Anyone have ideas or tricks to more easily locate exhaust leaks??

 

You have to be quick, but spraying the COLD exhaust with a soapy water solution works great.
You have to start with a cold car, jack it up and get everything ready.
Fire it up and have someone rev it slightly while you quickly spray the flanges and pipes
and mark or make a note of the bubbles.

 

On a cold car I just have someone start it while I'm underneath, and I pass my hands around all the joints to feel for hot exhaust gas. On a cold, idling car it's difficult to linger long enough to burn yourself.

Sam

 

Same as Sam. Exhaust leaks are usually more pronounced when everything is cold.

 

Use a shop vac exhaust to force air into the end of the tail pipe. Use some wet rags to help seal the tail pipe.

Once you have that running, you can use a spray bottle of soapy water to locate air leaks.

gb

 

I just do as Sam and Jeremy do,,,also just found one on my car. Luckily it tightened up no problem.

 

944Ecology, that is a great idea, I will try that!

Max

 

Same as Sam and Jeremy here. You have maybe 30 seconds (for each cold start) to find the leak. The effect will be enhanced if you partially block the exhaust.

 

Very cool, thanks guys. I am hoping this is the cause of my loss of about 2-3 psi of boost.

 

Yep, found some. Found a bunch of little ones!!

Used the leaf blower up the tailpipe with a rag wrapped around it and let her blow

Then sprayed with soapy water. Started blowing bubbles in several places, mostly around the wastegate area and crossover.

However, the bolts are as tight as I can get them and they are very small leaks, about 4-5 I guess. Now is this enough to loose 3 psi????

I can try some high temp sealer, but other than that I am not sure how to better seal the areas.

HELP?????

 

Moslty around the flanges, but not IN the flange area. So I don't think gaskets would help.

 

Unless your pipes are cracked, it can only be the flange seals - each of those has a crush ring that needs to be replaced (at no small cost) - did you replace them when you disassembled them? If not, that's why they're leaking.

Sam

 

Crap!!! No, I pulled the wastegate to put the GURU unit on about 1.5 years ago and no problem until now. Did not put new seals on. Any other way to seal it???

Also, would a few small leaks account for a 3 psi loss???

 

Yeah the seal rings are a friggin racket. Even the Victor-Reinz aftermarket ones are $12-17 bucks depending which one. Better than the dealer I guess, they want 39 bucks for one of em although I forget which particular one that is. I mean c'mon it's a steel stamping rolled over itself into a ring not a close tolerance machined piece made of something obnoxious like Inconel.

I'd say just suck it up and get new ones though. It's probably not enough to be the cause of your boost loss but it's definitely not helping either. Who wants to breathe exhaust anyway? You *might* be able to get away using some of the copper spray gasket stuff if you pulled it apart but I'd say just get a new ring at that point if you take it apart.

 

Gotcha.

ok, then where else could I be loosing the 3 psi??

Fyi, got good vac and did the wastegate test; i.e. unhooked at banjo and capped it off, and still only about 15psi. It makes 15 but also holds it, no roll off. And wastegate is a GURU unit which I know is fine.

So the boost loss has to be in the exhaust line/pipes right???