Exhaust Manifold Gasket Help

[farm boy 530]

Today, for the first time, I took my Forza to a very large empty parking lot. Good asphalt and about 75+ x 35+ yards in size. I have only bashed in dirt and I always seem to roll and break something or something I hadn't seen before rattles loose. So I was excited to open it up truly for the first time! Also I run rich because i haven't got a temp gun yet for tuning. Today after the first tank I leaned out both needles by about 1/8 to 1/4 turn. First 2 tanks ran great and I got to learn a lot about my car at high speeds (in this space I was barley able to get into 2nd gear). I let it cool down a bit before the 3rd tank and she started up fine. I started doing some high speed passes and on the 2nd one as soon as the car hit 2nd she died... Started right up and died again when she hit 2nd. Looking over the car I realized I blew the exhaust manifold gasket. Was this cause I leaned it out a bit form factory and got to hot? My main question is can I use copper rtv (I used it to seal my engine) or do I need to replace the gasket? Had a tun of fun today breaking it though!

 

[Racer 1966]

If you do it right and let it dry thoroughly you can probably get by with the RTV. I prefer to use a gasket with the RTV myself.

 

[farm boy 530]

Any reason this may have blown with so few hours on it?

 

[Racer 1966]

The main reasons for exhaust gasket failure are bolts loosening or crashing into something.

 

[farm boy 530]

Cool! I didn't think to locktight those screws when I did the rest of the engine, but I will do it when I take it off for repair! I'm going to try it with just RTV (in a few days..) I'll post back and let you know how its holds up. Oh and I have crashed a few times but not on the asphalt when I was running high speeds. I think I was just running hard when it loosened.

 

[Ballen]

it doesn't hold up .I tryed it useing permatex ultra copper and it does work however it is just a temporary soulution.

 

[hamz9561]

Is it the ultra high temp version? If not then that might be why it's not lasting very long.

 

[Ballen]

yes it is i think it is the nitro does not agree with it

 

[farm boy 530]

Well I have copper RTV dono the brand.. I'm going to put it on one side after cleaning both really well. Let it sit over night and cure, then tighten with the locktight. If it works on cars I'm not sure why it wouldn't work on nitros but let me know if there is a better way to do it! I don't have a LHS close and I don't want to order from Exceed if I don't have to! Even if it gets me a couple tanks I'm happy with it!

 

[Ballen]

don't get me wrong it will work .It just may not hold up very well my header is held on with a spring so maybe if bolts will be a better fita and to be honest i did not clean it very well I am going to retry since i don't have any nitro right now and don't feel like rideing to delaware to get some.

 

[farm boy 530]

So, I pulled it apart tonight and realized when the bolts loosened and were hot the manifold sank a bit. By this I mean the bolts going through the engine and holding the manifold on bent down... I did however put on the rtv and slapped it back together. Hopefully I didn't strip the manifold. I suppose I will be ordering a gasket and 2 new bolts.....