Starboard exhaust manifold leaking

[kstateskierMO]

Long story short its been a busy spring/start to summer for me. Got married in the Bahamas, put my dog to sleep, had a reception back in my hometown. Only got the LXI in the water twice throughout this 2 month whirlwind of life changing events.

Yesterday dropped the boat in the private lake anxious for a few slalom sets and some relaxation. After my buddy and I both took a set I opened the engine cover to do a quick "is everything OK" check and saw a fair amount of water in the bilge. Reached down and the water was hot and I instantly knew it was from the engine. Starting looking for the source and came to my stardboard exhaust manifold has a hole the size of a pencil eraser on the inside of the manifold, between the manifold and the block.

It appears to be a corroded/rusted spot in one of the casting plugs.

Bakes has the part for $524. It doesn't look like SkiDim carries these manifolds. Can this thing be taken off and welded? Or is that only putting a bandaid on something that will happen again? I guess I can stomach a $524 part (maybe Bakes will give me a 4th of July sale discount early?) but I'm concerned the same thing could happen to the port side and replacing both at the same time is hard to swallow right now in the middle of boating season.

Has anyone else had this issue? what did you do? How hard is it to replace the entire manifold? Looks like 7 bolts, and 2 hose fittings on the bottom and then the exhaust hose on the rear.

I'll post a video of the leak as soon as its done processing on youtube. Thanks for the help!

[kstateskierMO]

https://youtu.be/VN0rayLeDf0

[solorex]

I'd be pulling both manifolds off and inspecting to see how corroded they are. If they are bad then it's time to stomach the cost and replace them both.

BTW, DO NOT buy GLM manifolds. I bought a pair for my dads I/O last year and they are garbage, took them to a machine shop and they had to take a ton of material off just to get them flat they would have never sealed the quality control is horrible (made in China).

[kstateskierMO]

I would only buy Indmar replacements if I do it...

Sounds like I'll be yanking both of them next week and inspecting them. Assuming they aren't too bad I'm hoping I can have all the plug welds drilled out and reTig welded. Repaint them both and reinstall.

If they're even close I'll have to replace both of them. Lets hope Bakes is having a 4th of JUly sale. UGH

[Mackie 12]

It can be welded easily and will hold until you have an "Extra" cash in the bank.

[kstateskierMO]

Got the manifold off. First off its not as bad I expected it to be. Also turns out a guy in my ski club is a welder by profession. He's coming by to pick it up, going to grind out the corroded plugs and plug weld.

If all goes well should be back up and running (hopefully) next week!

[malibuparadise]

Nice Pics!

[onamission]

Been there done that. Welding is the only way to go. Indmar knows of the problem but won't do anything about it.

[jimmyaussie]

I had the same problem in my 2004 lxi was told they were anodes I one set replaced on warranty at the time they don't last very long in salt water I've had mates just replace manifolds with the old cast iron manifolds

[kstateskierMO]

**UPDATE**

New guy at my ski club is a welder. My ski buddy told me to call him so I did on Friday afternoon. He was confident that he could Tig weld the manifold. He picked up my manifold friday evening and today called and said we were fixed! I'll be reinstalling this manifold tomorrow after a coat of high temp black paint and then water testing. Total cost: $50

Corroded plug drilled out.

New plugs cut and test fit.

Welded up.

Edited June 29, 2015 by kstateskierMO

[RTS]

Nice!

[kstateskierMO]

Can anyone confirm the torque value for the manifold bolts? I've read 11ft lbs first pass starting on the inside and moving outward. 22 ft lbs on second pass? Thanks MaliCrew.

[onamission]

Sounds right to me, I had our welded at the end of last year.

[solorex]

Nice work. Glad you were able to fix!