Cracked Manifold

**tron** · 30-05-2011, 08:14 PM

Hi All,
Just wondering what will happen if I continue to drive my 06 T5 2.5 with what I suspect is a cracked manifold???
There is a fair amount of soot in the engine bay at the mo, and just recently I have smelt diesel fumes on startup, therefore i suspect the cracked manifold.
I have about 800 to 1000km to do in the next three days, and then I have to find someone to do the work.
Interestingly I approached a VW specialist today to enquire on a guess as to how long the piece of string would be , ie cost, and in true Doctor style he said, [I]Sorry we are not taking any more clients!!!!WTF?????
[I]
Any advice appreciated

**Cousin** · 30-05-2011, 09:06 PM

Tron, my 06 T5 had a cracked exhaust manifold when I bought it 12 months ago, and judging by the amount of soot everywhere, including through parts of the interior, it had been leaking for some time.
I probably did another 5000ks before we replaced it
Didn't seem to be any problem, apart from smelly exhaust when reversing
The new manifold was $1100.00, and some here have had theirs welded much cheaper
I've had bad experiences with welded manifolds in the past, so went for the newy
There's a bit of work replacing it, so labour won't be too cheap
And when we rang Volkwagen for a replacement, they had 206 in stock! in Sydney
That tells you something

Good luck with it

M

**tron** · 30-05-2011, 10:15 PM

Ta for the reply Cousin

Amazing that there were that many in stock..........
If the vans weren't so damn good to drive, comfortable, safe, and versatile we would never put up with the water pump, manifold and auto tranny problems!!

Cheers

M

**Transporter** · 31-05-2011, 03:45 PM

Indeed, the same here. There is no van like T5 4motion. You get mad when it is misbehaving, but as soon as you drive it again, it is all forgotten.

**Transporter** · 31-05-2011, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by Cousin

And when we rang Volkswagen for a replacement, they had 206 in stock! in Sydney
That tells you something

Good luck with it

M

It's time to upgrade my MIG to TIG welder, just in case.

**Ivo** · 31-05-2011, 10:38 PM

What are the symptoms of a cracked manifold? I get exhaust smell in the cabin at start up.

**Cousin** · 01-06-2011, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by Ivo

What are the symptoms of a cracked manifold? I get exhaust smell in the cabin at start up.

Unfortunately, that's one of them. I used to get a strong exhaust smell when reversing, for some reason.
And lots of black soot around the left hand side of the engine bay, just around the filter box.
I didn't notice any exhaust noise, ticking or worse, but perhaps the noise of the diesel drowned that out?
That was it, didn't seem to affect the performance any, just the wallet, eventually....

M

**Preen59** · 01-06-2011, 10:49 AM

You can successfully weld CI manifolds, if need be.

The secret is to vee the crack out well and heat the whole manifold up with an oxy or on a hot plate prior to welding. Use an arc welder with an iron powder electrode. Once you run a weld, immediately chip the slag off and beat the weld all over with the sharp end of your chipping hammer for about 1 minute or so as the weld is cooling. This stress relieves it and lessens the chance of it fracturing.