Primera manifold crack

David Wood ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com.spam) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Inlet or exhaust? If inlet, plastic or metal?

You can weld them, but there is an art. Best let your local enginneering firm have a go- should be change from £30.

Tim..

The art being do it when it's very very hot. Which if you don't have a tempering oven isn't easy.

Very common on older BMW 6cyl manifolds. I used to braze them up with an oxy torch and some SifBronze. The steel alloy didn't respond to welding very well. Even with the correct fill rods and post weld heat treatment they would still crack again.

JB

It's surprising what can be done with an OA cutting torch, and a mig welder!

I roll of loft insulation helps :-)

It'll be an alloy of aluminium. I used to work in the casting plant at the sunderland factory where these were produced. Small casting faults were repaired by the production lads using a TIG welding set (not sure what they used as filler though). HTH

Rob

Thanks for advice. Luckily this was not the manifold but split gasket. Probably when I had the head skimmed after overheat they reused the old gasket. Cost me £65 - Previously I also had spend another £100 getting the rocker cover gasket replaced (leaking oil) for same reason (although this included replacing the drivebelts (not worth doing when you've got oil weeping down the engine toward them!)