T4 2.5l 5 speed petrol ACU engine exhaust manifold

[T4 hobart VW]

Guess its no surprise to T4 owners that the exhaust manifolds crack - It was obvious that the exhaust was leaking from the roar when I purchased the the van - once the clutch was fixed I have moved on to the exhaust repair before I hit the road - well off came the fuel injection stuff to get to the manifold from above - one stripped torx bolt on the back of the engine later ( removed using the fabulous Irwin stripped nut - socket - removal tool - pick the nearest size and tap it down over the nut, apply pressure and undo - the spiral design and sharp fins inside the socket bite into the torx head and undid it first crack ) Every tool kit needs a set !!! Best $59 Ive ever spent cos it saved removing the engine !
Will replace all the torx bolts as they have been a bit abused by others before me.

Off with all the exhaust manifold bolts once the crc took hold ...

out with the manifold !! - tight fit !!

The manifold has been out before and welded - the leak is because the weld has cracked - the previous person sleeved the pipe but failed to weld one side enough - it was done about 7 years ago according to the paperwork so perhaps its worth just patching it up again??

I'll see if I can find a replacement first so a shout out to anyone that has one for sale at a reasonable price or knows where I can locate one - I'm in Tas but guess its going to be a look a bit further afield ...

I was told that the cracked pipe repair was over a bellows that accounted for expansion and contraction in the pipe but the parts manual doesn't show that - I think that perhaps the later manifolds had the bellows setup from the pic's I have seen.

Does anyone know for sure if the bellows setup was standard on the all the T4's or only the later models and do any of the late model manifolds bolt straight on ???

I am also chasing a single exhaust gasket - I got a set of 4 cos they multi fit passat etc but need 5 anyone got 1 for sale ??

Well off in search of a replacement ...

Guess this maybe as difficult as removing a gearbox !!!

[T4 hobart VW]

Here is a pic of the offending bit - weld is very obvious !!

[Rebuild]

i think most vw "engine area" bolts are XZN triple spline, not torx.They are not the same, although they look very similar.
That is probably why some are rounded.
Torx are used in the bodywork/panel areas on my T5

i bought a cheap triple spline tool kit from Repco, haven't really used them in anger yet, so can't vouch for there reliability.

[Sunny43.5]

Trust Vw to use something different to the rest of the world , what is wrong with some good old fashioned hex head bolts .

[T4 hobart VW]

Maybe I have the wrong end of the torque wrench - the bolts are actually allan headed bolts - 6 sided - they look to be genuine VW bolts and are all matching - none of the VW triple spline xzn thingies nor torx - anyway I've got new replacement ones so with care they should go in and come out without stuffing up ! I tried a torx driver and wasn't happy on the amount of contact they had with the sides of the bolt and probably aided in the one stripping out ...








Found a replacement manifold today when ringing round the wreckers - Thought the asking price of $170 was a bit steep and one of the vw guru's told me that a proper weld will fix it !
So I think I'll have a crack at it tomorrow and see how much damage I can do !

[Sunny43.5]

There was a thread about those manifolds on here some years ago with some detailed instructions on doing it , apparently its very important to clamp the whole block side of the manifold to a very flat solid surface to avoid heat warping while welding .I found this link but there are a few more as well this one has photos etc , if you use the search field at the top of the page type in cracked manifold T5

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f136/cracked-manifold-59267-2.html?highlight=T5+manifold+cracks

[T4 hobart VW]

Thanks for the heads up - I went back and found a couple of threads but they all seem to be dealing with the T5 manifold which looks very different to the T4 5cyl petrol manifold and seems to have a well known cracking tendency.

I did seek advise from someone who had done a few T4's and he said its best to sleeved it and tig in place - mine has been done before but the left weld wasn't done properly and it failed - lucky I will only have to redo one side.

I've taken note of need to clamp the the block side down firmly and will do that.

[Sunny43.5]

Sorry my bad I missed that yours was a T4 but the info should be some help I,m sure .

[jets]

I wonder if it originally came with some form of bellows to cover expansion. I remember reading of guys having problems in the USA on the vortex forum. This is just one of the threads.

VWVortex.com - Eurovan Exhaust Manifolds

[LogicprObe]

Cold climate problem?

[T4 hobart VW]

I did see a picture online of a bellows arrangement - think thats what failed and was cut out and sleeved.

Thanks for the link very interesting to know - I had already worked out that the flywheel bolts, manifold gaskets and exhaust gaskets are used on late model VW et al.

[T4 hobart VW]

Finished welding the manifold today - kept blowing holes in the metal till I worked out the amperage - a mate said I should have gas welded it - just as I finished up !!! Would do that next time sounds much easier !

No pictures cos I'm not that proud of the welds !

[LogicprObe]

I tore a rear gearbox mount out of my '61 Beetle (this was when I was about 20) and had to weld it back in...............it was pretty greasy in there...................and guess what?

Yes.......it did catch fire.........and yes, I did have a little fire extinguisher handy..........AND the garden hose!

(I'm still not that good at welding either)

[Sunny43.5]

I tore a rear gearbox mount out of my '61 Beetle (this was when I was about 20) and had to weld it back in...............it was pretty greasy in there...................and guess what?

Yes.......it did catch fire.........and yes, I did have a little fire extinguisher handy..........AND the garden hose!

(I'm still not that good at welding either)

I will also confess way back when I did an engine swap in my old Hiace 4cyl to 6 cyl Holden with Trimatic , I custom made the whole 2 inch exhaust from scratch all with an electric arc welder no curves lots of small wedges cut to allow the pipe to go over the rear axle etc . Lots of burn throughs but in the end it worked !

[T4 hobart VW]

a work of art I bet all be it a bit angular !!!

Will definitely take a few mig/tig lessons - I've watched it and its so controlled and not at all violent like the Arc !!!
A skill I sure could use !