Exhaust Manifold gaskets...shiny side in or out??? - TDI Engine -General Info - VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

• Exhaust Manifold gaskets...shiny side in or out??? by dubCanuck1 on 02 Jan, 2006 16:20
• Hi all,
  
  Just wanting to know which goes which before I torque it on. Bentley doesn't have squat, neither does the ETOS CD.
  
  I'm assuming the shiny part goes on the manifold side and the absorbant-looking part goes on the block side.
  
  Here's the pic of the non-shiny side.
  
  
• #1 by Staley on 02 Jan, 2006 16:36
• IF.. it were me I would put the shiny side toward the exhaust manifold.
  when the manifold heats and cools it expands and contracts.. when you properly torque the exhaust manifold.. it will allow things to move around when they get hot and cool.. and it makes since to ME to have the shiny side out for that reason if I am correct or not who knows!
  LOL
• #2 by dubCanuck1 on 02 Jan, 2006 17:47
• Is that what's supposed to be though?
• #3 by mortskeg on 03 Jan, 2006 00:19
• Actually, 2 go shiny side towards the head and 2 go shiny side towards the exhaust manifold.  I know because I screwed it up once-
  
  The exhaust ports for cyl's 1 and 2 are in a sence mirror images of those for 3 and 4.  The stud arrangement is such that it is not symetrical about the hole, meaning that there is only one way to put the gasket on and have the hole in the gasket properly line up with the hole in the head.
  
  Not knowing this I put the first 2 I could see on the proper way, and continued to put the last 2 on with the same orientation as the first 2.  This caused a pretty bad exhaust leak (didn't sound like it too bad) that was enough to fill the interior with some pretty nasty fumes.  I ended up driving about 100miles with the window down before I figured out where I had gone wrong.  This was on a gas engine but the diesels are the same.
  
  So basically when you put them on feel around the gasket and make sure that it properly cooresponds with the port in the head.  Hope my mistake helps ya out.
• #4 by dubCanuck1 on 03 Jan, 2006 01:20
• Thanks dude. Appreciated.
• #5 by mortskeg on 03 Jan, 2006 12:26
• dubCanuck1-
  Hey, sorry I just noticed that this was posted in the tdi section.  What I posted above is true for the IDI, and I would assume that it is correct for the tdi, but I don't know for sure.  Sorry for any misinformation.
• #6 by vwmike on 03 Jan, 2006 13:11
• It isn't misinformation. They bolt up the same.
• #7 by hillfolk'r on 01 Feb, 2006 21:10
• the tin should face the head,,,but as you see 2 match 2 dont,,they are too cheap to make 2 gaskets,,,
• #8 by mortskeg on 02 Feb, 2006 01:09
• In the past I have always gotten ones like above, where there was a non-shiny side.  However, I just got done with a (nother) engine swap, and this time my local parts guy had ones that are shiny on both sides!  So they are out there.
  
  Hope this helps.
• #9 by TDForNow on 11 Feb, 2006 09:43
• Quote from: "mortskeg"

  In the past I have always gotten ones like above, where there was a non-shiny side.  However, I just got done with a (nother) engine swap, and this time my local parts guy had ones that are shiny on both sides!  So they are out there.
  
  Hope this helps.

  
   Yeah, I've used them on my Quantum TD, they're spec'd from an Audi 200TQ if I remember correctly
• #10 by dubCanuck1 on 11 Feb, 2006 10:25
• Hmmm. I thought I'd put the picture up for this, but here you are...
  
  The left hand ones have the shiny side towards the head. Really, whatever you get, the left ones have the tabs to the left side. The right ones have them going to the right.