Has anyone had any experience getting an exhaust manifold leak fixed on a Gen 2?

Just noticed my wife's 96 LS has a fairly annoying leak that sounds bad but only at idle in the garage and under any heavy throttle. It is a fluttering type sound but I just heard it today and have not really looked into it.

That said, has anyone had this fixed to give me an idea of cost, parts, difficulty?

Have to get this fixed ASAP because my wife is now glaring at my whisper quiet 97k Gen 2.5

Thanks in advance.

 

More than likely to be a cracked EGR pipe,located right at the back of the engine,reasonably priced replacements but a pig of a job to remove and fit.

 

I agree with steve, check the lower EGR pipe. This is a common area for leaks, and most likely the culprit of the "fluttery type sound". I'm in the middle of swapping mine out but, have stripped the nuts where the cat mounts to the manifold (a must to remove in order to change the lower EGR tube). It's really difficult to see where the leak is coming from because your passenger cat is in the way. Once you remove it, it'll all make sense. Good luck with changing yours out. I was lucky enough to source a EGR pipe from a local junkyard with the cat already removed, made things 1,000 times easier. Putting it in might be another story.