I think I can make my bay look clean with fire sleeves. I haven't done a search yet to where I can purchase some. Hopefully they have black.

 

I buy mine from aircraft spruce because I want real aeroquip fire sleeve, but any industrial or aeronautic aeroquip dealer should sell it.

 

Gawd I hate m.net for the exact type of crap that thread linked above devolved into.

Here is a loser using a blanket on their turbo:



That is the Audi that WON LEMANS in 2013.
It is a Honeywell (Garrett) turbo and is the 14th consecutive time that Honeywell (Garrett) has been on the winning car.
I guess they don't know anything.

Link to details:
http://motorntv.com/?p=2196

 

We aren't factory race teams around here - as in likely lower rebuild budgets. JKav in the other thread works for Garrett too aparently, so I guess they are arguing with themselves? Nascar used to wrap headers; and idk if they still do but I don't care either because of the risk. Do whatever you want of course but it seems silly to me.

 

This is what I'm going with on my car, easy to take out with just two screws, enough room to check for leaks etc with a mirror and flashlight and should keep things arownd it from melting

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j420/HHammerly/99%20turbo%20build/39F92F98-6CFC-4E01-94B6-6BC568A65E49.jpg

 

both of them agreed that on a street car that's not beaten to oblivion every day a blanket will likely not do any harm.

 

I think if anything the biggest concern would be rust to the turbo? As a NA guy, headers are pretty cheap [compared to a turbo] so I wrap mine.

Before my first wrap, I did some research and most of my findings point to none-to-little rust UNLESS You the wrap gets wet and the water doesn't evaporate out, leaving it to sit on the header for a while.

My header has been wrapped for 3 years (and re-wrapped once since then) and I have no signs of rust. That includes plenty of wet weather driving and a lot of track time.

I dunno, maybe wraps/blankets aren't best for humid areas, but as long as you are mindful of substantial water, you should be fine for a few years. Just remember you built your car to enjoy it, not to worry about ****.

 

Rust is not the consern as much as cracking or shift of housing. Glad yours is okay.

 

I read through JKav & Corky's posts. scary ****, can't imagine deformed exhaust housings. Certainly more worrisome than header wrap.

 

yeah, hundreds of thousands of turbo's are replaced every year due to melting.

oh wait

 

I really did lol.

Some get so hot that they glow purple.



Wanna take bets on the coolant tank longevity if this car was used at the track?

 

Realistically you may have a point Vlad; but unless it were making more difference than turning up boost by a couple psi I don't care YMMV depending on application I'm sure.

 

I would be terrified if I opened my engine bay and saw my manifold that hot. Jesus that is crazy.

 

I had the waste gate arm glowing on the dyno, I'm sure the manifold and turbine housing would have been glowing if wasnt swain coated.

 

I've done it at the track. After a whole cooldown lap the glow was still unmistakable.

 

Well that explains why TDI VNT actuator control units die so often in the diesel Jetta world. Manifold gets so hot it melts the electronics in them.

 

This is ben91's S4 manifold glowing on the dyno:



FWIW I've never had a problem with just using the FM heatshield and some heat wrap on the hoses.

 

Unless they changed their design recently, there are no electronics for the VNT near the turbo. The 3 way solenoid valve that moves the actuator is mounted on the firewall near the battery.

The reason the actuator fails is because it is a pulsating ball of suck and fail. The rubber diaphragm in it is prone to dry rotting and cracking from heat. The Rod for the actuator can bind for various reasons, but the worst part is that goddamn mechanical stop mounted on the turbo frame. The turbo wears and the veins shut so far the turbine a/r becomes 0. In order to fix it you need x-ray vision, 30 feet worth of socket extensions, and a crows foot. after you spend 30 hours getting he socket on the adjustment, it breaks off of the turbo because it has fatigues so much from the heat.

 

I had my Greddy manifold glow once, boosting down the highway with my bandaid setup (pos). I had a bipes ACU + slightly retarded base timing, so basically it was pulling way too much timing and caused it.

TL;DR, don't use band-aids

 

As per a lot of tuners in the TDI world I've talked to the vacuum electronic actuator is the fault in the system since it is hard to relocate the unit away from the heat. They all say to wait going bigger(2260vlk off a Q7) till a solution is found that is reliable.