Exhaust Leak, Do I try to fix it myself or take it to the shop?

[4BigGreen]

Before I bought my truck I had it inspected at a good local diesel shop. One thing needing attention was an exhaust leak.

Recommendation:

1 - International Bellowed Uppipe kit
16- Exhaust manifold Bolts
7.5 Hours labor

Quote was $1,250

I'm not a real experienced mechanic. I've changed my Oil Cooler, Belt Tensioner, Radiator, water pump and added gauges myself.

I have more time than money right now. Is this a job I can do myself?

Also I asked this shop if they machined the manifolds before reinstalling them. They said no. I then asked if they used manifold gaskets. They said no they are metal to metal.

It made me wonder if they were just going to replace the manifold bolts one at a time as a preventative maintenance deal?

I don't see any soot around the manifolds. How can I tell if I have a manifold leak?

[ajfetterman]

Up pipes arent hard just frustrating and time consuming. The manifolds are metal to metal. Chances are for the manifolds it will be easier to cut the studs, remove the manifold and then back them out with vise-grips, heat and a good penetrating lube like PB or Aerokroil.

I too had an exhaust leak that I chased for a while. Up pipes and a gap in the rear pass side manifold. The manifold took me a while to find because I also didnt see any soot.

$1250 sounds high but I was quoted $850 for just factory up pipes and that was me supplying the dealer with them.

So all of that work is, in my book worth $1250 just for not having to hassle with it....but I also know that kind of money can be hard to come by. Bellowed pipes are $500ish depending on where you get them.

The driverside manifold is easy to get to and see. The pass side... not so much, the rear is the hardest to see or get to.

[ajfetterman]

I did mine myself.

You need long extensions and wobbles, and if you are lucky you can do it without removing the turbo. I have had mine out many times and it is not fun to line up the collector with the turbo. I now can get to the up pipes and donut gaskets from under the truck with the turbo and trans in. But if your bolts in the collector are as torqued as mine you will need to pull the turbo out and the collector.

[CALADASH]

If your manifolds ain't leaking don't mess with them. Almost 200k on both of my 7.3's with stock manifolds and hardware. No leaks! My Excursion came from Nebraska and there is rust. Manifolds are fine. Up pipes you can do in a day and the IH ones can be had for about 430 bucks. Depends on where you look.

[ajfetterman]

I didnt think my manifold was leaking either but those bolts can rattle out and cause a gap between the block and themselves and there is your leak. Some people can get lucky and are able to just tighten the bolts but not this guy, I live in the rust belt and my truck was originally from Canada then came here. It has always been in snow and cold and salt.

[Layson]

Not bad to do yourself. Check out the updated uppipes that have the bellows from Clay at Riffraff Diesel. They are spendy but you never have to mess with them again.

[kaniper sniper]

I would try and do it yourself. Like others have said , it takes patience more than anything else. And if you have more time than money i would save as many dead presidents as possible

[4BigGreen]

I appreciate the help.

ajfetterman, I've been reading your posts on your exhaust leak and the trouble with the broken bolts. So I have been spraying PB on the manifold bolts for about a month. I have been able to turn all the manifold bolts on the passenger side and 6 of the easy to reach ones on the drivers side so far. The truck was in Idaho for a while but mostly in Arizona so no major rust on the manifold bolts. Been lucky on that one so far.

I really don't want to take the manifolds off if I don't need to. Maybe just change the bolts with some anti-seize for preventative maintenance?

I included some photos, maybe someone can see signs of a manifold leak?





A shot of the Up-pipes

[lariat7.3]

yup the uppipe gaskets are leaking where they go into the collector, thats the most common place to leak. You can see the soot leaking

[ajfetterman]

I thought I saw some soot on the rear of the manifold as well, that is where mine was....could have been shadow. I wish my truck was that clean.

I agree about the gaskets leaking also, super common. The gaskets you can get cheap and the rest just takes time. If you go with the bellows it will take care of this issue so you only have to do it once. I went the other way, figured the OE ones went 140k so if the replacements last half that long I would be happy.