Stupid Exhaust Leak on 5.0

[RobertMalunat]

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas about where my exhaust leak is coming from on my 97 5.0 Explorer? i cant tell if its on the headers or the collectors but im pretty sure its a gasket issue. Anyone have similar problems?

 

[Dylansav]

Welcome to the forums!

The first thing I'd do would be to check on the side of the truck when it is running and see if you can kind of pinpoint where it is coming from (sound).

How rusted away is your exhaust system and how does it sound idling?

 

[JoeMahma]

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas about where my exhaust leak is coming from on my 97 5.0 Explorer? i cant tell if its on the headers or the collectors but im pretty sure its a gasket issue. Anyone have similar problems?

On these engines it's almost always one of the exhaust headers leaking. I've replaced my pass. side and have to do the drivers side soon.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Welcome to the site. it's a very common problem. My 5.0 has been leaking for about 100k. If it's just a light ticking leak I'd leave it be.

 

[Mikeri]

First, check you make sure you have not lost a bolt. This just happened to me. Secondly, and only from my research on this board, it is a common problem that the header actually splits requiring replacment. One sure way to see where the leak is to do a Seafoam treatment through your PCV. The smoke will show you.

 

[expobronc]

yup my 98's got the same thing. its my egr tube, started as a small crack, but not its completly severed. the noise drives me nuts, but fixing the tube looks like a pain in the ass. i told myself if/when i pull the motor i'll fix it. ive tried exhaust pipe wrap, some sort of hardening paste, all lasted about 3 days, oh well guess i'll have to run the radio a little louder

 

[SilverBullet]

My '01 just developed a horrible leak. I took it to the dealer and they said it was a cracked manifold on the passenger side. $900 to fix just the one through them, so I'm going to get Torque Monster Headers and just replace them both with much better manifolds.

 

[rwz23]

i see that people are mentioning the egr tube being cracked. my 99 5.0 sounds like it has a small leak and also had the code P0401 an egr code. On top of that it kind of bucks/jumps/hesitates/surges(you get the idea) when trying to accelerate at all in the two highest gears. Im wondering if these could all be related. If the EGR tube is cracked will it cause that EGR trouble code to come on and would it cause the problems with driving that i listed? thanks

 

[01explorerv801]

i am having the same issue with my 01 5.0... my egr assembly looks ok... i am going to tackle the manifold one of these days.

 

[rwz23]

01explorerv801 are you having the same problems that i described? i discovered my problem was a vacuum leak going to the evr. It was the white hose that goes in to one of the two inlets into the evr... im not sure where the other end of it goes though

 

[01explorerv801]

my car has a cracked manifold or something, i dont have a CEL at the moment but when i am towing my toys, the car starts to hickup, buck, lose massive power etc, as well as CEL start to flash...

 

[Mbrooks420]

That's probably something else entirely. I think when the CEL flashes you are having misfiring in one or more of the cylinders. Get the codes scanned, and then you'll know where to start.