Cracked Exhaust Manifold Replacement - Gen 3

[SONICMASD]

Thanks for the suggestions. @SONICMASD - Thats an interesting proposition, but Ive never heard anything good from chinese headers for the Montero. I hope Im wrong - it would be nice to have an inexpensive option.
I ended up phoning Ryan at Advanced headers in Australia (mentioned above) just now. He told me that the 3 cat replacement kit that @ajm291 purchased above is no longer available. He said the problem is that this manifold was prone to cracking as well due to the proximity of the cats to the manifold. The only option that he had was the 3 piece extractor option (PN: A349PSS). It eliminates the 2 upstream cats. It requires you to delete the upstream cats and comes at a complete kit for $975 AUD plus shipping (~$140 AUD) to the US.
Im tempted to go this route, but may be asking for trouble deleting the 2 cats and living in California....

Yeah, I was worried about Chinese manifolds as well but gambled on one 2 years ago for my Gen 2.5 and it has been fine since. This manufacturer's products look a lot better than that last manifold I used too but only time will tell.

 

[tj90]

Ok. Ill keep your cotact info handy. Turns out that im thinking about everyone swap or rebuild now....

 

[tj90]

@SONICMASD i think i just ordered 2 headers from you on ebay (tj90). My welded headers didnt work. They actually sound worse than originals. The other problem is I snapped a header bolt in the block. A buddy told me about "the right stuff" which is rtv to help seal the gasket and prevent a blow out. Arrgh!!

 

[tj90]

I installed @SONICMASD headers yesterday and am very happy. The finish was good, all threaded holes lined up and didnt require chasing with a tap. I cannot believe how quiet my truck is now! I thought that my original cracked headers were fine once hot, but I was still getting sound that is completely gone now. Thank you for providing another option for us GEN3 owners! The only problem I had was I snapped a stud on the block trying to tighten the manifold nuts up to 30 ft lbs.. I didnt use the torque wrench after that and just tightened everything up by hand. I know that I was using copper anti seize and the torque spec is for dry bolts, but the stud let loose at much lower torque. My ASE tech buddy said to use the "RIGHT STUFF" ATV sealant on both sides of the gasket to help seal the area where the stud broke. I followed his advice and its surprisingly holding up to heat.

 

[SONICMASD]

I installed @SONICMASD headers yesterday and am very happy. The finish was good, all threaded holes lined up and didnt require chasing with a tap. I cannot believe how quiet my truck is now! I thought that my original cracked headers were fine once hot, but I was still getting sound that is completely gone now. Thank you for providing another option for us GEN3 owners! The only problem I had was I snapped a stud on the block trying to tighten the manifold nuts up to 30 ft lbs.. I didnt use the torque wrench after that and just tightened everything up by hand. I know that I was using copper anti seize and the torque spec is for dry bolts, but the stud let loose at much lower torque. My ASE tech buddy said to use the "RIGHT STUFF" ATV sealant on both sides of the gasket to help seal the area where the stud broke. I followed his advice and its surprisingly holding up to heat.

Hey, alright! Glad to hear the manifolds worked out but bummer to hear about that cylinder head stud! If that had happened to me during my nightmare installation battle I might have totally lost it and lit the truck on fire right there and then. Glad to here you found a work around though.

 

[Warreb]

Has anyone else installed the Sonicmasd headers? I’m looking to do this and this seems like the best option

 

[SONICMASD]

I'm not sure if anyone else on here has given them a try, let's see what people say, I'm interested to see how they are working out - haven't heard any post installation feedback yet, good or bad.

 

[tj90]

I'm still running mine and zero problems. I have about 8k miles on them. I've taken them in several off road trips in desert when the engine was hit from high temps and climbing rocky roads. The manifolds have been heat cycled hotter than they ever got on the road I'm sure of it. Glad I bought them! The right stuff is holding too!

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[MontySquareo]

Does sonicmasd still sell headers? I have ticking when the engine is cold that goes away after a few minutes, and this morning I saw some condensation come from the driver's side of the engine. I still get 16 mpg (70% highway) and the engine runs good once it's warm. It misfires on cylinder 4 sometimes when I start it, but cylinder 4 is on the same side as the cracked manifold. So should I get new manifolds, continue to ignore the exhaust leak (I'll probably just keep ignoring it) or find some headers or something that won't crack again.

Also im sorry for awakening a 10 year old thread

 

[spacecowboy7777]

Does sonicmasd still sell headers? I have ticking when the engine is cold that goes away after a few minutes, and this morning I saw some condensation come from the driver's side of the engine. I still get 16 mpg (70% highway) and the engine runs good once it's warm. It misfires on cylinder 4 sometimes when I start it, but cylinder 4 is on the same side as the cracked manifold. So should I get new manifolds, continue to ignore the exhaust leak (I'll probably just keep ignoring it) or find some headers or something that won't crack again.

Also im sorry for awakening a 10 year old thread

Luso overland has exhaust manifolds for the gen 3, I don’t know about other models. But he seems to really know Monteros, might be worth contacting him