I've done this. No. Remove the air breather assembly to gain access to exhaust manifold. Disconnect O2 sensor that runs through heat shield. Remove heat shield by removing 5 nuts. Disconnect catalytic converter from manifold by removing five nuts. Remove the head to manifold nuts. Remove manifold. With the right tools and a bit of luck 1 hour.
The oil leak is coming from the valve cover gasket and leaking onto the exhaust manifold, the rubber valve cover gaskets get hard from the engine heat and start to leak, you will have to replace the rubber valve cover gaskets to stop the oil leak
If you are talking about the EXHAUST manifold then most of the time it's the valve cover gasket that is leaking oil. REPLACE VALVE COVER GASKETS. If you are talking about the intake manifold then it has 2 rubber gaskets in the front and rear of it that leak oil real bad. If oil is on the left are right top sides of the intake manifold were the valve covers are then it will be the valve cover gaskets that are leaking oil.
Valve cover gasket
To replace the valve cover gaskets on a 2003 Jeep Liberty, the valve cover is removed. The old gasket is then removed from both the valve cover and the manifold (old gasket will come off in pieces on both sides). Then spread the sealant on the manifold, place the new gasket on, then put sealant on top of the gasket and replace the valve cover and bolt down.
Replace the PCV Valve.
No, it will not cause smoke from the exhaust pipe. However the leaking oil can drip on the exhaust manifold where it will be burnt and smoke.
look at the head with the valve cover off find where the exhaust manifold goes in tha is the exhaust valve or looking at the valves the first one is exhaust then intake then intake ,exhaust,exhaust,intake,intake,exhaust if you have the head off i think the intake valves are bigger than the exhaust
Need to replace the valve cover gasket.
you do not need to remove intake manifold to change valve cover gaskets. intake bolts to the block. valve covers bolt to the heads EDIT: Theirs some clearance issues but you can maneuver the valve cover out.
Remove the intake manifold retaining bolts on your 2003 Chevrolet Malibu. The manifold will come off. Remove the manifold gasket and clean the surface. Put the new manifold gasket on and reverse the process.
The EGR valve is located on the back side of the valve cover on driver's side. It is connected from the rear of the valve cover into the intake manifold's plenum chamber, again on the drivers side.
Possibly a leaky valve cover gasket allowing oil to seep out and down on to exhaust manifold.