Exhaust Manifold Leak

kendall221

Registered User
Finally had to take the plunge on replacing head gaskets. Everything was put back together, but now a week later, developed a noisy exhaust leak on the right side. I'm told they checked and everything is on tight, and that the manifold have have warped when it was removed. We're gonna try replacing the exhaust manifold gasket again and see if that works. Otherwise, I'm told I may need to either try to have the exhaust manifold machined flat or find a new one.

Has anybody else ever had this problem when they completed their head gasket job? If so, what did you do? Engine is totally stock. I see that Percy's Seal-4-Good has a 3.8 liter flange available. Has anybody ever tried that? Is it better than the normal exhaust manifold gasket from Fel-pro for a problem like this?

Thanks for the help.

David
'95 SC
182,000 miles - trying to get to 200,000 but she's getting difficult to deal with.
 
The best indicator that they've warped out of shape is that the bolt holes don't line up when you go to put them back on. I've had to use a round-bastard file to lengthen the hole on the exhaust manifold in order to bolt it back up to the head.

If you run it for a week, you should be able to see exactly where the leak is on the exhaust manifold gasket when you take it apart.
 
I've never heard of this in the several times I've done head gaskets.

Sounds to me as though it wasn't put on straight.

-Tim
 
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