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Suspected Intake Manifold Leak? Major repair / purchases necessary ?
Need some help to figure out how bad and severe is this and how much would this repair cost approximately .
Story:
So while changing the valve cover gaskets (BTW very annoying on the driver side due to lack of space)
I noticed this crack on the intake manifold, I need more info on how severe is the issue and how do I repair this.
Could it be sealed or repaired or needs to be to replaced entirely.
Here enclosed are pictures I've taken of the cracks.
I also at the same time just recently had a CEL for P0171 for Bank 1 Lean Fuel, that being either a MAF issue or a Vacuum leak after the MAF .
Help me out, I plan on doing this project myself it is confirmed not to be too hard.
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
The guy with the R63 who had the epic headbolt replace thread had almost exactly the same thing. Broken boss for the fuel rail. The intake manifold is not as easy to repair as you might think because it’s made of some type of magnesium alloy apparently. Very difficult to weld. Honestly, if that happened to me I might just JB Weld it and call it a day. Unless the crack goes all the way through and you have a leak if you take that bolt out can you see if the crack goes all the way through or not?
12 C63BS Magno Alanite Grey, 22 X3M Brooklyn Grey, 08 BMW E93, 22 Ducati Desert Sled, John Deere 3R
I would spray it down with MAF Sensor cleaner when running and see if the idle changes to determine if it is causing a leak into the intake or if it is just the mounting boss that is cracked and not leaking, in which case you could get away with a less precise fix for sure.
I see, thanks everyone for the time to helping out and especially BLKROKT for posting the thread too.
I think I'm going to take both your suggestion and JB Weld it because its a relatively small crack and see how it'll and maybe find a cheap replacement in the future if I run across one.
You can spray some brake cleaner when the engine is idling to detect a leak. That's the first and easy action to do to identify the way to fix it.
At same time, check if the 2 intake manifold gaskets are also leaking.
That looks like it'll break off soon even after JB'ing. First I would do as BLKRKT says. Then I'd reinforce the repair by cutting a small piece of sheet metal to cover the crack, making it as large as possible given the small area you are working with. That piece will be roughly triangular. Bend it to fit, then trace the outline with a pen onto the manifold. Dremel the texture off the manifold and then bond the sheet metal over the crack. There are industrial adhesives suitable for the task, just search it. A sample description will sound like this although the adhesive may not be an epoxy: "One part, heat cured epoxy system. Heat resistant to +600°F. High compressive and tensile shear strength. Excellent toughness and resistance to thermal cycling, shock and vibration. Paste consistency." You want an adhesive that is stable when heat-cycled. GL.
That looks like it'll break off soon even after JB'ing. First I would do as BLKRKT says. Then I'd reinforce the repair by cutting a small piece of sheet metal to cover the crack, making it as large as possible given the small area you are working with. That piece will be roughly triangular. Bend it to fit, then trace the outline with a pen onto the manifold. Dremel the texture off the manifold and then bond the sheet metal over the crack. There are industrial adhesives suitable for the task, just search it. A sample description will sound like this although the adhesive may not be an epoxy: "One part, heat cured epoxy system. Heat resistant to +600°F. High compressive and tensile shear strength. Excellent toughness and resistance to thermal cycling, shock and vibration. Paste consistency." You want an adhesive that is stable when heat-cycled. GL.
Sounds not so easy at all, I have no experience with metal and welding.
The strange part is the idle has no problems at all. Its literally smooth as can be. I thought if there was a serious vacuum leak then it would affect idle and it would be obvious.
I'm going to put the JB weld over it and wouldn't that put a strong seal so no air can leak in or out and wouldn't the strong welding hold it in place?
Also whats the best way to apply it, avoiding the screw and all over or just inside the cracks?
1993 Competition Yellow Mica Mazda RX-7 and 2009 C63
Ouch. I had my manifold replaced earlier this year due to a rubber hose fitting that went bad and no shop would repair/replace just the fitting. I still have the old part. I swear someone could put something like Flex Seal on the fitting and it would work perfectly well. I was told to call Potomac German Auto http://www.pgauto.com/ to get a replacement manifold cheaper than new from Mercedes but I never got around to calling them. Cheapest new part I could find online was $1900. Independent MB only shop had a used one they installed for $1800 total. They even swapped the engine builder signature plaque.
For yours, I agree with others to try and JB Weld it first. I would think you want it down into the crack and then also around the surface of the manifold. People have used it to plug holes in engine blocks, so it should be able to handle this.
Just wondering what engine codes you had when the intake manifold crack was found?
I recently had my 2012 C63 in for service (oil change, brake fluid flush, and spark plugs) at 97,000km. Since then, the car has been running horribly (shudders between 2000-3000rpm and CEL keeps coming on and off. First they cleared code 0745 saying it needed to be reset when the plugs were changed. Now there's code 0745 and additional ones and they did a smoke test which showed a leak from underneath (they weren't positive it was from underneath) the intake manifold. They quoted $4300CAD for a new intake manifold saying it was likely cracked. I disagree and am thinking it's more likely the gaskets. Thoughts?
12-10-2017, 06:44 PM
Help!! Pictures! Intake Manifold Cracks?! Vacuum Leak? '09 C63 w204
