yup I had some soot on my back three valve covers and some extra smoke. combined with the loss of power on my return trip home from Texas last summer and the cause?
a blown out and burned up manifold gasket, where it mounts to the hot side of the turbo flange.
I only had a second or two before it was too hot to feel around but i was pretty sure that i found the leak and today i confirmed it.

took off the four turbo mount flange bolts, the oil drain tube, already had the exhaust disconnected to repair a second leak and delete the muffler, and i unbolted the intercooler flange to free the turbo completely.

A little patiece and the proper wrench and i got the turbo up, off, and pulled out the gasket you see here.

hopefully

my question is that although the exhaust manifold/header from the engine has the tiny bridge separating into a front three and back three flow(s) the gasket seems not to have this at all.

it is just elliptical.

i found a gasket at Gino's garage but it has a bridge in the middle and it doesnt look like it will line up. This is on a 1990 thomas flat front bus. the turbo is a holstet ? i believe non wastegated on a 180 hp 6bta.

i can always go back out to the bus and get all the numbers off of the turbo, mani, and the flange on the back but hopefully someone knows what i mean.

I am worried if i use the one i keep seeing around with the middle section it will A. not seal
or
B. the bridge will get sucked into the impellor and damage the backside of my turbo.

excuse my vocabulary if i mispoke in my description. I am most skilled at general diesel, WVO, two stroke, and motorcyles. I actually have never owned a dodge anything but i sure do love my Cummins!!!!!!! I have rebuilt (seals) my IP, adjusted air brakes, massive bodywork, almost done with custom WVO conversion, plenty of wiring and a few pump turns and other maintanes (valves adjusted......)
so shoot some advise if you have some and thanks to the furom for already answering lots of questions i didnt know i had.

 

id jus go to cummins and get the gasket made for your turbo and manifold setup

 

If the turbine housing is divided, use the style of gasket on the left. If its undivided, use the gasket on the right. In reality, it makes little difference, as long as the exhaust isn't leaking to atmosphere.

 

yea the diesel parts parts guy said the same thing he said it wouldnt make much difference as long as it sealed to the atmosphere it would be fine and i could cut the bridge out.

But then he found two unbridged ones in stock so i am gonna ride out there and compare. ill try to get a cummins part number and post it on this thread incase anyone searches for the same thing.

anything special i should do when i reinstall it? other than make sure the old gasket material is all gone and torque it down criss cross fashion with some lock washers on the bolts? i mean do i have to hone it or prep with some cleaner?
there were no obvious cracks, voids or holes i think the old one just loosened up and then blew out.


Thanks guys cant wait to whine now that i am straight piping with the 4" downtube and turnout.

 

Is the turbine housing undivided?

Nothing special for prep. Knock off any rust/soot, put some never-seize on the studs.

 

the manifold has a divider but i am not sure about the turbo. i am going out the bus tomorrow and am going to write down every single number on everything, the turbo, manifold, engine, transmission, body, intercooler, and anything else i can find.

that way i can search for my weird(school-bus) application by specific part #

 

ok so i found out that both the manifold and the turbo housing have that "bridge" in them so it looks like i can replace mine with a regular autozone gasket, my turbo had a remanufactured tag from Cummins on it with a lot of numbers
Kit. 3802292rx
assy. 3523294
Serial M1199094
C 5 and A stamped on the tag and it also had the "5" inside the "C"

my hot side manifold had H2 then 13l5a
and E4-01-128 (or 129 it was hard to read)

does this tell anyone anything specific about my turbo?
like what HX17 or whatever it is? i don't know all the different turbos and i haven't seen a wastegate or a spring anywhere on it so i am just looking for a place to start so i know what i am dealing with boostwise.

 

Most likely a H1C, probably has an 18 or 21 cm housing on it. Should be a stamping on the inside of the turbine inlet. Should also be a tag on the compressor housing. 35 psi should be safe for boost, but if you have the large turbine housing, you'd be hard pressed to get it that high.

 

yup i googles the serial number and came up with an asian supplier thats lists all the turbos by serial number and application
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs...olesalers.html

by inside the turbine housing you mean take the air inlet tube off the suck side?
or in between the silver cool side and the hot rusty side of the whole thing?

 

Turbine housing (hot side) bolts to the exhaust manifold, inlet is where your gasket goes. Inside the ports should be a stamping that will tell you the size.

If you're looking for more response, finding a WH1C or HX35w would be your best bet. They are cheap, and have a much tighter exhaust housing to spool up faster.

 

Like up in there? In th inlet, huh? I'll check it when I regasket it. I just wanna know what I am working with and Plan to possibly strengthen that spring to up the pressure and maybe my top speed? Or at least make that thi loud!!! Gonna pop out my whistle reducer I know "silencer ring" anyway I rant.
Thanks for the helP on the possible ID!!!!

 

also found this for the turbo specs tips and id help
http://www.holset.co.uk/mainsite/fil...%20manuals.php

 

FYI, usually they blow out due to nuts coming loose. They are a crimp style lock nut and cannot be reused with any level of reliability. Make sure you put new nuts on the manifold.

 

what about split ring lock washers?
i have some very heavy duty M12 ones that i checked and they fit quite nicely. I was also considering using some blue locktight.
I think i am going to do it and check them after a little while.
ill let you guys know if they turn out ok.

 

Is that on the industrial/commercials apps, because I've never seen lock nuts on a Dodge yet.

I'd put a good liberal coat of never-seize on the studs. Generally the problem becomes that you can't get them off, as opposed to them falling off. Make sure they are tight. If the seize on, especially if they have backed off a bit, its really a pain.