Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) BD Twin Turbo Leak

[JohnBoy5]

Ok so heres the scoop. I have the tow twin on my truck and have been fighting an exhaust leak on the flange of the top turbo going to the hot pipe. I contacted bd about this. they said try greas and let it get hot and bake in, then red rtv, then take it all off to a machine shop and have it flattend. I tried all of this with no luck. i even bought a $60 clamp the put on the turbos of air planes that is way stronger then the one bd sends. Still leaking under boost. I feel like BD pretty much gave up on a solution to help me. The answers i started getting were we dont have problems with that leaking. This is just me thinking out loud here. a flange with only 2 flat serfaces seems like an ideal splace to leak with such a small clamp and the amount of drive pressure and heat generated under boost. he leak has made a massive mess out of my truck more then one time. But i am here to tell you after about 6 to 8 months of trying stuff and to the point of just welding it i think i have found a solution! I bought a 3. 5 inch colector gasket and used gasket glue on the top turbo housing and put the gasket on and centeres it all up and let the weigh of the turbo set on the gastet for abour 2 hrs to dry good enough for me to trim the gasket. when i trimed the gasket i made sure to leave some protuding tot he out side so the clamp coudl hopfully stop it from being pushed out. i then put gasket glue on the hot pipe and put the exhause housing in plance and the clamp on. let that try while i figure the restof the install out. it seems to be holding very very well. If any of you with twin turbos have had a problem please post what they were here and the soltuion you found if you have found one. i have look on many forums for ideas and people just dont seem to post on this issue too much. i did find one post but no solution. I hope this reaches someone that it can help!



Johnny

 

[WCPoe]

Thanks for the informative post

Johnny, thanks for taking the time to post a fix like this. This is what makes the TDR a great place.

I noticed in your signature that your truck is a 2WD and you have a number of mods that I have been interested in. I also realize yours is a second gen but I'm curious never the less.



---- Aside from the leak, how pleased are you with the overall performance/driveability of the BD towing twins?

---- Did you have the injectors before or after the twins install and how much smoke do they emit giving the twins ability to spool faster than a big single turbo?

---- And last, does the 2WD become a real problem when accelerating from a dead stop since the twins spool so quickly?



I had a big of single turbo, (I. I. 's Phat Shaft SPS66), which was somewhat slow to spool, smoked a bit too much with the fuel turned up, then hit about 20 psi and instantly went to 50 psi and broke the tires loose. It sometimes barked between shifts when driving moderately as well.



Although I loved the top end power of the big single turbo I eventually removed it as it wasn't the best for around town driving and now have the stock turbo back on which I know may be on borrowed time if I push it too much.



I originally ran a Edge Hot Juice module stacked with a Edge EZ but have primarily settled on my Smarty S06-POD for my fuel enhancements.



Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bill

 

[JohnBoy5]

Any time i know this issue have been beyond agervating for me and hope to save someone the struggle i had.



Other then the leak i LOVE THEM! truck EGTs run cooler and its a pulling son of a gun!!!



I put the inectors in when i put the twins on. I will say they smoke a small amount for the first few feet but it clears up quick. Its not enough to bother me.



I also have a detroit locker in the truck so if i am not doing a boosted launch i have no problems really. i keep pretty sticly tires on the truck so i guess it pulls hard rather then spin. if i used a cheap tire with hard rubber i am sure it would spin all the time. The thing to remember is 2wd or 4wd most of the time you will drive around in 2wd. I can get away with about a 5psi launch and not spin too much, i may have to peddle it a few times but over all i like the 2wd really good with the twins!



go for the twins you will love them!

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Make sure the hot pipe is well aligned (parallel and flush) with the turbo flange. If so, and you use never seez on the flanges of the clamp, there should be no problem.

 

[JohnBoy5]

it was and i tried that. around 50psi of boost i could hear it leaking. it was like a kid screaming under my hood. the gasket is still holding good. i can tell you this much. i can get those turbos off and back on faster then a nascar pit crew can change the tires LOL. I have done is quite a few times trying to fix this leak!

 

[JohnBoy5]

So after some time they started leaking again. I set out to try and solve this one time before i lite a match to the truck. This idea has not been on the truck long but i feel pretty good about this. I designed a new clam and used a copper gasket with a crush bead and 6 grade 8 bolts with 1/4 steel! i know it sounds like over kill but if the leak stops its all worth it.

Here is a link to see the clamp My Photos