[BobbyD]

installed the uppipe, didnt seal it with anything, figured it would be ok. I let the car idle, it sounds just fine. Then i take it out for a spin, im shifting regularly, turbo sounds a little louder, not much. Then i get on it, floor it all the way, and you can just hear the turbo its a WHEEEEEZZZZING noise, and its loud as ****, sounds like a train kind of . Only when u floor the car does the sound happen. My question is, is this typical of a leak in the uppipe??

-Bobby D

 

[evoklr]

A leak will sound like a game show buzzer kinda... or imagine the sounds of metal fan blades hitting a housing and it getting faster and faster as you pull to red line. If all you hear is massive amount of air rushing, then welcome to the real world The up-pipe does make a significant difference in how it sounds as boost builds.

 

[slin02]

you got a leak. check the lower flange.

 

[BobbyD]

it sounds like a SHHHHHH

it sounds like a very high pitched SHHHHHH. And it only happens if i lay HARD on the pedal. For example, i could be going in first up to 6000 rpm, but not floring it, and it wont make that sound. But if i floor it, once it hits 3000 rpm, it starts making a loud SHHHHH, that is kinda high pitched. Is that the turbo? I didnt know Turbo's were that high pitched . Btw, i have the Uppipe and Downpipe, i put them in at the same time.

-BObby D

 

[evoklr]

Man it's so hard from what you're describing. A shhhh to me mean it's a constant sound that just kinda sounds like air rushing.... a leak really sounds more like a buzzer, or you'll hear a loud rumble at idle and it will be kinda like <wom> <wom> <wom> as each stroke of the motor takes place. Another way is to simply get back under your car, take the heat shield off of the lower manifold area and feel around the up-pipe for leaks. Get someone to rev it while you're under it. You'll know pretty quick!

 

[RobPA]

Its the turbo man, unles you are hearing a flutter when boost begins to build and your at full throttle!!


Rob



Edit: ohh and also, YES the turbo is loud!!! im running fully catless and people riding next to me have asked me "Damn u can hear ur turbo through your exhaust!" because thats what happens when you open everything up, it just becomes louder, the way it is SUPPOSED TO BE!!

 

[Penguinking]

Re: it sounds like a SHHHHHH

it sounds like a very high pitched SHHHHHH. And it only happens if i lay HARD on the pedal. For example, i could be going in first up to 6000 rpm, but not floring it, and it wont make that sound. But if i floor it, once it hits 3000 rpm, it starts making a loud SHHHHH, that is kinda high pitched. Is that the turbo? I didnt know Turbo's were that high pitched . Btw, i have the Uppipe and Downpipe, i put them in at the same time.

-BObby D

could u be more specific in your description? a leak can sound like anything from the metal fan-hit-housing-sound that hokieitr described, to the sound a harley motorcycle makes, depending on the seriousness of the leak.

boost, however, is a whooshing sound that is very smooth and less "sharp" or shrill. you can hear it as the turbo begins to spoool up. its harder to hear the turbo spooling if the windows are down. however, you can still hear an exhaust leak if you roll down the windows. if you say its loud as ****, then its probly an exhaust leak, and you need to check your connections and reconnect the bolts, in the order that vishnuperformance recommends. its also preferable that you get a new uppipe gasket if you iddnt replace the old one when u did the install.

 

[BobbyD]

it just sounds really loud...

Is tehre anyway i can record a sound sample and post it for you guys to hear?? what would i use to do that? anybody know... To tell you the truth, i LOVE the sound its making. It sounds so bad ass. I told my friends to sit outside and listen to my car and they said "holly ****, your car sounds bad ass $$, its like a damn rally car!!!" so i dont know. Maybe i just have a HUGE exhaust leak. But i just dont see how an exhaust leak would make this noise? And wouldnt a leak always make a noise, no matter what? See the noise i hear is only when i drop the accelerator all the way to the floor, otherwise it sounds normal. So if i drive normal, shifting at 3000 rpm, it sounds just like it always did, but when i mash it down, at around 3000 rpm it starts doing the SSSSSHHHHHHH, and its pretty damn loud especially when i dont have the music on. And you can hear it really well from the outside. ANyways, how do i record a soundclip of it? while driving???

 

[TurboWRX]

it's probably your turbo
damn i love the sound of turbos

 

[Penguinking]

im not up on the media a/v stuff, so i can't tell ya how to record a sound clip, but from what your describing, it sounds like your turbo spooling up.

btw, if you think you have a HUGE exhaust leak, then the sound its making should sound alot like a monster V8 or the exhaust sound of a Harley davison motorcycle. trust me, my car made that sound when i had a huge leak, and when i went down to examine the uppipe, there was about a 1cm gap between the uppipe and th manifold !!!
so if your cars not making that sound, its not that big of a leak.

also, if u have a big leak, it should be making that sound ALL the time, not just when you hit the boost rpm. oh, and you shouldnt be making alot of boost (if any) if u have a big leak.

-Robert

 

[slin02]

if it sounds like a hair dryer, you have a leak. other than that, just turbo spooling.

 

[jmussetter]

When I had my leak, I would only hear it during positive pressure, or anything over about 1 or 2 psi of boost. This is because the leak wasn't bad enough to leak until the pressure in the uppipe climbed high enough to force it's way out. The turbo spooling is slight and sounds like air through a big straw. If your hearing anything else (anything that may be considered 'bad ass'), then I'd say it was a leak.

 

[cnoff]

Does the sound get louder as boost builds? Do you feel any loss of power when you hear the sound?

My uppipe went in this weekend. On my first test drive, I heard a very large blowing sound that got louder as boost was building. All of this was followed by loss of power. This was from not tightening hose clamps to intercooler, so air was leaking out in massive quantities.

 

[dw]

If it's loud, it's a leak. The turbo isn't that loud. I've been running with an uppipe/catless exhaust for awhile, and the turbo isn't that loud. If it's very high pitched, it's a leak. Perhaps it's the gasket, but it's hard to say.

 

[evoklr]

I'll be honest with you guys. It's hard to say what BobbyD's problem is from the description, but one thing I can tell you in my humble opinion: the change of sound before and after up-pipe was enormously different in my car. Before you'd barely hear a turbo whine or it building boost other that the engine racing madly... now I can distinctly hear the whine as well as a sound like a massive vacuum cleaner! That is just to emphasize a point that it should comfort people who put the up-pipe on to know you're going to hear it build boost a lot more so than stock. But, listen for odd sounds that don't belong in a motor, like loud rumbling as in you are running without a muffler, or like metal hitting again metal.