Posted in Modified section because I am open to and aftermarket solution too.

I have 41k miles on my JK now and recently noted a ticking noise from the engine compartment. Did some research on here and lol and behold it sounded like a cracked exhaust manifold. Ran it by the dealership today where they said I do have an exhaust manifold leak on the driver's side. My Jeep is no longer under warranty.

1. How hard is it to replace these manifolds (I installed my lift and replaced spark plugs - much harder than that)? The dealership wants $400 each side installed or $130 for just the manifold.

2. Do you replace it with another OEM one and possibly have it crack/leak again? I have gathered that aftermarket headers aren't worth the money. Is this because of the performance gains aren't that noticeable, what about the strength, so you don't have to keep replacing the OEM ones?

Your guys' thoughts and experience is always appreciated.

 

Replacing the exhaust manifold is about a 3 or 4 hour job as I remember when I installed headers. Don't know that I would do the headers again, but if you have a shot at getting your exhaust manifolds thermal barrier coated at your local powder coat shop I would definitely recommend it. Reduces under hood heat and helps exhaust velocity. Price should be somewhere around $100.

 

You might want to check and see if that falls under the emissions warranty. I ran into a similar problem with the TJ at 60k+ and they were compelled to replace it b/c I couldn't pass emissions. It MAY have been a California thing, but its worth a looksee!

 

check and see if you have any broken exhaust studs in the head. Not sure if this is a problem with the Jk but it happens quite frequently with aluminum head engines. If there are no broken studs it shouldn't be that hard to replace.

 

Here. You can check to see if the emissions warranty will cover it -

http://www.epa.gov/obd/warranties.htm

 

Known issue on JK's...... Have heard of Jeep owners calling Jeep customer service and getting the manifolds replaced at no cost or minimal cost for owners outside of the warranty.

 

Well I can tell you this if my manifold cracks why would you put a defective new part back on? Is the Mopar replacement part redesigned? If not then the problem will just show back up again down the road. So I would NOT be putting the same junk back on I will improve it by getting one of the aftermarket sets.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. After doing a little more research it seemed that this item should be covered under a 3yr 50k California Emission Warranty. Went back to the dealership today and talked to a different service writer and he said it should be covered. He said he needed to do a little research to make sure. We will see. Funny how you get such different answers from different people in just one office down. If he says no, I will defnitely try a different dealership and let everyone know in case they run into this problem too.

 

Push the hell out of them. I didn't see that you were in San Diego.... with CA emissions you will not pass. They know that and will need to make it right just to keep you legal.

Ironically, my TJ was done by Midway... so someone there knows the drill!

 

Thanks, I will. I went to Rancho first (more convenient), but I also went to them before when one of my electrical leads to my rear defroster came off and they wouldn't fix it, so I went to Carl Burger and they replaced the entire glass for me. If I have to I will take a trip to Midway too, thanks!