Milltek fubared

[JohnnyN]

Well, I thought that it was about time that I posted a constructive thread for a change.

Its been 2 years now since I bought my Milltek 2.5 inch catback syatem and its been great to a point. That point being until I had the SC done.

I've had a problem with a slight blow at the catback joint since the conversion was done. The custom downpipe taper flange wasn't quite snug in the Milltek flared tube and the blow was coming from the bottom of the joint. I've been sealing the joint with RTV sealant for about 18 months now but it only lasts for a few weeks before it needs to be taken apart and sealed up again.

I booked the car in at Longlife Exhaust centre, Gloucester, last week for the offending joint to be modified this morning. They have cut out the flanges and fitted a nice sleeved section.

All is well with the world again except for one thing. The Milltek centre box is completely empty!! The wadding that it left the manufacturer with is no more and has been burnt up and blown away due to the intense heat from the exhaust gases.

Longlife are familiar with Milltek and showed me the wadding that's used by Milltek and other companies for NA exhaust fitment. Then they showed me the wadding that is used in forced induction exhaust systems. The 2 types are worlds apart. Obviously they have given me a quote to replace the centre box with something more suited to my car.

So, for those of you thinking of going for big power upgrades through forced induction, remember to upgrade your exhaust so that its fit for purpose.

[Steve]

When I had my Milltek fitted, Dave at Milltek said the same sort of thing. They also underfill the systems on turbo and supercharged cars, because the wadding expands so much with the extra exhaust heat and without the extra space, the wadding ends up being pushed into the exhaust and blows out the tailpipe

I wonder if Milltek would cover it under their lifetime warranty?

Don't forget that your empty silencer can will now be slowing the gases a lot more and could be robbing the engine of power. I had a system made at Peco for a car and we couldn't get rid of a rasp in the mid range. Rather than over silence the system, they suggested that they leave a 1 inch section in the start of the rear silencer which was separated from the rest and left unwadded. That allowed enough slowing of the gases to let the silencer work effectively, so a full empty silencer could slow things significantly.

[JohnnyN]

Thanks for that Steve. You've just confirmed what i've been thinking about the power loss. I've sent Jon Shield an email tonight about it. I'll wait and see what he comes back with but i doubt that Milltek will honour it as i've had this modification carried out.

[Steve]

My mate had the same problem with his WRC spec Escort rally car, the antilag blows the wadding out of the silencers and after a while the car loses a lot of power and the turbo temperatures go through the roof.

Might be worth asking Longlife if they can grind the welds off the Milltek and repack the silencer? Like you said, Milltek probably won't cover it under warranty, although they were very good when I had a cracked weld on mine, never asked to have the section returned, just sent out a new one free of charge

[Thumper]

I thought these thing came with a lifetime warranty, if its failed it should be covered

[Smudge]

Milltek do offer lifetime guarantee but if it was fitted before the charger then the same may well keep happening

[JohnnyN]

I spoke to Mark at Courtenay today and there was no mention of having it repaired or replaced under Milltek warranty. They are also aware of Astra GSi turbos blowing their wadding out from their Millteks.

He did suggest that I give him a chance to call a specialist that they are using to repack vx220 customers exhausts. This will obviously be at my cost to get it there and have it repacked.

I'm waiting on a call to speak to Jon about it in more detail.

I also took it on myself to call Milltek directly this afternoon and they basically told me to go back to the dealer that sold it to me. I asked if they had it back could it be repacked with a more suitable wadding and they said that they would just remake the box with exactly the same materials.

Not very helpful and i'm a bit disappointed about that.

[Scott]

But I take it they would repack it then? If so would it be a "one off" or would they keep redoing it for life?


No point in having a lifetime guarantee if they don't....

[JohnnyN]

He told me that they wouldn't repack it, only build me a new one. The exhaust has been on the car for 2 years and has covered less than 5000 miles in that time. Its only done about 2000 miles since the SC.

[Smudge]

Well if you get a free replacement under warrantee I'd go down that route. At least youd get another few thousand miles without extra cost mate.

Will leave you time to research a replacement system and get a few readies saved up.

[Scott]

Well if you get a free replacement under warrantee I'd go down that route. At least youd get another few thousand miles without extra cost mate.

Will leave you time to research a replacement system and get a few readies saved up.

My thoughts exactly.....its not as if you'll be using it much seeing as its a garage queen

[JohnnyN]

Trouble is that its a little more complicated as my problems usually are. I've had to have the exhaust altered as it was blowing so whatever I get will have to be modified to suit the new exhaust and this is going to cost £55 each time that I have to have it done.

There's nothing straight forward with modifying cars. Should have just bought a 330ci BMW and had done with it!

[JohnnyN]

Sent in an enquiry form to Chris Tullett tonight, based in Buckinghamshire. He is the exhaust supremo for the supercharged vx220 owners. I'll keep you posted.

[sean_dhc1]

well you will have a fancy hair dryer on your Vectra lol

[JohnnyN]

Had an email from Andy Tullett today. They would need the car for a whole day as they would be using my car to create a new pattern for a centre box suitable for the Vectra B. It would also be repackable.

The quote for the job (centre box) came in at £400 +VAT.