2000 excursion, 4X4, V10





Below is a copy from my original post after I repaired the exhaust manifold studs. A few days after the job was completed I noticed that the top stud on the driver’s side closest to the firewall has signs of oil leaking from inside the hole. This is a hole that I had to drill and insert an 8mm Heli-coil. I was very careful on the depth of the hole I drilled. I tried removing the bolt and placing JB Weld high temperature epoxy into the hole and reinstalled the bolt. I waited over 24 hours for the epoxy to cure and then I checked for leaks. The leak re-appeared but has slowed down quite a bit. I have a USB endoscope that I will be using to inspect the inside of the hole to see if I can see where the leak is actually coming from. I am in no position to replace the head but I will do whatever it takes to get the truck back into service.


Does anyone have any ideas on stopping this leak? It's really discouraging to complete all of this work only to have one hole giving me issues. I am open to any advice.



Thanks,


Robert


After 7 days in my garage, I finally removed/replaced all 20 manifold studs. I had to cut off all of the nuts to remove the manifolds. I was able to remove 17 out of 20 studs by using a 6 inch pipe wrench and a lot of coaxing. 3 of the studs were already snapped off inside the head. I drilled out two and was able to get them tapped for a Heli-coil. The third stud I broke a 1/8" cobalt drill bit inside and it took 4 days to get enough of the hole drilled out to get a Heli-coil inserted. I read all of the postings on this site regarding this job and the information was very helpful. Thanks to all that posted very valuable information.

 

I went thru the same thing, rotted exhaust manifolds and bolts on a 2001 5.4 triton. I drilled the right side front bolt a bit to deep and now have a coolant leak, when I loaded the hole up with RTV and put the bolt back in I started to get coolant in the cylinder, It's a losing propasition, I have another one to do and I am fearing it already. Good luck.

 

Aint that some crap.. Feel for you man.. The heat is going to burn up anything I can think of. Is it leaking so bad you can't run it as is ???

 

Tuned in....

 

Stopping the oil leak shouldn't be a problem, you will fix it soon.