XS Power Turbo Manifold is here... Install pics & Dyno results to follow soon.

[MattJackson86]

Right now it's motivation, or lack of, that's slowing me down. Turbo doesn't seem to want to drop with my oil return on so draining oil and removing that should allow it to happen. Then just need to undo those few stubborn nuts without rounding any I hope.

[LumberJack]

Originally Posted by MattJackson86 Right now it's motivation, or lack of, that's slowing me down. Turbo doesn't seem to want to drop with my oil return on so draining oil and removing that should allow it to happen. Then just need to undo those few stubborn nuts without rounding any I hope.

Mine didn't want to either. Disconnect DP from exhaust that freed up a lot of wiggle and play room with my gtx

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[mtosofsky]

So i emailed Xspower the other day to discuss the v3 manifold. I was told its a year off and they are waiting to sell all of the current stock. But that the v3 will solve all of these issues. I like the company, i've seen some of their other products for audi's and they look good. But whether its $400 or $1000. If i'm buying something that is meant to be a painless bolt-on, i want it to bolt on and not have issues with deviations in the flange surface or bolt holes. I'd like to buy the manifold because its an improvement over stock, but its not worth it to have to take it to a machine shop to make sure its okay.

[MattJackson86]

Manifold is fully unbolted and just caught up on the stud behind turbo, not enough room to wiggle out at the moment. Anyways, here is my brand new oem gasket. You can see where it was leaking right at the front and the gasket itself looks warped, either from the leak or from the shape of the flange. Will know more when I remove the flange in morning.

They need to resolve these issues on all current stock before looking at v3. Rounding a bolt hole was bad enough, but I can deal with it. Not having a flange flat just makes the completely useless without who knows how much money at a machine shop to fix. A $400 mani is only worth it if I don't have to spend $100+ on fixes, may as well spent more on a better mani in first place.

[h0ckeyman]

The one I got was a painless bolt on. I had absolutely ZERO issues.

[mtosofsky]

I know the whole excitement with this was to have a decent quality product at a cost that wont hurt our wallets too bad. But when it comes to my time and the headache of getting a product to work when it has defects, i'd rather spend another $300-$400 on an afi or cp-e manifold.

[dale_gribble]

I just discovered that mine is leaking out of the front when its cold but it does seem to seal up when the car warms up.

In my case, I suspect that the manifold is probably fighting the lower turbo bracket a bit to position the turbo right for the manifold; I think if the turbo bracket was loosened up when I tightened the turbo to the manifold, the manifold would have been able to pull the turbo flange up tighter to the manifold. I will check this out when I pull my DP soon.

[MattJackson86]

Didnt use the bracket on mine, but interesting its at the front too.

[TiGraySpeed6]

not posting, don't want to jinx myself....

[MattJackson86]

Originally Posted by TiGraySpeed6 not posting, don't want to jinx myself....

Good call



Bought a new gasket today, getting mani resurfaced tomorrow at a local shop. Will have the shop check the block flange too just incase. Will keep you posted what the shop says.

[skiptowncat]

My engines currently being built, I'll let you all know how the install went.

[dale_gribble]

Damnit, now that I hear the flutter sound of the leak when its cold after reading @MattJackson86's post and checking my car, now its all I hear when before I didn't even notice. That's on you @MattJackson86

I am mad OCD too, so now it will bug me unrelentlessly until I fix it.

[MattJackson86]

Your welcome! Maybe we need a SoCal day to fix manifold leaks. One trip to the machine shop and get them all fixed at once

[JakeMS3]

Originally Posted by h0ckeyman The one I got was a painless bolt on. I had absolutely ZERO issues.

This is good to hear, since now I have your manifold. Lol.

[dale_gribble]

Interested to hear what the shop says. Bring in the stock manifold as a reference to the shop. The surfaces should not only be flat by themselves, but also have the correct surface angles relative to the stock manifold.

I have a suspicion that if the header flange to collector angle is supposed to be 90 degrees, i.e. perpendicular, that relationship is off on the XS. If your shop machines one surface relative to the other, then you don't have to worry about that as a factor also. Have them machine the flange surface flat, and then machine the collector flange relative to the flange surface using the stock EM as a reference.

