I have a crack in my 96 Civic's exhaust manifold and am wondering if the manifold is made of cast iron or steel. If steel, then I can weld the puppy and avoid the $850CAD that the shop wants to charge me. Thanks.

 

anyone?

 

I'm going to take a guess and say cast iron. They have high temperature paste-like products available that you can use if the crack isn't too bad. I can't remember what it's called, but I"m sure you can find it on google.

Here: http://www.aremco.com/a15.html

 

Cast. Just buy an aftermarket or buy a used one off ht, I'm sure theres hundereds of people getting rid of theirs for no more than $50 USD.

 

Shitty part about the 96-00 civic DX, Cx, and LX manifolds is that the catalytic convertor is part of it too.

Welding is a roll of the dice, especially since they crack right there where the primary o2 sensor screws in.

Hopefully you could find one cheap from anyone who has removed their low mileage D-Series in favor of a B or H swap.

Problem is that this is a very common problem, so finding a good used one that will last without cracking may prove to be difficult.

Also if the used one you get has an o2 sensor in it already, leave it in. Trying to remove the o2 sensor can in itself crack the manifold because they're such piles of **** to begin with.

BTW:

$850.00 is not a bad price if it's the brand new OE Honda unit installed.

EDIT:

If you have an EX model then disregard everything i just typed and buy a good old $250.00 or so DC Sports header.