'93 Roadmaster Leaking Exhaust Manifold

[bocoogto]

The driver's side exhaust manifold on my '93 leaks when cold, but nearly stops making noise when the engine is hot. I suspect a cracked manifold. Have any of you removed the manifolds on these engines with a lot of miles on them--150K? I'm afraid of breaking the bolts into the heads. Any comments or suggestions? By the way, a new manifold at GM is $302. It is discontinued, but "there may be a few available." How about a junk yard?

['97ventureowner]

There's a whole bunch of them on www.car-part.com for a lot less than GM wants. Sounds like you'll need a can of PB Blaster or WD 40 to start.

[bocoogto]

Problem was a loose bolt at the rear of the driver's exhaust manifold. I decided it's time to put a rebuilt longblock in the car at 150K miles. It uses no oil, but is starting to leak from rear main. Cost at Advance Auto Parts is $1565 for a Spartan engine. Warranty 3/36,000 miles.

[bocoogto]

Well, the local shop installed the engine after the car was in his shop 18 days. He charged $750 cash instead of $900 as he originally estimated. Engine runs very well. But, when checking out my car, I noticed a three serious problems. It only makes me wonder what else will turn up wrong!!

• He left the factory engine oil cooler equipment on the old engine. Transferring the fittings and hoses to the new engine was not done.
• I gave him a set of new spark plugs to install in the new engine. It has the AC plugs in it from the old engine.
• He forgot to tighten one of the bolts holding the passenger side exhaust manifold. I was able to get at it and tighten it. It took five turns to tighten the bolt.

On a more minor note, he secured the plug wires with Tywraps instead of factory plug wire holders.

Needless to say, I wish I'd have done the job myself at home. Would have been a lot of work, but would have been done 15 days ago, and done right!!

[gn1220]

Just wondering why you decided it needed a long block? My '93 was sold with 283,000 miles on it and is still going strong. A new rear main would've been a lot cheaper than the work you paid for.

[bocoogto]

Mine had only 151K miles, but developed a main bearing noise at about 75K miles. For reasons I'll never know, when revs went above 4000 rpm, oil pressure dropped to zero. I believe this damaged the main bearings even though it only happened a few times. Once I realized there was a problem, I was careful not to exceed 4000 rpm.

This happened on an engine that had regular oil changes. The car has been in our family since it was new. I considered pulling the engine and doing just main bearings and oil pump, but for the cost of the long block, I opted for peace of mind. Besides, it wouldn't make sense to pull an engine with 150K miles and not do valves, rings, rod bearings, etc. You can't do that anymore for less than the $1565 I spent on this long block. Also, the long block has a 3/36,000 warranty vs. no warranty on a rebuild.

Now, I can run the car as long as the body holds up.

[gn1220]

I understand. Yes, keep the quarters clean and that car should last a very long time.

[bocoogto]

Put the oil cooler on yesterday. Secured plug wires with factory style harness clips, tightened exhaust manifold. I sure hope he tightened all the bolts for the ring gear and torque converter. The spark plugs were only a little more than finger tight.