Exhaust manifold leak/ Indecisive about which exhaust to install.

[ezln1992]

Turns out my 91 2.9 has an air leak coming out the drivers side exhaust manifold. I plan on replacing the gasket soon and it seemed easy enough being that there is so much clearance around the manifold. Anything I should be aware of before I switch out the gasket? Im trying to avoid any surprises with something that seems straight forward lol


Also im thinking of installing some flowmasters or maganaflows finally after years with my ranger. Everything is completely stock so I wanna get some feedback on what you guys thinks might be the best sounding exhaust to go with. Also whether I should remove the cat and/or resonator. Really interested in what you guys have to say on this.

 

[dave2575]

Your more than likly going to run into a couple problems when replacing the exhaust manifold gasket/s. The first problem is breaking the exhaust manifold bolt/s, and the second problem is taking out the broken bolt/s! They never seem to break with enough bolt shank to get ahold of, it seems like they usually break flush with the head.
Suggestion's... You could take the truck to an exhaust shop and ask them to take out the bolts for you, The'll break'em and the'll take'em out. but thats deffinitly not the cheapest solution. The cheapest and best way is to do it yourself, but take your time and dont rush yourself. Drench the bolts in a anti-rust/metal lubricant for a few hours, and then heat'em up with a torch, ive even ran the truck for a while getting the motor hot and then tried loosining them. Who knows you could be the luckiest guy ever and not get any broken bolts in witch case its a pretty strait foreward job.
I prefere flowmasters for there sound and performance, but I have had a few differenrt exhaust setups on my truck, Oh and DON'T drop your cats, You'll loose power and it sounds horrible. trust me I know this...

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Are you sure it is leaking at the head/s or is it at the flange for the pipes? My muffeler guy uses a lond vacuum tube taped to a soft wire leaving the end of the tube open you can bend the wire to reach hard to get at places to isolate the leak/s. put one end up to your ear and search around with the other the closer to the leak the louder the ticking will be.