Jump to content

Exhaust manifold questions


kefferjoe
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello,

I have a cracked exhaust manifold on the underside of my driver side exhaust manifold. I am trying to decide whether to take it to a shop to have it done, do it my self, or to just leave it be. I'm fairly handy with tools, but my concern is if i was to break the studs off the manifold due to rusting. Also I have no idea how time consuming this project is. How much would a shop reasonably charge to do this? How long would it take for me to do it myself?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I replaced one and it was a PITA. The studs weren't the issue, but I had to remove a lot of items in the engine bay to get access, I had to buy an offset O2 socket, drop the cat and the next section of pipe to get to the bolts from underneath, heat shields were impossible to get to, etc. The replacement manifold was only about $90, but I spent many hours and curse words over several days dealing with it. This is definitely something I would pay a reliable shop to do, especially if it was for $60-80!

I have no idea what a shop would charge, but call and get some quotes, then rate the cost against your time and patience to decide.

 

B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, just a local guy that wanted some side work. He did good work though, and sure saved me the trouble. I just bought the manifold online for around 45-50 (rockauto) and had him install it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah i was looking around and the shops around here want close to $300, and that's just labor assuming they don't have to replace studs and such. They quoted 3.8 hours for the job. I may just do that since it does look like an insanely tough job to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly, it wasn't hard per-se, more are you f-ing kidding me, how the hell am I supposed to get to that annoying...

 

If I got a quote for $300 total, regardless, I'd probably take it...

 

B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had my local mechanic do it for around 60-80 bucks after I bought the part. I probably could have done it myself, but I didnt want to- for the same reason you mentioned above.

 

60-80 bucks for the driver side does sound really cheap. I had the passenger side replaced for about that much.

Edited by ltsnotme
Link to comment
Share on other sites

60-80 bucks for the driver side does sound really cheap. I had the passenger side replaced for about that much.

 

My mistake, it was the passenger side one that I had replaced.

 

 

How do you tell the difference between a cracked stud and a cracked manifold? Or can you only know after it is removed.

 

For mine the manifold was in two pieces.... it was pretty obviously cracked, and fetching LOUD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you tell the difference between a cracked stud and a cracked manifold? Or can you only know after it is removed.

Like was said, the crack was clearly visible, and it fell into 2 pieces when I unbolted it.

 

Generally speaking, the WD21 manifold issues are them warping and the studs breaking (the nuts will be gone or spin easily and you might see evidence of an exhaust leak) while the R50 manifolds seem to crack/break, probably due to the larger studs not giving and the extra weight of having the cats bolted directly to them and handing down.

 

B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...