Leaking Manifold Gasket ?

[mj04uk]

O.k. So since the weather has turned and the roof has been on the car I have started to hear a ticking noise from the engine bay. I can only really hear it when idling. The oil level is fine and trawling through past posts all roads lead to a leaking manifold gasket.

Question is how much will it cost me to get it / both replaced?

Also is it worth tightening the bolts myself as a temporary stopgap?

[p7ulg]

Mine was doing that and both gaskets ended up having to be replaced.Hard to believe but even though I thought the car was running well while they were blowing the car came back transformed.As to the cost, it was included with other work so I couldn't put a exact price on it but I don't think it was mega bucks.

[philr]

cost was approx £300 per side (presumably some saving when done together) when I had mine done by Fernhurst a few years ago. NB they were a TVR Dealer at that time so may be a little cheaper now.

There has been some talk on this board about getting stainless steel gaskets fitted instead of the standard ones. The extra cost of parts is negligable. No first hand ecxperience though.

[qube]

I wouldn't reccomend tightening the bolts unless they are loose, otherwise if you are unfortunate like me with my last car i tightened the bolts up and ping!! two snapped off cleanily after about 100 miles, so instead of a easy gasket change it ended up off with the cylinder head to have helicoils fitted, If you look in the bible the job looks pretty straightforward theres enough flex in the manifolds to remove just the gaskets only.

Good Luck.

[simont]

I had the same ticking noise - gaskets. I decided to do the job myself as £300 is an aweful lot of

Bought the stainless gaskets from a Landrover dealer in Reading (Lancaster I think)

It took me 4 hrs to get all the bolts out as the bottom ones are nearly fcuking impossible to get out. I had to make a special spanner by welding a piece of steel bar to a OE spanner so I could reach. As the last bolt dropped out it dawned on me that I would not be able to reach to get it back

Fitted the new gaskets and tightened top bolts loosely then had to bribe my 12 year old to reach in from underneath to fit the bottom bolts. only took 2 hrs to refit!

Was it worth all the ? yup! As I said £300 is a lot of

If you want to borrow the spanner let me know, have to find your own boy though as his Mum is not too cool on the idea

Simon

[mikemv]

cost was approx £300 per side

Are you sure? I would not expect our customers to pay any more than £130 per side including the stainless gaskets

Mike

[Mark.S]

Had mine replaced recently by David Batty. I think he quoted 2 hours labour per side at £40 odd per hour. So should be under £200 quid including parts.

Don't remember the exact price as some other work was done at the same time.

[zippy500]

I was recently quoted by penninsula under £200 also.

[crimsonchim]

It's not too difficult to change them, but it is awkward and time consuming.

And don't even think about bothering with the original paper gaskets, the extra cost of the SS replacements is totally outweighed by the cost/effort of changing them regularly!

As for snapping stud/bolts that someone mentioned, this is an ally head so you're more likely (quite likely in fact if your not careful) to strip threads in the head. Either way, it can be a bit of a problem!

Cheers,

Andy

[mj04uk]

Cheers for the info guy's, but reading further into this is the ticking noise always a sign that the exhaust end is the fault or could it be the inlet gasket that needs replacing? Apologies if this is a dopy question.

>> Edited by mj04uk on Thursday 17th October 14:12

[SpeedEight]

I had to have this done in July as part of the work needed to pass the MOT. I'm sure that part of it came to 120+VAT (parts and labour).

£300 seems a lot.

[incorrigible]

mj04uk said: Cheers for the info guy's, but reading further into this is the ticking noise always a sign that the exhaust end is the fault or could it be the inlet gasket that needs replacing? Apologies if this is a dopy question.

>> Edited by mj04uk on Thursday 17th October 14:12

If the inlet gasket is leaking, the car almost certainly won't idle, and you won't get much of a noise either

[macca]

As daft as this sounds try running a screwdriver through the grooves of the belt running around the pulleys. I've had some strange sounds, especially when the engine is cold, and this always cures it.

[Hut49]

macca said: As daft as this sounds try running a screwdriver through the grooves of the belt running around the pulleys. I've had some strange sounds, especially when the engine is cold, and this always cures it.

Probably best done with the engine in the off position

A quick squirt of WD40 in the same direction also has the same effect.

Hutch

[philr]

Judging by the horrified responses here, maybe that was £300 for both sides. It was a while back now and the mind tends to go with age......

....or was I stung by Fernies ?

No. It was Fernies, they wouldn't do that. I'm just getting old !

All the same, I think I'll check the service bills tonight.

[.Mark]

I had both sides of mine done by Fernhurst similar price to Phil. They were a dealer then too.
After ringing round a few dealers afterwards they were the most expensive by far in some cases.
Never mind though it stopped it sounding like a tractor and it's only money

[cockers]

.Mark said: I had both sides of mine done by Fernhurst similar price to Phil. They were a dealer then too.
After ringing round a few dealers afterwards they were the most expensive by far in some cases.
Never mind though it stopped it sounding like a tractor and it's only money

Mark - apart from the noise, what difference did it make?

[.Mark]

No noticable difference really as I caught it early, I could notice something ticking away for a week or two but after a trip up north and a roof down blast across Snake Pass a -4C you could really hear the ticking bouncing off the rocks.
I am told though that if you leave it too long the escaping gas wears away the exhaust port needing more work done.

[cockers]

Cheers - might investigate getting mine seen to then!

[simont]

Bet you a beer it's the ex manifold gaskets!