scottwood2

Hi everyone

My 2005 xB has gone through 2 exhaust manifold donut gaskets in about 75k miles. Now I am leaking again and I am told that this need replacing. I know this is true but I was wondering if this is normal? I have never had a car that needed this changed out every 35k miles or so.

Also the dealer is almost $40 for this gasket. That seems high and the parts guy said he thought so too but he has seen one for $70 as well.

I did find one online for about $30 but shipping is $10 so it is a wash.

Anyway just wondering what kind of life everyone is getting?

Thx

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spr0k3t

You can get the donut for cheaper. $40 is the most expensive I had seen to date. I found one for $18 at a local parts store.

kewlbox

mine has 118,000 miles on it and needs to be replaced also, but it is still the original one that it came with.

scottwood2

Thx for the tip. How many miles did your box have when it blew? Was the aftermarket part any different from OEM? How many miles on the replacement donut?

I talked with the dealer and he stated that this is not normal wear. I was thinking of just having the dealer install it but he stated that it is about $160 labor .

My local exhaust shop will do it for $25 with my part. Maybe new screws and springs will help? The last time he reused the same ones.

vettereddie

35k is definately not normal. I would have thought they'd last pretty much vehicle life, there's not really anything to wear out if installed correctly. Sounds like the dealer didn't put it on right last time. Most likely they torqued down one side completely before tightening the other, it needs to be walked on 1/4 turn at a time, alternating sides.

I've got a turbo on now, and needed to enlarge the inner doughnut hole to fit over the turbo downpipe. it did not come out perfectly round and wouldn't seal. Fix was easy though, I just used ultra copper on the inner and outer hole, now no problems. it's a high temperature silicone sealant suitable for exhaust gaskets. Try it if you want, it can't hurt and will definately seal. Any auto place will have it.

http://www.permatex.com/products/Aut...sket_Maker.htm

scottwood2

Well I went to the dealer and purchased the donut and new bolts/springs. Funny that I talked to service before and they said that this is not normal at all, in fact he said that he does not think he has ever seen one in for this. I know the guy and he has been there for more than 4 years now.

When I picked up the parts I asked the parts guy if he sold many of these and he said "Oh yea, a lot". So I guess people are not going back to the dealer or the dealer was giving me a line.

Either way I had it installed by the same place as last time. I did talk to him about the installation method and he showed me how it goes on and how it can only go in one way. He cleaned up the threads as well and did tightened it up evenly. I hope this one last longer this time. I may try the RTV next time if this does not last. $40 is way too high for this little part. The parts guys said he has one that is $70.

I guess this goes along with the dealer quoteing me $160 labor and the bill at an exhaust shop was $25. He was done in about 15 minutes.

morristercode

just to let you guys know. The reason the donut fails is the rocking back and forth of the engine. People with automatics dont rock the engine as much as 5 speeds because the acceleration is smoother and less abrupt. The people I talked to at the dealer stated its common for celicas to have these fail..its not an issue. Mine failed at 55k and it looked pretty nasty..but it didnt go gradually. It just went and I had it replaced and now seems fine.

daver

Exhaust donut on our 05 xB failed at ~45k miles. I replaced it myself with one from Napa, was only about $10 for the gasket. The bolts are pretty inexpensive from either the dealer of aftermarket so I'd recommend picking up a set.