Those with Nisei UICP please help...
I tighten two of my clamps as far as they would go and didn't bend the pipe.
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 371
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From: SF Bay Area
He's recommending using hair spray to create an adhesive seal.
Did you remove anything else to put the UCIP on? Does the tube itself have any defect?
Are you running any other mods and have you run the same level of boost before with no problems? It's very possible that another part of the system is creating a leak. Given the fact that it's starting at a higher boost. A boost leak test is probably the easiest way to find your problem
Did you remove anything else to put the UCIP on? Does the tube itself have any defect?
Are you running any other mods and have you run the same level of boost before with no problems? It's very possible that another part of the system is creating a leak. Given the fact that it's starting at a higher boost. A boost leak test is probably the easiest way to find your problem
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Salt Lake City, Utah
I finally got my leaks resolved... I did the boost leak test to make sure, damn hard to find out without it. I had 2 leaks, one on the intercooler top neck opening, and one on the middle of the uicp(I have the type B, 2 part UICP). To do a boost leak test you have to get a plastic or PVC pipe cap at like home depot or lowes, 2.5 or 3" and drill a hole in it, then stick a valve stem in it(I got them from wal-mart's tire shop). After that, seal around the valve stem with sealant even though they're supposed to be sealed by pushing them in. After getting a proper coupler that would fit on my pipe cap I got(had to get a 3.5" to 3" transition coupler) I attached the tester to the intake piping. If you don't have a hard intake pipe to clamp the tester on you will need to clamp the tester onto the turbo inlet which is 2.5".
When you start to pressurize you will immediately hear where the leak(s) are, the biggest leak will be heard first. After I fixed that I heard the other leak which didn't show up until about 15psi. If you don't have a psi guage on your pump, make sure you use a tire guage so you don't boost too high. When it gets up around 15+ psi you will hear the valve cover breather starting to vent, that's normal... you can crimp the tube and listen to make sure everything else is not leaking, but make sure you uncrimp it to let the pressure out if you are going to pressureize the pipes again right afterwards. In order to get the UICP's sealed properly you need to make sure your t-bolt clamps are right behind the bead on the pipes/intercooler neck/turbo outlet. If you have them away from them you'll get a leak. You also have to be careful with the t-bolts, they can bend the **** out of your pipes, but usually shouldn't if you have them right behind the bead(and NOT on top).
I ended up swapping my top intercooler coupler, which was a hump coupler, for a straight 4-ply coupler I bought locally, same size as the OEM coupler. The Nisei UICP is longer after the bend that goes towards the intercooler opening and when you have it tightened down there is a very small gap between the intercooler pipe bead and the intercooler neck bead. With the hump hose provided by Nisei the pipe end and intercooler neck beads end up being in the hump portion of the coupler and dont allow for a good seal. I ended up using the smaller, non t-clamps on the coupler that connects the uicp to the intercooler. I bent my intercooler neck accidentally with air tools cause I had it tightening when it should have been loosening, so the t-bolts didn't work anymore. You have to get that intercooler coupler really tight.
I am sure this applies to all UICP's, you just have to install the t-bolt clamps properly. Because they are thicker and stronger they can bend pipes and if you dont have them next to the bead they end up enabling leaks. I had most of my t-bolt clamps tight enough so that the hinge on the side of the t-bolt that has the nut ends up having no thread on the bolt to the left, so the bolt is about 1.25-1.5 inches through. Mileage may vary with this, so be careful, if you can see the bead right next to the clamp and it is visibly "above" the clamp then you're probably good, the clamp will be a bit sunken into the silicon couplers.
Well, I hope this made sense I typed it all on the fly so excuse my awesome grammar and spelling...
When you start to pressurize you will immediately hear where the leak(s) are, the biggest leak will be heard first. After I fixed that I heard the other leak which didn't show up until about 15psi. If you don't have a psi guage on your pump, make sure you use a tire guage so you don't boost too high. When it gets up around 15+ psi you will hear the valve cover breather starting to vent, that's normal... you can crimp the tube and listen to make sure everything else is not leaking, but make sure you uncrimp it to let the pressure out if you are going to pressureize the pipes again right afterwards. In order to get the UICP's sealed properly you need to make sure your t-bolt clamps are right behind the bead on the pipes/intercooler neck/turbo outlet. If you have them away from them you'll get a leak. You also have to be careful with the t-bolts, they can bend the **** out of your pipes, but usually shouldn't if you have them right behind the bead(and NOT on top).
I ended up swapping my top intercooler coupler, which was a hump coupler, for a straight 4-ply coupler I bought locally, same size as the OEM coupler. The Nisei UICP is longer after the bend that goes towards the intercooler opening and when you have it tightened down there is a very small gap between the intercooler pipe bead and the intercooler neck bead. With the hump hose provided by Nisei the pipe end and intercooler neck beads end up being in the hump portion of the coupler and dont allow for a good seal. I ended up using the smaller, non t-clamps on the coupler that connects the uicp to the intercooler. I bent my intercooler neck accidentally with air tools cause I had it tightening when it should have been loosening, so the t-bolts didn't work anymore. You have to get that intercooler coupler really tight.
I am sure this applies to all UICP's, you just have to install the t-bolt clamps properly. Because they are thicker and stronger they can bend pipes and if you dont have them next to the bead they end up enabling leaks. I had most of my t-bolt clamps tight enough so that the hinge on the side of the t-bolt that has the nut ends up having no thread on the bolt to the left, so the bolt is about 1.25-1.5 inches through. Mileage may vary with this, so be careful, if you can see the bead right next to the clamp and it is visibly "above" the clamp then you're probably good, the clamp will be a bit sunken into the silicon couplers.
Well, I hope this made sense I typed it all on the fly so excuse my awesome grammar and spelling...
