Cracked Exhaust Manifold

[conradmc]

I was replacing exhaust gaskets to fix an exhaust leak and may have found the problem; a cracked manifold. Just wondering how bad the cracks look i.e. should I just have it welded back together or will I need a new one. Or if anyone knows about a shop in the seattle area that would do a good, quick job. Also, I'm not sure if all of the stainless headers have that extra peice of metal at the Y, or if the headers were attempted to be repaired by someone before.

[seaboltman]

Looks like an attemted repair by someone else gone wrong. probably time to get a new set.

[Eldorado]

I'm sure you could weld it.. but if you've got the money, I'd buy a 'new to you' one..

there's a dude, Steve, over in the classified section giving a set of exhaust headers away for free (just pay shipping) I believe.. might be worth a looksey...

[SoCal Driver]

Check your engine mount on the exhaust side. When it collapses it puts pressure on the manifolds.

[CJFusco]

Replacement used manifolds can be found on eBay for cheap. Check it out.

[Razorback1980]

Very common problem on these cars. You can do a search and find several threads about it. I can't tell by the pictures but I'm betting it's between 1 and 4 cylinders. Once they are welded they are fine and stay repaired after that. The part about welding them though is you have to make sure your spacing for the bolts is correct. Britwrench (in Seattle by the way.... gerbermotorsports.com) provided me with the information to fix mine. His shop has a lot of knowledge about these cars and is probably someone you may want to get to know. He advised me to put it on an old head or make a template to keep the hole pattern correct and then weld them up. SoCal Driver also provided me some information about how sometimes they may not have mated those two pipes together well and while I was there I should make sure there were no restrictions inside which was also helpful. He also advised me to check the motor mount just as he has done for you. Hope this helps. If you are not going to fix it yourself, give Britwrench a call or email him, I'm sure he would be glad to help.

[herdman]

Had the same thing on my Jeep. The local muffler shop charged $25. to weld it back up and no problem after a year of daily driving. Larry

[SoCal Driver]

Originally posted by herdman
Had the same thing on my Jeep. The local muffler shop charged $25. to weld it back up and no problem after a year of daily driving. Larry

You have a 944 engine in your jeep???

[CJFusco]

yeah, and he put the Jeep engine in his 944. Beer can do strange things when consumed in a garage setting.

[Razorback1980]

Sounds like experience CJ....what kind of motor is in your car?

[Panzer909]

Conradmc - out of curiousity.........what were the symptoms that led you to discovery this?

[shikzachaser]

Just saw your thread. Unfortunately I already gave my old exhaust manifold along with the stock cat away to another needy 944. Got a lot of other free stuff if you need it.

Hey CJ
The offers still there for a garage warming present.

Steve

84 944
91 C4
98 M3
00 Durango

[Razorback1980]

Panzer909 ....I don't know about his, but with mine, you could hear it. I wasn't totally sure so I squirted just a little oil/gas mixture in the intake and I seen smoke coming up from that vicinity. I then looked on here and found several threads on the topic, so I took mine off and found the crack.

[Granite 944]

I still prefer the cast iron headers, myself, off the early cars.

Wonder how many times people have had their steel headers welded up, only to have them crack later down the road. They would SURE have to be welded up properly, in order to prevent more cracking. Seems to be a VERY common problem.

Yes, all these steel headers have that extra metal peice in there. I wonder why. Good luck!

[herdman]

The 944 engine works fine in the jeep , but the wheels are a hard fit!! Larry

[CJFusco]

Originally posted by shikzachaser
Just saw your thread. Unfortunately I already gave my old exhaust manifold along with the stock cat away to another needy 944. Got a lot of other free stuff if you need it.

Hey CJ
The offers still there for a garage warming present.

Steve

84 944
91 C4
98 M3
00 Durango

Thanks man! I don't have too much wall space left, but I'm sure I could find some room... I dunno exactly what you have... pics would sure help!

[conradmc]

Panzer...I heard what was almost a clicking sound...somewhat of a putter...when the engine was turned on. I thought it was just one of my exhaust gaskets that had busted, but found out the header was cracked when I went to replace them. The click/putter is noticable when you rev higher.

[Panzer909]

Thanks guys. Any noticable loss of power or smoothness? I'm going to start investigating this possibility because I did the Seafoam trick on my E30 last week and smoke billowed from the header area as well as the muffler. Not good.............

[WaA420]

Have you tried putting some bubble gum on it? I did that and it worked for a little while, then just blew again.

[conradmc]

I used Extra for a bit, but found that Bubblicious works MUCH better.