exhaust manifold cracked advice needed

S

steelankles

Member
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2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
Just bought a mazdaspeed protege drove it for 2 days then heard an exhuast leak. Exhaust manifold is cracked and 2 bolts are broke off in the head....... Where is the best place to get a manifold that wont crack. Any other advice would be appreciated thanks
 
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steelankles said:
Just bought a mazdaspeed protege drove it for 2 days then heard an exhuast leak. Exhaust manifold is cracked and 2 bolts are broke off in the head....... Where is the best place to get a manifold that wont crack. Any other advice would be appreciated thanks
Click to expand...
Pope performance manifold will last longer than the car. It cost as much as the Callaway new but all the callaways crack in the same place.
 
Thank only place I found that is from popeperformance for $600 anyplace cheaper I could it or used, will stock down pipe work with it. I read about steedspeed would that work too? Im new to protg so just trying to figure out best option.

I would repair this then eventually turn boost up to 10psi to get 230whp prolly would need other mods please list them if you know what that would be.
 
steedspeed isnt going to be any cheaper. only other option period is the ebay manifold but there are many many failures of those manifolds. you can do it the cheap way and do it multiple times, or just spend the cash once. limited production car has limited aftermarket options.
i should also mention ive driven mine with the same damage you speak of for almost 50k.. it sound bad under load but works as it should. save your money til you can afford to fix it properly. its not hurting anything atm.
 
I have had two of the OEM Callaway manifolds welded where they were cracked and they have held up fine. They crack because the hardware holding them in falls out, if you replace the hardware and repair the cracks it will likely last at least another 10 years.
 
thanks for the info really appreciate it.

Hornsfan you are exactly right 2 bolts are snapped off in the head and another bolt head has snapped off.

Looks like the cylinder closest to the timing chain is leaking exhaust from the lack of bolts.
I'm really tempted remove the manifold and weld it after hearing your experience with it. Did you replace your bolts with mazda stock bolts or arp or something else.

The 2 days that I drove this car was super fun.

So sounds like my options are remove and weld, buy a crapbay special, or pope, or steedspeed manifold.

Eventually I have plans of a fmic, cool bov, and 10psi. Any other advantages to spending 600+ bucks on manifold beside not cracking? I have no intentions of making huge power.
 
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The steedspeed and the pope will spool your turbo better. But with a stock dp and exhaust I don't think it will get you gains. I think the steadspeed in the stock T2 turbo flange is hard to find. Pope makes much needed new stuff for our cars.
Weld your stock getting ARP studs to hang it back on your engine or get the pope manifold comes with stainless fasteners.

There is a daily driver thread with great info that I found most helpful. Here is my mod list for a daily set-up that I am building.
Correct spark plugs.
Intake, I run a injen but there are lots of options.
Exhaust, I run a Pope P.E.P manifold.
Turbo, stock with 10PSi you need mods to fight fuel cut at 10 PSi ecu or fuel cut defender.
Exhaust, stock
I run a doc B oil pump set-up. Already lost an engine to oil starvation.
On my list Pope side mount intercooler setup it has it's own hard pipe setup. And radiator. Stock radiator is getting impossible to replace.
I will also run a UniChip piggyback from Pope.

Hope this helps its a great car and as you said lot of fun 😃
 
steelankles said:
thanks for the info really appreciate it.

Hornsfan you are exactly right 2 bolts are snapped off in the head and another bolt head has snapped off.

Looks like the cylinder closest to the timing chain is leaking exhaust from the lack of bolts.
I'm really tempted remove the manifold and weld it after hearing your experience with it. Did you replace your bolts with mazda stock bolts or arp or something else.

The 2 days that I drove this car was super fun.

So sounds like my options are remove and weld, buy a crapbay special, or pope, or steedspeed manifold.

