Exhaust manifold repair.

[Jeff55v]

I guess the OE exhaust manifolds on my 5.4L are steel, rather than cast iron. When investigating an exhaust leak, I found one of my manifolds was rusted through! I've never seen this on an OE manifold before. As you can see, the manifold bolts are too rusty to make manifold replacement feasible.
I patched the leak with a high temperature epoxy putty. I don't know how long it will last, but so far, so good.
Sorry, pictures are in reverse order.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Wow!

I haven't looked at mine but mine does "tap" when cold and goes away once warmed up.

 

[Big Brian]

yeah I doubt it will last long. Problem is the header will keep rusting under the patch and deteriorating and the epoxy will loose its grip

worth a try though

 

[Dewayne]

That's what my 99 looked like when I bought it . Actually not that bad to change if you have a welder to remove broken studs.

 

[juan214]

Found the same issue on 2001 F-150 one

 

[docraymund]

Replace it as soon as you can. Maybe you could get one at your local pull-a-part. The rusted bolts will be a problem if you delay it.

 

[harliemae]

The best place to order the manifold is from Rock Auto. And if you Google the hardware for the manifold it will take you to a link on eBay where there's a company that now makes stainless steel studs and nuts so you don't have to worry about them breaking again. If you go to use RockAuto if you Google find me a discount for RockAuto there's plenty of people on there that have the code to get you an additional 5% off. It's legit sites it's nothing that you have to join. And if you're not familiar of RockAuto if you get the code you put the numbers in where it says where did you hear about us from. Even with shipping it wasn't that bad ordering them from them. If I remember correctly it was like 50 or $60 savings over places like AutoZone and advance. I could be wrong about exactly how much it's been a few years but I know it was cheap enough for me to order from there.

 

[rjdelp7]

This is a common problem on 4.6l and 5.4l. Its is one the reasons, my next vehicle will not be a Ford. I am pretty sure the bolts break, between the head and manifold. The nuts in photo may already be broke. Once the head is off they can be extracted, with vise grips or a special extraction tool. The shop that did mine, was familiar with this job. The mechanic said, enough of the stud was left to remove it. If it breaks off in head it is much harder. The new studs are "better" quality and are much stronger. One of my manifolds cracked, after it started leaking. I also, have never seen a manifold do this. It cost around $500-$600, per side, depending on number of broken studs.

 

[juan214]

I have both the Stainless Steel kits on my truck. Just torque them to spec then double check them. Don't forget the thread locker on the stud and nuts. The Y-pipe bolts backed off a little over two years nothing an impact gun couldn't fix. Bolts, nuts and studs all still look new.

 

[1955moose]

They make a great penetrant called kroll oil. My spelling might be off, but it really creeps into rusty bolts/ studs. That along with patience can get the nuts loose. Replacement manifolds that are not cast iron would be a good choice. Maybe a nice aftermarket header.


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[Big Brian]

you are talking about Kroil.

but that wont touch this

about the only thing that will work is to get the ear of the manifold (not the bolt head!) cherry red hot with a torch and pound a socket on it and SLOWLY work it out by hand vibrating the nut back and forth. If I could not get a socket to grab it then I had stud remover sockets, they looked like a spark plug socket but had cam rollers on the inside, when you put the socket over the stud the rollers would grab the stud.

I used to do this all the time when I worked at a muffler shop. I would cut the tube off with the torch and heat the ear of the manifold from all angles. avoiding the stud and nut

not a fun job. seemed like I never charged enough either

the other way we would do it is if broke off after trying this was to actually blow the stud right out of the head with a torch. That worked the opposite, I would let the head cool then put the torch right up to the stud and blast it out with the oxy torch. But that only worked with cast iron heads.

brings back memories. None of them good lol

 

[1955moose]

That's why I rarely touched any Exaust work, when I worked out of home. Thanks for the info.


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[Big Brian]

That's why I rarely touched any Exaust work, when I worked out of home. Thanks for the info.


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oh I wouldn't do it at home lol

really wouldn't do it for a living anymore either lol

 

[juan214]

Spelling is right Not cheap around $20.00 shipped. I think walmart still sells it though.

Kano Labs Aero Kroil - Aerosol Penetrating Oil - 16.5 Ounce AeroKroil

 

[Big Brian]

thats interesting. I have never seen it in an aerosol. We use it in the machine shop where I work, its in a gallon can. Its a red fluid, looks like trans fluid

 

[harliemae]

Kano Labs Aero Kroil - AerosolPenetratingOil is the best stuff around. Someone on here talked about it when I was doing my exhaust manifold so I Googled it and I believe that I bought it through Amazon. With shipping it's about $20 but very well worth it. You would not believe how great this stuff really works. After you spray it on the Bolt and you get it out look at the bottom of the threads and you will see that it seeped all the way down to it.

 

[1955moose]

That's the stuff. My brother gave me a can of it over 20 years ago. He used to work at a wire production company back in the 1990's. Smelly stuff, but it worked. Doubt it would work on frozen studs, nuts. But it's much better than most.


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[Habbibie]

LoL mine is so bad it whistles when you give it throttle, a lot like a belt squeal but ten times louder and constantly every time you give it throttle. When idle it's coughs like a tractor.

 

[1955moose]

Habbibie, did you get another SUV, or did you throw in another motor.


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[Habbibie]

Habbibie, did you get another SUV, or did you throw in another motor.


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Used motor swap, I was trying to switch out the exhaust manifold from my old motor to the new one and all 4 bolts on top of the passenger side holding the manifold broke. I stopped where I'm at and left it alone I didn't have a welder not an extractor on hand at the time and once the motor was installed I realized how much of a giant nightmare it is going to be to fix it now. It has gotten louder since the initial day I broke them but time is of the essence to me so it still gonna have to wait till I can one day tackle that project again but until then I just keep telling myself it's a Ford, that's what you get for buyinbg a Ford.