Chinese manifolds not much of a bargain at $60

[Cosmos99]

Betty had an exhaust leak when I bought her that went away as the engine got hot. I was hoping it was just a loose nut or two and a simple fix. No such luck.... This is 2 years and 16k miles. OEM manifold will be here Monday so I can get her back on the road. Not cheap and I would rather have A.D.D. headers but I wanted to get her back on the road asap to enjoy some snow time in the trails.

 

[WOODY2]

You'll be happy you went OEM.

 

[kalieracer]

ADD does not make headers. You can run the AU headers of you have a federal truck

 

[coffeegoat]

Headers are a bear to find, unfortunately there just isn't much of a market stateside to justify tooling up to make them. I went through the process of fixing my headers (which may still be fixed, haven't checked recently) but they weren't anywhere near that bad. Good luck with the new ones, this is going to be an ongoing problem...

I'm wondering if this, and a few other problems may be worth picking up by ADD. The other one I'm aware of is the HBB, it's a pain in butt, and buying parts is a crap shoot. There will likely be a steady flow of people that need replacements over the next 5 years. They already carry OEM thermostats, crank bolts, and high quality ball joint replacements, perhaps remanufactured HBB motors or high quality replacement manifolds would be worth adding to the list.

 

[Toasty]

On manifolds, they don't crack if you make them breath. The Montero is a high RPM machine, it loves to be at or above 3,000RPM especially with a load. I've never had a set crack and I've logged 100's of k's in Monteros. Only my friends who lug them down in hills and under load crack manis. Just my opinion, maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[Cosmos99]

On manifolds, they don't crack if you make them breath. The Montero is a high RPM machine, it loves to be at or above 3,000RPM especially with a load. I've never had a set crack and I've logged 100's of k's in Monteros. Only my friends who lug them down in hills and under load crack manis. Just my opinion, maybe I'm just lucky.

These were the made in China ones that Marco had on Betty. When I arrived to test drive her before the drive back to CO I heard the leak immediately. Should have investigated and negotiated but the leak went away when it got warm. I assumed a loose bolt or gasket as I really liked the rig. I am all set after replacing a broken exhaust stud and a new OEM mani. Now I am about to tackle the leaking heater core. Must be why he sold it hahaha! After that she should be good while I rebuild a 3.8 for a swap this winter. I hope you are correct with the 3000 rpm and above statement as I frequently am there going up Boulder canyon

 

[Toasty]

Yeah i think you'll be fine with the new manifolds. My machine has been up some super long and steep grades being overloaded and I've yet to crack a manifold. I could be making this all up bit so far it's worked for me.

 

[Cosmos99]

I think so too. I may look into other options when refreshing / rebuilding the 3.8 but that's down the road a bit.

 

[AZPAJERO]

Arg......I'm in same boat currently. Good to know it's best to go OEM route.

Ironically I bought my Montero from Marco also (albeit 2 years ago)

 

[coffeegoat]

Given the number of broken ones it sounds to me more like a manufacturing flaw, some of them had it, some of them didn't. Still sucks though.

 

[Cosmos99]

Arg......I'm in same boat currently. Good to know it's best to go OEM route.

Ironically I bought my from Marco also (albeit 2 years ago)

Yeah I figured the OEM one on Betty lasted 18 years and 200k and the $60 chinese one lasted 2 years and 17k.

 

[Toasty]

One thing you can do to uncracked manifolds is take a rotary file and take off the seams, this makes them significantly less prone to cracking. A step further is to polish the manifolds.

 

[AZPAJERO]

Welp.....just found this guy on the interwebs.

Decisions decisions

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Swift_45a]

Welp.....just found this guy on the interwebs.

Decisions decisions

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DO IT!
How many miles on the 6G74? I'd boost mine if it were under 120k, after having driven a V8 sedan for most time, these Gen 2.5 rigs need some serious grunt to get it to move up pass 11k ft elevation.

Hey, Cosmo, you wrenching here in Boulder? I brought my 99 2.5 with me from CA, lets hang out!

 

[AZPAJERO]

DO IT!
How many miles on the 6G74? I'd boost mine if it were under 120k, after having driven a V8 sedan for most time, these Gen 2.5 rigs need some serious grunt to get it to move up pass 11k ft elevation.

Hey, Cosmo, you wrenching here in Boulder? I brought my 99 2.5 with me from CA, lets hang out!

ENABLER!!

I've got 180,000 on the clock. I've got 5.29 gears and am please with power (all things considered) so I'm not interested in any boost.......just longevity