Exhaust Manifold

I had a friend diagnose my XJ with a leaking exhaust manifold gasket...he wouldn't help fix it because I was only visiting for the weekend and to quote him "it had the potential of being a big project"...

What should I know about this - and what should I do to fix it...(as in what type of money will have to fork over and is there anything in particular I should know about it since I'm a chick and don't want to get screwed over when I bring it in)...I've always been able to have a friend go with me...or I go in with a basic understanding of whats going on (aka price of parts and what they do) so I'm not cocky about whats going on...I just want them to know I'm not completely retarded when it comes to my rig...

2.5l or 4.0l ?

I have done many 2.5l exhaust manifolds.
The two bolts on the bottom of the exhaust are a PITA.
If it is just the gasket then you don't have to completely remove the manafolds.
Just take the bolts out and slide the old gasket out and slide the new one back in.
Make sure that the 'tits' are lined up with the gasket, there are two posistioning tits on the heads that need to be lined up you will wreck the gasket if you don't have every thing lined up.
If the gasket is not burned through and looks in good shape then the exhaust manifold is cracked.
You will have to replace it.
Do a search, someone on here pointed me to one on e-bay for less than $100.00.
If you need to completely remove the manifolds, don't break the EGR tube, that is a dealer only item and will set you back another $100.00!
When you are ready to put everything back together, start the two bottom middle bolts and slide the manifolds between the washers and the head.
It will make assembly much easier.
Put the EGR tube on and tighten it down before you put the P.S. pump and bracket back on the intake.
It will be 10 times easier to get to the two bolts on the exuaust end.

Good luck!

The gasket itself is about $10-15. The cost if done at a shop will be labor time.

I would double check to see if your exhaust manifold is cracked. Cracking is a typlical problem.

I just pulled mine the other week to weld it up and put it back on. It took me about 2hrs total using air tools.

Mike

seanR,

"tits" How about alignment pins. Your responding to a lady. Do you talk to your mother this way?

Not meant to offend any one.

I'll second what Mike said about the cracked manifold. If it is cracked (and it's very likely that it is) you'll need to replace it anyway and that's a perfect opportunity to replace the gasket at the same time. It's not the easiest project in the world, but if you pay someone to do it the labor costs will be much cheaper. If you do it yourself, block out a long weekend to get the job done and get a knowledgeable hand to help. The FSM is invaluable in this case - just did mine a month or so ago.


There are three cracks in that manifold. They are hard to see in this view, but the one I could see was where the base of the rear pipes comes into the collector at the bottom right. The other two were hidden around the back so it wasn't until I removed it that I realized how hole-y the manifold really was.