I crawled underneath the 2002 F350 I'm looking at buying and found 2 broken exhaust manifold bolts. Bottom passenger side, the 2 furthest forward. I obviously have no idea how long they've been broken.

If I purchase this vehicle (and I'm about 99% sure I will purchase it), are there any dangers/risks of NOT immediately replacing the bolts? I have every intention of getting them fixed over the coming weeks/months. But can I *SAFELY* run the vehicle with these broken bolts in the meantime?

 

yes, you can run it. Wont hurt anything with just two missing. Ran mine with 4 missing for who knows how long.

 

I had several broken studs when I bought my 2003. I ran it that way for a year and a half before I found the time to fix 'em. I'm sure you'll be OK for a few weeks.

 

Very good. Thanks.

 

The only danger is carbon monoxide getting into the cab. But that takes a pretty big leak to have that happen...

 

Are you buying from a dealer? If so, maybe you could have them fix it as part of the deal. If not, I would get a quote for repair at a shop and use that to dicker on the price.

 

If it has O2s on it I make sure to fix any exhaust manifold header leaks right away. On a vehicle with no O2s the leak is more annoying than anything.