1995 F150 351W Ext 4x4 E4OD

While I was out of town last weekend I let my dad borrow my truck and he took it upon himself to take the truck into the ford dealer due to an engine ticking noise. First of all I do not feel fully confident in the dealer and their honesty and if I would have had the choice I would not have taken it there. But anyways this is what their $95 diagnostic had to say (word for word):

"Tested drove, could not confirm a lack of power. TTraced noise to exhaust manifold gaskets leaking. Need to remove manifolds and check for warping and have manifolds resurfaced. Depending on how or if manifolds are warped, they may have to be replaced."

So it sounds to me like they basically drove the truck around the block, popped the hood and used a stethascope to locate the ticking sound. Which could have easily been done in less then 10 minutes at home. What a great way to spend $100. Sorry to go off on a rant just very dissapointed.

Is it possible/likely that the manifolds are warped? If so, how would they be able to tell by just looking at them? Because it sounded to me like they weren't certain of the cause of the ticking. If the manifolds are warped, will replacing the stock manifolds with headers solve the problem? That would be perfect because I was wanting to replace the entire exhaust system anyway.

Thanks I appreciate the help.

 

If the manifolds are warped, you could just put some gaskets like Percy's Seal 4 Good on them.

 

To answer your question, yes, replacing the manifolds (if they are warped) with headers will solve the problem. The more likely problem is a broken stud or manifold bolt. You wont know for sure until you actually pull the manifolds off and check them.

 

Did you know most Ford V8 manifolds DO NOT have gaskets on them from the factory? I'm willing to bet the bolts are a tad loose.. it wouldnt take much to put a gasket in there and see if the sound goes away..

 

This is correct........If they had gaskets, someone has already had them off, or replaced with cheap red chinese copies, because of a cracked OEMs manifolds. Beware aftermarket exhaust manifolds from the ChiComms, they are crap.......I am dealing with the same issue on my Chevy class C motorhome 350.

 

Thanks for the help.

Thats interesting... I assumed they came with gaskets. Kinda wierd, but anyway is it hard to take off the manifolds? I've heard of a lot of people breaking bolts.

 

I personally have never had a issue. Cake walk.