cracked exhaust manifold

[cafa]

Hi Guy's
I need some help,my T5 2006 multivan has cracked the exhaust manifold , I have purchased a cast replacement from the UK and it is supposed to fit all axe engines ..but the turbo will not fit back in...has anyone replaced their manifold with one of these cast UK manifolds.I am thinking that maybe in OZ we have different size Turbo's ,,,not sure .
The manufacturer saye he has sold over 1000 world wide with no problems......WTF
can anyone shed some light ...please
marc

[Sunny43.5]

There is a thread on the forum somewhere where some of the guys have just had them re welded , saves some money I suppose .

[cafa]

Yea I have read that ,but have been advised against that apparently it will only last about 40000ks and the weld can crack and bits end up in turbo.
what really gets me is that ..it is a VW problem they changed the manifold to a cast on in 2007
and if you contact any VW dealer they all have them in stock at $1100.....what a joke and when you ask them they say they have never heard of any issues with them.....WTF

[Rebuild]

Is the turbo physically incompatible with the manifold, or is it just fitting is awkward?

there is this,
Turbo squeal Cure! - The Brick-yard - Page 1 (http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/turbo-squeal-cure_topic57276.html)

and near the bottom
"I came slightly unstuck by refitting the manifold first enjoying the nice easy access to the bolts. Embarrassed I had to take if off again because the turbo can't be fitted with manifold bolted up. But then you can't get the manifold in if you fit the turbo first. So sit the turbo (with its aluminium seal clipped in place on the bottom of turbo) on its three hole bracket but don't fit the bolts. Lay the turbo back slightly.
Fiddle the manifold in and bolt it up. Check the aligning of the ally seal and bolt the turbo in place."

There is this too, which may give some hints
How to remove turbo and dpf on 2.5 BNZ 130 - The Brick-yard - Page 1 (http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/how-to-remove-turbo-and-dpf-on-25-bnz-130_topic70784.html)

[Sunny43.5]

Makes you wonder if the designers of these ever bothered to do a repair themselves in situ , so many examples of awkward placement of parts that will at some time need replacing in cars today . If you followed the manufacturers recommendations it probably tells you to remove the engine to do the job , yeah like who is going to spend that time and money for a replacement part that should be accessible in the first place .

[Umai Naa!!]

I've repaired a few of them, with no issues so far.

You can't re-weld them insitu, but even off the car, you need to make sure you clean any slag out of the runners, prior to re-installing.

As for the OP's issues, even the factory manifold needs to be installed loosely in some cases.

[Sunny43.5]

I didn't mean to actually weld it in place but I am sure you have encountered many times parts where placement is the pits to remove because of surrounding bits and pieces .

[cafa]

Hi Guy's
Thanks for the replies ,the manifold is from the UK I bought it off ebay from Kamil Rominski and I have spoken to him and he said he has sold over 1000 of them world wide but not to Australia and maybe we have a bigger turbo ..he is going to do some research..
but I think the only way will be to grind the bottom of the manifold to maybe give some room.
has anyone in OZ ever replaced their manifold with one of these cast ones...I spent hours yesterday with the mechanic who is fitting it and it looks nearly impossible. If you bolt he manifold up tight to the engine the turbo wont fit and if you loosen the manifold and lift it up you can get turbo in but you cant tighten two of the bottom manifold bolts.....
this is crazy surely someone has done this before because all of them will do it...shame on VW it is their problem as of 2007 they changed the manifold to a cast one......

[Umai Naa!!]

Turbo will be physically the same size across all respective engine codes for that engine type.

There are two nuts between the turbo and manifold that are tricky to access at the best of times, even with the standard manifold, however not impossible. I suspect that thecast manifold may be larger in size around that area, further hindering access to the nuts.

While the cast manifold on the later engines wasn't prone to cracking, the nuts were often under-torqued, resulting in exhaust leaks and blown manifold gaskets. Also, the EGR pipes on the later motor were prone to cracking as well.

[cafa]

Thanks, yea cast is fatter than standard manifold,have you ever fitted one of these..the guy who is doing mine is having trouble and recons will have to grind bottom of manifold where it sits on top of turbo...could you give some ideas Marc

[Umai Naa!!]

I've seen one, but I've never fitted one.

[cafa]

Hi
We are going to try to modify today ,rang Kamil in the UK and he can't understand why it wont fit ....says has sold over 1000 in UK with no issue ...WTF.

[Transporter]

Hi
We are going to try to modify today ,rang Kamil in the UK and he can't understand why it wont fit ....says has sold over 1000 in UK with no issue ...WTF.


I'm not trying to offend or something but...
Could it be that your mechanic is lacking the skills/experience ? Not everything is always super easy, direct bolt off/on job. :cool:

[cafa]

well the jury is out considering their verdict will have an idea tomorrow,......you could be right......but I hope not........

