As i stated in a prevous post, i have an exauast leak on my manifold where the y meets the manifold. Well i brought it to the garage and they did it, i was not satisfied so i brought it back, and i don't think they did a damn thing. I told them do NOT take off the drivers side manifold, and they did, maybe to re-thread it, I don't know. I know its leaking from that side because i can here it when driving and when i'm go threw a drive threw or just woods. He said thats how its suppose to be and that it can't be quieted down. I'm pretty pissed right now, because I had it quieter once. So to recap, i brought it down twice and still not happy, do i just pay him and live with it or what? It not extreamly loud, but its enough to tick ya off What you guys think? Thanks

 

Two words, Aluminum foil. Make crupled aluminum foli donuts for the area around each port (small enough to crunch, so use little foil, EXTRA HEAVY). Tighten back down and viola! Lol. But really thugh, it does work well if done properly, I forgot where I learned that from....You can buy a gasket set from felpro that won't leak, good stuff, I'm putting them on my motor when i ad the new heads.

 

I got a 91 firebird and I don't hear any exhaust leak on the drivers side or anywhere cept maybe the crap job I did blocking the egr off on the passenger side. I wouldn't pay'em if they didn't fix it. Get a second opinion from another shop even and see what they say.

 

Are you sure it where the manifold and Y-pipe meet? These cars are notorious for breaking the manifold bolts.

 

He said he put in a new manifold gasket so i'm not sure, i'm going to go over it when i get home tonight. Make sure everything is tight on it, maybe that will fix it, not sure. I guess I will have to live with it, not sure exactly where it is leaking to behonest, but i know it is

 

Manifold gasket? Where'd he put it? If he put it between the engine's heads and the manifold, that's wrong. From the factory, there is no gasket. (Yes, they do make a gasket, but it shouldn't be used.) That gasket could blow out and then you'll get a hell of a leak.

Along the lines of what MDv6man was saying, you gotta find where the leak is from. If the heads of the bolts snapped (as even my car had), and there were a few snapped, and the car was driven like that for a long time, it's possible that the manifold warped where it meets the head. Only way to tell would be to take the manifold off the car, and put it on a flat table, and see if it does in fact lie flat.

The "professional" way to test is to lay a machinist's straight edge across the manifold ports, and use a feeler gauge to check for variations. A feeler gauge is only $5 but a machinist's straight edge is about $50.

 

Thanks TomP. Its needs a gasket the way it is setup, other wise it will leak like crazy, I'm thinking it didn't seal right, can't even tell where the heck it is leaking from, but i had another mech look at it and he drove it, said its leaking somewhere, either manifold or Y pipe, so what to do? He wants me to bring it by in the morning, let it sit and cool off, then he said he will start it when its cold and see if he can feel where its coming from. Then maybe go back to the garage that did it, just gettign irritated quickly. Thanks man

 

When the car is cold you could take soapy water and put some around the manifold, it'll tell you at least on top if there's a leak....could probably do it at the y pipe. Just make sure it's cold...probably wouldn't be good having soap and water dumped on a hot manifold...