borat52

REcently got my car on a rolling road and found my FMIC is leaking from all but one of the silicon joints. The boost is leaking out where the jubilee clamps have not sealed round the complete circle, I put mikalors on to try to solve this but in doing so have overtightened them and now made the problem worse by making the pipes slightly oval instead of round.

I'm getting close to the point with this car where I'm just going to put the top mount back on and be done with it but before I do are there any products that I could use to help seal the joints? I was thinking of using some silicon sealant on the pipe then putting the hose on and tightening the jubilee, or maybe nomorenails - would either of these have a chance of sealing it.

I really can't believe how people get their front mounts on without leaks, I thought I had one leak but finding out that all but one of the joints were leaking has left me scratching my head as to how others get a decent seal.
Should have gone to scoobyclinic in the first place!

Ian

iTrader: (10)

when you do the mikalors up, make sure the little slidy bit of the clamp is all the way over. i have had leaks with mine, just played around with the clamps until they had a good seal.

look in the projects section for KIPS fmic fitting guide as i think he covered the clamps on this.

scoobysmiff

iTrader: (2)

Silicon sealant will do it, bathroom/general type would suffice i would have thought. wouldn't want to be the chap to take the pipes off after you have gunged everywhere though and i deffo wouldn't put no more nails on them, they will be on there forever!

borat52

Silicon sealant it is then. With any luck the damned thing will not be coming back off!

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

once done can you post to se if it worked as I am having similar issues with mine.

silent running

Seems odd. I've rarely had any problems with even cheapo jubilee clips. My Autobahn 88 FMIC is running perfectly at 1.45 bar, no leaks and the standard jubilee clips that came with it as well, no fancy Mikalor (or my preferred brand, JCS Hi-Grip stainless). The FMIC outlet blew off once but I didn't have it on straight, so I just put it back right, no problem.

One thing I learnt myself is that hand-tight is enough for doing up jubilee clips, whatever the boost pressure.

johnnyroper

same here i have got autobahn88 with the cheap supplied jubilee and have had no probs as yet,although i have got some mikalor ready to go on when can be arsed

borat52

If you have had no problems then dont go near it with the mikalors, it is possible to overtighten them easily and cause the pipework to become off round.

Just for reference, mine was making full boost at 1.2bar even with 5 joints leaking, but the problem was how the boost came in, the car was not making any torque low down in the rev range and it was like the boost was coming on through an elastic band attatched to the accelerator, ie put foot down and it literally takes about 3 seconds for the boost to come in when low in the rev range. I think a lot of people mistake this for simply 'extra lag' from the FMIC. There should be very minimal lag with a FMIC if its properly sealed. If it works I will post on here.

I dont think its good for the turbo either, a turbo is pretty formidable at moving lots of air so even with a leak in the system it can overcome the air thats leaking out and make boost given enough rpm to drive it, however it really is having to work extra hard as to maintain a certain boost pressure it not only has to push all of the air the engine needs but also has to push all of the air thats leaking, I'm having a guess here but it makes sense that as you are working harder its possibly becoming very inneficient and blowing a lot of very hot air. Hopefully someone with a much better understanding of turbo's than I can come and either confirm this or say that it is not so.

silent running

Interesting...so how did you know that you had 5 boost leaks?

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

it was checked out on a rolling road

500

spray hairspray on the inside or the silicone pipes, I wouldn't recommend silicone, just in case you put too much on and it makes it's way inside the engine

silent running

Oh I see, I was thinking it would be tricky to track down whilst driving!

911

500 is dead right!
My Hybrid is hitting 1.6 bar for 2 years no probs.

1
Clean and gently rough with 400 wet-or-dry all the metal tubes to key the surfaces where the silicon tubes will fit. Clean them with thinners, nothing else.
2
Clean the inside of the silicon pipes with thinners where the tubes will reach.
Clean with thinners the inside faces of the pipe clips.
3
Get some hair spray from Woolies or if you get embarrassed, your wife girfriend.
4
liberally spray the tube with spray and get the pipe on in place asap, followed by the clamp and tighten reasonably.
Leave to dry for a few days and the system will be leak tight.
I found it good to mark with black indelible marker pen where the tube are so you can see if any of them are creeping out. Non of mine are.

The joints can be 'broken' easy after drying and re-made.

This tip came to me via David at API Engines.(old rally trick apparently)

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

I recommend: Harmony firm hold 'springtime lavender'

Seriously, this trick works providing all surfaces are dry and free of oil residue.

David APi

911

Should have added that the spray gives great lubrication when installing and the pipes s l i d e all the way on then as the solvent (or the stinky smell that David likes...) it fill all the small scratches and locks everything in place a treat.
Just don't hang about when doing them or you have to respray all over again.

borat52

Superb tip, have gone to town with the silicon now (being as careful as possible not to overdo it) but will definately use the method described next time.

Far more helpful than Powerstation at Tewksbury, I took it to them to see how bad the leak was and they charged me £130 to tell me it was leaking in all but one joint due to overtightening and they had replaced the mikalors with jubilee clips but did not guarantee this had fixed it (it had not fixed it).
I know it is a right pain in the rear when someone like me comes in saying 'I've messed this up please fix it' but I don't like feeling as though I've been ripped off and left with the problem remaining.
Not the first time I have been dissapointed by their work and in my opinion very high prices, will not be going back there again which is a pain as they are very local to me.

If all goes to plan may have to make my way up to API for a 6-speeder before the year is out, will speak to you when funds permit David.