Manifold leak repair in Mexico…March 2007
Note the black soot near the top of the picture.
I had an exhaust leak from the manifold of the engine and hired a Mexican mechanic and crew to work on it. There was a broken bolt and perhaps other problems but I just let the crew do their work and I only checked on them occasionally. (A reader of one of my submissions to RV.net where I answered a gals question with a picture of my engine noticed what I had not, an area of black soot near the manifold, indicating an exhaust leak). They took much of the equipment off and then they called another mechanico who only does broken bolt removal on big engines. He can make a living doing this because it takes special skill and tools, and it happens a lot with big diesel engines. After 45 minutes, and $30 USD, the bolt was out and the crew then replaced all the manifold gaskets and bolts, tightened everything down with a torque wrench I loaned them and then replaced a couple leaking cover gaskets. All for under $200. I was very happy.