4.2 Liter XJ6 Intake Manifold Removal

[Michael J.]

I have a leaking Head Gasket on an 87 XJ6. After removal of the nuts from the six studs for each double cylinder intake and water jacket mount, is there an easy way to get the gasket to come loose so that the intake can be removed?

 

[jessebogan]

No... Take a large soft hammer and knock the manifold up and down, and eventually it will break loose. Unless you have a compelling reason to remove it, just pull the head with the manifold attached.It gives you something to grab on to as you weasel the head up the studs.

 

[LarryK]

Excellent advice!!!

 

[Michael J.]

I ended up loostening the manifold by placing a short length of 2 X 4 against the manifold and stiking it with a sledge hammer. It took three blows to loosten the gasket, after which I was able to work it up and down as described by jessebogan. It would not come loose even with a 2 ton bottle jack pushing up on the manifold from underneath until after I struck it with the 2 X 4 and hammer. The gasket was brittle with age, but remained in one piece after the manifold was removed. I did not see any reason for it to have been stuck so well.

On the fuel injected cars, the manifold extends out about 12 inches and hangs down about 6 inches. It was too bulky to leave in place.