it looks like the manifold gasket. it wouldnt be the DP gasket as the gas wouldnt come back up like that, itd go out /around as the air is heading down / away.

you know its the manifold because the air is travelling horizontally at that stage and when it escapes out the gap which must be along the top edge or upper centre of the manifold gasket, the air travels vertically, under pressure, escaping out your bonnet vent or into the general engine bay, but leaving black carbon/soot on the valve cover,

thats all it'll be man, shouldnt be the hardest thing in the world ever to fix.
let us know how you go??


i guess it could be the DP on the off chance the air has the correct dynamics to escape exactly there, just seems more likely to me its the top of the manifold,

you could probably stave it off using some exhaust manifold sealant after tightening the manifold right up, along the top edge, but I would just pull it and replace, and tighten DP bolts and/or replace gasket at the time,


Trav

 

The more I look at that picture it seems to be in the manifold gasket instead of the dp. I agree with the others that you need to put a wrench on the bolts just below that area. Hopefully the stud isn't broken and the gasket isn't cracked. Does it make any popping sound like an old VW bug? I had a broken stud on my old 280ZX and there was a little popping noise that would come on at certain rpm's after letting off the throttle or under WOT.

 

yeah, manifold leaks tend to have accompanying idle variances as well as a whistle under low rpm and louder onto boost, as well as a flappy sound or a bit of a burble/gurgle which wasnt there before...

left unattended it quickly ends up sounding like a tractor

id be pretty surprised if the ex. manifold stud was cracked for no good reason on a new 9
buut you know I guess anything at all CAN happen!

Trav

 

little off topic here but jeeze after only 5K miles and the manifold is already rusted to ****, looks so ugly in my opinion.... i know that water gets through there cause of the hood vent, but my car has only 900 miles and is already starting to rust as well... is there any way at all to stop this??!

 

its cast... it rusts very easily.. its just surface rust but you can get a jet coated and ported one from bushcur

 

Just as a follow up in case someone else has this problem...

I had the donut gasket for the downpipe replaced and it solved the problem. This was also causing the car to run a little slower, and just didn't feel quite right - I assume the exhaust gasses were being sucked into the turbo. After the replacement, car feels a lot better.

Thanks guys!

 

I know this is an old post,

but to the original poster, thanks for updating this thread, Im pretty sure I have the same issue, working on the fix right now.

 

i had my tanabe TBE put on recently, and think I hear a faint whistle sound. I have to check out that gasket leak now. thanks

 

Where are you guys getting dp donut gaskets? Not the stock one, ones that is made for a 3 inch DP.

 

Clean it up and drive around to see if it happens again. If it does happen again check your exhaust manifold and dp to see if they are tight. You should be able to see a build up of soot from where the leak is coming from.

 

exhaust leak!!