Multible exhaust manifold studs broken

[Keith92487]

I have a 07 expedition limited el, I have developed a severe manifold leak at startup and discovered 3 studs to be broken on the passenger side front side of the manifold, has anyone been down this road on a the 3v engine? Looks like it would be easier to remove the motor or heads to get the studs out

I currently have 188k miles

 

[thenaaks]

Just did this on a 1st gen expy. Wasn't too bad of a job. No experience with a 2007 model, but I'm sure it's easier to do in place than to remove the head.

 

[Keith92487]

I haven't decided if I want to do the job yet or not, the leak is so bad that I have to roll the windows down at times driving because of the fumes. I did the job on a 06 explorer with the 3v 4.6 same issue, I took the heads off that which wasn't a terrible job. I figured there would be more room with the expedition but its tight, especially that I have studs broke by the shock or strut tower.. There has got to be other 07+ with this problem

 

[stamp11127]

Pull the tire and inner wheel well and see how the access is before pulling the heads. Depending on how much of the bolt is left it may be an easy job.

 

[robeyster]

My father in law is a mechanic at the local ford dealership. My 2007 had an exhaust leak on the passenger side. When he went to change it the front stud broke and he told me that he would have to pull the whole engine out to drill the stud out. We were going to replace both manifold while it was out. He said it would have taken a friday night and all weekend to replace it. We decided with that needing new tires and abs module that it was time to trade her in. I had 113,000 on mine.

 

[Keith92487]

I ended up pulling the heads, since it had so many studs broken, 7 total. I went along and replaced the chains and guides while it was apart because it has 190k Runs perfect now and quiet.

 

[DualingIndys]

Keith, any issues pulling the heads? I went to replace my passenger side manifold yesterday and had to abandon the job due to not being able to remove some of the stud because of access issues. If none of the studs were broken and the nuts were not partially rotted away I probably could have finished.
Thanks
Ron

 

[Keith92487]

Not many issues just time consuming, you're gonna need timing chain tensioners because the gasket tears apart, plus the power steering pump is a pain in the ass to remove. I rented a pully puller for that and the harmonic balancer. What year is yours?

 

[DualingIndys]

Mine's a 2007 also. I was just going to do the passenger side manifold so I won't have to deal with the power steering pump (yet).