[Koke382]

Im in on a group discount for resurfacing. I got LumberJacks old V1 and need to get it resurfaced.

sent from my peepee

[LumberJack]

Originally Posted by Koke382 Im in on a group discount for resurfacing. I got LumberJacks old V1 and need to get it resurfaced. sent from my peepee

It's a v2 homie lol. The machine shop i used locally did an amazing job charged me 90

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[MattJackson86]

This is where I am going, they have done work for me in the past and they always do a great job. Its up in the valley (Chatsworth) as I am local. Fabtech Welding

[Koke382]

Originally Posted by LumberJack It's a v2 homie lol. The machine shop i used locally did an amazing job charged me 90 Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Wait so I got a v2? So do I still need to resurface? Lol

sent from my peepee

Originally Posted by MattJackson86 This is where I am going, they have done work for me in the past and they always do a great job. Its up in the valley (Chatsworth) as I am local. Fabtech Welding

Thank u for the info. Will look into it.

sent from my peepee

[lilred]

No you don't koke...






I'll do it when you pass it to me

tapafuck

[LumberJack]

Originally Posted by Koke382 Wait so I got a v2? So do I still need to resurface? Lol sent from my peepee Thank u for the info. Will look into it. sent from my peepee

Yes you do..The v2 still had flange surfacing issues even after they claimed they fixed and resurfaced them.

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[Koke382]

Originally Posted by LumberJack Yes you do..The v2 still had flange surfacing issues even after they claimed they fixed and resurfaced them. Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Turbo flange or the whole shabang? Might aswell get the whole thing resurfaced. Thanks bro appreciate the info.

sent from my peepee

[LumberJack]

Originally Posted by Koke382 Turbo flange or the whole shabang? Might aswell get the whole thing resurfaced. Thanks bro appreciate the info. sent from my peepee

Id say the headflange only but have turbo flange checked too

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[Koke382]

Originally Posted by LumberJack Id say the headflange only but have turbo flange checked too Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by LumberJack Id say the headflange only but have turbo flange checked too Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

For sure thanks bro

sent from my peepee

[MattJackson86]

Mine is a v2 and it's the turbo flange, so Id get it all checked, including bolt holes as I already fixed them too.

[Koke382]

Originally Posted by MattJackson86 Mine is a v2 and it's the turbo flange, so Id get it all checked, including bolt holes as I already fixed them too.

For sure il gonna hit up tue spot you posted.

sent from my peepee

[MattJackson86]

Cool. I'll be there tomorrow. Let you know what they say

[Koke382]

Originally Posted by MattJackson86 Cool. I'll be there tomorrow. Let you know what they say

Thanks bro!

sent from my peepee

[MattJackson86]

Went down there today and 15 mins later the flange looks good as new. Hope to get it mounted tonight and start the car up. Once he started resurfacing it you could tell it was quite warped. He commented on how bad it was.

[TiGraySpeed6]

Did you have them do just the one, or both flanges?

[MattJackson86]

I had him do the turbo flange. He checked the other flange and said it was good.

[dale_gribble]

Hey @LumberJack;, where did you get your manifold surfaces machined? Hopefully in the valley somewhere?

Originally Posted by MattJackson86 I had him do the turbo flange. He checked the other flange and said it was good.

Interested to see if leak stopped.

[MattJackson86]

It better had! Im sure it did, I stood next to him as he was resurfacing and you could see the high spot and low spots as he was doing it. If not then this mani is becoming some expensive wall art Definitely hit the guy up if you need it doing and are near Chatsworth. Does great work and doesn't charge an arm and a leg either.

[dale_gribble]

The gains were enough that I am willing to fight for this manifold at least a little bit. If I pull mine, I am going to also have it welded to take stock heat shield for stealth mode.

[LumberJack]

Originally Posted by dale_gribble Hey @LumberJack;, where did you get your manifold surfaces machined? Hopefully in the valley somewhere? Interested to see if leak stopped.

Aero engine and machine in Temecula. It's off Diaz before the dmv.

[daytonabluez05]

Subbed

[MattJackson86]

FML....Installed it all last night and noticed that the gap was still present at the front of the flange. Started it up this morning and sure enough it still looks to be leaking, though not as badly. I didnt take it out for a drive or rev it up yet but I dont see it getting better with time.

