Quote Originally Posted by brutal View Post
Since the thread I jacked and posted a question in got closed, I'll ask again.

Please, no vendor bashing, I'm just looking for technical experiences regarding two competing products.

The manifold on my CTD is leaking around cylinder #1.

Perhaps there's more going on, perhaps I can just retorque the bolts and/or replace the gasket. However, it seems to be a common issue of shrunk/warped/cracked OEM manifolds and most apparently chose to just replace it with an aftermarket.

That leads to my question. BD or ATS 2/3 piece manifold?

Seems the ATS is ceramic coated, the BD is burn off paint. Similarly priced.Performance/flow of the BD is reported to be better. I really don't have the truck BOMB'd, just an old Edge Juice and a free-flow muffler.

I would probably install studs instead of bolts. I may DIY, or I may just pay the labor to have a local shop do it. Trying to be mindful of the budget. Still deciding on that. Sounds like the heater bracket needs to be removed or cut as well and most say it's easiest to pull the turbo and bench fit to the manifold, but others have reported success leaving the turbo installed.

So I'm seeking real world experience with either product, and any first hand experience on DIY replacement.

P.S. I may just try to retorque the bolts, but fear the horror stories of snapped OEM bolts. I would prefer to soak them in PB first (anyone have some Kroil?)

Cheers
I put a 3 piece manifold on my 04.5 CTD, but it wasn't from leaking. I had to pull my head, and was doing a turbo, etc.....

We put on one of the Performance exhaust manifolds for 330.00. It was actually pretty nice, did a little port matching and it was perfect. I would recommend studs and you will thank me later if you DIY. It is a pretty easy job.

The manifold bolts may have lost the factory torque. Might want to look into that a little.