Is A Manifold Gasket Easy To Change?

[Ferrahs]

You may recall from a previous post but i have a 96 328 with a vacuum leak and the mechanic said that its most likely the manifold gasket ( which is the cause of the hissing noise). I like doing the hands on work but is it easy or should i pay the mech. $300 to fix it? Any suggestions.

[jrhaile]

which manifold are you talking about? I'm assuming you're talking about intake manifold? if so, yes it's easy to change. problem is you'll have to remove your throttle body and other hoses to do it

[abemcclellan]

hey Ferrahs, when do you hear the "hissing" sound? to remove the intake manifold you have to take off the throttle body, all the hoses connecting to it, the fuel injector rail cover and maybe some of those hoses. these are just some of the things on the top of my head.

[Silverstreak]

If you've never done something like this it will take you ATLEAST 4 hours to do. The MAF, throttle body, fuel rail cover, fuel rail, manifold bracket, manifold, ICV, crank case vent, and misc. vacuum lines will all need to be removed to do this. You WILL need a helper, I did it about 6 times (literally) in 2 weeks because I had lots of stupid little problems when I installed a m50 intake manifold. I'm now a pro at it though!

Good luck.

[Silverstreak]

Oh and the bentley manual for our cars will not help. For some reason there is a short half page instruction on how to take the fuel rail vocer off but not the whole process of remvojng the manifold. If you are going to take all this stuff apart and out it would be more worth it to upgrade to teh M50 intake manifold. Even if you still stay stock these instructions will give you a better idea on teh process of disassembly.

http://www.midnightautowerks.com/Installs/...ke/install.html