Header/Exhaust Manifold issues...

[lswing]

So I got my stocks ceramic coated inside and out. Problem is when they sand blasted the inside for prep, some crack/seal/bond of the internal metal lining allowed sand in. Now the shit keeps coming out of the manifold, not what you want feeding into a turbo. They are redoing the coat job and cleaning up, but think the sand will keep coming out, might take days of banging on, who knows...

So, I might get new aftermarket manifolds so I don't have to worry about a turbo being toasted and costing me $4k.

Thoughts?

[alrightroad]

Bummer. Yeah, even a few grains of sand coming out of there and hitting the impeller wheel could damage it. I would purchase new ones just to be absolutely safe. You never know if there might be a clump of sand up in there with coating on it and over time it could break down and then those grains would eventually come out. You could bang around for days and still might not get it all out. My 2 cents.

[lswing]

Unfortunately thinking the same. I think Speedtrapped mentioned a brand of aftermarket headers. Stock ones are spendy enough. Contacted MTM Canada and they just carry stock...

I suppose the grit blasting material is finer than sand, but its a damn tough powder. I would recommend that nobody does this. The shop that did mine has done some before, but there is clearly a possibility of it going wrong. Even a nice coat on the outside would be better than nothing.

[lswing]

Spendy....each....maybe I'll just clean mine all week....

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="right">077253033AA </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Part Name</td> <td align="right">MANIFOLD </td> </tr> <tr> <td>MSRP</td> <td align="right">$1,130.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Core</td> <td align="right">$0.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Online Price</td> <td align="right">$910.78</td></tr></tbody></table>

[lswing]

Luckily Shokan has then for $485 each, a few sets, off of engines with 30k or less miles, said they look nice and clean. How come everything I do on the car costs $1k....ah well....

[speedtrapped]

spend the cheese....MRC tuning makes custom headers for the RS6......might as well, ;)

[speedtrapped]

or better yet, if your not in rush....i can remove my manifolds off my xtra engine(was planning on doing headers way down road.) they have 70k miles on them. 1) I could remove by sunday, but shipping might take a week....2) I would have to remove and see condition and photograph for u. I would sell them for $600 set. + shipping

[lswing]

Thanks for the info on MRC and offer ST! Not sure what my plan of attack is, but thanks for the offer. Looks like the MRC's are a bit over $2k and ship from the other side of the pond....

[speedtrapped]

I think if your plans are to force more air in, bigger turbo's then the MRC's are worth it, I never did discuss with them, as in how much lower end is given up for top end(but maybe they optimized cams/turbos for torque loss) then they are worth it.

[hahnmgh63]

How did the sand get in there? Mine didn't have a drop of sand when I got them back? Is the sand actually coming out of the exhaust ports or just out of the heat shielding as they have the surrounding heat shield for a insulating air gap. The header portion should be completely sealed with just the chamber from the Turbo to the 4 exhaust ports?

[lswing]

I'll inspect closer when I get them back next week. The sand seemed to be coming out of every area. I didn't notice the internal separation of the heat shields at all, looking in it seemed to be one piece. They told me they think somewhere inside there is a crack or bad weld of the internal heat shield, and the blasting debris/sand is stacked up in there.

It's a fine dust, but I do worry about even a trapped piece coming loose with some coating and hitting the impeller while it's spinning....hmmm......crap!

[kevin]

bummer for sure... glad I decided to leave mine alone. MRC does have some tasty looking headers and turbos but not visiting that until the next engine pull down the road.

[hahnmgh63]

If you have a crack in the header exhaust manifold portion then your bound to have worse problems in the future. If it is just sand in the insulationg portion surrrounding the header then it is no big deal. Inspect down the recessed manifold bolt holes and see if the tubes there have a crack or bad weld in the insulating portion. If your header itself has a crack then it needs to be replaced, if so you will be the second one on the list here that had a manifold go bad, not a bad percentage but unlucky for anyone having to replace them.

[SFJ_RS6]

Don't remember if you said your going catless or not. But if you're keeping cats, in addition to worrying about the turbo turbine wheel another consider is sand plugging up the cats. What a bummer this happened!!

