Quote:
Originally Posted by sarguy01
Still looking for a manifold? The SRT-4 manifold used to have hairline cracks. Mine did and I never worried about it. Once it heats up, the crack seals. Sure, once it cracks it is only going to get bigger, but I'd wait until it really needed to be replaced. I also would not weld it. Cast iron is very tricky. You can weld it easily, but keeping it from cracking again is really tough.
On Hondapartsnow.com, they don't sell just the HX manifold for the 2001. But, on the 2005's, the HX and LX use the same part number for the exhaust manifold. The O2 sensors are different. So, you might want to check and see if the LX manifold will work. If so, they should be pretty easy to find in a junkyard.
I found those part numbers when I was doing some research into an HX swap to my LX sedan. Well, a modified HX swap. The heads are different, but the HX and EX heads are the same and the EX heads aren't too expensive. The cams are different though. Then there is the O2 sensors, ECM, transmission and wiring harness are most of what I'd need to swap. But, I don't know how much more of a difference the swap would make. A used HX transmission is about $600-800. Not cheap. The head, wiring harness, ECM and O2 sensors should be under $1,000. The gains would probably be minimal. I am already getting 41 mpg. Even if I were to get a 20% increase in mileage and it only cost $1,600 to do the entire swap, it would take 121,000 miles or so to pay back.
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I haven't had time to do anything with it, and I'm still driving it (shh, don't tell anyone). Actually, got farther on my last tank than ever before (624 miles). I suspect the headgasket has been slowly failing for quite some time, maybe since before I owned it. It really doesn't show many symptoms other than getting warm. With the digital gauge, I keep very close tabs on it and have just been adding coolant to compensate for the coolant displaced by the exhaust gases.
For now the manifold just seals itself up when it gets warm. My concern for it is mostly when I remove it and reinstall it that the crack will grow significantly and it will need to be replaced. I did figure out that the manifold is not cast, but a two-piece stamped steel part that is welded together.
Here's a decent pic I found online w/o the shroud:
There are aftermarket versions in the $300-400 range, that claim to be for both LX and HX. I still need to decide if I want to try welding of just replace. I figure I've actually got a decent chance that the weld will hold now that I've seen the construction.
I haven't torn it apart since I have to fix my replacement commuter: my wife's Mustang 'vert. It needs a fuel pump and steering rack and I'm really starting to hate working on it.
How handy are you with working on cars? Do you have a FSM? I picked up a used HX tranny for $100 because the input shaft bearing was fried (VERY common problem). A buddy of mine was training to be an ASE certified mechanic, so I had him do it, but I would have done it myself otherwise. I think you'd get the most benefit just from the tranny, especially if you P&G heavily. I wouldn't bother with the rest unless you found someone giving away the parts.