just take the manifold off and straight edge the flange and the head and see which one is messed up.

 

Thats a great idea. But I dont know, I cant see how it would be warped, especially the head. If it were warped, it would be like a wave if Im not mistaken. I get one runner couldve been welded too much but that would still cause some gap in other areas you know what Im saying? But its perfectly flat all across other than that one runner.

Also for the helicoils, we are just going to put bigger bolts and retap, no helicoils. Theres not much meat left on the housing for helicoils. And if we mess up the housing, we can just buy another or maybe just upgrade to a real turbo.

 

You won't be able to physically see a warped flange with your eye unless it was awful. You need a straight edge to see the gap underneath. Cheap manifolds could suffer this fate. I doubt the head is warped, i vote warped manifold flange.

 

^ Silent is correct, you would have likely had to suffer a serious overheating event to warp your head. Even well built manifolds with heat sinks need to be "decked" on engines such as inline 6's because it's hard to keep such a long flange completely flat after being heated up and cooled down by welding the runners on.

 

I want to say toyota lists a test for a straight edge diagonally across the head exhaust flange, and same for the manifold's flange.
There is an acceptable amount of warp that the gasket will seal (usually for the manifold), but it wouldn't be that visible tightened down like that.
That is probably a warped manifold, you wouldn't be the first. Take it off and put a straight edge across both to be sure.
I always recommend sticking with the OEM gasket , those silver ones never hold up.

 

your vote is now locked. If you are correct you will be awarded. Will keep ya posted

 

Actually an idea hit me. Idk if I already posted this but since its a multi layer gasket, what if it just got messed up while being put on? Its a long shot I know, but all ideas are worth considering no?

 

yeah i hear this happens to even high dollar manifolds sometimes. Heres hoping its just the issue I proposed above

 

Run the car and put your hand there or a peice of paper if u feel heat or see it moving you know its leaking...

If its leaking then like everyone else said your header is probably warped, its alot easier to warp that than the entire block but throw a straight edge on both serveral directions and slide paper or a gauge set.

You can also shine a flashlight and if light shines through the straight edged pressed against whatever its warped

 

Im not sure if any of you have the same issue on your SC's, but with my car when roll the power windows up and stop once they are fully up everything is fine. But if I hold the up switch once the window is already up, the car loses power and dies. Any ideas?

 

So I just slapped on some felpro gaskets on the headers as a bandaid solution for now. But now the front is loud from what I can only assume is the DP gasket. Or maybe another source will keep updated

 

As long as they're high temp and rated to use on an exhaust manifold you might have found a simple solution. As for the DP, take a peek at it. Sometimes the gaskets fail, and sometimes things shift or loosen up over time so it may be as simple as a quick re-align and tighten.

 

Yeah youre right. We did have a gasket before but it was misaligned thanks to me but once we installed the new header gaskets, we thought maybe the DP and turbo will align to where no gasket is needed.

Im going to prob order some garret dp gasket off amazon and install it when I get a chance. What I noticed is if it is the DP thats leaking, theres a difference in sound. A manifold leak at the head sounds like a loud tick, and now that the new gaskets are on but the DP no longer has one, it just sounds more loud in front. I cant think of any other sources for a loud engine bay other than DP, Headers, turbo flange, and maybe wastegate?

 

Hey all, since most of us are locked inside Im assuming we are all wrenching with our time if possible. So I decided to do some stuff too

I picked up a trans on offerup for 20$ (its been on there for a while since these trans are everywhere) so I plan on replacing the trans (never done it before so this will be fun), do a cleaning of the engine, secure the ECU further (small bumps will sometimes cause the car to go very rich (10afr or lower)), inspect turbo for wear or any signs of issues. I think thats about it!

If you guys got anything I should check real quick or something let me know! Unless its doing the headgasket upgrade, thats for a later date!

 

Hey all, so I was beating on the poor car one night and the car all of a sudden overheated to super high temps. I assumed it was maybe due to low coolant so I drove after it cooled down. After that, the car would overheat here and there, and eventually it would overheat even at a dead stop. I got the car towed back and inspected the issues along with my father. We decided it has to be the fan clutch because it will spin when the engine is cold and when the engine is heated up, my father was able to stop the fan with his finger with ease. The thermostat opened up once the car warmed up and the water pumped seem fine as well. I'm ordering a fan clutch and plan on running the clutch fan for some time.