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Old 11-06-2019, 04:18 AM
RedArrow RedArrow is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: New York
Vehicle: 1986 Volvo 745 TD
Posts: 900
Default GASKET topic, manifolds, egr, broken exhaust studs

I had to take off both manifolds due to extreme exhaust leaks at the area under the egr.

I have a double layer stainless steel new gasket for the lower joint where the egr connects to the exhaust manifold.

I have the same size gaskets for the other egr pipe connections too

Gaskets i couldnt locate are:

Uppermost intake gasket where the actual intake connects to a pipe that runs to turbo area. The pipe is secured by 3 fasteners and i found a thin broken gasket there...it used to leak some oil and stain the area but i cant find this gasket new. anyone knows part numbers?

There is another gasket, probably, at the exhaust manifold's lowest connection to the area "behind" the turbo unit.
It is a square-ish rectangular piping area and there are 4 studs and nuts for the joint. I have (seen) no gasket in there. Iassume there should be a metal gasket between these surfaces. Am i wrong? I found nothing but there might have been a gasket there earlier, i can see a little discoloration indicating there might be a gasket necessary there. I had no leaks without it but still Id like to know.

I am obviously not reusing the intake manifold gasket and not reusing the exhaust manifold gaskets either. (I mean the ones at the cylinder head) and i will use 12 new nuts for exhaust. Luckily the heat washers didnt get lost.
The manifolds have been removed and painted about 2.5-3 y ago and I made sure all torques did not exceed the greenbook values. Despite this or because of it, Yesterday i found multiple exh manifold nuts loose basically fingertight. I said what the hell Is that normal? Unacceptable
Still. No leaks at exh manifold at the head. My exhaust leaks were at the joint of the exh manifold....at the egr unit joint.

I had a multiple hr rusty nightmare replacing the studs that badly broke into the exh manifold.
Also I noticed that my exh manifold has a small crack across the lower lip of the round hole where the egr mushroom connects. Something to be concerned about? If there is an exh manifold available in the usa, think of me, please. The crack is small and time will tell what happens.

This egr unit btw is an idiot design and such a bad configuration to work around. Im thinking of blockoff plate and call it a day. Also thought of getting the whole egr hole welded shut on the exhaust manifold but I prefer reversible mods on this car. Welding the egr hole would solve the leak, delete the gasket issues forever etc... a securing inner weld would fix the crack too. For now Im thinking of the block off plates as temp solution. In that case, is there a unit that would replace the piping that is right below the intake? Maybe other vw models had the same unit without the egr junction.? Any info on that? Would be nicer and cleaner looking, better than blocking off egr at two places. If the intaje connected straight to the turbo that would be much nicer looking instead of having that egr leftover plus the blocking plate on it.

What are the disadvantages off egr blockoff plates, if any? Im in the NY area, cold Winters up in the north usa.

Became a lengthy thread, as always...same with every repair of this brick. Every project creates the next...chain reaction. The downpipe 4 bolts are stripped too...you know what's next....

Last edited by RedArrow; 11-06-2019 at 05:02 AM.
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