I have a manifold leak on the drivers side and i was wondering if it is bad or if i can cause further damage by not getting it fixed. i got a quote for 500 to fix my problem and dont really want to put much money into getting it fixed. i have a 97 4.6 with 190,000 miles

 

Others will tell you " it will burn your valves " but I don't think it will hurt anything unless it's really bad... 500 is a rip of to me.. Just replace it your self if it's Just the manifold.. My left side I think leaks too cause it makes this funny noise when I start up cold almost like there is a crack and when it get hot it goes away??? And it's been doing that for a long time now and no problems..

 

I raged around for years with cracked manifolds - as far as i could tell there was no harm done - just annoying as hell. Finally just bolted on some headers - not sure how I got it done, the trauma has affected my memory quite bad ! PITA!