Exhaust leak

07GtS197 · Jul 18, 2017

Has anyone ever had a 2v exhaust manifold crack on them? Ive had a nasty exhaust leak on my passenger side somewhere for quite some time and its pissing me off lol. The car has been sitting for the past 6 months or so and Im just now dusting off the cobwebs.

So before I took my 02 gt off the road it had a leak that would form every once in a while until I tightened up the manifold to x pipe bolts. The last time I got a new gasket and even went as far as taking that side leg off of the x pipe itself to help seat it and used an impact to get a good seal. Then I turned it on and the leak was worse than before. Is it possible the manifold it cracked or I over torqued it at one point and maybe loosened it somewhere else?

SnakeBit! · Jul 20, 2017

if it is like the v6, it can come from the water dripping out from the a/c onto the manifold and crack it.

07GtS197 · Jul 20, 2017

I dont think so. Ill double check but I dont think so. When I use a piece of vacuum tube it sounds like its coming from cylinder 2 or 3. I guess I could unplug the coils or injectors on those cylinders and see if the sound goes away, granted its between the head and manifold.

PinkieT · Jul 20, 2017

The 4.6 in my F150 had a leak at the manifold/head area. One exhaust manifold was cracked, but replacing them didn't fix all the problems. Prior owner had let an exhaust leak go so long it ate away at the aluminum on the head - no gasket would seal it as is. He cleaned it up best he could on the truck and tried a high quality gasket, no luck. He tried sealant and high quality gasket, again no luck, it blew out in a week. From there, he said the only solution was to pull the heads and re-surface the face. I sold the truck instead. Hope you have better luck!

07GtS197 · Jul 20, 2017

Id say its maybe been a hundred miles includeng when it was barely noticable. It started as a gargling like sound and some weirdness on datalogs then a tick. Not too long after it started ticking did I pull it off the road. Hopefully that wasnt enough time to eat away at anything.

07GtS197 · Jul 21, 2017

I unplugged each coil on bank 1, one by one to check if it was between the head and manifold. My theory is that once that coil stops firing the tick will go away. Well it didnt. So I got the bright idea of spraying water at the manifold to mid pipe connection. It showed nothing (I didnt expect too much) but when I blipped the gas I could see the gasket flap, very slightly. So I sprayed more water and when it dried I blipped the gas again but this time a little water came out too. So it seems to be right where I didnt think it was lol. Is there any way of helping seal that side? Nothing I do seems to work.