Exhaust manifold leak
 

Hey guys as titled my car is having a exhaust manifold leak. The car is still under warrant but it only covers engine, drivetrain and etc. They said Exhaust is not covered. Also their machanic is not familiar with rx7s, and he said that he has to get the engine and turbos out to reach the exhaust manifold. Is this true, guys? If I have them take it to a exhaust shop and have them fix it, I need to split the price. Around how much is it going to cost to fix it? Also, if I leave it alone until I get a downpipe, is it going to cost damage to my engine? lemme know guys. Thanks.

1. What kind of warranty? Through who? What does it actually say?
2. Why would you be taking the car to a shop not familiar with FDs? :spank:
3. You do not have to remove the engine! Yikes! You obviously have to remove the turbos.
4. Removing the turbos should not be done by joe-blow mechanic and certainly not by an exhaust shop.
5. What are your symptoms, it is truly obvious it's an exhaust leak?
6. You need to find a good FD-familiar shop, which a search in the west forum will give you (assuming Riverside, CA).

um..I found this car at a far away dealer..they have warrant for the car for 1000 mile/a month.
It's their machanic that is not familiar with rx7s...

the exhaust leak is just the "pow pow" sound...nothing else..

the dealer is called cars4u..here's the link of their warrant...http://www.cars4uonline.net/warranty.php

It doesn't say covering exhaust lol.....

If your are lucky it might just be the turbo to downpipe gasket. You wouldn't need to remove the turbos to fix that. I had an exhaust leak before and that is where it was. If you have an aftermarket downpipe there is a decent chance that the previous owner didn't get it on there well enough to not leak.

I guess I am out of luck..the car is bone stock I think the cat is still on there...do you guys have any idea around how much it's going to cost to fix this? Is it still drivable daily?

Like the other guys are saying you need to get your problem correctly diagnosed before you start talking about fixing it. First, find a good rotary specialist to look at it. Drive it all the way into Racing Beat if you have to. Then go from there.
This shouldn't be a hard one to figure out. Getting the car up on a lift and having someone who knows their stuff looking at it should do it. It may not be as bad as you think.

hmm yea I realize...but the machanic looked at it already and it's leaking air from the exhaust manifold..

*IF* you do need new gaskets on the exhaust manifold, you are looking at some hefty labor. While the engine does not need to come out of the car, the turbos need to be removed. At say at about $70/hr, I would wager that a shop is going to charge you probably about $500 for labor. The exhaust gaskets themselves aren't cheap at about $80/per gasket.

if your any bit mechanically inclined its not that bad of a job.You also would learn alot about your car.But if your not just find a rotary shop.

I i have a sick exhaust leak too. It is drivable but the smell can drive me insane sometimes (it sticks to you like glue). I'm going to take a weekend off and ask a buddy or too to lend a hand and tighten those bolts and gaskets up. It's a tiny problem as far as these cars go.

Don't be surprised if a tightening doesn't work. If you're hearing a leak it means that super-hot gases under pressure have found a way through the gasket and it's likely they have eaten part of the gasket away.

hmm..okay..Thanks guys. I might have to ask my friend to borrow his garage to put my car up and fix it...is the manifold itself all I am going to need? any instruction of how to do it? I am afraid I'll mess it up..lol...

You keep asking the same question, ....the answer will be the same. Untill you diagnois the problem you can't fix it. I could be a gasket it could be a cracked manifold or even a turbo manifold leak.....figure it out first then make a course of action.

hmm..I'll let you guys know after I check those 3 parts. thanks for helping out the noob!

You can download the factory service manual for free from the stickied thread. A warranty from a dealer not knowledgable with FDs is worthless.