club.liberty.asn.au

Not sure if this has been covered already - searched a bit but didnt find anything specific.
Hopefully anyone considering this part will find this and think twice.

I fitted up an AVO dump pipe yesterday and found the cast splitter fouls the wastegate hinge big time. You can see there isn't much space between the turbine outlet and the wastegate hinge.



I had to use an angle grinder and dremel to cut out the section shown below. Using black paint, I covered up the grind marks, refitted, then the contact point rubbed the paint off so I knew where to grind next. It took the best part of an hour to get it right.



Once the casting fitted flush to the turbo, I swung the wastegate open and closed, finding more interference and taking another hour to get it perfect. I ground it further than necessary to accommodate for any expansion when the parts reach normal exhaust operating temp.

The AVO fitting instructions dont mention any possible interference, or a method to resolve the problem. I can imagine if you didn't have the tools you would be up shit creek. Furthermore, if you were paying your mechanic to fit the exhaust, they would be asking for a few hours more in labour charges to fit it up right. For a premium brand product, this is really disappointing. I have fitted many other bolt-on systems over the years and never encountered this type of issue.

You may have ended up with the wrong model. Different turbos (even within the Subaru range) use different wastegate flap positions. So it's important to get the right dump pipe version, because aftermarket manufacturers put the plate in different positions because of that.

It's less likely that AVO manufactured it wrong, but I guess anything is possible.

I would've contacted them and asked for a replacement, but I guess that's too late now.

I haven't heard any Liberty owner having to modify the plate, but I found at least one WRX thread where they had to. So there are definitely AVO dump pipe models that aren't fully compatible, but I didn't think our cars had that issue.

Looks like the dump was designed to fit a Vf52, which has a different wastegate orientation (opens the other way and swings horizontally, instead of 45 degrees like the vf46).

AVO products are hit and miss. Some are really decent, others not so much (like the TMIC...). At least you made it fit

this is normal on the AVO pipe - when mine was fitted the exhaust shop just trimmed it off to fit - no extra charge as it took like 30 seconds
trim, fit, enjoy

Ordered at the beginning of March, the wrong parts arrived 4 weeks later.They were returned and I've been waiting for the correct parts since then.
If there is a "correct part" that would fit without modifications, they can keep it. I couldn't be bothered dealing with them anymore.

Gtb08 wrote:this is normal on the AVO pipe - when mine was fitted the exhaust shop just trimmed it off to fit - no extra charge as it took like 30 seconds
trim, fit, enjoy

Kinda defeats the purpose of having a splitter if they just trimmed it off.
The AVO instructions say it should only be cut off when the turbine housing has its own splitter cast in.
Let me know who your exhaust shop was so I know never to go there.

tekno wrote:

Gtb08 wrote:this is normal on the AVO pipe - when mine was fitted the exhaust shop just trimmed it off to fit - no extra charge as it took like 30 seconds
trim, fit, enjoy

Kinda defeats the purpose of having a splitter if they just trimmed it off.
The AVO instructions say it should only be cut off when the turbine housing has its own splitter cast in.
Let me know who your exhaust shop was so I know never to go there.

Did you read my post? it says 'trimmed' - not cut the whole thing off
dont bother asking for help if you are going to insult those that are trying to help you.
you might find if you only TRIM half of the extended section it will fit- $150 to fit it - hardly the extra hours at an exhaust shop - two guys 45 mins and i drove away

AVO actually state in their instructions that the splitter may need to be trimmed or removed depending on the turbo, because the cast section is designed as a semi universal fit for that common flange.

Mine needed a trim to clear the gate on the VF46 also.

Gtb08 wrote:

tekno wrote:

Gtb08 wrote:the exhaust shop just trimmed it off

Did you read my post? it says 'trimmed' - not cut the whole thing off

There is a big difference between grinding clearance and trimming it off. Misunderstanding.
Nevertheless, there were no question marks in the original post so I wasnt asking for your help - It was simply info to help anyone who may run into the same problem or is considering AVO product.

WIDELOAD wrote:AVO actually state in their instructions that the splitter may need to be trimmed or removed depending on the turbo, because the cast section is designed as a semi universal fit for that common flange.
Mine needed a trim to clear the gate on the VF46 also.

Yeah I have the instructions in front of me and steps 4 and 5 only refer to turbos fitted with a divider - or if the extender is too long it should be ground to the correct length. Nothing there about it potentially jamming the wastegate closed, sending boost through the roof and detonating your engine.

i got a random exhaust shop to fit on my AVO dump pipe. After changing to vf52 i found the splitter was cut off, meh.

Your photos no longer appear to be working.
I had the AVO dump for VF38 fitted to mine. Only issue was having to cut the heat shield slightly. From what I remember mine didn't have the splitter sticking out.

Also had the AVO TMIC fitted with no issues.

Remember to fit the flex donut at the end as they changed their design from a flex pipe to flex joint.
I found this out the hard way when I bought mine second hand and the extra bit of the dump pipe that the donut mounts on to had been cut off so it shortened the whole exhaust system by an inch and I had exhaust rubbing under certain conditions.

The VF38/TD04HLA AVO dump does not have a splitter.

Just the 46/52/td04 etc fitment does.

tkdbboy wrote:Your photos no longer appear to be working.
I had the AVO dump for VF38 fitted to mine. Only issue was having to cut the heat shield slightly. From what I remember mine didn't have the splitter sticking out.

Also had the AVO TMIC fitted with no issues.

Remember to fit the flex donut at the end as they changed their design from a flex pipe to flex joint.
I found this out the hard way when I bought mine second hand and the extra bit of the dump pipe that the donut mounts on to had been cut off so it shortened the whole exhaust system by an inch and I had exhaust rubbing under certain conditions.

So when you cut the exhaust shield did you need to cut the bottom part between the steering rack and the dump pipe? I had a lot of rubbing issues when i put the shield back on mine because there was hardly enough space. Before I hack that off was wandering if there was something i've done wrong.

janak93 wrote:So when you cut the exhaust shield did you need to cut the bottom part between the steering rack and the dump pipe? I had a lot of rubbing issues when i put the shield back on mine because there was hardly enough space. Before I hack that off was wandering if there was something i've done wrong.

Mine came with Instructions (a picture) of what to cut, but I don't have that anymore unfortunately. I found this picture though, which is exactly what mine looks like (ignore the red circle, he was just mentioning cutting that if people have larger turbos installed). You probably have a twin-scroll, being a pre-facelift. So that might change things slightly as well.

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You could always get a turbo beanie. I've had mine for a few years now and no issues at all.