Should this exhaust manifold be replaced? . It does not leak, just looks bad. Not sure how much life is left in it. Not sure if anyone can give advice based off a pic. Thanks.

 

if it's not leaking...don't touch it.

 

ok thanks.

 

The later years don't crack and leak like the older model. They look fine. They're cast iron.

 

Water treatment time when you get it all back together!

 

So the 2000's have 2 manifolds? Was this a fix for the cracking on the straight 6 manifold? I kind of am used to my morning diesel sounds.

 

Yeah, the design change is to accommodate the additional catalytic converters. 2000 California and all 4.0Ls 2001 and newer have a pair of additional catalytic converters installed right in the downpipe. The engine was split into two banks with four O2 sensors, upstream and downstream of each mini cat:



The 2000 Federal versions got straight pipes in place of the miniature cats and O2 sensors in the usual places. They kept the separate manifolds for cyls 1-3 and 4-6 and the different collector pipe.

The upside of this design is that the welds don't have nearly as much leverage on them. The original manifold - very long - had a ton of leverage on that one weld where the two runners joint at the collector. The newer style has much more room to flex. Although a braided flex pipe is the real solution...

 

O that's a pretty good upgrade. I bet there is a lot less failure from heat cracking too.

 

Looks fine to me. They all look like that. If you bought a brand new one, it would look like that within a year or two of normal use and would still be perfectly fine.

On the other hand, if you're looking for an excuse to replace it with a Banks Torque Tubes header... Yeah, man, that looks terrible. You really need that header.

Good motor mounts are the real solution.

 

LOL. I wish I had the money to spend on it. I would have liked to get a performance cylinder head replacement too, but couldn't justify spending the extra money on a vehicle I drive less than 5k miles a year.

 

Yeah, I had those diesel sounds too, but got tired of the clatter finally and bit the bullet and did the project.
Here is a write up earlier this year FWIW.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/ins...y-pics-223819/

I am real happy with the results.

 

Not really. The entire exhaust on XJs is rigid. That's a lot of leverage just asking for trouble. Put in a flex pipe and never have a cracked manifold again, regardless of mount condition.