Possible Right Manifold Crack ?

Hi I was hoping to get some insight on a situation with my 1st gen tundra.

I moved to a new city in June and don’t have my usual trusty mechanic. I recently got my whole exhaust replaced minus headers. I took it to this shop and the guy said that he thinks I have a cracked right manifold after putting on my new exhaust. He pretty much told me he wouldn’t drive my truck far or for very long with this issue. He told me he couldn’t tell officially because there is a heat shield on it.

But I feel confused by this. First when I dropped off my truck I had brought my whole new exhaust and just needed the labor done. He told me that and said it’d be between 3-5 hours which is accurate to my mechanic back in the Midwest who knows my truck has some rust said. But when I went to pick up my truck he charged me way over priced and I spoke up and told him the math didn’t make sense. He wrote down it took him 3 hours and I had 3 broken bolts and 3 broken studs. After I spoke up he knocked $300 off and said they accidentally over charged me, but that he really worked on my truck for 10 hours. But now I feel like I can’t trust his opinion on the cracked right manifold. I also feel like when he discovered that why didn’t he call before putting the whole exhaust on. Or ask me if I wanted him to check?

Anyway I’ve looked up some YouTube videos in regard to the noise / tick exhaust manifolds get on the 2000 tundra, but having a hard time finding one driving. Just mostly guys showing them how to fix the issue. My truck I don’t believe makes any tick or noise differently that I’ve noticed. She doesn’t smell in the cab. She does have low power when accelerating, but I feel like that’s always been a thing since I got her two years ago and that’s just how she drives.

What should I do? Is this a giant deal? Is there a way to tell confirm this cracked right manifold? I want to go get different opinions, but don’t want to get taken advantage of.

This morning I started her up and I didn’t really hear any ticking or hissing noises. My belt squeaks for the first 2 minutes and than it disappears. I’ve noticed I hear a small jingle when driving up against a wall or when I accelerate, but I heard that prior to getting my new exhaust and always thought it was something loose or un important. Other than that my truck is so quiet and sounds amazing.

 

This is a shady mechanic. Get another opinion.

 

As you'll find in the repository of all our 1st Gen Tundra knowledge which every owner should read, manifold cracks are actually pretty common, especially in the earlier years. That, he may be honest about. It's typical for the ticking to lessen or subside when things warm up, metal expands, and tightens up or seals the crack. Not always the case, but happens often enough to mention it. I'm curious if they snapped bolts on the flanges, or at the manifold... if they had the manifolds off, I'd have hoped they'd call you before reinstall and ask if you want to change the manifold(s) impacted.

If the truck has ever been on salted roads, as you'll also see in that thread, rust is one of the top 3 killers of these trucks, right behind people who don't know you MUST use OEM lower ball joints, because the failure rate on aftermarkets (all brands, it doesn't matter) is absurdly high. Even if you're not in a rusty area, breaking exhaust flange studs happens, and it also happens quite often when pulling the manifolds. That said, while it happens in non-rusty areas, if you happen to be in a rusty area, you're more prone.

But either way, honestly, cracked manifold, if you have no check engine light or codes, is not something I'd piss around with. Ho

You failed to mention if your Tundra has the v8 or V6. I'm going to go on the assumption It's V8. About that squeal. You're aware your timing belt, water pump, radiator, thermostat, timing belt tensioner, and pulleys need to be replaced with OEM (or Aisin brand, the OEM supplier for Toyota) parts every 10yrs or 100k miles, correct? Because this V8 is a low-interference engine, if the belt ever snaps at anything above nominal idle, there's a 50/50 chance your engine is dead in the water. Many shops won't replace the timing belt in this case, because it is both cost and labor intensive for an engine that may potentially be dead. If you choose to listen to mechanics who will swear by Gates and other major name companies (as they'll do with the lower ball joints, out of their own ignorance of these vehicles), you should reduce the change interval to 40k-50k but know we've had people snap Gates timing belt at less than 50k miles. When was your last timing belt done? The squealing is not normal and speaks to either an old serpentine belt, or tensioner going out, or something got spilled onto the belt that's making it slip, or you have a pulley that's seized up. There's a TSB on cold start squealing but I believe it affects newer trucks than yours.

The jingle ... is it possible a flange or heat shield is loose, they didn't tighten something up somewhere?

But yeah, lime ATBAV8 said, probably best to source another mechanic.

 

I first heard the dreaded tick of a cracked exhaust manifold around 100k. I drove it that way until 200k. Then I got to thinking too much and decided the manifold should be replaced. It's near 300k and ticking again. All I can tell ya is that my truck performs great as it always has... tick tick tick when cold.

 

I bought my tundra two years ago at around 259,000. I immediately had the timing belt and water pump done. I did a coolant flush. I’ve had my mechanic put on oem ignition coils, front ball joint and outer tie rods, front axle shaft assembly wheel hub bearing kit, replaced my drive shaft and just did my exhaust. The parts I’ve used have always been either Aisin or oem .


She now has 299,300 on her. Should I call back and ask more about the broken bolts? I don’t know I don’t feel like she ticks though that’s then thing. She’s so quiet when I drive her. I’m just freaked out because this truck means so much to me sentimentally. He made it seem like she was ok her last life. But I’m starting to feel like he was making things seem bigger than they are.

 

Here's my 2¢, others replying in here may have a different take, I dunno.

• I wouldn't hesitate to drive it, if it's not throwing codes, with the cracks, to @ChattanoogaPhil 's point, hell, I wouldn't doubt if my 2006 manifolds have cracks, we all hear ticking from the engines (some say it's the injectors ticking, in reality)
• I would take a moment to scan for codes, since the 2000-2004 trucks can technically have the check engine light burn out (but you should see it light up when you turn the truck to "ON", without starting, which may also confirm the bulb function)
• If none of the sounds you're hearing existed prior to you bringing it in, I'd probably press the shop on that one. "Is it possible you missed something?"
• I honestly don't trust anyone to touch my truck these days. I actually don't trust anyone to touch any of my stuff for repairs these days, because people just DO NOT give a shit about their work anymore, and it's clear that's especially true for car repair shops

 

Assuming your hearing is ok, if you can't hear a tick under light acceleration when cold or otherwise an exhaust leak I wouldn't worry about it.

 

My 2000 started the tick due to a cracked manifold at around 75-80K miles. It's just for a minute and once the engine warms up it stops. I had considered installing the JBA shorty stainless headers but decided it was too much ass pain so. I'm so used to it now, I hardly noticed it and it hasn't affected the truck in any way.

 

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

^^^^^^

The above has been my experience.

During winter the ticking is a bit more pronounced when cold but soon fades away when the engine warms.