This weekend I hooked up to tow my boat, and My g/f said listen to that noise, what the hell is it??....I heard the sound of a failing exaust manifold gasket. Ok no big deal. I just went out for a better look, with my father to step on the gas for me to trace the noise. YUP...all the top bolts on my exaust manifold passenger side are ALL broken off except for 2 OK GREAT. i am running the v-10 6.8 snd its all stock. But anyway, it looks like the bolt simply rotted away and the stud snapped off flush with the manifold. Looked at the driverside. YEP the bolt closest to the fire wall is broken off too...sheered right off flush with the manifold....any ideas gentileman?? And I ONLY HAVE 78,000 and change on it...!!! The problem is that the bolt heads are sheared off.. Are these studs screwed into the block? I am afraid they will break at the block If I try to get them out!! Is there anti seize compound on them? I was going to try and get them covered under the 8year 80,000 mile warranty....we have here in RI the epa approved inspoection stations and the warranty says exaust manifolds are covered...so I assume the bolts are as well since they hold it together. But according to ford the warranty does not apply to snapped bolts or studs. Id rather buy stainless steel i think to replace them.... Now it looks like to me if I pull the manifold off, I will be left with studs coming out of the block where a nut once was screwed to the top of them to keep the manifold on. do these studs screw into the block? I noticed on the driverside that the stud comes out of the block, with the top of the stud being threaded to recieve a nut which then holds the manifold secure to the block. If I put a socket on the nut and pull it off, And then remove the manifolds, I will have the studs left in the block and I dont know how those come out....should I just use a pair of vice grips and turn them out? Or are they actually part of the engine block? How easy did they turn out? I just want to know what I am getting into before I start to fiddle with it. I have a fear that those studs are part of the block and do not screw into the block like I hope....

Dave

 

Nope, they should be just double thredded bolts. Get some gloves vice grips and a can of good penetrating spray and go to town. I advise to take the manifolds off if possible and be sure to cover the ports (not truly nessescary but just for good measure) Then just go to town! But please take your time, with some patience and finesse they will come out, but if you do what I once did and use vice grips and a mallet...youre in for a world of hurt. Once theyre out, spray some wd-40 into the old sockets and use a q-tip to clean out any debris/rust/metal shavings that may be in there (cleanliness is key in order not to strip new bolts!) once ya got that done, first scrape off the old gasket as best ya can without gouging, THEN use the grider and gently clean it up. Put in the new studs, (use stock in my opinion, and use ALL new ones...trust me...replace every single one, broken or not! When you take the bolts out they change shape and they weaken from being streched inside the engine) Then put on your new gasket then manifold and bingo bango good as new! Best O luck...
Remember...broken bolts really really really suck, at this moment im facing one....i swear theyre like draco from Rocky IV tough lil bast***s!

 

Nlgcub, Thanks for the great advice...let me play devils advocate here for a sec though....why did you use a mallet? I am guessing you used the mallet to hammer the vice grips to help turn the stud out? hmm let me guess you bent the stud? I plan on trying to get the manifolds off completely then work at the snapped off bolt/studs. I may just put headers on it, since I have everything apart, I am just waiting on a price from my parts guy. my problem is on the passenger side, I only have the first 2 or 3 bolts holding the manifold on. what causes these? How long should I expect to be working on this for? are these stud bolts REALLY difficult to come out? the dealer said it was like 18 hours labor...but I think they are dipping the hands too deep into my pocket...

 

There is a tool called a stud puller. Get one from Sears or somewhere. You want to try and turn the broken stud from as close to the head serface as possible to avoid breaking it any further. Use something other than WD-40, try some other type of penitrating oil. Oil it and let it sit atleast over night for it to work into the threads. Take your time, it is a frustraiting process but flush broken studs that have to be drilled and taped is even worse.

I once had to drill and tap 4 studs on an old 390 and will never do it again. Both my 460's had broken studs and I just left alone. Exhaust leak went away when the engine warmed up. I feel your pain man, broken stubs is a pain.

 

I want to expand on the point about leveraging as close the head surface as possible. Doing this puts your leverage into twisting the stud instead of side to side or up and down leverage that can break the stud instead of twisting it. It is possible to still twist off the studs if they are really weak, but being right up against the head will help minimize that.

 

Ok here is the the tool that I have had good luck using to remove studs.

www.toolking.com/calvan/view.asp?id=5720

Its the first tool on the page.

The one listed on this page is a 1/4" drive but they make them in 3/8" and 1/2" also. the tool I used was 1/2" drive and made things pretty easy.

 

thanks I will check that out and probably end up buying one!

