sr20 turbo gasket keeps blowing!?! wtf

[wakdady]

hi all. so i have a stock sr and I keep blowing through turbo gaskets like there's no tomorrow. I'm talking about the gasket between the manifold and the turbo.
I've tried everything and it still keeps going out.
has this happened to anyone? any suggestions?
I was thinking of getting a flex downpipe, but i hear those are typically not high quality. thanx

-Henry

[ericcastro]

Weld it together.

Seems crazy, but Ive seen numerous shops do it.

Course, thats usually for cars with much higher boost, but still...

[JVD]

Is it a metal gasket? Maybe your nuts are backing off or not tight enough? Should be pretty much impossible to blow one of those gaskets on a stock sr/t25. LOL.

[bigOdom1]

downpipe needs flex section and the bolts are probably backing out keep tightening them

[wakdady]

i'm now using locking oe copper nuts so they dont back out. yes, it is a metal gasket, and it too is oe. thanks for the replies everyone. is there a flex downpipe anyone recommends?

[spirit]

I use a JVT, does the job:
JVT 3" SS Stainless Steel Downpipe SR20DET w/ Flex Section (http://www.frsport.com/JVT-3--SS-Stainless-Steel-Downpipe-SR20DET-w--Flex-Section_p_8171.html)

Haven't tracked my car yet (since installing it), so can't really say if it will withstand abuse. Seems well built to me.

[DRIFTING_SIL_EIGHTY]

OEM locking plates. there should be 2 of them. did you remove them ? if so put them back on.

[burnsauto]

if you're still having problems (and you're using the oem locking plates) you may want to tack weld the nuts onto the manifold, nothing serious...but enough to hold them in place. If you ever need to get the turbo off the manifold, use a dremel to grind down the weld.

This is last resort.


oh yeah, btw. stock manifold?

[xpicer]

ok well he is not running the locking plates , this always happened to me , 2 weeks ago i finally got some locking plates from heavy throttle and WHAALLLLAAA no more blown gasket , i had to do this about 12 times until i went to heavy throttle and he gave me the advice :aw:

[wakdady]

i am running the oe locking plates as well. actually, when i installed them the way it is shown in the service manual there is a 1/2 to 1 mm gap. you can actually see straight thru. funny because i got the locking plates from heavy throttle as well. is this gap supposed to be there? it didnt matter how much i tightened the nuts, there wasnt a tight seal. so i installed the locking plates in a way so that the lip goes down to the gasket but is actually bolted to the stock manifold. btw, i'm running stock manifold.

http://usera.imagecave.com/wakdady/Jetta/lockingplates1.JPG

xpicer, when you installed teh locking plates, did you witness this gap, if so, what did you do about it?
thanks guys, we all know its a pain in the arse to remove a turbo, let alone every month or so

[The ROMAN]

Mine backed off over the course of an event and it turned out it was real loose even with the locking plates on. I never broke the thing loose before and it's stock turbo. Don't know how it happened but you can't count on those plates.

[wakdady]

Mine backed off over the course of an event and it turned out it was real loose even with the locking plates on. I never broke the thing loose before and it's stock turbo. Don't know how it happened but you can't count on those plates.

ditto, mine blew out at laguna seca ($300 for one day). i was damned if it was gonna stop me. well, the exhaust pouring into the engine bay melted me wiring harness and fried the ecu and transistor chip. $600 to get it towed to SF and i dont even know how much for the replacement parts.

i think i'm going to start looking for a shop that can weld the turbo to the manifold for me. so anyone in the bay area handy with a welder?