Well, I jacked up the Ex and removed the inner wheel well to get a good look-see at the #1 cylinder exhaust manifold area. Take a look at the picture here.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

No stud.

So now I am faced with going to the dealer to see if they will cover this under the 8/80 emissions performance warranty. I can't find any "detailed, specific, part by part" list of what the 8/80 covers. I really don't want to pay $600-$800+ for this to be fixed. ESPECIALLY since no one knows what the root cause is or whether it will happen again. Was it poor workmanship in assembly? Poor design using two metals that expand at VERY different rates with heat? Bad manifold? Bad stud? Who knows?

I have a friend that works at a Ford dealer as a master tech. He said it is a bitch of a job. Not only is access difficult, but he said that the stud breaks off flush and has to be drilled out with increasing sized drill bits. All the while being VERY careful to not pierce the water jacket.

Anyone have any luck getting this covered under 8/80? I am at 67k right now.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks.