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Can this be welded??

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Old 09-27-2017, 07:07 PM
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Mystery exhaust leak

I am trying to track down an exhaust leak. I took it to an exhaust shop and he said it was the manifold gasket as there was soot on the heat shield directly above the gasket. I replaced the gasket but the old one wasn't leaking. I attached a pic to show where the soot is on it. It's around the edge if the gasket on the manifold side. No soot is on the engine side of the gasket. There is no soot on the manifold itself. The leak is still there so replacing the gasket did nothing. Any ideas where it can be coming from?
 
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Old 09-28-2017, 07:27 PM
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Can this be welded??

I finally figured out where the exhaust leak is coming from. It's where all 4 exhaust pipes come together. Right in the middle. The exhaust guy says I have to replace the manifold, but I read on another forum that it can be MIG welded. How would that be possible? Anyone do this?
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 04:50 AM
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the metal can be welded

getting in there to do the weld is the problem ..... access!
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 09:32 AM
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hit and run threads

Originally Posted by jfrankjr
I finally figured out where the exhaust leak is coming from. It's where all 4 exhaust pipes come together. Right in the middle. The exhaust guy says I have to replace the manifold, but I read on another forum that it can be MIG welded. How would that be possible? Anyone do this?
You started three threads on your exhaust problem.
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 09:35 AM
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He is trying to exhaust all avenues of inquiry!
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 11:51 AM
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Originally Posted by jfrankjr
I finally figured out where the exhaust leak is coming from. It's where all 4 exhaust pipes come together. Right in the middle. The exhaust guy says I have to replace the manifold, but I read on another forum that it can be MIG welded. How would that be possible? Anyone do this?
It is involved. I did it on my old MINI, you have to cut the header at the end of the collector just before the flexpipe, then weld from the inside. It'll look like a crosshair once you cut the header and I welded the whole cross as well as the center, where the weld is blown out on yours currently. Depending on who you have do it you could be into it for $250-300, which would be a few hundred short of just buying a used manifold off of car-part.com

We have a manifold that is prewelded ready to go, but shipping cost won't be cheap.
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 01:39 PM
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The problem with buying used is Car-part is only showing 3 of them available that fit my car :/
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 04:51 PM
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Originally Posted by jfrankjr
The problem with buying used is Car-part is only showing 3 of them available that fit my car :/
That's two more than you need, no?
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 08:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Eric_Rowland
That's two more than you need, no?
Unfortunately they are not close. Closest one is 300 miles away. It's odd, I have an 08 S convertible and it's only showing manifolds from 07 and 08. I thought it should be the same as the R53s but it looks like they changed something on the 07 and 08 models.
 
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Old 09-29-2017, 10:11 PM
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Do you have a manual or an auto? The autos have a different manifold, probably due to the engine being shifted towards the passenger side. I think it's about a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.
 
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Old 09-30-2017, 06:45 AM
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Originally Posted by RB-MINI
Do you have a manual or an auto? The autos have a different manifold, probably due to the engine being shifted towards the passenger side. I think it's about a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.
It's an auto but it's only showing manifolds from 07 and 08 so I'm thinking something else must be different too, or their search engine is screwed up.
 
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Old 10-02-2017, 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by jfrankjr
It's an auto but it's only showing manifolds from 07 and 08 so I'm thinking something else must be different too, or their search engine is screwed up.
Change the search year to anywhere between 2003-06, their search engine is probably bringing up second gen cars due to the year break.
 
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