 

I was pulling studs out of a late 70's camero that had been sitting in a driveway for 20 some odd years. We knew we had to drill em out, but I believe sometimes I AM the man with the magic touch, so I tried to free excaliber...and quickly realized...I was definatly not the man. I used the mallet in conjunction with the vice grips to try and break the stud free...it decided to just plain break...Now back to your question
The V10 is a PIA to do without air tools since there are so many nuts and bolts to put back on and theyre in tight spaces, but its not the end of the world...Just regardless from where you access them (from top or bottom) be sure and get any wires, hoses, etc out of the way because although you dont wanna over do it, its a good arm workout and you need room to move. 18 hours of labor is insane...in 18 hours I could remove the entire engine and still have time to cook a good brisket. Im not sure of your abilities but in my opinion, this is a DIY project. If you work slowly, youre looking at about 1 long day (8 AM to 6 ish) If ya got a buddy, maybe a buddy with an air compressor...I'd advise you invite him over for breakfast. To be honest, I've never heard of these bolts just "snapping" unless possibly theyve been removed before. That would definatly cause this. That is also the reason why I cannot stress enough to replace all bolts and studs. Youre looking at about $50-$75 for the whole stud and gasket kit unless I am mistaken. Worst case scenario, you can't get the studs out etc and then you have an excuse to drive without an exhaust...which is a whole heck of a lot of fun and if a police officer happens to hear your truck, and you explain to him where youre going, I highly doubt he will give you a ticket. But that won't happen because you'll get it done sooner or later...and best of all you'll learn something.
PS. If you must remove the manifold on the drivers side, do not forget to disconect the EGR pipe!!

 

Before they snap the rot or corrode until they are weak. Then with the dis-similiar metals having different rates of expansion, the bolt fails and the head comes off.
I've got a early 99 F250 that had the motor changed at 23727 miles (25Feb2000) due to the piston slap issue. It currently has about 88,000 miles and the exhaust studs that are left are severely pitted and corroded. It's a cinch that trying to turn off the remaining nuts will twist off the bolt.
So, since it's being taken down may as well change to headers. Do headers come with new (better) bolts?

 

hey, havent posted in a while but changed to borla headers a while back. had 3 broken studs. remove the plastic wheel well makes for decent access. some studs are a bear to get to especially if you have to drill them out. sears easy out worked pretty well. the uppers on the driver side were tough. use the penetrating oil in advance and then one wrench on the stud and another on the nut and turn together to remove. ratchet wrenches a must! seemed to help not to break any more. borla comes with stage 8 locking bolts made for the ford 6.8. you might be able to purchase bolts only direct. not a mechanic but changed the headers in my driveway in 7 hours. for the price of 18 hours you can buy the headers and a cat-back. good luck!

 

thanks guys. I really appreciate all the info. On these v-10s knowledge is power. I do have all the air tools a guy could ask for and bonus even a nice compressor to accompany them. Sulconst2 all of the nuts have snapped off so there isnt anything I can get a wrench on. I am HOPING i can use a pair of vice grips, apply them to the stud as clost to the block as possible and simply twist the broken studs out. I am waiting on a price for some headers since I have to remove the manifolds anyhow. I plan on trying to take off the remaining bolts, and getting the manifolds off, soaking the studs with penetrating oil, over night, soaking them again, and then trying them the next day...

 

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I originally noticed 2 broken ones so, with that and the fact that there was a loose baffle in the muffler that made the truck sound like a total junk pile I decided to install a banks power pack. Don't let anyone make you think it's not a PITA because it certainly was. 3 more studs fell off the second I touched them with a wrench. I wish it only took me 18 hours to fix it. I think it took me something like 3-4 days but, I only had one day a week to fix it and had to have it back together by the end of each day to get to work the next day. 3 of the studs were broken flush with the head and the other 2 had a little nub left on them. I was able to get one out with a little 6" pipe wrench. The rest I had to drill, tap, and install a threaded insert. The EGR tube was also a pain if you have one. I wasn't able to get it off of the old manifold without destroying it and had to buy a new one. You'd also be crazy to install new Ford manifold studs. They're obviously junk and you'll end up having to replace them again.

How did the dealer say they were going to fix it? Every place I talked to just wanted to take the heads off and send them to a machine shop.

 

Here's some pricing on using stock parts to make the fix, driver's side only:

Studs $15 for 10
Nuts $12 for 10
Gasket (2 piece, both pieces) $60.00
EGR Tube $63.00 since you'll probably destroy it on the bottom end getting it off
So it's looking like $150 to do the drivers side, $87 for the passenger side.

 

make sure you chase those threads with a good threading tool, just to clean them up. Modern engines use one time use, torque to stretch fasteners now so once you thread the new ones and torque them down, you can't use them again if you happen to have to pull one out. So cleaning the threads ensures a proper stretch, or torque yield. ARP has a very complete list of which makers use what, and whether the torque figures are gotten with oil, with anti-seize or with their assembly lube. It makes quite a difference what you use for assembly with the modern days fasteners, but it sucks that once they stretch out to maximum clampage, 5% over torque will ruin them.

 

oh god. Are you serious? You had to drill almost everyone of them? How the heck did you get the drill in there at the right angle? the Ford Dealership said the normal would be to try and take them out with a pair of good vice grips or a good pipe wrench. if they broke off, drilling and taping or using an easy out was in order...Has ANYONE else had to do this and had bad luck? I am attempting to get some odds here...I have also fond some headers...yay...550.00