Downpipe/Manifold Exhaust leak?

[treed2 at wsu.edu (T. Reed)]

I'll second that.. the studs and nuts can be a royal pain after almost 20
years of rust and exhaust temperatures.

I fought a 3 day battle about four years ago trying to get them off. Half
of the studs came out attached to the nuts and the other half - well, I
left them undisturbed until I did my engine swap when I replaced them. I
was afraid of breaking them off by trying to remove them with the manifold
attached.

I succeeded in moving the studs/nuts only after hitting them with a
liberal spray of liquid wrench about 8 days in a row, several times a day.
I went through almost a whole can of the stuff, but it definitely helped.

I think I wire-brushed some of the rust off, too. That allowed the
penetrating oil to get down in to the threads a bit, I recommend
torching/cooling cycles in combination with the liquid wrench. Just
remember that the liquid wrench stuff is semi-flammable and it stinks
pretty bad when it burns. The smell gets absorbed in to your skin and
clothing very easily.

I would take the wobble-extensions + hand ratchet route (you definitely
want 1/2" drive) before impact. Stripping or breaking any of the fasteners
is going to make your life miserable -quick-! I tried to use an impact
gun but none of them even budged. After more liquid wrench, heat, and
breaker-bar action, however, I was able to get them to turn out a couple
of revolutions over 60 seconds or so of constant impact-ing. I was
then able to work them out slowly with a hand ratchet.

BTW its a pain to get the extensions fed up around all the obstacles. If
you can get the heat shield off (you'll probably have to cut the bolt) of
the downpipe you'll probably have a much easier time.

You will want a new gasket, new studs and new nuts to do the job properly.
Should be around $10-$15 for everything.

HTH

-Toby

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003, Joshua Hignight wrote:

> Watch out for the studs and nuts on the flange. I just replaced my
> downpipe and two out of the 6 studs either broke or stripped. not a
> fun or cheap thing to deal with. Also, the old O2 sensor is usually a
> pain to remove. You're probably best getting a new one if you can't
> easily get the old one out.
>
> peace,
> Joshua
>
>
>
>
> > Several people have replied with good advice on replacing the flex
> joint....let me give some on trying to repair the leaking unit that's
> on there now:  don't.
> > BTDT
> >
> > Larry
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >   From: James S. Danda
> >   To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> >   Sent: Friday, December 19, 2003 5:24 AM
> >   Subject: Downpipe/Manifold Exhaust leak?
> >
> >
> >   Hi,
> >   I'm new to the list. I apologize in advance if this is a redundant
> question.
> >
> >   I have a 1986 16v scirocco and there is a leak in the downpipe. I
> can't see where it is coming from, but I can feel the exhaust leak at
> a flange point between the exhaust manifold and the downpipe. Its not
> at the gasket, its in the 'shock thingy' that absorbs the twist of the
> engine. I'm guessing the downpipe fits in this shockabsorber and a
> gasket of some sort needs replacing. Since I cant get a good look at
> it and have never seen one before, I am only guessing.
> >
> >   Is this common and a DYI fix? Do I need a complete downpipe or is
> there a gasket in there that needs replacing?
> >
> >   Thanks!
> >   Jim
> >   _______________________________________________
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