[Olsoff]

Looks like I'm one of the "unlucky percentage" who have a manifold go bad. After days of incorrect diagnosis, Audi eventually diagnosed my major loss of power problem, low boost pressure/failed turbo charger. After booking my car in with an RS6 specialist in Manchester (UK) and speaking to him, he reckons in his experience I'll find debris from a failed manifold has damaged/seized the T/charger. Therefore only proper job is to replace both manifolds and turbo's, basically no change of 6000 pounds ($9500). I'm hoping that due to my bad luck with this I might be one of the few who don't get transmission problems?.......

[MaxRS6]

^I feel ya pain-

http://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/22974-Exhaust-Manifold-Question?highlight=manifold

Welcome aboard the..

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz195/MaxRS6/Ozzy%20at%20Emerald/CrazyTrainPoster1.jpg?

[MaxRS6]

Bummer. Yeah, even a few grains of sand coming out of there and hitting the impeller wheel could damage it. I would purchase new ones just to be absolutely safe. You never know if there might be a clump of sand up in there with coating on it and over time it could break down and then those grains would eventually come out. You could bang around for days and still might not get it all out. My 2 cents.

+1........

[lswing]

Looks like I'm one of the "unlucky percentage" who have a manifold go bad. After days of incorrect diagnosis, Audi eventually diagnosed my major loss of power problem, low boost pressure/failed turbo charger. After booking my car in with an RS6 specialist in Manchester (UK) and speaking to him, he reckons in his experience I'll find debris from a failed manifold has damaged/seized the T/charger. Therefore only proper job is to replace both manifolds and turbo's, basically no change of 6000 pounds ($9500). I'm hoping that due to my bad luck with this I might be one of the few who don't get transmission problems?.......

They are charging way too much. The new manifolds are $2k, new turbos $3.5k, labor should be around $2k....or you could do what I did.

Used headers from Shokan (they have another set) with 30k on them for $900, rebuilt turbos for $1300, labor $2k....roughly, add in some shipping and other costs, but it shouldn't be the $9,500 quoted.

Edit, I think I even saw a pair of new K04's on sale for $2k, maybe it was one and I'm wrong...

[lswing]

+1........

Max, I tossed those manifolds with the sand blasting material stuck in them in the trash, plus they had 90k on them, and that pic of your degraded manifold at 120k is burned into my mind...

[Olsoff]

They are charging way too much. The new manifolds are $2k, new turbos $3.5k, labor should be around $2k....or you could do what I did.

Used headers from Shokan (they have another set) with 30k on them for $900, rebuilt turbos for $1300, labor $2k....roughly, add in some shipping and other costs, but it shouldn't be the $9,500 quoted.

Edit, I think I even saw a pair of new K04's on sale for $2k, maybe it was one and I'm wrong...


My price does seem a bit steep compared to your figures, possibly on a re-calculation it's nearer $8500? However I want it done as soon as poss, and these guys are meant to be the best recommended, I'll hope the higher price is paying for premium workmanship/knowledge!?
They did offer me used manifolds from a RS6 Plus engine with 30,000 miles but I want piece of mind that hopefully I'll never have to go through this again?...

[lswing]

I hear ya, they might be marking up the parts some and labor is a bitch, I could see it going that high. There are some great options on the turbo rebuilds though. And not sure on the manifolds versus quality issue, if it's the workmanship or if they all burn up at 120-150k...also hotter engine with upped boost will increase the wear...if you have the money drop $3-4k on some custom manifolds that will never peal off on the inside, plus better flow.

[Olsoff]

I'm not to clued up with any specific tuning upgrades, to be honest with the reputation of the transmissions on these I'll only go for more BHP after a transmission/torque converter upgrade, and that will only be if/when it fails. With all the small problems I've had and now this big one all in 10,000miles, I'll be pleased just to get 1-2 years trouble free; but maybe that's expecting too much, super-car threshold performance with the wife/kids and dog on board must come with a price!....

[Amulet-S6]

Stratmosphere has downpipes for our RS. ~$2000 if I remember correctly. (...I got bit by the mod bug)

[Amulet-S6]

Apparently, my memory is shot also, $3990 http://www.stratmosphere.com/product/638/337

[hahnmgh63]

You can get the Downpipes from Unit 20 (Milltek Catless) delivered stateside for around $1100 +/- few dollars depending on the exchange rate.