up pipe leak

[spinge]

Originally Posted by mybigredford .....but was that hole in your pipe from the donut or from the clamp rubbing? The hole was from both. I am sure it could be welded and ground. I am torn on my recommendation. There is the danger of breaking the ear of the babies butt, or damaging some other part that tells me to leave it the way it is. On the other hand, it is making your truck louder in the cab, poorer performing, and less fuel efficient. With diesel WELL into the $3.00 range, it does not take long to burn out of the tank the cost of the pipes. That alone is reason to do the repair, not to mention the noise and performance. Kris, I will PM you if I get time in my schedule at the end of the week - I think I may...

[PowerstrokeJunkie]

Originally Posted by spinge

The hole was from both. I am sure it could be welded and ground. I am torn on my recommendation. There is the danger of breaking the ear of the babies butt, or damaging some other part that tells me to leave it the way it is. On the other hand, it is making your truck louder in the cab, poorer performing, and less fuel efficient. With diesel WELL into the $3.00 range, it does not take long to burn out of the tank the cost of the pipes. That alone is reason to do the repair, not to mention the noise and performance.

Kris, I will PM you if I get time in my schedule at the end of the week - I think I may...

I'll be getting quite good at doing the turbo removal/ up pipe install procedure, ive done it twice already and once more this week.

[mybigredford]

thanks for the help guys, i will have to make some decisions about this one of these days, i took a look again today under the hood at it and i cant even see the pass side to see if it is leaking, need to get my mirrior out, that one could be a pain to get at, but i am sure it is leaking it the drivers one is

i cant say about the noise in the cab because i am not sure how long they have been leaking, but once i do change the nuts i will be able to tell. i think i may be down on power from this cause it seems that i dont have much power when it is in third gear and i am going up a slight incline, it always downshifts and doesnt seem to be much spoolin of the turbo until it downshifts, so maybe the leak is enough to do this.

[Kwikkordead]

Originally Posted by mybigredford

is this an up pipe leak??

Quoted from your original post, minus the picture.
I can with 100% confidence say that your up-pipes are leaking because of the black streaks just below the flange in the background.

[spinge]

The reason I suggest doing the bellows is because after less then a year, mine are leaking again (Old Style). I didn't realize the amount of noise I was getting until I did them the first time, it was a major difference, but then mine were REALLY bad. I was actually having a trans temp issue, because the engine was down on power, and the computer was modulating the transmission in an attempt to compensate for the lack of power (my tranny was running 200* in the winter). Did the up-pipes and the temp dropped about 40*.

[Kwikkordead]

Wow, spinge, that's an interesting twist to the story.

[spinge]

Originally Posted by Kwikkordead

Wow, spinge, that's an interesting twist to the story.

Isn't it though - but completely true. The tranny was still under warranty at the time, and I took it to the local dealer, due to it running hot. Dealer said it was not the tranny, but the exaust leaks pre-turbo causing the problem. He wanted a fortune to do the job, but explained what I needed to do at no charge (imagine that!) and he was spot on the money. I would not have believed it except for that I actually did the repair myself, and the NEXT DAY the tranny was running cooler.

Truth is stranger then fiction.

EDIT: And remember - all that heat is wasted energy (fuel)

[mybigredford]

Originally Posted by spinge

Isn't it though - but completely true. The tranny was still under warranty at the time, and I took it to the local dealer, due to it running hot. Dealer said it was not the tranny, but the exaust leaks pre-turbo causing the problem. He wanted a fortune to do the job, but explained what I needed to do at no charge (imagine that!) and he was spot on the money. I would not have believed it except for that I actually did the repair myself, and the NEXT DAY the tranny was running cooler.

Truth is stranger then fiction.

EDIT: And remember - all that heat is wasted energy (fuel)

hey spinge how long did it take you to change the donuts the first time you did it before you got bellows?

[spinge]

Originally Posted by mybigredford

hey spinge how long did it take you to change the donuts the first time you did it before you got bellows?

Probably about 6 hours, and I had never done it before. That is actual hands on time. It was about 2 days total to repair, because I broke the ear off of the babies butt (it had been cracked) late in the afternoon on the weekend, and I could not get a new one until Monday. I took the turbo off, and while I had it off I replaced the pedestal o-rings.

As a clarification, I have not put on the bellowed pipes yet. The first time, I bought the kit from powerstrokeshop.com that had the plain up-pipes and all of the hardware. The parts the pi$$ed me off were (1) The bellowed pipes came out shortly after I replaced mine with non-bellowed and (2) with the cost of the kit, plus the babies butt from the dealer, I was only about $80 less then the bellowed version.

[mybigredford]

Originally Posted by spinge

Probably about 6 hours, and I had never done it before. That is actual hands on time. It was about 2 days total to repair, because I broke the ear off of the babies butt (it had been cracked) late in the afternoon on the weekend, and I could not get a new one until Monday. I took the turbo off, and while I had it off I replaced the pedestal o-rings.

As a clarification, I have not put on the bellowed pipes yet. The first time, I bought the kit from powerstrokeshop.com that had the plain up-pipes and all of the hardware. The parts the pi$$ed me off were (1) The bellowed pipes came out shortly after I replaced mine with non-bellowed and (2) with the cost of the kit, plus the babies butt from the dealer, I was only about $80 less then the bellowed version.

so the turbo has to come off just to replace the donuts?

[Pocket]

Originally Posted by mybigredford

so the turbo has to come off just to replace the donuts?

Yep, unless you can figure out a way to get behind the turbo. But like it was mentioned before, you need another two sets of elbows to make that happen.



Or you can drop the trans to access it.




Or if you have a van......



Either way it's a lot of work for just two donuts. That's why so many folks recommend going with the bellowed pipes and get it over with for good. After taking them apart and looking at the design, it's terribly flawed. Some argue that the donut gaskets for the Chevy's are better since they are bigger, but guaranteed they will eventually leak again.

[spinge]

What Pocket said.

[mybigredford]

Originally Posted by Pocket

Yep, unless you can figure out a way to get behind the turbo. But like it was mentioned before, you need another two sets of elbows to make that happen.



Or you can drop the trans to access it.




Or if you have a van......



Either way it's a lot of work for just two donuts. That's why so many folks recommend going with the bellowed pipes and get it over with for good. After taking them apart and looking at the design, it's terribly flawed. Some argue that the donut gaskets for the Chevy's are better since they are bigger, but guaranteed they will eventually leak again.

well this sucks

thanks again for all your help, maybe i will hold out for some bellows one day, i think you convinced me now

[Kwikkordead]

Originally Posted by spinge

What Pocket said.

And again. I redid my donut pipes and in less than six months they were turning black again.

[spinge]

Which also sucks