Cracked manifold

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Qicvick

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I posted this earlier but somehow I didn't post it right I guess
I'm actually from the thunderbird nest forum which refers to this forum quite a bit.
My 2004 t-bird has an left side exhaust leak under the hood that almost stops when it warms up, while having it emergency serviced at an out of town Ford/Lincoln dealer last week I asked them to fix the leak also, they called and said it was probably the exhaust manifold and "if" they could find one it would be about 3 weeks and $1500 to fix. I told them to just fix the original problem( water pump)
Since then my local dealer has been searching for over a week with no luck while several have told me its probably just the head to manifold gasket or donut gasket
My question(s)
(A) does the 3.9 motor have a donut gasket? Auto stores can't find it listed
(B) or these manifolds prone to cracking? Am I safe buying a used one, I've
thought about gathering the parts and having an indepentant mechanic
Install it but I really don't know one, I'd just be taking a chance of finding
A good mechanic :(
(C) eBay has used left ones for LS's that they say also fits t-bird, does anyone
know for sure?
Sorry to lead off my membership with so my questions but no one on the other
Forum has had this problem or knows an answer
Thank you for your time
 
Its funny how you say members from the tbirdsnest refer to this site a lot but when an LS owner goes over there they get treated like $hit. The mods over there don't allow anyone to have an opinion or they get all bent out of shape. I will never go to that site again...I just joined that site to sell my CAI heatshields anyway according to Sixpack and his gang of killer chihuahuas.

Anyway...no donut gaskets. Never heard of a cracked manifold but I'm sure it happens. The LS and tbird manifolds are identical.
 
Thankyou!
Sorry about your reception over there, I think most of us are older over there, I belong to a maverick forum also that most do their own work and mods so I welcome any information I can get!
 
Being an older demographic is no excuse. I just don't like the fact that a person isn't entitled to an opinion at tbirdsnest. As soon as someone says their opinion (and it conflics with the forum czars opinions) they will get a nasty PM, the post in question is then hidden so the general public cant see that the mods are not gods, and then be threatened with being banned from a site where the only accepted mods are whitewall tires. I tried to help people over there and got nothing but nasty PMs from Sixpak and his wife Birdwings. I banned myself from that site.
 
Wow, I've only had the bird 2 months, so far I spent $3600 on complete suspension rebuild, 2 weeks later $1175 for AC that went out no warning, 2 weeks later $767 for tow and water pump out of town and now this exhaust is quoted at around $1500 from ford if they can locate one! I want and need all the advice that is available !! Thank you for responding, the bird was my wife's dream car buts it's turning into a nightmare for me! Lol
 
Ouch. Theres good info on this site...and not many Nazis. The exhaust manifold you will be looking for comes from a 2003-2006 (gen2) LS. The gen1 LS (2000-2002) is the same as the 2002 tbird. The gen2 LS (2003-2006) is the same as the 2003-2005 tbird. By same I mean mechanically the same. The Tbird is still just a 2 door convertible LS.
 
I'm guessing they are looking for a new intake?

http://www.car-part.com/

Check this website and you should be able to find one.

http://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

I found one in the matter of seconds no more then 35 miles from my rinky dink town in Iowa for 125.

Goodluck....I've never gotten to talk to anyone with the T-birds...they don't seem very approachable..haha
 
I think he is looking for an exhaust manifold.

Tbird people are usually purists who don't modify anything. Most that I have met are totally against any mods and think the tbirds are perfect from the factory.
 
Yes it's the exhaust manifold the dealers can't find( new ) it may just be the gasket but its a pretty big job I think to get to it that I'd like to have a manifold located so it won't sit at the dealers for weeks, same with local mechanic , if they tear it down even a used manifold might take over a week to locate after its tore down, car would probably be left outside while waiting for parts :(
 
hite337 said:
Being an older demographic is no excuse. I just don't like the fact that a person isn't entitled to an opinion at tbirdsnest. As soon as someone says their opinion (and it conflics with the forum czars opinions) they will get a nasty PM, the post in question is then hidden so the general public cant see that the mods are not gods, and then be threatened with being banned from a site where the only accepted mods are whitewall tires. I tried to help people over there and got nothing but nasty PMs from Sixpak and his wife Birdwings. I banned myself from that site.
Click to expand...

hell i own a tbird and they freaked out on me over there
first it was about my 20,s
then asked about the muffler delete and you would have thought i kicked their dog
or stole thier social security check

momma dubs.jpgmomas dubs 2.jpg

momma dubs.jpg


momas dubs 2.jpg
 
I did a quick search using my car, a 2005 LS 3.9, at Tasca and had no problem finding the gasket and manifold with visual aids. Here have a look.
http://www.tascaparts.com/parts/200...cleid=184437&diagram=KD00460&diagramCallOut=1

Then a search using your car. Those things are made of gold! Looks to be discontinued as well.
http://www.tascaparts.com/parts/200...cleid=174328&diagram=JT02230&diagramCallOut=2

Why don't you try a different site (ford parts giant comes to mind) and see if you can get a part number then see if it crosses to the LS.

BTW, I haven't been on the nest in a while but thought you would appreciate I have a T-Bird as well, a '64 convertible.
 
Lol, it is made of gold I think! It is interesting that the LS is available and the price, everything I've seen so far says it is the same, there was 2 on eBay that said also fits thunderbirds, thank you for that link!
 
After looking a bit more I got a better idea of what you (we) have. I doubt, but it is possible, that your manifold is cracked, probably a gasket a leak or broken stud. The reason I say that is these manifolds are fabricated stainless steel, not cast iron. Stainless is durable stuff, and if it were cracked you could get it welded.
 
Wicked Ace said:
After looking a bit more I got a better idea of what you (we) have. I doubt, but it is possible, that your manifold is cracked, probably a gasket a leak or broken stud. The reason I say that is these manifolds are fabricated stainless steel, not cast iron. Stainless is durable stuff, and if it were cracked you could get it welded.
Click to expand...
Does the LS have cast iron or stainless? Reason I asked is its listed so much cheaper and is still available .. Thinking about what you said about a broke stud and my mind broke loose into a full runaway ! Omg! Started thinking about trying to drill it out, the lack of access.. Next thing my mind is pulling the head off....
It's so sad because underneath this car doesn't look like its ever seen rain, no grease or oil anywhere! It looks good enough to put mirrors under it in a show!
 
Sounds like the first thing you need to do if figure out exactly what is wrong....guessing and buying a bunch of parts that are not needed won't get it fixed.

It sounds like you need to get in there and have a look/listen.....find a trusted local mechanic that has been around for years...I bet they can find it in the matter of minutes.

Some times dealers are not the best option.
 
Ditto, pop the hood and get as much crap out of the way as you can, then feel around the manifold quickly when it's first started to at least get an idea where it's leaking from. Little mirrors work wonders for seeing carbon tracks etc.

I don't think I could ever just blindly order parts without having some clue what part's wrong or failed.
 
I have a local mechanic looking at it tomorrow, his wife owns a 2002 thunderbird with only 40000 miles on it so I'm hoping he will do me right, I just hate to think it may be apart for several days sitting outside at night ( doubt it would stay in his garage bay while waiting) thought if I could at least find a source for parts it might save time.
 
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