Its Manifold Install Time!! Help!

[beantown]

Hey Gang,
Hope everyone had a good holiday season! Time to add 20K miles to our rigs again!

Ok, so I have gotten my new 1992 XJ 4.0 exhaust manifold in all of its stainless steel glory, I have the gaskets, pipe coupling & new bolts.
I am having a really hard time shelling out $280 to have it installed by my local (trusted) mechanic, so I want to tackle it myself.

HOW BAD IS IT?

As long as I label all of the hoses & fittings properly, follow my chilton, and have patience with the nuts & bolts, is this something that a pretty decent do it myself mechanic can tackle on a Saturday and have it road ready for Sunday? ( I MEANT TRAIL READY!! I SWEAR!)

Any parts I should expect to break & have spares ready to replace?
Is the intake manifold tempermental to being taken off adn put back on?

Or should I not even mess with it?

Again I appreciate all you guys & the advice you give!

 

[ROGLSTUBB]

although I have yet to pull a manifold on the 4.0 I cant see doing it to be very difficult if you have all the proper tools, parts including gaskets, and a afternoon.

 

[TwistedCU]

RE: cj suspension questions: what type of lift?

I think every job I was ever intimidated by was easier than I originally thought. There's always the exception though :lol:

You'll never know if ya don't try.

 

[beantown]

RE: EVERYONE READ!! IMPORTANT!!

I think every job I was ever intimidated by was easier than I originally thought. There's always the exception though :lol:

You'll never know if ya don't try.

Well I have never turned away from a challange........ I just see the intake manifold/fuel rail being the exception you speak of!!

 

[Junkpile]

RE: Re: RE: New Years at Greenridge

Just be careful. Keep your gasket sealing surfaces clean and replace ANY worn components you come across during the job. On the long six, you can run into sealing problems if you aren't careful with your bolt tightening sequences or you don't torque the bolts down to the right specs. It's not hard, but it's time consuming. The easiest way to get in trouble with something like this is to rush, allow yourself plenty of time to complete it and enjoy the learning process.

 

[MudderChuck]

Just be careful. Keep your gasket sealing surfaces clean and replace ANY worn components you come across during the job. On the long six, you can run into sealing problems if you aren't careful with your bolt tightening sequences or you don't torque the bolts down to the right specs. It's not hard, but it's time consuming. The easiest way to get in trouble with something like this is to rush, allow yourself plenty of time to complete it and enjoy the learning process.

I agree completely, well said. I just finished this job. Be carefull of the nuts (on the studs) on the end of the rail/exhaust mainfold. If you snap off a stud, things could get interesting. Clean the threads someway before removing the nuts (spray with penetrating oil), if the nuts are rusted get a couple of new ones.
Removing the rubber fuel line from the hard line takes a special tool (cheap), to compress the 4 small safety (spring) clips inside the fitting.
Clean everything up before reassembly and have a good torque wrench (and a book/manaul) handy.
You can do a minimum removale of many of the connections and lay the intake (just kind of carefully flop it over) on top of the valve cover, with much of the fuel rail electrical still connected, just watch the bend (near the firewall) of the cable bundle.
Be thankfull it isn´t the old Renix (pre91) I-6, which was about twice as hard.
Took me most of six hours, but I took my time and a couple of short breaks. Wasn´t gonna rush it and screw something up. Might want to double check the adjustment on the TV cable when your done. And clean/spray out the connectors with electronic cleaner, before reassembly.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

beantown, check your PM's.

 

[kcash]

This hurts the hands but manifolds are easier to change when they are WARM so if you have your removal sequence down let er run for a bit get hot and then begin the job the heat will be a hassle but you dont have to worry about the studs breaking or the nuts being frozen wear gloves and have lots of rags on the real hot parts to protect your skin and you cant go wrong

 

[90Xjay]

Done mine last year
Buy a can of PB Blaster. Best thing for pre-soaking those studs. I presoaked several times before starting. Never had a problem

Just like the above post, take your time. I took 2 days on and off doing mine in between other things. The exhaust and intake manifolds come off at the same time. I labeled my injector connectors with masking tape and actually took my fuel rail into a shop to have it checked. It was fine but I was hacked to realize that I had to buy both fuel hose connector clips from the dealer for $13 each! They are one time use o-rings and cannot be re-used without them leaking.

I would leave the injector rail connected and just wire it up out of the way. Also before you go back together, I used a 3m pad and air tool to clean the head surface and then I took a mini shop vac and completley vaccumed the intake ports on the head to keep any trash out of the cylinder.

Go get em tiger!

 

[_(OIIIIO)_Jeeper]

RE: Fender Flare poll

Looks as if I'm the first to vote to fork out the cash..but reviewing my history with good ol "do-it-yourselfers"....PAY THE MAN!

ever "doing it in afternoon" job I have ever started turned into a nightmare!!! couple of weekends later and enough cash spent to have had it PROFESSIONALY done the first time!

But then again...thats just me :shock:

 

[mud4feet]

Looks as if I'm the first to vote to fork out the cash..but reviewing my history with good ol "do-it-yourselfers"....PAY THE MAN!

ever "doing it in afternoon" job I have ever started turned into a nightmare!!! couple of weekends later and enough cash spent to have had it PROFESSIONALY done the first time!

But then again...thats just me :shock:

You are not alone......Murphy seems to be my main assistant in every project I undertake. However, I have still not learned - keep on trying to do-it-myself. I think it's just my insatiable curiousity (and maybe my slim bank account!)