Is it possible to remove & refit the standard exhaust manifold on a MK2 8v Digi from underneath without taking the engine out or having to remove the inlet manifold & associated gubbins? Any advice gratefully received
you can remove the manifold easy enough, its the down pipe that is almost impossible to remove. it is easier with the inlet manifold off.
The downpipe is do-able with a load of wobbly sockets & extension bars from under the car.... Best soaking the 6 downpipe to manifold bolts in some kind of penetrating oil first if you can
Yeah, with chrismc on this. Very do-able. Done it a couple of times. Biggest problem I found was that the manifold nuts themselves were coroded.
I'm just hoping to swap out the manifold for one I've had cleaned up so no need to completely remove the down pipe.
I have had to change the exhaust manifold gasket a couple of times, so what you want to do is definitely on. As i said before. It was the nuts on the manifold to head studs that were very difficult to get off, so corroded.
you wont need to remove the down pipe completely just undo it at both ends and move it out of the way.
I'd say remove the inlet manifold and do the exhaust mani from above, got to be easier than doing it from below. The exhaust to manifold nuts can be heavily corroded, gsf replaced mine with bmw nuts iirc (copper coated steel as they were magnetic). They are also a ***** to get to without thin extensions and universal joints.
