Exhaust Manifold Leak~!

[darkhorse]

hi all... after having my car for around 4 month now and never noticed this ticking sound from the engine when i bought the car...(i thinks the warm weather might have to do with this i think) i have had it checked briefly from a mechanic and he said that it was a exhaust leak from head to manifold and hopefully it's only the gasket not actual manifold crack..... the ticking sound is really noticeable when the engine is cold but the sound gets softer after driving it for a while...(i guess the metal expends with the heat..) and the engine sound seem to be more rough although the idle is consistent....

now my questions is, is it ok to drive the car for a while with the leak? will it do any damage to the car in anyways? (i want to upgrade my exhaust with split dump & front pipe and want to wait until then to fix this problem...)

how much will it be to fix it at a workshop(maybe boostworx)?

Could anyone help me answering these questions would be much appreciated.

cheers, yohan

[Nightcrawler]

yeah should be ok to drive around for a little while, but when gaskets start to leak they can tear and will leak further and further around until your car is undriveable eventually.

Round figure for a workshop to remove the turbo, remove the manifold, replace the gasket and put it all back together again is around $300-$500 - it is not a massive job, but is fiddly and can be time consuming. Then you have the risk of nuts being rounded or studs being snapped if they were done up ridiculously tight or have rusted. Then you are up for quite a bit of hard earned if that happens. If you are mechanically minded it is not a difficult job to do yourself - I had never changed a turbo before and I did mine as well as fit a dump pipe and new wastegate actuator - wasn't a hard job really - just time consuming.

[gtrkiet]

and that is why we just pay that extra 200 bucks or so for them to fit it for us and not be stingy ^_^

[KISIN]

and that is why we just pay that extra 200 bucks or so for them to fit it for us and not be stingy ^_^

where is the satisfaction in that ?

its not just about the money

[Madaz]

no its about saving knuckles and headaches

[Whiplash]

i've had a broken stud on my manifold for a while now. I have been checking it every couple of weeks and it isn't leaking yet. My mechanic said it wasn't urgent to fix it due to the low mileage i do.

and i haven't got the time to leave my car at a workshop for a day or 2 to work on it

[darkhorse]

yeah~ i was thinking about just taking the air box and a few stuff that sits on top of the manifold and tighten the bolts... but i was warried about snapping off the bolts what's been sitting there for 10 or more years and if i did, then i was making a problem even worse....

i have to admit that the engine noise now is horrible to listen to... sound;s like a truck or something

i might have to wait until i get the split dump and get all the gaskets changed from manifold to turbo back... that way all the gaskets in the exhaust side are all fresh.

anyone else had similiar problem/experience?

cheers

[darkhorse]

oh and if it's the actuall manifold, should i be looking at chinging to the stock one or a aftermarket stainless steel one?

[Elliotws]

morpowa redrilled and put new studs in for $500 about two months ago when they fitted my turbo. id say in would be cheaper at boostworks.

[ted180]

oh and if it's the actuall manifold, should i be looking at chinging to the stock one or a aftermarket stainless steel one?

unless your going steam pipe then keep the stock one.

most ss ones these days will cause more bad then good.

[darkhorse]

unless your going steam pipe then keep the stock one.

most ss ones these days will cause more bad then good.

yeah i hear a lot of SS ones crack too.... so mild steel stock one is the go in a long run i guess...

ah.... i want this fixed.... more money going to the car....

[ted180]

yeah i hear a lot of SS ones crack too.... so mild steel stock one is the go in a long run i guess...

ah.... i want this fixed.... more money going to the car....

some ss ones are alright. but its hard to filter through the chinese crap to find a good one these days. i dont think they offer any drastic gains over stock anyway, at least not with stock turbo anyway.

arent stock ones cast? or are rb different to sr?

Edited November 19, 2007 by ted180

[sinistaGTR]

It will prob just be the gasket....make sure you get a genuine nissan one, I know the rb25 ones are 110 from main north nissan. I tried aftermarket gaskets and one lasted 4hrs there absolute shite. The stock manifold is cast shouldnt be that.

[darkhorse]

sinistagtst, did you change the gasket your self? was it hard and time consuming?

another thing is that if i was to change the gastekets i wanna change both head to manifold and manifold to turbo and wanna change all the bolts to new ones as well... where can i get right bolts that are suitable for the job? (strangth wise..)

cheers~

[sinistaGTR]

its a bit of a pain but if your mech minded and dont mind loosing a bit of skin its not hard, you will need block to manifold gasket, manifold to turbo gasket also a dump pipe gasket