I asked this question under another thread but did not get a clear answer. Some people in other threads have said the stock up-pipe gaskets do not last very long. Is this true or not. I have owned my truck since new and don't really hear any leaking but the truck is reaching 8 yrs old and just turned 100K. And if it is necessary to replace them, are the oem, napa or brass ones the way to go. I have guages due in this week to give me an indicator as to my current boost, but was just curious. Thanks in advance and Finally, I wanted to say congrads to Megawatt and J-L. I know how hard it is to be separated from your loved ones.

 

Stock donuts do not last. Flawed design. Can guarantee they are leaking. Installing the OEM ones again will just have to same problem down the road. The IH kit is nice and pricey now. But you'll get rid of the problem and leaks, and gain performance that you lost. Take a look at my up pipe install shows some pictures of where you can look to see for sure if you have leaks, also have a link on there to pockets install.

 

There is NO WAY for the original design of those up pipes to have a perfect seal.
Turbocharged engines rely on exhaust pressure to drive the turbo.
Any exhaust leak at all will reduce the amount of volume flowing through the turbo exhaust.
.
Three years ago I replaced the up-pipes on my truck with a new set of the old style pipes. The originals were black and hissing.
Two weeks later the new updated bellowed pipes came out.
I bought a set of bellowed pipes a while later and took the time to install them.
The "new" up-pipes that I had installed less than a year before were leaking again. Not as bad as the first set, but they were not a nice tight fit.
The difference was so dramatic that I felt the need to reconnect the wastegate.

 

Sometimes they can last many years, sometimes they last only 10k or less. At good indicator is the get a flashlight back there and look around. Check the pipes right around the gasket. If there is soot on them, you have a leak. Sometimes even a guage can fool you about whether you have a leak or not.

 

You can watch your boost gauge once you get it installed, but an easy (well kind of hard to see) way to check the condition of the up pipe donuts is to look for soot marks where the pipes connect to the Y shaped connector.

As for the best fix, that would be bellowed up pipes. If you're looking to spend less than $5 in parts, the get the small block donut gaskets at your local parts store, or spend more for the OEM ones.

How long they last seems to vary from truck to truck, and how hard you push the truck or how much boost you run. No set in stone answer for how long they will last, but I took delivery of my truck with 19 miles on it. At over 289k, I'm still running the stock donuts.

 

I think someone has me on some sort of time delay. There were no replies when I started typing.

 

Chris you would be amazed at the difference.
When I put that set on the E-450 the first time, the owner came right back and asked me what all that whistling was.
It was the turbo finally getting some work done!
It looked like this before. See all the soot everywhere?
Sorry, no after pictures.

 

The others have given you the answer.
I just wanted to say Thank You Very Much!

 

I'm not doubting you. I've helped others change their up pipe donuts, but I can find no evidence of any soot on mine. It's hard to see with a mirror, but it can be done. I also use a digital camera that can be shoved into tight spots to get a better view.

Besides, I'm still averaging 19.5 mpg's with my driving, so I don't have much room to complain or reason to go digging. I plan on doing the bellowed up pipes in my wife's truck since I believe she has a very small leak in hers. Tony Wildman doesn't think she has a leak, but I've got in in my mind it needs changing (I'm stubborn that way). I might do mine at the same time. Got a few months of summer school and 2 months of OJT to get out of the way first. Then the baby girl is out of college and I'll have some disposable income again.

 

Chris....I will be there to help beings you did not bat an eye about helping with mine
Hopw we remember how to get that one socket on the back nut

 

I found that by removing the pedestal it made reaching that back nut 100 times easier.

 

Here is my post with picture.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...aust-leak.html

I have a up pipe leak on the driver's side and it is causing a ticking noise when exhaust is being pushed out of the motor into the pipes on that side of the motor.
Listen for a ticking noise (besides the ticking of the motor) and it may be a indication of exhaust leak but at 19.5mpg I would say that you may be ok. Then again I'm getting 16 in the city and about 19 on the hwy at this time.

I ordered my replacement pipes from RiffRaff and as soon as they come in (sometime the first week of may) I'll be taking pics of the work being done, the parts and stuff like that and posting them on the topic that I started.

To find a leak watch out for black soot around the area that should be sealed.

I think the reason my showed up so fast was because I accidentally put gas in my truck and it caused it to smoke like crazy!!! Basically it was almost rolling coal out of the exhaust and well I saw smoke coming out from under the hood where the exhaust pipes were at.

I would say that if you're not leaking and don't want to hassle with them then let them be. If you have the money and time to replace the buggers then there are better pipes out there then the stock ones that won't leak without decent reason.

 

Baby girl in college?
I had you younger than that!

 

I think, another reason just changing the donut gaskets on the old pipes will leak sooner. Is, the old donut will contract and expand with heat and cause a grove on the pipe itself. Kind of smash the pipes at the ends. I have seen pics on here of pipes with groves and smashes on the ends. The new donuts are loose on the old pipe and don't seal all the way. Once the gases start seeping around the new donut, the game is over.

I have been wrong before.

 

In this case you are 100% correct.
There was a wear pattern developing on my less than one year old replacement pipes that I removed for the bellowed pipes.
Those suckers went straight to the recycling bin.