i was pulling out of jack n the box, and all of the sudden, my idle dropped and sputtered profusely. it startled me at first. but then it went away. after that, i tried to accelerate, and the sputter came back, only much worse. so i got home, and i popped the hood. i thought i blew the head gasket (or at least that was i was hoping for, because the expense isnt that bad). but i was wrong. the exhaust manifold had a huge crack in it. ouch. i took it to my mechanic, and he said he could get a used manifold from a junk yard for like $110, but the labor was gonna be expensive. when i bought the car 3 yrs ago, i remember my mechanic saying that there was a slight crack in the manifold. i guess it just finally gave out. i was just wondering if anyone else had gone through the same thing i did, because i have really never heard of this before.

 

its the one problem with the vg that is reported with any frequency

 

that related to the stud at all?
i heard somebody talkin about that too

 

Dude, you should be rejoicing it wasn't a head gasket. THe labor for a head gasket would be like 3 times as much as the manifold. The studs probably gave out and the manifold warped causing it to break. Both the VE's and VG's have exhaust stud problems, it's the same stud. Let us know how it works out, and is it the front or back?

 

One of the the bolts holding on my exhaust manifold has snaped off in the engine block. Hasn't started leaking yet, but I'm wating for the day. I was going to replace the headers myself when I put on a new y-pipe, but don't think I can now because I dont have the tools I need to drill out an re-tread the the snaped off bolt.

 

Once they start leaking it just gets worse. When I replaced my studs the gaskets were in pretty bad shape where the bolts had snapped or the nuts had fallen off.

 

Maybe it's some kind of a sign. Maybe you're supposed to replace the stock exhaust with headers.

 

they make headers for 3rd gen vg's? i didnt know that.

 

nope.

 

thats what i thought.

 

i got my car back today. my mechanic replaced the right-side exhaust manifold with one from a junk yard. he also said that the 2 studs at the cylinder head were broken, but he replaced all of them, and the gasket. i also had my front brake pads replaced. so the total came out to about $450. i wasnt in the mood to fork out that kind of money, seeing that my funds are quite limited. (poor college student) but man, the replacement of the manifold made a world of difference. the engine noise is now virtually gone. it doesnt even seem like my car is running. its like a whole new car. so i guess im satisfied.

 

the back.