Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Tuesday March 19, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC Technical > Engine Management & Tuning

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-16-2014, 12:37 PM   #1
ianto303
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 256863
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Colorado
Vehicle:
2011 STI HATCH
DGM

Default Is it safe to use a fog machine (Halloween) to test Downpipe leak?

I was trying to find a local store with a smoke generator to test for leaks on my downpipe. But didnt find any luck. I have a fog machine from halloween, but was not sure if its save to use that to test for leaks in my downpipe. My downpipe is completely removed and i had it re-welded because it literally cracked in HALF! so i got it re-welded and just wanted to test it before i put it back on. Its obviously gonna be hard to tell for small leaks when i install everything back on and drive it. As long as my downpipe doesnt leak does this mean that i should be able to get full power back on my car? I found out that my downpipe cracked when my car was only pulling 9psi on high boost. When i normally get 16 psi on sport mode. So i just want to make sure that nothing else in the downpipe (even if it doesnt leak) can cause my car to lose power. Like maybe if the catalytic converter getting damaged? < im noob. My understanding the the catalytic convert is just to reduce the pollution kinda stuff, and has nothing to do with power. So please let me know. Thanks for reading!
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
ianto303 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Old 01-16-2014, 12:41 PM   #2
ianto303
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 256863
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Colorado
Vehicle:
2011 STI HATCH
DGM

Default

PS: would you recommend to heat wrap the downpipe? The conditions in colorado gets really cold one day then hot. or maybe snow one day and be 70 degrees next day. My understanding from research is that when you heat wrap the downpipe it doesnt last as long because the water moistures get trapped and it corrodes. Although there are some heat wraps that does not trap water inside. I am not heat wrapping my downpipe to get more power, i am heat wrapping my downpipe because i somewhat believe it will prevent it from cracking again because the metal is not full exposed or maybe prevent it from leaking because its wrapped?
And thanks again!
ianto303 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2014, 03:23 PM   #3
rexworx
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 103232
Join Date: Dec 2005
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: GTX3576R 05GD, GTX3076R'd FXT
Vehicle:
GTX 3071R'd 11WRX
PPG,4.44,LSD,E85,6spdx3

Default

Yes its safe. Whats normally used it like baby oil. I normally pull the fuelpump/ignition fuse and crank it over a few times. Cranking it over without the car starting will pump everything out...
rexworx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2014, 03:26 PM   #4
Psychoreo
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 79643
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region: NESIC
Location: The internet
Vehicle:
2021 STI TE
Terminal black pearl

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rexworx View Post
Yes its safe. Whats normally used it like baby oil. I normally pull the fuelpump/ignition fuse and crank it over a few times. Cranking it over without the car starting will pump everything out...
It's already off the car.

And yes, you'll be fine.
Psychoreo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2014, 03:30 PM   #5
codesoccer
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 179573
Join Date: May 2008
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: South Florida
Vehicle:
2002 MBP Bugeye
Flip Flop Tuned on corn

Default

A downpipe leak shouldn't be affecting anything...
codesoccer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2014, 03:41 PM   #6
rexworx
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 103232
Join Date: Dec 2005
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: GTX3576R 05GD, GTX3076R'd FXT
Vehicle:
GTX 3071R'd 11WRX
PPG,4.44,LSD,E85,6spdx3

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by codesoccer View Post
A downpipe leak shouldn't be affecting anything...
Oh really? Well I guess that all depends on where your wideband is located. Or if you plan to have the car dyno tune in which we normally take the reading for the tailpipe. In this case the last thing you want is a leak. Not only will it push exhaust out but it will pull air in. This will throw off the sensors reading. also the air being introduced to the system will ignite un burnt fuel making for massive exhaust temp spikes. These EGT spike kills sensors fast...
rexworx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2014, 04:14 PM   #7
ianto303
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 256863
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Colorado
Vehicle:
2011 STI HATCH
DGM

Default

This sounds scary, because my CEL also came on, and thats why i found out that my downpipe was cracked. I had the CEL come up for the 02 sensor. I just thought that because the downpipe was literally cracked in half (all around, the downpipe was in two pieces) was what threw my CEL on? I hope i dont need to replace 02 sensor as it is not cheap! I also figured that see my downpipe the way it was, should have explained why i was running low boost? My car felt like a stock impreza. I tried to slam on the pedal and its hardly even pulls. Do you think that fixing this downpipe will fix my boost problem? as it only has occured around same time when CEL started coming on and when i saw the crack on dp. Thanks for all the comments ppl


Quote:
Originally Posted by rexworx View Post
Oh really? Well I guess that all depends on where your wideband is located. Or if you plan to have the car dyno tune in which we normally take the reading for the tailpipe. In this case the last thing you want is a leak. Not only will it push exhaust out but it will pull air in. This will throw off the sensors reading. also the air being introduced to the system will ignite un burnt fuel making for massive exhaust temp spikes. These EGT spike kills sensors fast...
ianto303 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:07 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.