2006 Ford Explorer exhaust leak

[wannabefixer]

My son and daughter in law own a 2006 Ford Explorer which I change oil in and do small repairs for them. It has an exhaust leak at start up, but after about 1 to 2 minutes of run time after start up seems to stop leaking. The exhaust leak seems to be coming from the front of the right side exhaust manifold. It is equipped with the 4.6 V8 motor. I do not see any signs of the leak around the manifold area, but it is very compacted in engine compartment. I am looking for suggestions of were the leak may be coming from.

 

[jseabolt]

My '96 5.0 did this and my '06 4.6 does this. Must be a Ford standard feature on the Explorers!

In the case of my '96, the exhaust manifold cracked on the passenger side right down the middle.

On my '06, I suspect it's the exhaust manifold gasket. And the noise does go away after it warms up. The manifold expands and seals the leak. I had Jeep Wrangler that sounded like every valve in the motor was rattling at startup then went away after a few miles.

My wife said something about it the other day. I'm not too enthused about replacing the exhaust manifold gasket since the noise goes away after a few miles. I remember what a pain it was to replace the manifold on my '96. That one bolt on the downpipe between the engine and flange took 6 hours to remove. Luckily the manifold was broken into two halves and I was able to work it towards me using a crow bar between the rear half and the downpipe. And then I had to use two wrenches and turn it a few degrees at a time for about an hour until I got it removed. There just wasn't any clearance to get a rachet in there. If the exhaust manifold had not broken, I have no idea how a person would remove it in one piece.

Once I got that bolt removed, I had the new manifold on in about an hour.

I'm not sure about this engine though. Replacing the spark plugs were a no brainer on a modular but on a smallblock not so easy. But easier if you remove the front wheels.

 

[Ornery]

Ours has the same issue. It ain't gettin' fixed... period!

 

[Henders]

I have an 06 also that developed the ticking sound. It was found to be both Exhaust manifolds had leaks. It took the dealer a bit over a week to fix because when they went to replace it, a few of the bolts broke and they pretty much had to tear the engine down to repair it. Luckily, this happened while it was under my extended warranty!
The only problem you'll have if you don't get it fixed is passing a vehicle inspection (if they smell exhaust in the passenger area). I've also read that in some states, they'll immediately fail the car until it's fixed. Good luck!

 

[FStephenMasek]

Too bad the car makers are forced by CAFE to make parts thinner than they would like.

 

[Flag Gibby]

I thought that it has to do with the different expansion/contraction properties of two different metals and not so much with how thick the casting is.

 

[TowingExplorer]

Here's my post from another thread about my manifold replacement at the dealer.

Okay, final update I suppose.

Picked up the Explorer from the dealer today. The passenger manifold was either warped or cracked, either way it was replaced under my Ford ESP. Supposedly, only 3 of the studs had to be replaced which I am extremely surprised by. I have not had a chance to look at it to see how they managed to save the other studs.

When they brought it into the garage, they immediately noticed my front passenger wheel bearing was bad by its whirring. They volunteered to fix it even though I had not listed it as an issue. To be honest, I didn't notice because I don't drive the Explorer enough to notice it gradually got louder.

I mentioned the passenger side being colder than driver's side when dual climate is set to A/C.. they measured and said the driver's side was 10-15* warmer than passenger which is "within spec".

Lastly, I mentioned a misfire feeling around 50mph, to which they immediately noted the wheel bearing. I haven't driven it a lot as I just picked it up today, but I think the "misfire" feeling is still there. If I confirm, I'll bring it back and refuse to pay any additional deductible as I complained about it before.

My ESP ends in December due to time, 4 years 48k miles.