As some know already I recently changed the glow plugs and control unit which was a bit of a job to do
as the car wasn’t starting right (firing straight away and then cutting out).That sorted out that problem but another starting issue arose in the fact that it would turn over/crank for a while before finally starting(opposite symptoms to before).A diagnostics scan revealed that I had the warning error ‘Plausibility rail-pressure volume regulated’.
I posted on here and x5outpost and I was told by powers1 on there that the most common issue with that error is the rail pressure sensor.
I had seen this error before and thought it was due to the other issue but not to be the case.
So before replacing the rail sensor I thought I would get the car in the workshop, take a few parts back off and have a good look around to see if I had disturbed a hose or something whilst doing the previous job thus creating a new problem.
I had a good look around but couldn’t see anything obvious so I thought I would start it up and re check everything(especially as the rail sensor costs about £180
.On starting it up I noticed smoke under the bonnet especially when pressing the fast pedal.
I had also noticed a small amount of smoke previously when the car was outside but put it down to a cold morning and possibly the webasto fumes blowing around. This accompanied by mrs x555 complaining about fumes led me to examine the exhaust manifold.
Ironically I had previously used Nige’s cracked manifold thread for pics etc to aid me with the glow plug job and so checking it again (thanks again Nige
)I half inched one of mrs x555’s travel mirrors and took a look only to find this…..(better add some pics now as I‘m starting to waffle 
)
A crack in the manifold (
)Which then meant removing loads of parts…..
Than removing the inlet manifold…again…along with the injectors and fuel lines etc…
Parts beginning to pile up now….
Then onto the hot film air mass meter (or maff sensor as I think it’s commonly known) various fuel lines and hoses to shift accompanied by the rocker cover and it’s (what seemed like) one million bolts
including the small one at the back which Nige warned about in his post.(the one when listing parts etc when they came of I called the bast@£d)Maff sensor….
Rocker cover….
Along with all the soot/exhaust fumes….
Which finally revealed the exhaust manifold along with more black soot everywhere
I could then undo the manifold from the head, turbo and egr pipe which left this …..
And revealed not only the crack I spotted with the mirror but more
…
So it was decision time….Buy a new manifold or repair the old one if possible
I went with the latter due to a new manifold costing £350
and gave my BIL a call to see if he could weld it.Ordered new gaskets consisting of three for the head and one for the turbo with some new nuts also….at the princely sum of £30
So the following day I took it to his garage and he was surprised to see that it wasn’t made from cast and how flimsy it was.
Anyway he said that he would have a go at it for me but that it wasn’t in the best condition as one of the ports that connects to the head was completely loose so couldn’t promise anything. So with nothing really to loose he patched it up for me.
with a few extra welds at weak points as well…
Chuffed to bits at not spending out £350 on a new one and a promise to my BIL that I would return the favour when needed, I set off home manifold in hand
Re fitted it and then replaced ALL the parts that were needed to start the engine back up (left off all the trims and microfilter etc)
Waffling again more pics …
Manifold re fitted with a few parts cleaned up a little as well after all the soot/exhaust fumes …
Injectors back in…
And then fuel lines being replaced….
Etc etc until everything was back enough to start the beast back up…..hopefully
I would also at this point like to show you my latest in high technology tools which has on several occasions now got me out of the sh@t with dropping ratchets etc into the engine bay.
This was hand made BTW
I then after double checking everything fired it back up. After a few turnovers to get the fuel running through again the x came back to life and a huge sigh of relief was let out accompanied by a really big grin on my boat race
Followed by a look of horror when after a few minutes running I pressed the loud pedal and saw a puff of smoke coming from the manifold area
Needles to say I was gutted and before reaching for the hose pipe to put in through the window from the exhaust I retired to the house and got very very drunk (said in a fast show style)
Mrs x555 said later that the hose pipe wouldn’t have worked anyway as the manifold was leaking so much
to which I pi$$ed myself laughing and thought tomorrow’s another day.So next day back in the workshop and strip everything back apart (a lot easier this time knowing how everything came off wink smilie) to reveal the welds had held but there was exhaust fumes escaping
on further investigation the end port closest to the egr pipe was very slightly out of line.
No fault of my BIL I might add as it was pretty shafted before and he didn’t have the car to hand to inspect either.
Tell tale signs of leak….
End port out of line…
So now I have bit the bullet and ordered a new manifold and MORE gaskets
and will hopefully re fit everything again this week. Then I can re diagnose and check for the error warning as it still could be a faulty sensor as well as the manifold….. I hope not..I forgot to mention that I asked my BIL to take a look after re fitting the manifold and finding the smoke. So I drove to his garage (approx 4 miles ish) and went from 122 miles on the obc down to 88 by the time I got there
(which wasn‘t happening before BTW) I was using more fuel due to the manifold leaking but not that excesive.He then noticed a fuel leak on the return fuel line from the injectors and said that this could have been the initial rail pressure warning.
But I’m sure that it was ok before and that I must have disturbed it taking it off to remove the injectors.
Anyway I will find out this week when I get it all back together and report back.
Thanks for reading and sorry about the humongous post but it’s been an eventfull few days and I know that the pics can help as Nige’s did with me ….several times.
Not so much a how too more of a what I did but if anyone has to remove some of these parts for any reason or a similar job and needs any pointers on how too remove stuff I am more than willing to help.
EDIT: I have now made the pics a bit larger/easier to see (hope this is ok mods) messed it up before when re sizing photo's as i lost al the pics
it seems i can strip down and rebuild part of the engine but not load pics corectly that and i shouldn't post when drinking hic hic 
Apparently it is not uncommon for these to crack, and reading your post x555 I can see why now 
