Exhaust Riser Gasket replacement

[henryhbradley]

hello,
I own a 2001 Pro Air Nautique with about 650 hours on it, and I have taken it into a shop to get some winter maintenance done. The shop was asked to do a tune up, and I have just received a balance sheet of what they want to do and the costs. I noticed on the sheet that the shop wanted to replace the exhaust manifold riser gasket, and they have quoted $250 for the install. Can someone tell me how, what is this gasket, where is it, and is it really worth $250 of my money to replace?

[wakejunky]

You shouldn't need to replace the gaskets unless they leak. It's the gasket that sits between the big elbow and the exhaust manifold. If you look at the outside and inside of the big elbow and there are rust marks running down either side, then you need to replace them. Otherwise probably not necessary. It's a pretty easy job, parts should be cheap, two gaskets. The hardest part would be pulling off the 4" exhaust hose, it can be quit a bear getting them to move to remove and put back on. Read lots of soap. But, otherwise, if you're handy it's not that hard.

[DW SD]

If that gasket fails water can enter the head and hydraulic the engine. The gaskets are cheap. Maybe $30 for them and new bolts.

The job takes me a few hours.

The hardest part is properly preparing the surfaces to seal after installing the gasket. Or extracting broken bolts that are corroded and break upon removal from failed gaskets.

Probably goes against the grain and I’ve considered this significantly but I use a very thin coating of the right stuff gasket maker on each side of the gasket.
Even after using a belt sander to surface the sides I think leaks will start at the corner of the water passages. Then corrosion ensues and eventually a passage is created causing the gasket to fail.
I’ve never had to replace one (at least within 4 years of ownership) following this method. Still I probably need a decade plus to be sure.



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[d_nodixon]

$250 is worth it from my experience

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