Exhaust Manifold Cracked And Ticking

[Richard Mickelson]

The RH exhaust manifold is cracked, and making a ticking sound. That being said I have some questions for the forum. 2011 Expedition 5.4 Limited.

1. Can I use a aftermarket manifold? Sure lee It does not need to be a original Ford part?
2. I have found some Doorman Manifolds for $49.00 - $50.00 area, any thoughts on theses?
3. This is one job that I don't want to tackle, I'm sure that there is going to be at least a couple of busted studs that will have to be removed or drilled out. Any comments to think about.
4. What kind of labor costs am I looking at? I found one shop that said around $525. Plus $100. for each broken stud that may have to be drilled out. That could be possibly 4 studs from their experience? That adds up to almost $1000.
5. Just to confirm because of the crack and leakage, the service light comes on at times and there is some missing when I gas it or when climbing some hills, I would assume that this all would improve with the replacement?

Any input or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[mrbadwrench]

Mine was slightly different. 2008 and the bottom rear stud on the right manifold broke. It was noisy when cold and quieted down when it warmed up. Ran fine. Local independent shop said they would have to remove the engine and would charge at least $1,000. Based on advice here I had a Ford dealer do it. About $750 plus $50 for each broken stud. It cost about $1,000 with all Ford parts. I told them I wasn't in a hurry so they started a day after I dropped it off and pushed it out back for a few days so they could do urgent jobs. They had it for a week but got it done right.

 

[Trainmaster]

I wouldn't even think of spending $500 - $700 in labor and using a Chinese knockoff part.

And I don't think a miss would be related to the manifold leak. If you are sure it's a miss, you have another problem. How old are the plugs?

 

[Boostedbus]

My long time friend who is also a long time Ford Mechanic told me he just cuts the bolt heads off with a torch right out of the gate. This then leaves him enough stud once he removes the manifold to weld a nut on the studs closer to the head for ease of removal. Between the less flex on the stud and the heat applied from the welding , it makes the studs back out with ease...... no drilling.Tricks of the trade! I’m glad he is willing to tell his secrets.

 

[G213]

My long time friend who is also a long time Ford Mechanic told me he just cuts the bolt heads off with a torch right out of the gate. This then leaves him enough stud once he removes the manifold to weld a nut on the studs closer to the head for ease of removal. Between the less flex on the stud and the heat applied from the welding , it makes the studs back out with ease...... no drilling.Tricks of the trade! I’m glad he is willing to tell his secrets.

Your long time friend is brilliant. I hope I never have to do this, but genius tactic.

 

[rjdelp7]

My long time friend who is also a long time Ford Mechanic told me he just cuts the bolt heads off with a torch right out of the gate. This then leaves him enough stud once he removes the manifold to weld a nut on the studs closer to the head for ease of removal. Between the less flex on the stud and the heat applied from the welding , it makes the studs back out with ease...... no drilling.Tricks of the trade! I’m glad he is willing to tell his secrets.

I had mine done at the dealer. It was done the same way, except they use vise grips to remove studs. Sadly, they did enough, to know the back ones were broke. Ford has an specialty extraction tool for the job($50/stud). The new studs are superior in strength. The new Ford manifolds are only around $85 and stud kit/gasket another $80. The rest is labor. I drove mine around leaking for years, until the wrapped manifold cracked.

 

[ssmock]

I had a cracked manifold on my 2014 limited and since it was under my extended ESP warranty Ford replaced it for my $100 deductible. Finally one of those warranties paid off. The dealer originally told me it could be up to $1700 to fix this depending on how many bolts broke off. Not IF they broke off but rather how many broke off! Said it always happens and is a big labor issue. I guess it broke after towing a 20" car trailer around 3,200 miles from KC to Reno and back. At least after I got back from this trip I heard the ticking. Louder when it was cold but there all of the time, more noticeable under a load. The 10K rated trailer is all aluminum. 2,300 lbs and the car being towed weighing in at 3,200. So all in less than 6,000 being towed. My 4x4 2014 Expy has the HD towing package with the mechanical load leveling,not air shocks. I had no trouble towing this trailer and it only struggled over a couple of the longer Mountain Pass's, but I guess it struggled a little too much if that's what broke the manifold. Maybe towing had nothing to do with it, I just noticed the ticking after we got back from this trip. Almost sounded like a lifter. It was the left side (drivers side) and they didn't pull the engine but did have to remove some of the steering linkage I believe. The service guy said that was the hardest side to do on these Expeditions. All fixed now and running / sounding like it used to. My Ford ESP warranty is up at 100,000 miles, I have 96,000 on it now.

 

[Trainmaster]

My Ford ESP warranty is up at 100,000 miles, I have 96,000 on it now.

You know you can extend that to 140K miles for about $1200, so the other manifold's replaced by them too.

 

[ssmock]

Essie,
No I didn't know that. Interesting. Is that something I needed to do before the warranty runs out? Since this is a Ford program would it need to be with the dealer who originally sold me the ESP contract or could I shop around some?

 

[Trainmaster]

Several on-line dealers offer prices that are usually much better than local dealers. Check Lombard Ford. They have the complete quote system on-line with all the documents and pricing. I bought an Explorer warranty on a car with 89,000 miles. You may want to check with them to see if you have to order it before you reach 100,000 miles. I believe you do.

https://www.lombardfordwarrantys.com/

If you like playing around, your local dealer may match their on-line price. Just make sure you are getting a real Ford ESP warranty and not some third-party nonsense. I just get the powertrain coverage, as I do my own work on everything else.