how to fix the cracks on your exhaust manifold

If your exhaust manifold is cracked (It probably will be) and you have access to a welder heres how to fix it if you don’t have the $$$$ to replace it this fix was done on a 1 gen exahust manifold for talon tsi

MATERIALS
Welding helmet
An arc welder
Cast iron welding electrodes (nickel 99 welding electrode or mw4000 what I used)- 2 will do fine they cost me 10$ so its 5$ a piece
Hammer
Wire brush
allot of patience

WARNING IF YOU HAVE NO PREVIOUSE WELDING EXPERIENCE OR DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING THIS DO NOT ATTEPMPT IT BECAUSE CAST IORN CRACKS RELITAVELY EASILY WHEN HEATED AND NOT DOING THIS PROCEDURE RIGHT COULD DO MORE DAMAGE THAN WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE AND IT WILL COST MORE TO FIX IT IN THE LONG RUN

PROCEDURE
1. CLEAN THE AREAS TO BE WELDED BY CLEAN I MEAN GRINDED DOWN TO THE METAL THEIR CAN’T BE ANY RUST OR CABON ON THE SPOTS YOU WILL BE WELDING

2. Ground the manifold and set the amps on the welder to 90

Here’s where the patience helps DO NOT weld a strait bead over the cracks because they will crack once the metal cools, u will feel stupid and you just wasted electrode (if you do that sometimes you might get away with it but the welds will not last long)

3. Your going to tack (make a small bead no bigger than a penny) and quickly peen the weld (hit the weld with your hammer)

4. clean it with the wire brush then your going to wait until its cool to the touch and repeat this until the cracks are covered

5. Be patient it will take some time (it took me about 3 hours) the welds most likely will not look the best but it was done right and you wont have to worry about them cracking again, you’ll be saving a lot of money, regaining some power (in most cases), and you’ll have less heat under the hood


hope this helps ill add photos later