If you have been driving your automobile and ignoring the fact that the engine is overheating, you may crack the exhaust manifold. Even though this exhaust system part deals with a ton of heat, the excess heat of an overheating engine can crack the metal. It can also crack the gasket that seals off the exhaust manifold. Here are signs that you have a crack in the manifold or gasket needs to be replaced.
Iffy Performance
Your engine performance will start to suffer right away once the exhaust manifold cracks. The reason why is that the crack allows exhaust to leak into the engine. When this happens, the exhaust fills the engine and prevents combustion in the combustion chamber. The whole purpose of removing the exhaust from the combustion chamber is so that the engine can produce combustion.
Rotten Gas Mileage
Unfortunately, this will increase how much fuel your vehicle consumes while you are driving. As such, you will notice a significant difference in your gas mileage. This difference is not a good one. Your engine will burn more fuel and you will need to fill the tank more often. Replacing the cracked manifold will restore your engine’s performance. This will also restore the fuel economy.
Ignition Noises
When we say ignition noises, we mean that you will hear these noises easily when you first ignite your automobile. Therefore, listen for popping, hissing, or tapping when you fire up your vehicle. This is the noise that the exhaust makes when it leaks out of the crack in the manifold or out of the cracked gasket. This noise can dissipate as the engine heats up because the manifold can expand.
Overheating
We mentioned above that an engine full of exhaust will affect the performance. Unfortunately, the exhaust can also cause your engine to run too hot. It may have already been running too hot and this is why the manifold cracked, as we discussed above. You may smell burning odors coming from the engine and see your temperature gauge needle rise on the dashboard.
Check Engine Light
Finally, the cracked exhaust manifold can turn on the check engine light. Well, it actually doesn’t turn on the light; the engine control unit does. This being said, the problems caused by the crack in the manifold can make the unit turn on the check engine light to alert you of trouble.
Give us a call today to schedule a service visit if you suspect you have a cracked exhaust manifold.