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.
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...
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by salad
Although a braided flex pipe is the real solution...
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