I think at this point, after looking this over as installing it the 2nd time, in record time btw, practice does help , the same issue that causes this mani to bring the turbo towards the block (causing DP issues with speed 6's) is the same issue with this leak. The fact that @dale_gribble also has the leak at the front doesnt seem coincidence. In my situation the BT is already ~1mm from a stud holding the mani to the block (see my earlier comments about getting this thing bolted in) so the turbo is as close to the engine as it can be, but it looks like this mani wants to clock it back even more. As it cant, the front of the flange isnt sitting flush with the turbo and its causing the leak. I am not sure if i removed the DP from the exhaust it would allow the turbo to be pulled up and back even more, but the proximity to that mani stud is already too close for me that I cant see it getting better. Maybe the turbo would just move up though and not back somemore? I may try it as i am already this far in, cant hurt to test quickly.

Overall though I think either we need to ghetto it up with a thicker gasket to patch the issue or correct the angles of the flanges to not clock the turbo back like it seems to be. I think either of which I was hoping to not do (was trying to keep this BT install legit with no ghetto rigging stuff).

Anyways, just my observations. Would be great to hear who actually got this installed leak free and what turbo they are running. I reckon an OEM K04 would fit and be able to be clocked back, I just dont think my turbo with this mani will work for me. Maybe just my mani as it seemed I got an earlier one with issues that were meant to have been corrected (bolt holes off etc) so maybe I just got a bad one.

Gonna reach out to XSPower and see what if anything they can or are willing to do, but I doubt much. This thing is modded (despite needing to get it to work better) and coated since I bought it. If I were to do this again I would spend the extra and get a mani with fitment confirmed.

[TiGraySpeed6]

I'm running a BNRs3 & no support bracket
So far(!) it's leak free, but who knows for how long.

Stock gaskets, but used repeatedly.
- Head flange gasket is 2006 OEM original, on it's second install from engine swap then mani install
- turbo flange gasket is on it's third install- replaced with new OEM for initial BNR install, then engine swap, then mani install

I've got a set of new OEM gaskets here ready to go in if/when needed...

I'm still debating modifying the support bracket & reinstalling...

[dale_gribble]

As I said, I had a suspicion that the relationship of the head flange to the turbo flange is off on our manifolds. All it would take is a very small angular offset to create a leak. After what you said, I'm not sure that removing my turbo bracket is going to even do anything. Perhaps it will.

It's gonna be pricier, but the flanges may need to get machined relative to each other to ensure they are the exact same angle as the stock EM. The shop should be able to get the geometry off the surfaces of the stock EM and ensure the XS is machined to match. This would take care of any indexing issues, because if your stocker doesn't leak and the geometry is the same, there can't be any leaks.

Here's one more thing to consider that I thought about last night though. Think about this for a sec.

Exhibit A

When I took my stock EM off, the studs came off with the nuts. Even with the torque needed to break the studs loose, the nuts stayed on the studs tight. This means it would take more torque to break the nuts loose than the studs can probably handle.

Exhibit B

The stock manifold appears to be thicker than the XS header at the turbo flange. Ok, so when you tighten the studs & nuts back on the turbo and go to torque them to 37 lb/ft, it is possible that the shoulder of the stud is bottoming on the turbo before the nut itself is fully torqued down to the header flange because the header flange is thinner AND you can't torque the nut any more because you will break the stud before the nut breaks loose on the stud to tighten down further. You dig?

Exhibit C

I pulled a stud last night (the easiest one to reach) and the shoulder did have a fresh mar on in, indicating the shoulder may have bottomed on the turbo before the nut actually torqued on the flange. I can't torque the nut anymore to break it loose off the stud, or the stud will break.

I haven't done it, but maybe do one of these 2 things:

1) measure the thickness of the XS manifold turbo flange, measure the thickness of the stock manifold turbo flange, and use a washer or two under the nut to compensate for the additional thickness of the stock EM. This ensures that the nut will torque properly against the flange instead of the stud bottoming and torquing on the turbo.

2) buy 4 new studs/nuts, anti sieze the hell out of them, and then the nut can tighten and torque down independent of the stud on the flange instead of being heat welded on the stud.

Oh, and pretty much fuck @XSPOWER;

Just because it's cheaper doesn't mean it should be a total POS out of the box. $400 is still a decent chunk of coin here.

[TiGraySpeed6]

My studs aren't OEM
I had to cut off ~ 1/4 inch from the studs so they wouldn't hit the mani piping. Even better, I ended up just getting crappy nuts & had to use lock washers.


Arguably a distinctly different stud/nut configuration and with a lot more flexibility on terms of being able to tighten as needed with threads to spare