A while ago I was driving, and all of the sudden I noticed an exhaust leak on the passenger side, which got progressively louder over the next day or two. When I investigated, I found that the last stud (toward the firewall) that holds the exhaust manifold on was gone! I wasn't four wheeling, or driving through puddles, or anything. It just broke off for seemingly no reason. I know what to do to fix it, obviously I have to remove the manifold and drill the stud out (fun...). My question is, has this ever happened to anybody else? It's not too loud, and the PITA aspect of the repair makes me put it off. But I will fix it eventually.

 

Yes I bought mine with a small crack in the drivers side. UnNoticable unless pointed out. But within a few months there where more and eventually started to fall apart. I think that it is a Problem with the stock Manifolds in time ,specially in areas where there is more rain Like here in Seattle. I do not know about the bolts breaking. But when I changed mine to the full Gibson Set up,"By the way they get a nice blue color to them" The stock Manifold on both sided fell apart into 3 and 4 pieces.

 

Considering the extreme heat cycles it goes thru, and the brittle nature of cast iron, it's a marvel of metallurgy that MORE don't break off like that. (I know - small consolation...)

Anyway, don't let it go. The casting will continue to warp until it's useless and you'll be buying a replacement. When you put it back on, use Anti-Sieze Lubricant on all the fasteners.

 

I already figured that I would have to replace the manifold too. It's been a while, I'm sure that it is warped by now. I've seen new replacement manifolds on eBay for $89.