Alright, the title says it all. I installed mine about a year ago, and everything was kosher until I went offroading. I somehow knocked it loose. I replaced the gaskets, followed the vishnu instructions for putting it back on, and not more than a month later I'm seeing the drop in boost, and hearing the sound that indicates an uppipe leak.

Looking for some suggestions to get it on again, this time with no probs and no leaks again. I haven't been driving hard lately, so this time it came off with normal driving habits.

This may be due to my E-bay uppipe, and if so, I'll go ahead and get a different one.

-Thanks

 

I almost got an eBay uppipe. Now I'm really glad I didn't...

 

get a flex up pipe

 

I would get a flex also. In fact, i am getting a flex soon.

 

Looks like the flex may be the answer. I'm going to try this one once more, and if not, then the flex. Helix? Other flex UP's? I would like to stick with a solid UP for performance' sake.

Can anyone tell me how insignificant the performance difference is between the flex and the solid UP's?
Thanks

 

The Helix has gotten rave reviews. I don't think there is any difference in performance between a solid and a flex, but I'm not certain...

 

gut a stocker.

fits like only oem can!

if you're so inclined, spend the money for the sti.

jm2c
ken

 

I agree that the Helix is good. Have had mine on my car for 9 months now.

Make sure you are torquing your fasteners to factory settings. Too lite and they'll vibrate themeselves loose. It's always good to lubricate the threads with grease or wax before securing so that you aren't getting superficial torque loads from thread resistance.

 

If you know anything about fasteners and torque settings, you'll always see reference to the use of wax for torque-sensitive fixturing. It also depends on the class of thread and it's tolerance. We use wax on our fasteners regularly here at work (in very high-vibration applications) and have never had issues with screws backing off once they are torqued properly. I have also substituted grease as well. The wax prevents the surfaces from spalling inside the female thread and increasing resistance to free threading.

Anti-seize is good for dissimilar metals in reducing galvanic corrosion (i.e. steel manifold bolt into an aluminum block). It also is advantageous at elevated temps where fasteners under high torque can fuse to their female threads. It also has a lubricating affect and will work well to ensure you are dialing in the correct torque.

-Steve

 

Update,

I went to get some gas in my car (holy shnikes! IT's been awhile since I saw these prices) and I got good stuff (BP 93). All of the sudden I am getting good boost again. It seems that last time I put military post gas in my car and it was bad. After about ten miles of new gas I had good boost settings again. There may be a small leak, but no where near the problems I had before.

Pretty sure the gas I got was bad enough to cause Det and the ECU was cutting boost at high RPM due to Det. Still in the market for an uppipe, but not for quite some time.

Thanks for all the input.