Hey guys. I bought my F250 with an exhaust leak. Didnt think much of it but now its just getting on my nerves. So I crawled under my running truck and found the problem: where my pipe attaches to my manifold isnt tight. Another problem: exhaust bolts = rusty bolts. I tried soakin it with some WD-40 but that didnt even touch the crud thats built up on these things! How do you fix this? There is in no way, shape, or form these things will wrench off of there. Are the studs press fit or threaded? Am I screwed?

 

Your manifolds sound exactly like the ones that were on my 1992 F350 w/5.8L engine. I was already committed to replacing the manifolds, but when I started to disassemble everything nothing snapped off.

WD-40 is a waste of time. Heat and something like PB Blaster are your best friend for this type of job. The studs are threaded into the manifold. By now they will most likely not come apart. I have drilled them out and used a bolt and nut before on previous vehicles. In cases like yours (and mine) it may make more sense to replace what you have. I elected to go with aftermarket replacement manifolds. If you have a larger budget consider headers, shorties or long tubes.

 

i have debated some headers but it still sounds like a PITA to get the old ones off lol. Theres not much room in that engine compartment with the 460 wedges in there

 

The inner fender liners come out in less than 30 minutes. Quite often I work through one of the wheel wells to gain access to plugs and manifold bolts. I have had a few 460 equipped trucks over the years. Working from underneath is sometimes much easier as well.

 

I did notice the manifolds are right there inside the fenders... good thinkin lol. Im gonna have to give this a whirl soon. I hit it with a hammer hoping itd shove the pipe into the manifold more and it worked... some. The leaks not as loud but its still there

 

heat is the only answer. you need to heat the bolt/stud or manifold with a cutting torch and can remove the stud easily to replace it. You rock it back and forth first when breaking it loose. If its too scary for you, any decent muffler shop can do it in minutes.

 

I think I could do it... I just dont have a cuttin torch lol

 

My '89 with a 5.8L is the same way. Priced it at Midas and they want $500.00+ to fix and was replacing everything between the manifold and the cat. A smaller shop said for less then $300.00 they can fix the problem by cutting off the flanges and removing the bolts and rewelding flanges on my exsisting pipe. They were also throwing in new hangers for free as the PO had my exhaust hanging by coat hangers thus causing my exhaust leak and for it to hang well below where it should. Most of the cost was labor for removing those bolts. My point is they said it's not a bad job to do if you have the correct tools, a little "know how", and a lift helps. I'm going with the smaller shop mostly because they will fix my hangers for free and I'd rather deal with an owner/operator then a chain.

 

$500?! You can get a whole new system for that much lol.

For those kind of prices, I think Ill try it myself lol. Im sure someone in this small town has a torch I can borrow

 

My last duel system on my '03 Ram was $450.00. And that was only replacing the muffler and running duel pipes to the back. It still had stock exhaust from manifold up to the muffler. Pretty much going prices around here.

 

Those are ridiculous prices! The shop 1 town over told me if i supply the mufflers and headers that for 150 bucks theyd put true dual exhaust on my truck. And ive got less than 150 into the stuff im supplying.

 

Kinda what I was thinkin lol. My brother had his Dakota done, though it was just a single exhaust, straight piped for $200.

 

That was one of the reasons I bought a Gasless 110volt Mig welder in early 2000.It's a Cambell Hausfield 80 amp flux core wire Mig.It's easy to use(takes some practice),and I've done all my own exhaust systems,body panel replacements and all kinds of repairs for the past 12 years.Muffler shops will sell lenghts of pipe fairly priced.I pay 35.00(in the land of pay through the nose Canada) for 7 ft of 2 1/2 in and you can also buy mandrel bent turns.It allows you to get very creative.One of the best tools I've purchased,ever.

 

PB Blaster is your friend! Also, a number of people have mentioned heat. You can go anywhere from a propane torch, to a MAPP torch, to ocy-acetylene. I'm going to just keep soaking in PB Blaster until I can get a free weekend to start doing exploratory surgery. I did get a set of reverse-drill-and-easy-outs, along with the one that looks like a drill chuck just in case I get some snapping action. I'm steeling myself up for this job...

In the mean time, doses of PB Blaster every day is hopefully going to make this job less painful.

Thanks for the hint of removing the inner plastic fender bits. This is definitely easier as a ground up operation instead of top down.