1992 Talon Tsi AWD Project

Magnus Crap
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My 2G DSM

When you pay over $600 for an intake manifold, you expect quality. I thought I was purchasing quality when I chose Magnus.
 
The material that they use to build this is so thin that it's rediculous. This along with the thin welds along the seams create an amazing cracking product. Once boost levels inside the manifold reach 30 PSI, the thin walls begin to expand due to pressure. This causes the welds to separate and crack. Obviously this is a tuning nightmare.
 
The first crack was found after the car started to run like shit. WOT operation began to sputter more and more, and I noticed that the AFR's were richer and richer by the minute. I hooked up the pressure tester and noticed a huge crack along the top of the manifold.

magnuscrack.jpeg

Since the crack is on the top of the manifold, it is easily accessible. I was able to drive the car to a muffler shop with a TIG welder. A stronger and larger weld bead was placed on top of the cracked area. The repair was immediately noticed, since boost response was recovered and WOT operation returned to reasonable 11.5 AFR's.

magnusrepair1.jpg

Racers all know that when you strengthen a certain area of a damaged product, failure will occur next in the next weakest area. The Magnus held up for a few weeks, until the next drag strip track night, of course.
 
First run of the night was an 11.1 pass.
2nd run 11.4
3rd run 12.1
4th run 13.8
 
The crack began in the middle of the 1st pass and became larger and larger until it could not hold anymore boost. When I got home I hooked up the pressure tester and found that the leak this time was on the bottom of the POS Magnus.

magnuscrkbottom.jpg

Since the crack is on the bottom of the manifold this time, the Magnus must be removed completely from the car for repair. I instructed the welder to completely go over the entire manifold with larger beads. I don't want another crack ever out of this POS.
 
Turns out that by welding the entire manifold, the heat from the repair process, ended up warping the flange that mounts the manifold to the cylinder head. I needed to enlarge the holes in the flange just to get the manifold to bolt on. I hooked up the pressure tester once again after the install was complete, and the manifold was holding boost quite well. When I sprayed down the area with soapy water, I found tiny air bubbles leaking out of all 4 ports, right at the warped cylinder head flange. It was not enough of a leak that I should be concerned about, but I could compensate that leak with the tune.

magnus1.jpeg

magnusrepair2.jpeg