Gauge question...

[Huskerman]

I have a gauge question. A couple of weeks ago I was at a buddies house as he was installing his Pyro. He was drilling a hole in the manifold. Isn't that pretty risky in terms of shavings winding up somewhere they shouldn't be?



As you can tell, I haven't done all the much engine work so pardon the noob question. Also, is it safe to assume that installing a pyro at the manifold is going to cause me warranty problems? Thanks in advance.



Huskerman

 

[JHardwick]

Just drill it and tap it.



This subject brings lots of ... ..... "take the turbo off" ... ..... "tape up the exhaust and leave the engine running" ... ... ... ... . "use magnets" ... ... ... . "use grease" ... ... ... . etc etc



The fact of the matter is 95% of the drilling is gonna produce chips that fall to the ground ... ... ... . not inside the exhaust. A little grease on the tap will keep 95% of those chips on the tap and not in the exhaust.



The 5% of cast iron shavings in the exhaust will blow by the turbo before it ever really starts to spool.



And if you wanted to, since cast iron is so brittle and dusty, take a few chips and put them through a turbo at full RPM with no damage. Talk to the guys who have wrenched on turbo diesels all their lives, see what they have seen injested by a turbo, LOL.

 

[Huskerman]

Thanks for the quick response J. Being over here in Malaysia on business means that while most of you folks in the States are sleeping, I am trolling these forums!!



Now the only question I have left is what about DCX and my warranty? Will they give me a hard time? My guess would be that if I were to have problems with the motor they would try and figure out a way to blame my drilling on the manifold. Just a guess though.



Huskerman

 

[BTighe]

they should appriciate you monituring your engine. might save them some warrenty work. i used grease on the tap and cleaned it every few turns. then i got out the vacume and tried to suck out some of the chips. finally i took a small magnet and moved it around inside till it came out clean. anything left can go through the turbo. i was told by my uncle(diesel tech-25yrs)that i should drill and tap while the manifold was cold because of the heat causing the metal to expand and contract. i dont think it would move enough to hurt but whats a little insurance worth. good luck

 

[JHardwick]

Now the only question I have left is what about DCX and my warranty? Will they give me a hard time? My guess would be that if I were to have problems with the motor they would try and figure out a way to blame my drilling on the manifold. Just a guess though.



Huskerman

Not likely. How can they claim a drilled hole in the exhaust caused a piston to fail?



If you were to have a turbo to fail, and a drilled exhaust ... . they could try to mess with you. But, what does cooked bearings and an ate up housing have to do with drilling and tapping a hole upstream from a turbo?



Show me dinged, twisted and bent up vanes :-laf

 

[JHardwick]

i was told by my uncle(diesel tech-25yrs)that i should drill and tap while the manifold was cold because of the heat causing the metal to expand and contract. i dont think it would move enough to hurt but whats a little insurance worth. good luck

wives tale



cast iron moves very little, has a very low coefficient of expansion, thats why it's used in engine blocks, machine bases, etc etc



I have even tried to shrink it in nitrogen for a bushing ... ... ... . I got a few tenths, LOL.

 

[SRadke]

Cast iron has a CTE (coeficient of thermal expansion) very close to that of steel. Gray cast is 6-6. 7 ppm/°C. Steel ranges from 5-6. 7 ppm/°C depending on the alloy.



-Scott

 

[Huskerman]

Just bumping this to see if anybody has had an experience where DCX tried to void the warranty due to a gauge install. Thanks in advance!!



Huskerman

 

[JHardwick]

Cast iron has a CTE (coeficient of thermal expansion) very close to that of steel. Gray cast is 6-6. 7 ppm/°C. Steel ranges from 5-6. 7 ppm/°C depending on the alloy.



-Scott

hmmmmmm, I'll have to look into this. I've machined steel, cast iron, brass, bronze, aluminum, copper, stainless, waspaloy, hastaloy, inconel, titanium, stellite ... ... ..... you get the point.



Machining any of these in a flooded coolant environment is pretty stable. But on a manual machine where you are only using a bit of cutting oil can generate heat and messes with measurments drastically. Cast iron has always been the most stable (grey iron, not ductile iron).



Grey cast iron is used on machine bases, machine ways, machine tables, cheap surface plates (as opposed to granite), engine blocks etc etc ... ... . most anything that has to be accurate and see varied temperature swings.



There is a reason that cast iron is still around after all these years of alloys, and of my 20 years in machining, I'm sure it's because of it's stability.

 

[SRadke]

The carbon in cast iron acts as a lubricant of sorts in the machining process. It shouldn't get as hot during the same machining process as a similar piece of steel. I don't claim to know much about machining but I do have a metallurgy degree and currently work for a company that does CTE testing.



They use cast iron in machine bases and engine blocks because it's easy and cheap to cast. It wasn't until the 60's that they really figured out how to cast steel, it doesn't flow as good in the molds. Cast steel parts are also much easier to repair.



-Scott

 

[JHardwick]

Cast steel parts are also much easier to repair.



-Scott

Not near as easy to machine as iron :-laf



The hard, carbon concentrated, irregular surface is a nightmare to break through :-laf



I ran a machine shop in an iron foundry (grey, ductile) for a few years, I know some about the casting process and we had a lab too.



You are obviously more verse in metrology, but to me as a machinist, iron has always seemed more stable.

 

[Huskerman]

Well, as interesting as all the metal talk is, going back to the gauge talk. I have decided to go with the new ISSPRO gauges that match our interior gauges and I am going to mount them in the cubby underneath the temperature controls. Still a little nervous about the Pyro mount so I am going to call my dealer and see what he says. I might even have them do the Pryo mount part just to CYA.



Huskerman

 

[Fireman]

Huskerman,



Don't sweat it ! Just do it, it'll be OK. Yes, it'll make you nervous the first time, but it'll be OK. Just go slow.



Fireman

 

[SRadke]

Not near as easy to machine as iron :-laf



The hard, carbon concentrated, irregular surface is a nightmare to break through :-laf

From a machineing view yes, I was looking at it from a welding standpoint and cast iron is just a PITA. One thing is for certain, cast iron still has it's applications.



Huskerman, don't sweat it, do it. You shouldn't have any probs and if you do, come back and ask us. We're here to help



-Scott