Eventually I have plans of a fmic, cool bov, and 10psi. Any other advantages to spending 600+ bucks on manifold beside not cracking? I have no intentions of making huge power.
Click to expand...
I have ARP but the stock hardware will work fine despite the originals failing. Don't waste your time with the ebay mani they will all fail before long, I know from personal experience. If you can spring for an aftermarket mani I would go for it, I try to justify the money I spend on my car compared to what its worth despite how much I love it. But unless you plan to build your car and run over 300whp a repaired stock mani will do you just fine. You have a good plan so far, first get some good plugs and do a tune-up to ensure everything is running properly. I recommend the ebay fmic kit, relocate the MAF and a good quality BOV (makes a HUGE difference over a knockoff), then get a boost gauge and an SS-AFC. Make an SRI out of a leftover pipe from the fmic kit and stick a new filter on the end to save yourself the $300 vs buying an intake. Then look into upgrading the exhaust, at least the midpipe and if you want a more aggressive sound, delete the cats and resonator. After that get some solid motor mounts and maybe delete the VTCS if you like. Then you can get into the real fun of a boost controller to run a couple more psi and tune the AFC. You would not believe how these cars run with just those mods:fmic, intake, exhaust, mounts, afc, boost controller.
 
Mine cracked 2.I am replacing mine with a ebay chinese special SS manifold.I got it for under 150 dollars shipped so it wasnt that much but it wont be install until i get it back from my welder.He is redoing most of the welds and adding some more bracing to it.My welder is one of my best friends so im really not spending a lot on this.I also went on ebay and for under 30 dollars i got the correct length ss studs and 8 points locking nuts.The oem manifold will get fix 2 and save in case i need it later.
 
I got the exhaust manifold removed, had to remove the oil line at the engine block side since could get a wrench on turbo side. Drilled and removed 3 broken bolts out of the head, this car is stock except for forge wastegate. Tried removing intercooler pipe, seem that there it some sort of crimped fit on it never could get it off just turned it out of the way. Went to the dealer and got a MLS exhaust gasket since auto zone didn't have a MLS available

This car need either different motor mounts or a solid insert to strengthen the mount. Which one is the best for these car and where can you buy them?

I read about corksport mount inserts but it looks like they don't sell anything for protg now days.

Thanks,
Jay
 
AWR mounts are the best you can get today, around $400 for the full set of 4. The stock hot pipe can be difficult to pull off the turbo but if you yank on it it will come off.
 
steelankles said:
I got the exhaust manifold removed, had to remove the oil line at the engine block side since could get a wrench on turbo side. Drilled and removed 3 broken bolts out of the head, this car is stock except for forge wastegate. Tried removing intercooler pipe, seem that there it some sort of crimped fit on it never could get it off just turned it out of the way. Went to the dealer and got a MLS exhaust gasket since auto zone didn't have a MLS available

This car need either different motor mounts or a solid insert to strengthen the mount. Which one is the best for these car and where can you buy them?

I read about corksport mount inserts but it looks like they don't sell anything for protg now days.

Thanks,
Jay
Click to expand...
I have AWR front and rear mount as well as polyurethane filled driver and passenger side mounts that I could sell you. Let me know and I will take pics with needed forum sign.
 
Thanks for the info guys,
I welded the exhaust manifold and drilled the broken bolts our of the head.
Bought a new MLS gasket from the dealer and got some 10.9 grade 8 m8 x 1.25 x 30mm bolts from auto zone.
Runs a lot better now.

Installed a boost gauge looks like the forge wastegate would peak at 6psi then fall down to 4.9 to 5.1 psi.

I turned the boost up to 6psi - 7psi feels a lot stronger now

Has anyone ran 7 to 10 with all stock setup can it run like that

Thanks again for your help

Zealous im interested email me pics and price jaysch302@hotmail.com
 
You need to upgrade the intercooler, BOV, exhaust and preferably a tuner to 'safely' run over 9lbs.
 
Stealankels good to hear about the msp. You will need some kind of system to defeat the stock edu. The ecu will cut you fuel at 8psi boost.
I will reply here with the needed pics for the forum. Later today.
 
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