Thread: 3 litre inlet manifold crack problems

Agree..nicely done

LR Time did a video on this and also mentioned JB Weld and an old beer can (cut up after drinking)

Originally Posted by SimmAus

Agree..nicely done

LR Time did a video on this and also mentioned JB Weld and an old beer can (cut up after drinking)

JB Weld can be hard to get to adhere well to an aluminium can. You need to smear the epoxy on, then use a knife to scrape the oxide off the aluminium *through* the epoxy to prevent it re-forming. That lets the epoxy get a good grip on the metal. Otherwise what tends to happen is the epoxy keys to the oxide which eventually falls off under mechanical strain.

But, yeah I can see how that would work.

Originally Posted by ama45

Hi all, I just wanted to update this thread as it has been an excellent source of information, and it helped me quickly diagnose my split manifold.

I’m currently travelling from Cairns to Brisbane, towing a big van. I’ve got a 2012 SDV6 RRS. 100km out of Townsville I get the restricted performance light. Pushed on at 70km/h to Townsville. By the time we got there the whooshing sound was louder, and the orange engine light had also come on.

It was a Sunday, so no mechanics open, so went to SuperCheap and picked up a code reader. Confirmed the P006A code, and started searching this forum, leading me to this post. Went straight to the offending area and confirmed the crack.

Not wanting to be stranded in Townsville over Christmas I decided to try a temporary repair. I removed the fuel lines to get better access to the crack, then cleaned the area using plumbers pipe cleaner. I covered the crack with an epoxy resin, the 5min set time variety with a 3500psi rating. Not pretty, but it worked.

That repair got us to Bowen, but the epoxy resin was brittle, and cracked through. I chipped it off, recleaned and sanded the area, and reapplied the epoxy, but this time I added some fibreglass cloth for strength. That did the trick, and got us back to Brisbane. I’m now looking at doing a full repair of both manifolds, and will also cover off all the hoses and plastics while I’m at it.

Anyone know if a good indie in Brisbane?




Cheers

Damn, Nothing worse on your holidays than a car breakdown. Good bush mechanic trick though. Most people these days seem to have no idea and call a tilt tray.

Commiserations ama45 and you coped well with the temporary fix! My D4 RH intake manifold cracked 300km short of our Gold Coast destination. back in 2019. We limped all the way and got it fixed by an indie in Nerang. The LH side cracked in April 2022 as we were approaching Wilsons Prom in Victoria towing a van. Camped for a few days and then limped home to Melbourne where another indie fixed it. Thanks be to LR

A cracked manifold on a 3.0 wont strand an owner anywhere.
If you drive it so your foot is not to the floor it wont fault.
I just had a D4 owner (on holiday from N.T) drive from Kalgoolie to Perth with a cracked manifold with no issues.
In fact the only issue was finding someone open and willing to do the job a few days before xmas, I guess that was me.

Originally Posted by DazzaTD5

A cracked manifold on a 3.0 wont strand an owner anywhere.
If you drive it so your foot is not to the floor it wont fault.
I just had a D4 owner (on holiday from N.T) drive from Kalgoolie to Perth with a cracked manifold with no issues.
In fact the only issue was finding someone open and willing to do the job a few days before xmas, I guess that was me.

Well not completely correct. Mine split four inches and trying to get the car from Exmouth to Perth was awful. With the hills near Geraldton, towing a trailer, it was impossible for it not to drop into restricted performance. I was resetting live while driving and ended up stuck doing 60kph through that stretch. It was impossible to get up the hills without it faulting. Sure, I could continue, but at a slow pace. I pulled over a lot to let people pass.

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

Well not completely correct. Mine split four inches and trying to get the car from Exmouth to Perth was awful. With the hills near Geraldton, towing a trailer, it was impossible for it not to drop into restricted performance. I was resetting live while driving and ended up stuck doing 60kph through that stretch. It was impossible to get up the hills without it faulting. Sure, I could continue, but at a slow pace. I pulled over a lot to let people pass.

Whaaaa? what what??? hills I never mentioned anything about hills.... you have me all wrong...

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

Easy once you work out how. Slides up releasing the fitting, lol.

Do you mind circle it ? I am planning to replace mine as it has cracked and confirmed with smoked test as well. Trying to get as much info as I can to replace it. Thanks