Question about Cast vs Steel manifolds

M

M G D

New member
Thanks for taking an interest in my question, I'm a relative newbie to jeep'n in general but I'm hooked bad, real bad. I bought a '93 2.5 YJ manual a year ago in November & quickly discovered a cracked exhuast manifold. I'm readyto R & R it over the winter & my question is what's a better replacement, original cast iron or a steel manifold? If cast is so prone to cracking due to expansion and contraction(?, why does it crack?) what if any advantage is there to using cast again, won't I just be setting myself up to repeatably replace it or worry about deep puddles etc? And before anyone suggests Banks headers etc I'm a blue collar work'n man, no deep pockets here. Any advice? Thanks, MGD
 

mal , if you still have the tj hard top i have a yj top i'd love to trade. i live in salem and can haul it up to swap.
 
i can't remember which is better but i always just welded up my cracked manifolds and they worked fine. i know your not supposed to weld the pot metal but it held and never leaked again. i used a stick lincoln 220v
 
jeepguy43 said:
mal , if you still have the tj hard top i have a yj top i'd love to trade. i live in salem and can haul it up to swap.
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absolutely, this top is tan w/ darkend glass & it's straight with a few branch scratches and.. it need's a rear window, still interested?
 

The YJ 2.5 comes with a cast exhaust manifold out of the box while the 4.0 YJs have a tube steel manifold more like a header. In my experience one of the main reasons the cast manifolds crack is from the exhaust system swinging around, particularly while wheeling so make sure your exhaust system mounts are in good shape when you do the swap. (As the pipe/CAT/Muffler moves around it puts pressure on the manifold and it cracks.) If the budget is a concern pick up a fresh OEM type unit and be done with it. Anything else will most likely required a modification of the exhaust pipe where it connects to the manifold and unless you can do the work yourself the muffler shop is going to make a little on the swap too. The other option is to try and find one at the bone yard but if you do that be sure to take it in to the muffler shop and have them machine the contact surface at the gasket to true it up so the manifold will bolt up squarely to the head. (Again the shop makes a little.) I haven’t had to buy one in 9-10 years but back then they were an OEM part from the dealer only for about $110. With the Italians now in charge thanks to Obama giving them 40% of the company for free with no investment and them having to convert the profits from our AMERICAN icon into Euros it probably will cost more.
 
saddle tramp said:
the yj 2.5 comes with a cast exhaust manifold out of the box while the 4.0 yjs have a tube steel manifold more like a header. In my experience one of the main reasons the cast manifolds crack is from the exhaust system swinging around, particularly while wheeling so make sure your exhaust system mounts are in good shape when you do the swap. (as the pipe/cat/muffler moves around it puts pressure on the manifold and it cracks.) if the budget is a concern pick up a fresh oem type unit and be done with it. Anything else will most likely required a modification of the exhaust pipe where it connects to the manifold and unless you can do the work yourself the muffler shop is going to make a little on the swap too. The other option is to try and find one at the bone yard but if you do that be sure to take it in to the muffler shop and have them machine the contact surface at the gasket to true it up so the manifold will bolt up squarely to the head. (again the shop makes a little.) i haven’t had to buy one in 9-10 years but back then they were an oem part from the dealer only for about $110. With the italians now in charge thanks to obama giving them 40% of the company for free with no investment and them having to convert the profits from our american icon into euros it probably will cost more.
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thank you saddle tramp that's great straight forwarded info that i'll put to good use. And i agree with you on the political message also, hope we don't get more of the same or even worse the next go round. Happy trails. Mgd
 
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