[cafa]

well today after many hours and of frustration let me tell you this cast manifold will not fit the AXE engine....all fitting instructions were followed and it is bull**** it will not fit..after much grinding it still will not fit ..I want to talk to anyone who has actually fitted one of these manifolds to an AXE motor....not much is impossible but THIS IS...the manufacturer said it was 5mm thick so could grind a little off....well it now has hole in it with stuff all ground off.....now I have the dilemma of either welding old manifold or spending $1100 on a new genuine manifold that ill stuff up in no time..why the Fxxck does anyone buy a VW

[Umai Naa!!]

Where is it fouling exactly?

I'm doing a gasket job on one at the moment, so everything is relatively fresh in my mind.

Is this a Darkside manifold?

They list two different ones for early and late T5s with the 2.5 motor.

They also state that there may be clearance issues with the turbo used on the AXE motors, which I find a little odd, as they're the same manifold as far as stock ones go.

[cafa]

Hi
with the manifold loose on studs you can lift it up and just get turbo into position without the turbo gasket and then when you try to tighten the manifold it is hard up against the top of turbo.
we ground a little off the turbo and it still did not fit so then I asked Kamil Rominski if manifold could be ground a little underneath where there are two cutouts for turbo to fit into and he said that manifold is about 5mm thick , so we ground about 1-2mm of that area and it burnt a hole in manifold...so now it is stuffed ..
I now have to either weld old one or get overpriced genuine that will do the same in time.
This manifold is not a Darkside developments one it is from ebay seller is Pegasus Motorsports Kamil Rominski and the pictures of his manifold and darkside look the same.
I AM OVER ALL OF THIS so much time has been wasted at great expense....VW have many genuine maniofolds in stock and do Know of the problem yet they did not rectify the manifold and still sell the same part with no mods that will fail again...really it makes you wonder why anyone would buy a Volkswagon...I will never do it again..

[Umai Naa!!]

I can totally understand your frustration.

I would repair the old one, to be honest. Make sure it is cleaned out of any loose material internally, and replace the gaskets.

[cafa]

Old manifold is welded and bolted up...nearly finished ..only exhaust to go on but will have to wait till Monday my mechanic is as sick of it as I am.....what a NIGHTMARE..

[Sunny43.5]

I can understand you anger and you may recall I was the first to suggest welding the old one up , it has been done many times here and overseas . I suppose between finding the cracks you must have ordered one first and then did the research to see the options . Hindsight is a wonderful thing ask some questions first before diving in with the sharks .
Look I am so glad to hear you have at least got the manifold back and working , I to have been down on VW for some unbelievable technological issues but I do love our VW vans and finally I have learnt to ask loads of questions before parting with my hard earned money . If I did know what I know now I would not have been out of pocket to the tune of $8500 some years back .

[cafa]

yes, thank you ..I do love the multivan..I just wish that VW would take some responsibility and fess up to there poor design....but I will not give up I am in for the long haul..
thanks again

[Sunny43.5]

VW will never fess up to anything unless forced like the Diesel gate scandal , I found that out some years back I highlighted a fault with evidence and they still denied responsibility . Best to move on and like I said ask first before giving yourself a heart attack .PS it did take me while to get over my own personal thing with them .

[cafa]

yes I am beginning to understand and accept the things that I can not change...and VW are too big to take on ....I have considered selling the Multivan over the past couple of years but find I still have it .....other than the Auto transmissions and the exhaust manifold it hopefully will last many more years and if the weld job stuffs up I recon I will replace with an AG manifold they look the goods

[Scouser]

I had a Darkside cast manifold fitted to my 2005 2.5 turbo diesel with no problems 3 months ago. It took my mechanic a day to do the whole job, remove old one and fit the cast one.
If they are the same manifold I would look at changing mechanics...!
Dave

[Doobie120]

I had a Darkside cast manifold fitted to my 2005 2.5 turbo diesel with no problems 3 months ago. It took my mechanic a day to do the whole job, remove old one and fit the cast one.
If they are the same manifold I would look at changing mechanics...!
Dave
Hi from the UK, I have a 05 2.5, and for the last 3 weeks been trying to fit a Darkside manifold. We followed their instructions and still the manifold would not fit. After a few phone calls, they admitted it will need grinding, I told them if it needs grinding any don't they do it before selling them.
I got a refund.
Now waiting for VW to send aOEM manifold.

[Doobie120]

Hi from the UK, I have a 05 2.5, and for the last 3 weeks been trying to fit a Darkside manifold. We followed their instructions and still the manifold would not fit. After a few phone calls, they admitted it will need grinding, I told them if it needs grinding any don't they do it before selling them.
I got a refund.
Now waiting for VW to send aOEM manifold.
I Should have bought a Ford Transit

[Transporter]

I Should have bought a Ford Transit

It’s never too late. You can sell the T5 and get the Transit. Though, I think you’d have much more troubles with 14year old Transit than with the T5.