exhaust smell in engine bay

[howc]

ok after the high idling incident i noticed there is some leaking of exhaust gases in the engine bay. So which part should i be looking at to pinpoint the leakage? manifold and dump pipe and ?

Is there any method to pinpoint it? soap and water? and ?

I rmb the previous owner mention some gasket needs to be change as well... so i guess its abt time i do something lol.

I would also like to request for a DIY for removal of manifold and dump pipe if possible

 

[howc]

and if i do attempt to remove the manifold and dump pipe. do i need to prepare a set of gasket for it first ? or liquid gasket will do?

If liquid gasket wont do then is the ebay manifold gasket ok ? or is there some other shop selling a better quality gasket?

Thanks!

 

[MattL]

My Old RVR was so bad, you could smell it doing 100 on the highway, a quick visit to the exhaust shop and $65 later (yep, that cheap) They had it fixed, new gasket in, and me back on the road.


Buy a good gasket IMHO, but I don't see why an ebay cheapie wouldn't work, depends on the quality of the product.

 

[Astron Boy]

I saw a really good trick on a car show the other night.

Make sure the car is cold so the engine temp is low, and thermo fans wont come on (ensure A/C is off)
Get a single ply of tissue and put it near where the exhaust gaskets would be, turbo, dump, manifold, head, etc.
If the paper moves, then it's indicative of a gas leak.
It is a bit harder on the belts side of the engine as the pulley and belts are creating a small amount of air movement, but over the top of the manifold will still work.

Also undo the bolts and inspect your manifold for no cracks.

Alternatively, look under the car at your flex joint, or directly under the cabin for holes in the piping or mufflers/ weld joins.

 

[howc]

$65 hmm, thats really cheap lol! i would gladly let them do it if they charge me that price! and i think the gasket cost $30 lol so their labour is like $35 hahha.

yea i think i will give it a check tomorrow. hopefully, its just a leaky gasket and no cracks if not i'll have to start looking for parts again.

i did some googling yesterday and saw manifold with cracks have a white spot or area around the cracks. Did they used some kind of test ?

 

[howc]

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Did some visual check and used my hand to feel for any significant leakage. Yes there is, its leaking from between the turbo and manifold at the left handside (above the inlet).

As i rev, the leakage gets stronger as well. so its either the manifold is cracked below or the turbo-manifold connection needs a new gasket. am i right ?

 

[Astron Boy]

New gasket dude!

Nice and simple
could even do the job yourself and save some cash!
Been leaking quite badly for a while by the looks of it.

 

[howc]

haha ok new gasket!

but which one? i think meeks got most of the gasket but im not sure which 1 tho lol!

btw looks like a simple job, is it just removing all the 9 horizontal bolts to hold the manifold and another 4 vertical bolts?

 

[Astron Boy]

the 4 vertical bolts hold your turbo onto your manifold.
If you want to change that gasket to, then yes you would need to undo those.

alternative, you just indo the 9 bolts against the head, carefully slide out the manifold from the studs, ensuring to support the manifold at same height.
Then slide in the new gasket over the studs and do them up.

I went with meek gaskets, they were good quality.

main thing to remember, the turbo is still attached to the engine by other means.
Water and oil hoses, so dont let them take up the slack of supporting the exhaust/ mani/ turbo.

 

[howc]

i cant really tell if the manifold-engine gasket is leaking or not as i cant feel much wind.

However im sure i feel quite a strong puff of wind leaking out from the turbo-manifold area so which kind of gasket shld i get for that connection?

or i think i would just remove the whole manifold tmr and give it a thorough check before i buy anything haha.

 

[Astron Boy]

Simply ask for an exhaust gasket for a 97 rvr hsg through meek.
They know which one.

It is definitely your exhaust side that is the problem, see all the black around the joins! that's not good.
The intake side you will not feel a force of air going outward, because it is a vacuum on that side.
It might be an idea to replace all gaskets if the car has done considerable distance, never hurts.
It is quite a job, and unless you feel confident removing and reinstalling, then perhaps seek a friends help, or a good mechanic who wont rip you off.

intake gasket set will include a lot of different gaskets for your plenum and to the head of the engine, the exhaust manifold gasket to the head, is a single piece.

If you ask for a set, you would be getting head to exhaust mani, mani to turbo, and turbo to dump.

Honestly haven't bought gaskets for a while, but I believe you'd be looking at just over $100 for a full set, intake and all exhaust.

Unfortunately all my gaskets were changed so I dont really need to, or wish to open the engine up to do a DIY for you on my site. (sorry)

But there is a lot of online diys to guide you.

 

[howc]

ok. i'll just do my exhaust side gasket. im 100% sure its coming from the manifold-turbo side but i think i felt a tinge of air leaking thru the manifold-engine side as well.

im gonna try DIY. seems easy for the manifold but im not sure abt the turbo. but think i'll jacked the turbo up slightly while i remove the manifold so it wont fall or anything.

I think the joints wound need some serious sanding and cleaning as well.

Thanks!

 

[Astron Boy]

im gonna try DIY. seems easy for the manifold but im not sure abt the turbo. but think i'll jacked the turbo up slightly while i remove the manifold so it wont fall or anything.

Yeah, good idea!

 

[MattL]

Be careful on the manifold bolts, they're quite sensitive, so dont torque them too hard, or you'll find yourself in a spot of bother.

 

[howc]

thanks for the tip!

Meeks quoted me $100 for exhaust manifold gasket, manifold-turbo gasket and turbo-dump gasket including delivery.

sounds ok ?

 

[milkandoj]

make sure you get a genuine turbo-exhaust manifold gasket. One of the stainless ones with a rolled lip in the middle.

Ive used one of the multilayer steel ones and its all distorted and blowing out the sides after only a few thousand k's. I only used it as meek was out of stock of genuine ones, and he did tell me these other ones are shit , gt pumps sell the after market ones as well. I just needed it to get the car on the road.
At least Chris was honest.

 

[howc]

thanks for advise, i just checked the quotation again and he's selling the genuine turbo-exhaust manifold. The other 2 are aftermarket.

hehe, i didnt even know its leaking that much air! and i still drive it for the past 1 yr! lol!!

 

[tborvr]

Ive used one of the multilayer steel ones and its all distorted and blowing out the sides after only a few thousand k's.

2nd that same thing happened to me :thumbsdown: