Rep Power: 0

Hey guys, I was planning on changing the exhaust manifold on my 1999 honda civic HX as i have a huge crack on it. But i had couple questions to ask. Since i am a newbie in mechanical repairs, I was wondering if i can get some DIY to do this by myself. I tried looking it up on this website but could not find one. Or if someone can explain it to me how to do it.

I know there are like 8-9 bolts where the exhaust manifold connects to the bottom front side of the engine; so besides that is there anything else i need to unbolt?

ps. my car has cat converter on the exhaust manifold.

Thank you for your help

 
Rep Power: 512

I'm pretty sure it's easier than changing your oil.

Remove o2 sensor(s), 5 fasteners to the head, assuming 2 to the next pipe. Replace gaskets along with manifold. Doneski.

 
Rep Power: 313

It's easy until it goes wrong. Get lots of penetrating lube and do everything you can not to strip the crap out of the nuts. Also, have a hacksaw ready in case you have to cut them off with a couple spare studs just in case. This can get ugly If it goes smoothly though yea its super easy.

 
Rep Power: 190

It goes smooth until you realize that the past 150k miles with hot exhaust and things rusting has practically welded the thing on. Find a breaker bar because I could not get the one off my old car with a normal sized ratchet.

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks alot guys for the help. The bolts down at the cat were a pain in the *** to break them loose as they were rusted like a bit** ..

Also I want to ask, I put my old gasket back in since the one i bought ( from 1A auto) was made of cheap aluminium which looked like you can bend that thing easily. My old gasket was slightly rusted so i cleaned it and put silicon all over it and put it back on it. So do you guys think i should have put a new one or i made the right choice by putting the old one back on ??

 
Rep Power: 512

That's all the gasket is suppose to be: thin and metal, likely double layer. Easy to bend. You're not supposed to use silicone or anything to help seal the gasket.

You should have used the new gasket.

Edit: for comparison sake, here's the Honda OEM one I'm gonna put on my car



And to show how thin it is

 
Rep Power: 0

The new gasket of mine looked exactly the same as the OEM. It just seemed a little brittle thats all. But thanks for the tip. I will change it tomorrow.