97 ZJ cracked exhaust manifold

[pfarber]

Well it seems that every once in a while the entire internet is right. The dreaded 'yo, your exhaust manifold WILL crack on your ZJ' prophecy has come true... I noticed that at idle and my windows down I was smelling exhaust fumes. I hoped it was just a lose exhaust flange... NOPE. Cracked manifold exactly where the crack was 'supposed' to be.

But the good news is that having a 14 your old car means that parts are given away. I could have gone to the junk yard and gotten a manifold for $15, well, add $30 for a gasket and donut seal, and that manifold was bound to also crack. Parts places list a new manifold that solves the cracking issue for $160+. OR ebay. Stainless steel manifold with gasket, donut and the improved design... $85 delivered.

Yeah.. I have to swap it.. but that's like a 2 hour job. And with my new HF garage fan I can do it in comfort. So yeah... $600 new car payment or every few months have to dick with the ZJ and spend $100. I think I will keep my trusty ZJ.

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[pfarber]

Took about 4 hours to get everything done.

This is one of the common places the header cracks.. due to the long length of the tubes, when they heat up/cool down they move a lot and that leads to cracks.. this was repaired before (note the peanut butter aka blobs of weld).

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This is a side by side of the new/old parts. Notice the bellows on the longest tubes.. that allows them to heat up/cool down and not put any strain on the welds at the merge point.

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Car is much quieter now. The cars computer says I've been getting 16.6MPG.. lets hope this repair gets me a MPG or two.