Hey guys, I have a inline pro SS cast t3 manifold and a garret t3/t4 turbo. Only had this setup in the car and tuned for about two weeks. Well here's the issue, the four studs that hold the turbo to the mani will not stay tight. Nuts don't move butthe stud itself backs out of the manifold. I used lock tight when installing. Went to IFO Sunday in Montgomery and couldn't qualify bc of the issue. Only made a handful of passes and had to tighten studs after EVERY pass. It was so bad that after each pass there was prob a 1/16-1/8 gap between turbo and manifold.

Best solution I can think to try is to drill the studs above the nuts and safety wire them together once tight. Possibly even tack weld the nuts to the turbo as added insurance. But that just creates another headache later down the road.

Really just looking for other ideas or solutions that some of you may already have in use. I can't be the only one with this issue.

 

Loctite won't do squat in this situation, manifold gets too hot and renders it useless. Best suggestion is lock washers. Another suggestion is to have some type of bracket welded to support the weight of the turbo and downpipe from pulling down on the studs.

 

I went with a factory DSM manifold stud kit, OEM lock washers, cheap price too:


http://www.extremepsi.com/store/prod...9&cat=0&page=1

 

sounds like they may be stripping out. I would pull it all off, run a tap through them and be sure you have a good thread in there. Put a complete set of goo studs in there. You could use some JB weld on the threads to lock them in but i wouldnt personally. I run stainless studs with no issues. you can do an all metal locking nut or lock washers.

 

I bet your manifold is warped. My log manifold was warped bad brand new. I had a machine shop surface mine for 50 bux.

 

Why not tack weld the stud from the top side so that it can't back out?

Have you tried ditching the studs/nuts and just going to a bolt with a lockwasher under the head? I run bolts and have only ever had one issue with them backing out in the 4+ years I have had a turbo on the car.

 

I am pulling it all off the car today to investigate further. I will definately Check the manifold for trueness. And I'm pretty sure the threads are ok also. But will verify. I ran bolts and lock washers on my last manifold and still had issues. Ended up drillin bolt heads and safety wiring them together. But then they stretched(?) and still created a gap and blew out the gasket. I think a bracket to support the turbo may be worth a shot if I can figure out where to connect the bracket to the engine

Thank you guys for all the great ideas. I really just want to fix this ONCE and not have to worry about it again

 

Replaced the gasket, cleaned threads and got high temp loctite, and tack welded the nuts to the turbo. Hopefully it holds this time.

 

Get nordlock

 

^^^
Yea, these wedge lock washers look promising. I'm gonna try them on my builds to come. As of now, regular spring lock washers have yet to fail me.

I typically have noticed that cast log manifolds tend to have problems with nuts and bolts backing out even with spring lock washers. My Greddy manifold used to have this problem until I made a custom bracket that held the turbo and dp up to prevent them from pulling down on the studs. Had I have known about wedge lock washers, it would've saved me a lot of time, money, blood, sweat, and tears.

 

I use ARP bolts on the manifold to turbo connection and ARP studs in the head to manifold connection. Never an issue.