Best way to go about repairing the 5.0 exhaust manifold?

[Precision]

I went to get my 2000 5.0 inspected and basically said it wasn't going to pass and to not waste my money. He said it has an exhaust leak you can hear it. He didn't look further but I'm going to say its safe to assume my exhaust manifold needs to be replaced.

What's the best way to go about fixing this right and at the lowest cost?

I've seen the parts on rockauto.com and each side is $50.00 or so but how labor intensive is it?

 

[delexploder]

It depends on how rusty your rig is and if any bolts break off

 

[koda2000]

go through the fender well. it's easy to completely remove the plastic inner fender and it will give you great access to the exhaust manifold. as far as dealing with rusty bolts/nuts, spray them down with a good penetrant (like Kroil) starting a couple of days before and if necessary use a handheld torch with MAP gas to heat up stubborn bolts/nuts. i prefer to use an impact wrench, because there's less chance of snapping anything off, but a breaker bar with a piece of pipe will give you all the leverage necessary.

 

[pbnj22]

yeah hopefully its not rusty as crap like my rig because i ended up breaking two bolts and giving up and just dealing with the exhaust leak (for now)
but jack up the front end take off front tires and the plastic fender well things that has a combo of like 4 or 5 screws and a few bolts.. then you will have really good access to each manifold.. make sure you have quite a few extensions and wobble sockets or elbows...
if you search around on here enough you will find "torque monster header install reviews writeups and tutorials".. you could follow that.. and instead of when they put the headers on you would be putting replacement manifolds back in. and since the manifolds are a little smaller it should be easier for you since you wont have to remove anything else out of the way to make room.
i posted a torque monster header install video actually.. search and try to find that if you wanna watch.. should show you everything you need to know!

 

[Precision]

So basically its an easy bolt off bolt on but just a matter of getting them off? Is there a way to diagnose which side it may be or is it typical to just replace both sides?

 

[koda2000]

So basically its an easy bolt off bolt on but just a matter of getting them off? Is there a way to diagnose which side it may be or is it typical to just replace both sides?

it's usually the passenger side that cracks, but it could be either side. i think the best way to know for sure might be to remove the serpentine belt to eliminate the fan noise, but if you just open the hood with the engine running you should be able to tell which side the noise is coming from. you might consider have an exhaust shop diagnose where the leak is, as it could be a pipe, muffler, or donut gasket leak.

 

[masospaghetti]

The most difficult part about this job is removing the inner collector bolt on the passenger side, the access is horrible. I was just barely able to get an impact socket on (15mm, I think) using a impact swivel and a couple extensions, for some reason there's a random peg welded onto the exhaust pipe that had to be hack sawed off before I could get the socket in place.

All but one of the manifold bolts came out really easily. One required a good beating with the impact.

 

[pbnj22]

So basically its an easy bolt off bolt on but just a matter of getting them off? Is there a way to diagnose which side it may be or is it typical to just replace both sides?

yeah.. pretty easy just long and tedious.. then again i couldn't finish the job lol.. start spraying the bolts with wd40, kroil, or whatever rust penetrate you like to use.. spray the hell out of them every day for like a week before you do the job and like someone said if you can use an impact that would be better because of the back and forth "vibrating" nature it is less likely to break the bolts..

 

[pbnj22]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctaZbrq1Jto

that might be worth watching.. if you plan to tackle yourself.

 

[RomeovilleIL]

Ran into same problems of getting a manifold off. Ended up using high-temp 2-part putty to fill in the crack we could see exhaust coming out of on cold day. May not be the best solution, but it did work well enough that noise was gone and did not see the leak anymore.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...tal-repair/_/N-25hw?itemIdentifier=30671_0_0_

 

[jremington59]

I went to get my 2000 5.0 inspected and basically said it wasn't going to pass and to not waste my money. He said it has an exhaust leak you can hear it. He didn't look further but I'm going to say its safe to assume my exhaust manifold needs to be replaced.

What's the best way to go about fixing this right and at the lowest cost?

I've seen the parts on rockauto.com and each side is $50.00 or so but how labor intensive is it?

Where do you live that an exhaust leak fails an inspection? Was it causing an O2 sensor code?

 

[delexploder]

Delaware will fail you for exhaust leaks also,

 

[pbnj22]

i am so glad i live in a state with pretty much zero inspection.. dont you guys have friends or family in other states that you can use as address to avoid all this madness!??
then again that would be illegal and i do not condone that

 

[jremington59]

I'd grind it down and pack some JB Weld into it. That would seal it long enough to get an inspection until I got ready to change it. That inside exhaust bolt is hell even with a lift.

 

[RomeovilleIL]

I'd grind it down and pack some JB Weld into it. That would seal it long enough to get an inspection until I got ready to change it. That inside exhaust bolt is hell even with a lift.

If you go this rount, use the exhaust putty made for manifolds. JB wont take the heat and might affect your O2 sensors when it burns.

 

[toypaseo]

I used some JB Weld HighHeat two-part epoxy on the manifold on my Paseo. One of the heat shield bolts sheared off, and after removal, I planned to fill it in, and tap threads into it.

Mixed according to directions, filled, and let it dry for a few days.

Started the car, and as soon as heat started to build, it started to smoke, and the epoxy mix turned into a brittle powder :thumbdwn: