New guy! Question about possible exhaust manifold leaks '97 Conti

[CrustyLinc]

Hey all! New guy to Lincoln ownership with a 1997 Continental...decent car with 159K miles. Picked it up in November and loved it for the cheap car it was until last night. LOL

Driving down the highway, I started to hear what sounded like a large exhaust leak up near the engine and fumes started coming into the cabin with the defroster on.

After I got home, I jacked up the car and crawled under it looking & feeling for air movement where it didn't belong. The sound is definitely coming from the right side (i.e rear bank near firewall). The y-pipe joints are tight, pipe-to-manifold is tight, etc..

Since the engines are shoe-horned into these cars, I can't get my hands anywhere up near the manifold & head mating surface to feel for a leak!

I guess my question is: are these cars prone to leaking exhaust manifolds, blowing exhaust manifold gaskets, or anything in this particular area? The car does feel a little bit down on power now, but it could just be due to the huge loss of backpressure.

I can deal with the noise, but I can't deal with the horrendous fumes coming in.

Thanks for listening!

-Jason
'97 Continental

 

[MooJohn]

The pipes seemed to be well made to me. I haven't heard of leaks, even from owners in rust-belt states.

I wonder if you've lost an oxygen sensor....

I have heard of the EGR tube breaking. That would be a large exhaust leak in that area as well.

 

[CrustyLinc]

Thanks for the reply, MooJohn! I'm mechanically inclined, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to get back there to check anything. On the PITA meter, how big of a job is it to repair/replace the EGR tube?

 

[MooJohn]

I've never had to do it and I hope to never need it

It looks like a simple but PITA job because of how hard things can be to reach. I've attached a pic of the tube (stolen from ebay) that will let you know where to start looking for a leak. The flex section looks like a prime candidate for issues to me.

Nobody listed the tube for a Continental but this seems to be common to all the OHC engines.

 

[CrustyLinc]

That is a GREAT picture! Thanks for the tips, MooJohn. :Beer

I'll be putting her back up in the air over the weekend- maybe working in the daylight will be more helpful. LOL

 

[CrustyLinc]

Coming back for an update and hoping for some more insight...

Isolated the broken part to be the "air injection pipe", which is a small metal tube connecting an air valve mounted on the rear valve cover and runs down to the rear exhaust manifold. I loosened the section at the air valve and the thing came off in my hands.

I can feel the air blowing out of the exhaust manifold, but there is NO WAY for me to get a wrench in that area to remove the broken section from the manifold. Any tips here on how to get at that piece in the manifold? The pipe broke off flush with the mounting nut.

What makes this worse is that Ford discontinued the part and my local dealer cannot locate one! Can't seem to find aftermarket units either.

 

[MooJohn]

I'd look at capping it off. It would reduce the efficiency of the catalytic converter but that's a small tradeoff for getting rid of the leak!

Plug the valve cover side with an appropriate rubber piece. The old standby of JB Weld should be able to plug off the tube leading from the exhaust manifold.

 

[CrustyLinc]

Any idea if loosening the dog-bone motor mount and the big motor mounts at the subframe will allow me to tilt the engine far enough forward to get my hands on the manifold where this tube is mounted?

It threads into a horizontal flat section, but I can't even see it from top or bottom of the car.

 

[MooJohn]

I've never rotated the engine on that axis. I've lifted the passenger side enough to change the serpentine belt & tensioner but I haven't tried twisting the engine.