I installed my Crawford Plenum I purchased from Performance Nissan yesterday and after backing out of my driveway I noticed drip marks everywhere. After further inspection my buddy and I determined it was from one of the fittings and thought it just needed to be tightened. Tried that, with new hose clamps and had the same problem. Once we took the entire plenum off we could see a hairline crack. It looks like after the plenum was cast, it was threaded off-center. Once the fitting was added, the mounting boss cracked. See the pics. Its hard to see. The first is it off-center and the second is marked where the crack is. The length off the crack is about 3/4".

Anyone else have that problem? Should I contact Performance Nissan or go right to Crawford?

 

Hairline crack, tough to see. I would call Doug at Crawford directly, I'm sure he'll replace it. Phone Number is (615) 327-4159.

Lou

 

thanks

 

Hey,
is the fitting area where the wrench is positioned stripped a bit?
Looks like the edges are kinda of stripped...

 

No problems with the threading.

I talked to Doug at Crawford yesterday. They are sending me out a new intake today. They say the problem is due to shipping and handling issues.

 

Sorry folks, but I just cant resist. Everyone knows I stand by Kinetix so after all the **** I hear about Kinetix's products I just cant resist this. I guess now that the Crawford plenum has 1 problem, then it is a POS?? I guess that also means that they dont properly test their plenums prior to shipment either??

Sorry, had to return the favor of all you Kinetix haters!! I have nothing against Crawford BTW. Just wanted for you guys to hear what I have been listening to for over a year.

 

Funny how this thread has been open for 3 days and just a few replies all nice, when it is Kinetix you have these many replies in 3 minutes and all haters.

 

I dont think its that. That "flaw" Im sure is due to shipping, look at where the crack is. NOW if you look at the old style plastic manifold that Kinetix put out they have had lots of problems. Lets face it Kinetix shouldnt have ever gone with plastic. If they wouldnt have then there wouldnt be so much mud slingin. I now own the new Kinetix manifold. They went with something that will hold up, learned from mistakes. Its going to be a little while before they can climb out of the hole, but in the end Im sure they will.

 

Plenty of testing on the car yes, I guess we need more testing on the big brown truck.

 

LOL!!!!!

Make sure it sits idle for a few hours...

 

BTW, lets not turn this into a vs. thread (unless we are talking fords and chevy's).

To our best knowledge this is a packing and or shipping issue. The way the fitting locations are tapped and installed, it is almost impossible to split like above. I have seen the same fitting fall out of one of the returned stock cores we got back (in much the same way) when we had core exchanges.

Its just one of those things that happens.

 

Ha! Yeah, half the boxes I receive from UPS (& I've gotten a lot over the past year) look like they've been used in some sort of "damage test."

 

If you only knew (loaded trucks for two years back muh college days =)

 

I've worked in shipping items too..

I few things you can put on the outside of an item being shipped are:

TOP LOAD ONLY !!! ( this puts your package on top)

with directional arrows pointing UP / \ to keep the position of
|

the package kept ...

 

That's a great preventative measure, but in the end it's just words on a box after the package gets punted about 40 feet and then thrown into the bottom of the feeder (about a 6 foot drop)

 

Don't what else to tell you about the shipping ......


The next one is for Crawford...

Question.. Why. did you use black paint on the Plenum?
My belief that the color black attracts heat, if another color was
used possible keep the plenum cooler a bit more in the engine
compartment...

 

[Mr. Wizard Mode On]

You are correct black colors are better absorbers of light causing heat *BUT* they also become better radiators of heat.

In the engine bay there is no intense light (sun) therefore there is no energy carried by light acting on the plenum. The engine does however create plenty of heat (energy) at which point raises the energy of the object doing the absorption (the plenum). As a result the object releases the heat acting as a radiator.

NOW, couple that with the enhanced thermal properties of the powdercoat (the black on the plenum is powdercoat not paint), it does a terrific job of getting rid of the heat and also reducing ambient heat soak from the engine bay.

I wish I had hard numbers, but I cant remember them. I have taken temp values of a standard polished plenum and the black powdercoated plenum. It heated up slower, did not get nearly as hot, and also dissipated the heat much faster. Needless to say it is a very good thing!

[Mr. Wizard Mode Off]

 

I can attest to the heat differences between the polished & the black powdercoating of the new cast plenums. I have the polished v.5 & one of my Z-buddies here has the black p.c. cast and the temp diff. has got to be at least 50 or more degrees on the surface after running hard - HUGE difference!! I just can't let go of the bling-bling - hahaha!

 

That is because more people have purchased Kinetix than the fugly Crawford versions. I guess the Crawford V-Skillet might be having cracking issues too... They say it is a Shipping issue. Time will tell for sure...

 

Hey pinhead .....the crack was on a newer cast plenum, not the V.5 as you mentioned. Have never heard of a v.1 - v.5 cracking for any reason...in fact, this is the first cast plenum that has been reported cracked (as far as I've read) & being that it was noticed as soon as it was installed and the crack was around a fitting it easy to believe it was either cracked during shipping or was missed in its final inspection, not from usage or normal install. Also, I seriously doubt that there have been more Kinetix plenums sold than the Crawford plenum - would have to check on that.

And BTW, I have used both plenums - Crawford v.5 & Kinetix v.4 - so have tried both......and know both. BTW, I have a never-installed painted Kinetix v.3 I'll sell ya cheap........Here's a pic of it along with the "fugly" Crawford I run