Dialynx EM Q&A

[DeWitt Harrison <de@aztek-eng.com>]

Chad, Ken and Marty have asked what's up with my sig line
comment "Dialynx EM loose again; anyone need a boat anchor?"

Experience with the Dialynx EM has been mixed. I believe
Phil, for one, has had good results. I haven't been so fortunate. I
installed one a couple of years ago or more. This was possibly
before the OEM 2-piece was available and definitely before I knew
about it. Ivor (TAP) claimed it was indestructible and I think that
is it's one undeniable quality. I don't think you could break it
with a sledgehammer.

My particular unit has 3 undesirable characteristics. Firstly, it
warped big time. The first time it was 1/8" off flat end to end.
Had it planed. The second time it was off half that. At the
moment ... well it's still on the car so I don't know. It never
actually broke studs, though. It just seemed to shake them
out.  According to Phil, the casting has since been strengthened
to cure this problem. That's good to know now.

Secondly, the thing weighs a ton and a half. In my opinion,
the mass of the piece contributes to stressing the studs and nuts.

Finally, the casting is so thick that proper access to the EM
nuts for applying correct torque is not possible for at least
a third of the fasteners. You will find that grinding down
your wrenches and sockets will help but still will not
permit sufficient access everywhere. Therefore  you are
forced to guess at torque in many cases. In some really
awkward cases, it is almost impossible to get enough torque
before the nut starts to get damaged. I'm talking "head off"
here. With the head on, it's hopeless without pulling the
down pipe and turbo (yuck).

In any case, the next time the head comes off, the Dialynx
goes into the dust bin or the neighbor's keel ballast. YMMV.

DeWitt Harrison
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq