1998 Ford Expedition Exhaust Manifold

BASEBALL2010

MEMBER
1998 FORD EXPEDITION
V8
AWD
AUTOMATIC
115,000 MILES

Hi,

Here is my situation; I have 98' Ford Expedition 4.6L 4X4 with about 115,000 miles on it now. I recently brought in to Ford dealer for service due to exhaust leak. Upon checking I was told passenger side manifold is cracked and needs to be replaced and they gave me two estimates.

First- If manifold falls off it will cost about $2,300

Second- Due to lots rust under the trucks body they might have to remove engine to replace it. Cost would be about $6,000

That’s a lot of money for something with over 100K miles on it. Is the dealers cost too high? Should I bring to a local automotive shop and get another estimate? Or is it time to look for another vehicle, what are my options here?

Thank You, to all who respond

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

OH MY GOD! Did you tell them you wern't there to buy a new car? That is crazy. This is a common problem with the exhaust manifolds. Usually it isn't a craked manifold, but rather the bolts rust and the manifold comes loose. In my experience, I have always been able to get the broken bolts out. Average labor rate around here (near Pittsburgh) is about 300.00. A new manifold should be around 200.00. Even at that price, I feel it is high, but at 6000.00, I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND a second opinion. This doesn't have to be a dealer repair. Check around and let me know what you find.

Hell at 6K, I could work a week and take the rest of the year off. (LOL)

Joe

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Friday, February 26th, 2010 AT 5:10 PM

BASEBALL2010

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3 POSTS

Hi Joe,

Yeah good to know I am not the only one who thought that was really high. I am going to bring in my truck to a local automotive shop tomorrow; I'll let you know what they say.

Thanks,
Carl

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Sunday, February 28th, 2010 AT 11:56 AM

BASEBALL2010

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3 POSTS

Joe,

I have been real busy this week so I didn't have a chance to update you but I'm back with some updates. Ok, took my truck to the local AAMCO shop; they inspected and told me I needed two gaskets and manifolds for right and rear and would be about 6 hours labor. I was told it would be $1500 that would include the parts, labor and tax, without a hesitation I said lets do it! They started the work Monday; however, wrong parts came in so was told Tuesday should be done, ok I said no problem. Tuesday they called and said it would be a little longer due to a rusty bolt they couldn't get off and needed a special tool, ok no problem once again. On Wednesday I called and they said they took of the manifold with the rusty bolt, (they had to cut it off) and put the new one on and were working on the other side. Later in the evening they called to say truck was ready.

Great I said, went to pick up last night (Wednesday), they showed the manifold they had to cut to get of the bolt and my other extremely rusty manifold which was literally in pieces. Truck runs great and is extremely quiet now! Excellent job by AAMCO and very professional. FORD Dealer was an extreme rip-off for what they were going to charge, absolutely ridiculous.

That's my story, thanks for responding!

Carl

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Thursday, March 4th, 2010 AT 12:52 PM