New to me '03 Limited V8, got questions

[Gavin S.]

I installed myself. Took about three hours total, not too bad.

Really? I heard it was a *****. Thanks man.

 

[smokey73]

Really? I heard it was a *****. Thanks man.

Hardest part for me was getting the nuts broke loose on the pass side. Most of them you can only get about 1/8 turn on. I used a long wrench and prybar to loosen most of them. Definitely takes patience. I didn't take anything but the wheels of to gain access. I also had it on a lift, that made it easier than laying on my back in the driveway.

 

[smokey73]

I bought a set of the Pacesetter manifolds off Amazon for around $200/ea. The reviews were mixed and most of the bad ones were from people who were just being too picky about silly things. The ones I received were unflawed and fit perfectly. I did use toyota gaskets instead of the ones provided. I replaced mine due to them leaking and I couldn't get rid of the Cat inefficient codes. I can't attest to their longevity yet but so far so good.

I had these for almost 1 1/2 years, close to 15k miles. They were not worth the $400ish price tag. After about a year I started to notice the ticking of an exhaust leak, then I started getting the same old catalyst codes again. I figured it to just be the gaskets blown out so I let it ride till I got a chance to swap them out. Once I got the manifolds off, I found that 6 of the 8 Dow pipes were cracked at either the flange or the collector. Pure junk! I dug my old ones out of the scrap pile and put them back in with new gaskets and spacers for the O2 sensors. They seem to be fine for now, should've done that in the first place. I'm embarrassed for recommending them in the first place.