ST Top Mount Heat Management

[R.G.]

I have a thermal coating co. local to me that works on major aircraft and industrial applications. After a long discussion with them the bottom line as they explained it was the amount of mill thickness in even the best thermal coatings will be the determining factor in effectiveness. Even in the thickest of applications it was not as substantial as many think. The ideal coating applications are what you would like protected from heat not where the heat is generated from.

Titanium wrap is incredibly effective and has zero down side in dry climates. I have my dump tube double wrapped and the difference it makes will save / increase the longevity of surrounding components.

 

[Omar@VaderSolutions]

I'm in AZ where humidity isn't really an issue. But I would love to not use wrap if I could just use a top of the line heat coating.
JETHot claims that their coating has been used on jets for heat control and wraps are not needed. That's why I'm curious if anyone has tested before. On a side note they are located ~20 min from me so that's another positive

coating is good for only corrosion , it does nothing compared to heat wrap from my experience

 

[cloud9blue]

I'm in AZ where humidity isn't really an issue. But I would love to not use wrap if I could just use a top of the line heat coating.
JETHot claims that their coating has been used on jets for heat control and wraps are not needed. That's why I'm curious if anyone has tested before. On a side note they are located ~20 min from me so that's another positive

The manifold will be fine even without a coating or any wrapping. It is all the way down there surrounded by the stock heat shielding on the frame side and the engine block on the other side. DP and the turbine housing on these top mount kit is the source of the problem, since it runs very close to the valve cover and some electrical wiring.

yeah, coating doesn't do much in comparison to a proper heat wrap or insulation. if you your car doesn't see much moisture or salt, just wrap the downpipe and you will be fine.

 

[Volrath]

The manifold will be fine even without a coating or any wrapping. It is all the way down there surrounded by the stock heat shielding on the frame side and the engine block on the other side. DP and the turbine housing on these top mount kit is the source of the problem, since it runs very close to the valve cover and some electrical wiring.

yeah, coating doesn't do much in comparison to a proper heat wrap or insulation. if you your car doesn't see much moisture or salt, just wrap the downpipe and you will be fine.

I agree that wrapping the dp and putting a blanket/shield on the housing is most likely the best option currently for the n54. I want to just coat the exhaust mani vs wrap, though im still worried about heat as I've never tried jet hot coating nor have heard anyone on our platform use it.

These manifolds are very close to the water pump/thermostat and other ruber/electric materials, which WILL be damaged to excess heat (don't know why bmw engineers put a plastic water pump on the hotside). This will ultimately cause failures or shortened lifespan. I would prefer to spend the extra money to do the job right the first time, then have to rip stuff apart over and over due to poor planning.

Here is a link I wanted to share regarding wraps.
https://www.centuryperformance.com/exhaust-header-heat-wraps-do-not-use.html

 

[Abacus38]

Ceramic coating is the best option period but cost more. It reduce under hood temps and increase spool since it keeps heat inside pipe and turbo charger. It cost me about $350 to have my kit coated. You can wrap your manifold too but i wouldn't recommend that it you live in a wet area like Florida

 

[STE92]

I would say go all out... I swear I ended up changing my heat protection set up so many times. Right now I have Man, turbo, dp all heat coated. My dp/dumptubes all wrapped and using PTP turbo blanket been working great so far. As far protection for wires, make sure you move them and cover them with heat tape or DEI sheath. Oil feed line is also wrapped DEI heat sheath and the oil return is steel braided. The Valve cover and everything else you can find I used heat tape to cover(don't be shy and they sell it in a silver color too).

 

[Omar@VaderSolutions]

Ceramic coating is the best option period but cost more. It reduce under hood temps and increase spool since it keeps heat inside pipe and turbo charger. It cost me about $350 to have my kit coated. You can wrap your manifold too but i wouldn't recommend that it you live in a wet area like Florida

do you have data on that? ceramic coating makes a negligible difference , heat wrap is cheap and works 100x better

 

[doublespaces]

I have a ceramic coated bottom mount. The under hood temps up near the hood/electronics are probably just as hot if not hotter than a wrapped top mount after a few minutes of sitting. I have never had any problems melting anything so the localized peak temps are still better with a bottom mount in the problem areas but it goes to show that a wrap hides heat well. I'm sure ceramic has heat retention characteristics, but I would not get a ceramic coating on a top mount and think I wouldn't melt a bunch of stuff or cause it to age quickly and become brittle over time. If you really want to do a great job, open your wallet spread eagle and put that insulation metal on it like @Lifestyler

 

[Abacus38]

Wrap causes hot spots in the manifold and can cause the manifold weakened over time and crack due to hydrogen embrittlement. This effect is greater in wet climates like florida. As for spool that's simple physics. Turbines are driven by heat and pressure. The more radiant heat you keep inside the manifold the more energy you have driving the turbine hence why you want to coat both inside and outside the manifold

