bennett,

Agree with engatwork's recommendations. About that crack though, I have yet to see a cracked exhaust manifold on one of these cars. Where is it cracked?

I tell this tale often, but I think it has relevance, so I feel justified. Anyway, my 1982 240D engine mounts failed, and I mean failed. The driver's side mount was split in two and it would allow the engine to lift and bang around when the car was being started. Over time it did a number of bad things, and one was it stretched the exhaust manifold to head fasteners to the point where the exhaust manifold was loose. The intake and exhaust manifolds on these cars fit together a little like a jigsaw puzzle at the head, and share fasteners in certain positions. Since the intake was just going along for the ride in all this banging around, the couple fasteners that only hold down the intake manifold were still tight. When the exhaust manifold got loose it looked like there was a crack in the part of the jigsaw puzzle fit where the intake and exhaust manifold joint was partially covered by the fastener, and yes, exhaust would shoot out.

Upon further inspection, there was no crack, it is a joint line, as the spot I thought was a crack was really where the intake and exhaust manifolds were sharing a fastener. I replaced the fasteners and the gaskets, and all was well.

The point of all this is to have you make sure the "crack" is not at the joint to the head. I hope this helps. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)