Question for those who have repaired exhaust manifolds

[TerrorBytes]

This is a question for those who have experience welding the exhaust manifolds on a turbo.

I’m in the middle of a major service and when I removed the exhaust manifold the flange completely fell off, it was a very clean break that fit together like a puzzle piece, you couldn’t even tell it was broken off when you put the 2 pieces together.

I had a shop weld the flange back on but wanted to get some opinions on whether these welds look like an acceptable repair or if I shouldn’t even waste my time putting these back on?

Link to photos:

[Tom]

This is a question for those who have experience welding the exhaust manifolds on a turbo.

I’m in the middle of a major service and when I removed the exhaust manifold the flange completely fell off, it was a very clean break that fit together like a puzzle piece, you couldn’t even tell it was broken off when you put the 2 pieces together.

I had a shop weld the flange back on but wanted to get some opinions on whether these welds look like an acceptable repair or if I shouldn’t even waste my time putting these back on?

Did you mean to post a picture?

[TerrorBytes]

This is a question for those who have experience welding the exhaust manifolds on a turbo.

I’m in the middle of a major service and when I removed the exhaust manifold the flange completely fell off, it was a very clean break that fit together like a puzzle piece, you couldn’t even tell it was broken off when you put the 2 pieces together.

I had a shop weld the flange back on but wanted to get some opinions on whether these welds look like an acceptable repair or if I shouldn’t even waste my time putting these back on?

Did you mean to post a picture?

Weird, I selected pictures to upload but appears to not have gone through I’ll try again

[Tom]

This is a question for those who have experience welding the exhaust manifolds on a turbo.

I’m in the middle of a major service and when I removed the exhaust manifold the flange completely fell off, it was a very clean break that fit together like a puzzle piece, you couldn’t even tell it was broken off when you put the 2 pieces together.

I had a shop weld the flange back on but wanted to get some opinions on whether these welds look like an acceptable repair or if I shouldn’t even waste my time putting these back on?

Did you mean to post a picture?

Weird, I selected pictures to upload but appears to not have gone through I’ll try again

Yeah, very weird -- I tried to check and saw a bunch of pics that were attached but weren't, and were not related to the post (medical, etc) so deleted. Keep me posted in case that's a migration glitch or something...

[TerrorBytes]

Did you mean to post a picture?

Weird, I selected pictures to upload but appears to not have gone through I’ll try again

Yeah, very weird -- I tried to check and saw a bunch of pics that were attached but weren't, and were not related to the post (medical, etc) so deleted. Keep me posted in case that's a migration glitch or something...

I think the photos are too big, I will upload them somewhere else and provide links

[TerrorBytes]

Post has been updated and corrected

[Tom]

The pic size limit, if memory serves, is 12 MB per pic. In the meantime, welding the factory headers is notoriously difficult to get right. They’re a high-nickel alloy, not ordinary mild or stainless steel, so a normal muffler-shop MIG or stick repair is much more likely to crack or fail prematurely. They really need to be TIG welded by someone experienced with nickel alloys, with a suitable filler rod and very clean prep. It’s close cousin territory to Inconel, so the welder needs to treat it like a nickel superalloy job, not a regular exhaust repair. That weld looks like TIG, so you might have a fighting chance, but it really comes down to whether the welder knew the material. If he thought it was typical stainless, those welds -- while good looking -- may not last as long as they should. You might just ask him what filler rod he used...

[walfreyydo]

I did a similar repair to my manifold where it cracked on the inside in the same place. I welded it myself with my little tig welder but when welding you need to know what grade stainless these are made from and use filler that matches or exceeds that grade. Im not a welding expert but I have read that if you use a lower grade filler, the repair can eventually crack again.

Adding to what Tom said above, I believe the tubular manifolds are made from 321(?) stainless so I believe you need to use filler that has the same or higher grade (I used er347 rod). Im not sure how much that matters but something to keep in mind whenever you take a something to get welded, make sure they understand what metal its made from and that they use the appropriate filler. Given where these are located right at the exhaust port, the heat (and expansion/contraction of dissimilar materials) is pretty intense at this spot, so this consideration is more critical than say lower down the exhaust system where heat is lower.

The repair looks pretty good otherwise! Run it and see what happens.

[t36]

would Inconel 112 be a suitable filler rod?

[Tom]

would Inconel 112 be a suitable filler rod?

Several credible reports suggest the metal is Incoloy 800 (or super close to it), made by the same people as Inconel, but not identical. They recommend Alloy 82 as the filler rod (AKA Inconel Filler Metal 82).

https://www.specialmetals.com/documents ... oy-800.pdf