My weekend is
not going as great as planned, as the Frog will be down for a week. Good thing I don't have a wheeling trip planned, or I'd be really pissed.
I started my exhaust manifold gasket replacement today, and had the intake manifold off in about an hour and a half and that includes removal of the driver's side engine mount (makes it sooo much easier). That's quite a bit quicker than the first time, which I think took me about 3 1/2 hours.
One thing I did to speed up the tear down was to buy a 13mm Gear Wrench for the power steering pump. Those three bolts are a real bummer without a ratcheting tool. That swivel headed Gear Wrench enabled me to remove those bolts in about two minutes, total. A definate must have if you don't already have one.
For those who follow the FB, you may recall my previous posts regarding the elimination of the factory crimp in the down pipe by the flange when I had my muffler installed. Here is a photo that shows the new down pipe that the muffler guys fabbed up. Looking at it now, I wish they had used a 2 1/2 pipe, but I suppose it is still better than the factory crimp.
Before I post the pic of why the Frog will be down for a week, here's a good shot of the APN header. The gasket looks good and it appears that I had a good seal on the intake manifold. There is one small contact spot on the header pipe so I'll need to look at that before reinstalling the intake manifold. No other grinding is needed, it appears.
Alrighty...I've been complaining about an intake leak since I had my Magnaflow muffler installed. When I accelerate, a loud whistle sound comes from the intake, which I presume is robbing me of power and making me look and sound like an ass hat when I drive. Can't have that. I contacted APN and they sent me a new gasket, which is why I tore down the engine today.
When removed the intake manifold, I noticed a crack in one of the mounting flanges. A slight touch and it broke off in my hand. Bah! I got on the phone and ordered a new intake manifold for my '99 XJ from the dealer. I usually get a
discount on parts, but not this time. Double bah! Oh, for those who are contemplating a header install, DO NOT OVERTORQUE YOUR HEADER BOLTS.
Since you cannot weld cast aluminum, I figured ordering a new intake would be the best way to go. I also was not about to do an endless search online for a used manifold and Pick and Pull is out of the question. A new manifold is less than 300 bucks, so I figure it was cheap enough to just buy a new OE manifold, which I hear is pretty decent on this model year. Because of the holiday the part won't be in until Wednesday, so it's good that I have a couple of other vehicles to drive. It's also good that I have deep pockets.
Oh well, this gives me more time to install my hood vents...
On with the weekend! Happy Labor Day, yo.
