MalcolmV8

Hell that's not expensive lol. Not for what you get. What about 6 bucks for a 10 pack. I think I may just order a set of those. Looks like a nice solution.

fcluddington

Just wondering if those who keep having bolts get loose do you have the back of the down pipe bolted up to back of engine like oem. Or do you just have the downpipe attached to turbo then to entire exhaust system. (lot of weight hanging off side of head)

I am in same boat as rest of ya. I need to get the manifold studs and copper nutted washers. even with lock washers still getting loose ones now and then.
If anyone comes across a stud kit with gasket for the mani to head . Using a blox log style please post

nealnanoHX

Personally never had a turbo to manifold bolt come loose on me ever. I have had header bolts back out from thermal expansion of the metals. As long as you torque the bolts/studs good and tight run the car for a while and get hot, let it cool then re tighten all the exhaust to turbo bolts it should be fine. The big thing is heating up the car, letting it cool then re tightening.

mines13

These should work anywhere that a bolt could potentially come loose. I can not see why it wouldn't work on a 4 bolt down pipe also.

MalcolmV8

My downpipe does not just hang with a ton of weight. My exhaust is supported so the turbo/downpipe is not holding the full weight of the exhaust.

That might work but for me space is so tight I fasten the turbo to manifold on the work bench. Once it's on the car I can only access two maybe three of the four bolts so re-tightening after a heating and cool down cycle is not possible.

I've ordered a set of those lord-nord lock washers. We'll see how they work.

nealnanoHX

Try using a long extension and get to the bolts from under the car.

MalcolmV8

No it's not that. It's pinched in a tiny spot between the center of the turbo where the oil feed line and that general block of stuff is. You'd need to some how get between the engine block and the turbo to get access.

MalcolmV8

I wanted to update thread with how things turned out. I ended up using the nord-lock washers on the turbo to manifold bolts. Been this way for a couple weeks and plenty of driving and I'm happy to report so far no exhaust leaks and running like a champ.

One odd thing I noticed was when I pulled the manifold off the head it warped on the very end flanges. It's a nice go-autoworks stainless unit, not a POS. I had to cinch the heck out the bolts to straighten it back out and ended up removing it and re-installing with some red high heat silicon just in case as I was really sick of leaks. So far so good.

MalcolmV8

Well Nord Lock washers = fail. Damn turbo about fell off the manifold. They lasted longer than lock washers at least but still didn't work. One bolt missing and two half out. Back to the drawing board. This sucks.

XxRoCkMaNxNEOxX

iTrader: (3)

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Pompiuses

Did you torque to spec with the Nord Lock washers?

http://www.nord-lock.com/default.asp?url=353.16.37

fcluddington

what are your engine mounts like? maybe you are getting a lot of engine movement which could help loosen the exhaust bolts up.

tron_

I don't think I have heard of anyone having more problems keeping bolts together time to just weld the turbo to the manifold

I was thinking about this thread a few days ago and wanted to say maybe you could tighten the bolts while cold, start the car, let the car warm up, then torque them again? I feel like that MIGHT help since the bolts probably expand when they are heated up causing them to loosen.

MalcolmV8

With the manifold and the turbo laying on the work bench I could barely get a wrench in. One of them was so almost impossible I'd struggle for a while trying a wrench at all different angles for each little bit it moved to try and get a hook on it. So no there's no way in hell to get a torque wrench in there. I possibly could have hooked another wrench to the back of the first wrench and pulled harder but I didn't want to strip the threads out of the manifold.

Humm they seem fine but it's also my first civic so I have nothing to compare it to. Manifold to cylinder head bolts are ok, downpipe to turbo fine, even oil line and oil drain bolts fine. Just turbo to manifold that seem to keep coming loose.

Also I noticed it's when I really run the car hard a lot. Lots of back to back highway pulls wrapping up to 7k rpms. Probably just speeds up the loosening process that was happening anyways?

MalcolmV8

You laugh but I was thinking about putting a small tack weld on the head of the bolts so they can't turn out once snugged down lol.

Yeah I will try. I'm going to attempt to replace the one bolt and snug the other bolts today with everything still in place. It REALLY blows to tear that all apart and get that stuff out just to snug those four bolts and replace the gasket. Hopefully that gasket is not blown. I've always replaced it but this time I'm going to try and just snug up the turbo and see what happens.

Humm I wonder what temps loctite are good to? Time to go do some reading because at this point some red loctite on there doesn't bother me if it'll hold.

MalcolmV8

Loctite's spec sheets say service temps of -65F to 300F. To aid removal of red loctite head to 485F (250C). So probably won't work on turbo to manifold bolts.

tron_

Yeah red Loctite won't hold, but IIRC there are high temp thread lockers out there too? I'll see if I can dig something up online.

Also, how are you holding things together atm?

MalcolmV8

How do you mean holding things together? the turbo to manifold? Well the manifold has some threads in it that are a dead end so I use M10x1.5 bolts. I think 20 mm long if I recall, possibly 25. I'd have to check.

MalcolmV8

I see loctite has a high temp version that's 450F. Not sure if that's high enough or not. Although I was just thinking why not put my high temp red silicon gasket maker on the threads? It's 650 and hasn't burnt off my manifold to cylinder head connection yet. It should provide some sticky on the threads and help the nord-locks.

mines13

Very surprised, absolutely must be something else going on here. Never had one issue with the Nord Lock setup. I also use blue Locktite, which does not have as high of a heat range, but it turns into a white clay like substance that can flake away when disassembled but keeps moisture etc. out of the threads. This is my method, and it works for me. YMMV

MalcolmV8

Could my turbo be off balance and have a lot more vibration than normal? I'm reaching here but not sure myself. I don't feel any vibes or anything going on.

I have extra nord-locks since it came in a 10 pack. They certainly lasted a lot longer than lock washers and maybe I just need to really muscle them down much tighter than before. I'm going to put fresh ones on and some red 650F silicon on the threads and try again. Looks like I'll have to cut up a wrench too so I can get access while the turbo's in the car.

SovXietday

You said you are having a hard time getting into the location, so I would do everything you can to get as much torque into the bolts you can't get. Once one comes out, it will wrestle the rest out as well. Also make sure that the bearing surface of the washer is FLAT against the flange, and not only touching a little bit of it here and there.

MalcolmV8

Yes very hard time but I think I've solved it. We'll find out as soon as the wrench cools down. See pic below. I tried to bend a 17mm into place by heating it up red hot and then tapping it with a hammer but it snapped as you can tell by the first wrench. So next I grabbed that smaller one to try different things cause I didn't want to run out of cheap 17s (not ruining the craftsman) and heated it till it was red hot and kept heating till it bent over with a light pressure from my hand (in a glove of course) and that seemed to do the trick.

So next tried it on a 17 again and got my first bend in. Then my oxygen bottle was empty and so was my other bottle, go figure. So I fired up the tig welder and used it to heat the second spot red hot and put the second bend in. With that S shape I believe I can get to the bolt now.
I will probably have to cut a third 17 into a short stub for access on the other side of the turbo. What a "rig" lol.

MalcolmV8

New wrench worked like a charm.



I put new nord locks on each bolt and smothered their threads in red high heat silicon. I tightened each bolt as hard as I could with a single wrench. Till the palms of my hands hurt lol.
Made a new gasket for the oil supply line and re-installed it. Gonna let the silicon set for a few hours and then test drive the car and see how it goes.

mines13

Good man, you did it right.