will not cause any problems. But I personally would not run that car in the rain and plan to dig back in there and replace a lot of it in the near future.

Dave

 

I live in a desert bro.. very little rain here to worry about

that water is because when i bought the car it had a leak, the water inlet for the turbo hose was cracked and leaking.. and when the system was pressurized.. water would drip down onto the turbo's/manifolds... (dunno if that had anything to do with the cracking i.e. sudden rapid cooling)

 

You don't want water dripping on the turbos and manifolds, that's for sure.

Since you're in a desert climate, I guess if you fix the leak that should be fine. "Across the pond" could be anywhere, in fact I was guessing the UK.

Dave