[Evil-Bee-NH]

So I'm the 2nd person in a month who has had this happen. Long story short I've have my ZZP Catted Downpipe for 2 yrs. It's been awesome but a little over a week ago my car got an exhaust leak threw a code a day later for the O2 during a rainstorm i cleared it and it's never comeback today which is my own bad for waiting because even HPTuners didn't pick it up, i put the car on a lift and went looking for the leak. Well my mechanic of choice for the day wiggled the exhaust from under the car and found the leak the flange going to the turbo had broken and was basically free floating how this hasn't tripped a permanent code is beyond me. Now I'm a fan of ZZPs products and i still like them but the same thing happened to a 2.0T ATS they tuned just this past month. I haven't contacted ZZP yet about a resolution and this thread isn't by any means a warning about ZZP this is just to let people know there is clearly a manufacturing issue with the turbo side flange on their downpipe and you should check it if your car ever acts abnormally strange. My car runs fine pulls like it always has just you can hear the turbo spool really loud and i imagine something could and would eventually get caught and cause an issue worse then a broken downpipe flange.

[Adb1lt]

Uhhoh hope my down pipe doesn't have any issues

[cooper1965]

That's good information to have. (Not that I have one, nor am I sold on any aftermarket option as far as cost VS gains.) But, that could cause some problems depending on how someones tune is set up. I would also be concerned about the winter months, ice cold air hitting the super hot turbine wheel after shutdown.

[Evil-Bee-NH]

Originally Posted by cooper1965

That's good information to have. (Not that I have one, nor am I sold on any aftermarket option as far as cost VS gains.) But, that could cause some problems depending on how someones tune is set up. I would also be concerned about the winter months, ice cold air hitting the super hot turbine wheel after shutdown.

Ya I was a bit surprised when we put it on the lift. I'll either get a new one or go back to stock downpipe. I'll post pictures when I can been sick as hell the past few days. I've always had the where with all to let my car idle for a time before and after driving to let the oil get where it needs to go even when I was stock. I know I said some dumb shit in my earlier days but I did read up on basic things you should do with turbocharged cars. Not gonna lie I went and bought another one because I can't be down my car as it's my daily and I don't need to be adjusting my tune at the moment.

[Archangle]

Mine's had leaks at the flange for months I haven't really said anything about it. I was just going to swap it out for a non catted down pipe in the near future. I'm happy with my ZZP intercooler kit, throttle body and throttle body spacer but I'm not too happy with there down pipe.

[Evil-Bee-NH]

I don't think they milled the flanges right. Maybe I'm wrong if it was just LTG Camaros I'd say there's a fitment issue but mine was fine for awhile and there's a few ATS LTGs with the same issue now. I just think it's cheap metal and it breaks down under heavy use.

[cooper1965]

Are they broke at the tig weld's on the 304 stainless? Or the steel itself has cracked? I see it looks like a 2 year warranty against defects in material and workmanship.
Either way, still sucks to do things twice. Even more if you have to buy the same parts twice..

[raflyer]

Did you use the bracket that bolts to the engine block?

[Evil-Bee-NH]

I'll get pictures up next week of the whole situation right now i have no time or energy to get it back up on a lift and the replacement dp won't be here til the 31st anyway.

The whole point of this thread was to document an existing recurring issue for everyones benefit. I'll also note i was possibly one of the first few to install the ZZP DP on the camaro and get back to people on fitment. When i bought mine it was still unknown if it would fit on the camaro ltg and mine somehow somewhere had no transmission line issues. So only time will tell, I've had zero issue with ZZP products just other things in the past which have zero bearing on this and i did buy my new downpipe from them again and will regularly document any excessive wear or breakdown for everyone. This is a 100% daily driver tuned camaro and i think a regular update on excessive wear in any areas would go a long way in better QC and or fixes that may need to be made. I mean if this next one goes sooner I'll most certainly have an issue to take up.

[RedonBlackRS]

I do have to say that ZZP is known for having fantastic welds on their products, but the LTG downpipe doesn't have that nice welding on the flanges, just three little TIG spots. And if the pipe isn't bolted like a mofo to the brackets that barely hold it to the block, it'll crack the top flange off.
I think a custom bracket, rather than reusing the stock pieces, would be in all of our best interest.
This is nothing against ZZP! They have amazing customer service and offer quality products for a variety of underserved platforms that most companies don't bother with. Just a quick suggestion for improvement on an already good product.

[Zzsteve]

Evil-Bee:

Shoot me an email Steve@ZZPerformance.com with photos, and order info please. i will make sure you are taken care of!

If you purchased the pipe 2+ years ago, it is possible you have the first revision. we have made some changes in the manufacturing process along the way to ensure this does not happen in the future!

did you have the lower bracket in place?

[Evil-Bee-NH]

I'll check with my mechanic when we uninstall same guy installed it. Should be arriving tomorrow then i need to find time. I don't remember any issues with the install being mentioned but I'll ask later today.

[geoffchad]

Steve-

Is there a way to know visually by looking at the pipe if it's pre or post revision?

[SSShark]

Hi Steve,

I just received my catted downpipe today. Has the issue been resolved?