rickstyphilis

Hi fellow Subaru enthusiasts,

I'm an Australian with a MY00 Liberty Wagon. I am pretty mechanically minded (do most of my own work on the car) but don't know what you call all the parts so sometimes my descriptions may be hard to interpret, I thank you for perservering with me. If I am not sure of a parts name I'll put a (?) after it...

I have an issue with an exhaust leak near the manifold. The car makes a lot of noise under compression and I can feel air escaping around the manifold, so I replaced the manifold gasket thinking this would fix the problem.

No such luck... Unless I should have used sealant paste?

If a sealant isn't necessary, I assume that it is probably a crack in the manifold... and that sounds expensive to fix. At best it is maybe a crack in the extractor(?)

Am I on the right track or could this be something else entirely?

I'm also hoping that you might have some advice on diagosing the problem, and what is the best approach to fixing a crack in the manifold (if that is what is required - possibly replacing the whole manifold? The answer to which would probably be see a professional). If it's a crack in the extractor(?) that is easy enough to replace.

Thanks for reading.