Decided to go for a spin today, & while passing a mini-van my turbo gasket blew out. It was the one HTT sent with the new turbo. Lost one of the nuts for the flange bolts too. I was only 50 miles from my house, but luckily my friend was able to get to me, & tow it home. Guess what I get to do tomorrow?

 

wow, never seen one blow out. I heard of them leaking from warped flanges... 1 hour job not to bad......

 

I don't know if the nut came off 1st. Or he gasket blew out, & I lost the nut after. Worst thing is, it's Memorial Day, & no parts stores are open around here. Best thing is ,week before last I was 350 miles from home with my camper, hunting turkeys. Glad it didn't blow then.

 

Yeap, that wonder graphit piece of junk that is in my toolbox I refused to install....LOL

 

Yeah. I was really when I saw what the gasket was made of. Not even a wire reinforcement. More like heater hose with silver wax on it. That won't happen again.

 

i had the exact same thing happen to me about a month ago, i even lost one of my bolts too! the only thing that was different between me and you is that i was only 5 miles from my house and i limped it home

 

Make sure you get the bolts as tight as you can, I double nutted the ones I could because they came loose twice. Can't go wrong with the stock style metal gasket.

 

I called everyone I could find in the phone book, & nobody has the gaskets in stock! They should be here in the morning.I'm getting them from my cummins dealer.

 

Call HTT. They have a new metal one now so I hear.

 

I found a set. Luckilly I live only 1 hr from DDP in Monroe Wa. They had the Cummins gaskets in stock, & after a few hours on the road,(in a borrowed car), & then a few more hours under the hood, I'm back on the road again. I have another set coming in tomorrow, so I'll have some spares.
This was the first time my Dodge has let me down, but it wasn't it's fault. I'll never have another one of those graphite gaskets on my rig again.

 

Just curious did you use a torque wrench on the failed gasket?

 

I had the turbo installed by a HTT dealer near me, & I know there is no way to get a torque wrench on all the bolts anyway. I'm sure that the reason it failed was a lack of support. It was the old graphite gskt with NO METAL REINFORCEMENT. I see now that HTT no longer uses it, & has gone to the OEM steel one from Cummins.

 

You should get one from HTT for the stainless exhaust housing turbos. They now have one that is made of the same material as the stock gasket, but is larger to fit the stainless housings better. The stock Cummins gasket is hard to keep sealed, because it's just a little to small.

Paul