Brad, THX man, hope I don't have to take you up on that. I'll be hitt'n it tomorrow after the festivities, and if the blue wrench doesn't prevail... the ziz wheel WILL.

Been wrenchin a bit, and was thinking of sneaking up there for the MOGTG (2nd Annual), but we've been BUSY at work . Oh ah, just apply this reply to both posts.

Can't rep'ya man, in jail

 

Well it's blue wrench ZERO, manifold Won. So, persistence and rage, won the day

For your viewing pleasure...
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<table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From Exhaust Manifolds</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From Exhaust Manifolds</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From Exhaust Manifolds</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From Exhaust Manifolds</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From Exhaust Manifolds</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From Exhaust Manifolds</td></tr></tbody></table>

With more in the album. I'm not sure I want to tackle the driver side or not. I'd have a lot of crap to remove if the bolts were rusted into the manifold. Worst yet, doesn't look like I had any leaks!

 

Great pics as always..glad you got it..

 

shoulda came up to romo.. i'm a surgeon with a smoke wrench.. won't be the same without ya this year.. i'll fill your truck up for the ride home if you sneak up.. maybe write it off as a work trip... you could stay quite busy in this area.

 

So how did you remove the studs after you grounded them off? I won't give you a hard time about the leaks but left me scratching my head.. Maybe you just double nutted it.....I have had good success with that in the past.

 

Probably the only good news of the day, I just put pliers on the stud and spun it out! After taking the head off, using a pry bar, I shifted the manifold up and down trying to get it off the bolt. Then I noticed it was turning in the block. That's when I just cut the bolt behind the manifold.

 

That's the one that I'd expect to see if it were me! UGH!!!

I'd take them to a machine shop, get them planed flat, and bolt 'em back up KNOWING that you don't have a leak.

 

You named it, save the Tech-Line coating that will be applied after planing. I may also have the d%$@ manifold mounting holes drilled and put a bronze sleeves in there. Jury's still out on that... but it's looking good.

 

Glad you got it, I was pulling for you. Was kind of funny, I kept checking this thread throughout the weekend to see how you were making out.

 

Bronze sleeze won't be cheap... and how often do you expect to need to pull the manifolds? I'd skip that expense and just keep an extra couple bolts in the garage for next time... if there even is one. Great idea but a "once every 10 year" task doesn't seem worth it to me.

 

I HATE loosing , and feel like the road salt is winning, so I'm trying to set myself up for success. Your argument is solid logic... so perhaps I'll just experiment with that new 3000F plus caliper grease in there.

 

Well got bored waiting for the storm, so I decided to attack the drivers side (D/S) manifold. Good news... Casper WON, manifolds OFF. Seems the D/S bolts were significantly less oxidized then the passenger side. Most importantly, I think I hit pay dirt, what do ya'll think?

#2
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#4
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#6
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#8
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Based on these photos does it look like the leaks were bad? I have to use a better camera for shots of the manifold because the ports are shinny.

The tool configuration used to navigate the spaghetti is in the album.

 

Can't tell what kind of leakage you had from your photo's. I recently checked the exhaust manifolds on my 2001 for leakage, and I could tell that cylinders #7 and #8 (more so #8) were both leaking exhaust gas from the black soot exhaust stains adjacent to the manifold / cylinder head mating surface. When I check the exhausts manifold bolts, the bolts on cylinders #7 and #8 were loose or easily loosened. The next closest bolts forward on cylinders #5 and #6 were loosened pretty quickly. But the next bolts forward on each side were tight. I cleaned up the threads with taps and dies, coated the bolts with anti-seize compound, ran these rear four bolts in and out a few times adding anti-seize each time, and then torqued them down. I'll check them again in 6 months or so to see if they loosen up again, or if I can still see exhaust soot stains. My suspicion is that the up pipes from the exhaust manifolds up to the turbo expand and contract with each heating/cooling cycle, and over time those forces of expansion/contraction result in the loosening of the exhaust manifold bolts on the rear-most cylinders. Most reports of loose manifold bolts I've read were experienced on the #7 and #8 cylinders.

 

When I did mine over winter, my passanger side also was the tuff one, drivers side was quite easy. I had mine ceramic coated. Are you going to rebuild oil cooler while in there?

 

No, think I'm good, completed that task about 2 years ago, and have another gasket set on the shelf. BUT, I'm going to do something with the darn P/S pump. I think I'm going to put on the pump that came with the rail chassis for motor homes. The O-ring design is horrible, and leaking of course.