 

[Volrath]

I have a ceramic coated bottom mount. The under hood temps up near the hood/electronics are probably just as hot if not hotter than a wrapped top mount after a few minutes of sitting. I have never had any problems melting anything so the localized peak temps are still better with a bottom mount in the problem areas but it goes to show that a wrap hides heat well. I'm sure ceramic has heat retention characteristics, but I would not get a ceramic coating on a top mount and think I wouldn't melt a bunch of stuff or cause it to age quickly and become brittle over time. If you really want to do a great job, open your wallet spread eagle and put that insulation metal on it like @Lifestyler

Need more info I think I saw this a while ago but thought it wasn't offered in US. Maybe I'm thinking something else.


Anyone test Jet hot? Someone musta tried or heard someone that did.

 

[Sshec152]

Need more info I think I saw this a while ago but thought it wasn't offered in US. Maybe I'm thinking something else.


Anyone test Jet hot? Someone musta tried or heard someone that did.

At work we use jet hot on every single/twin turbo kit we install, full race cars and street cars. Im not sure what coating we use but its a roughish texture and it holds up very well. I’ve never seen a car come back where it’s starting to crack or chip off. The color itself scratches somewhat easy but no big deal. When they ship it back, its very well packaged, always individually bagged then bubble wrapped, then marked. Its pretty expensive though. On my top mount st kit i had everything ceramic coated locally, then i heat wrapped it as well and put a turbo blanket on. Used dei high temp wire wrap, to wrap the harness going from the dme to the engine. Also heat wrapped the a/c line, turbo feed, and turbo drain and compressor silicone outlet because it’s really close to the wastegate. No visible issues so far

 

[cloud9blue]

At work we use jet hot on every single/twin turbo kit we install, full race cars and street cars. Im not sure what coating we use but its a roughish texture and it holds up very well. I’ve never seen a car come back where it’s starting to crack or chip off. The color itself scratches somewhat easy but no big deal. When they ship it back, its very well packaged, always individually bagged then bubble wrapped, then marked. Its pretty expensive though. On my top mount st kit i had everything ceramic coated locally, then i heat wrapped it as well and put a turbo blanket on. Used dei high temp wire wrap, to wrap the harness going from the dme to the engine. Also heat wrapped the a/c line, turbo feed, and turbo drain and compressor silicone outlet because it’s really close to the wastegate. No visible issues so far

Would really like to see how does the coating hold up after being wrapped. I am trying to figure out whether or not to wrap my hot parts right now. But just worried the heat wrap will overstress the coating by trapping too much heat.

 

[R.G.]

Tesa 51608
I love this stuff for wiring, OEM look, cheap and heat resistant to 300f

 

[Andy]

I feel as if even heat wrap isn't enough. I heat wrapped the downpipe and manifold but still runs hot.
Definitely, need a vented hood. I can see the heat coming out the hood when sitting at a light...

 

[Bigdaddyaaron]

I've been running my top mount with a bare metal manifold for over a year (Daily driver, 17k+ miles). My suggestion Is to have your mani coated since it's so convenient for you. You 100% need to wrap the downpipe and dump tubes, really no reason not to and the insulation benefits are extremely rewarding. Shield/sheath anything in the area and let her rip. Disregard the statements on spool and such, as the measurable increase is negligible at best for this application.

 

[R.G.]

@Andy - Fully agree. I just double wrapped mine as my initial wrap was a bit worse for wear. I took the car for a quick spin and the second layer was not even getting hot enough to do it's initial smoke show! Wrap that dump tube a second time.

 

[The Convert]

I had the raceland downpipes on my twin setup coated by jethot. They held up ok. After a year or two of used through the winters all of the welds had cracked the coating off and rusted. I have my motiv kit coated with cerakote, and it has held up great so far. I wrapped my fftec kit and after a year or two it had surface corrosion everywhere, but would have cleaned up easily with a quick gritblast.

As for ceramic coatings not being used for thermal barriers...that's 100% inaccurate. Ceramics are tremendous insulators. We use ceramic coatings on nearly every metal part from the combustor back in jet engines specifically as thermal barrier coatings. Now, that does not mean that every ceramic coating is created equal.

I have all of my hot parts coated with cerekote, and have my vacuum lines in a ceramic fiber lined aluminized tubing in the hot areas. Compressor housing is powdercoated to match.

 

[The Convert]

 

[Lifestyler]

This is is the only way to ! ( my opinion )

http://www.isaak-schweisstechnik.com/Hochtemperatur_Isolierung.html

 

[The Banshee]

Does a vented hood make a noticeable difference?