Hi all,

I have an exhaust leak in my 1st gen (22RE) and it seems to come from around the area of one of the sparkplugs (#4, I think... it's the one closest to the firewall).

I've always assumed that it was the exhaust manifold but never really confirmed it. Could the leak possibly be coming from anywhere else?

Thanks guys!

 

What kind of noise is it making? Mine was making a ticking noise and I thought it was a exhuast leak but it ended up being the seal for the steering column where it goes through the firewall. Just follow the column down to where it goes through the firwall and you'll see it. Mine had the rubber part broken and it was letting engine noice through. its a pretty easy fix if that is your problem. If not then good luck with fixing it.

 

There's this wicked bend in the 20r and 22r engines right after the exhaust manifold. look at the right side where it bends down. Check the bend and make sure it's not cracked. That's where I sprung a leak on my old '80 Yota truck.

 

Ive sprung leaks in both places.

really, one time it was at the bend in the down pipe. Had it welded up good as new. Another time it was a head/manifold leak. I had to pull the ex. manifold off, clean up the mating surfaces, drill, tap and helicoil several ex studs into the head, install a new gaskit and bolt everything up.

 

I've seen that before and actually had to put a temp patch on to get home 5 hours away from Pismo. Some of you So Cal guys might remember the Coors light patch :p

I've had that part welded up but this is definitely coming from higher up. Was just wondering if there was any other location I could be leaking from.

 

Peter,
Was wondering if you have had the exhaust manifold off, but I'm guessing you have if you had it welded. I have had pretty bad luck with the exhaust gaskets leaking on all my 22RE motors after installing headers. Can't seem to get the right combination of gasket(s) to seal it for any length of time. Any old gasket material left on the head or the manifold will cause it to leak in time. If you pull the manifold I'll bet you find a black scorch mark where the gasket has blown out. At least a new gasket is fairly cheap.

 

Just an update - turns out that it was indeed the gasket. I have the manifold in good condition in my truck and there are no cracks or any other damage.

 

i can tell you what it is... do a search for stripped exhuast studs... just found both of mine this weekend... time for a helicoil....

 

Actually I had Protrux install LCE headers for me and I have noticed in the last hundred miles of driving that the sound from the exhaust isn't as loud as it was before. Sounds like I may have the same gasket issues that so many others have with the 22RE headers :pat:

 

try tightening up the bolts

before i noticed mine were completely gone, i was like maybe i should try tightening them up as i heard they work themselves loose.....

 

That's right, I seem to remember reading that too. Someone else had suggested double nuts too.

Thanks homey

 

Doubling up the nuts, just like they do on your upper shock mountings and sway bar end links for example, is the way to go if you don't want what you put on there to come off.

 

or use jamnuts as you may not have enough stud length to instal 2 nuts...... my local hardware store sells metric jamnuts... they are the same size as a regular nut, but only half as thick.....

 

I tightened them up last Thursday. I can't believe how loose some of them were! I still have to tighten one last one in the corner (closest to the firewall). I didn't want to burn myself

I'm definitely going to go for double-nut-ing

 

my new method of holding things on is using a washer, a lock washer, and then the nut. they haven't loosened up a hair since i put them on last month, while just nuts would only take a few weeks...