Hello all,

I have had an exhaust leak under the hood of my 09' F150, XLT, 4.6 3V for some time now and decided to get it checked out. I took to the local stealer and as i suspected its the manifolds. There are 4 studs on the left and one stud on the right sheared off. Ford quoted $1400 for replacing both mainfolds and extracting the broken studs. This would give me the exact same manifolds that were on the truck from the factory and started leaking at 78,000 miles.

So I decided to take the truck to a local speed shop that I have used in the past for other things. The mechanic there said to just buy a high quality set of stainless headers, stage 8 locking fasteners, and copper gaskets. He will install for $800. I went with JBA shortys from AutoAnything.com and the mentioned hardware from Jegs.

So basically for around $100 more I get headers that probably will last the life of the truck. Im quite displeased with the exhaust issues that Ford has had and known about for over 20 years. The service manager at Ford said they replace manifolds with broken studs on a regular basis. He also said it was a wise choice to go with the headers instead of the manifolds even though they will not install them. That says a lot about the confidence of the Ford service department in their parts and vehicle designs.

Its a little sad that a 6 year old truck with only 78,000 miles needs a $1500 repair after only being paid off for 2 years.

 

GM has same issues with manifolds also, I have seen engines five years old with 250,000 miles with no exhaust issues, and I have seen 6 year old low mileage with broken bolts/cracked manifolds, part of the problem is the quality of the fastening hardware, the other part of the problem is how many heat cool cycles have the manifolds and hardware been exposed to.

 

Im well aware of the exhaust issues Ford has had for decades. The bottom line is that I will probably not buy another Ford. Especially not a Diesel Ford after all the 6.0 nonsense.

 

Rust-belt states seem to have a much harder time with the exhaust studs. The problem is the manifolds expand and contract with the heat cycles, and when the nuts corrode a bit, they stick to the manifold, which then then drags the studs back and forth eventually fatiguing them and they break.

V10s are even worse because of the longer exhaust manifold

I would have checked to see if the emissions warranty covered it, as it's a leak before the catalytic converter. I know in the past, some have tried that without much luck, but it's worth a shot.

Of course, now you have headers which is an improvement no matter how you look at it.

 

Unfortunately, the manifolds are a known issue and one must consider that when buying a ford with a modular engine.

That is to say, if you have a 4.6, 5.4, or 6.8 there's a better than fair chance that you are going to spend your hard earned money on fixing manifold bolts.

Whether you go with headers or stick with manifolds getting stainless steel bolts/studs is money well spent to prevent a reoccurrence

Sorry you had troubles with yours, but forgive me if I don't seem overly surprised. It sucks, but its a pretty well known week point on these motors.

Be thankful you aren't driving a 2007 or 2008 gm with the 5.3 and "active fuel management". How about consuming a quart of oil every 1,000 miles and not being able to do anything about it short of a total rebuild. At leas with the manifold problems, you can fix it and be done.

 

I suppose you are right about fixing the exhaust and being done. I was looking a SD 250 with the 6.0 motor before this truck so I guess it could have been worse...

 

My BIL up in Maine has been battling this issue on his 2000 F-350 V-10 for years. He fixed them once and they've rusted again.

 

Hey guys a friend of mine is building a rubber inner fender seal to keep the water and salt , snow from getting to the new manifold, we replaced everything and when we finished we sprayed the nnew studs and bolts with hi heat paint, trying to give it a much protection as we can.

 

We just replaced BOTH exhaust manifolds on my F150. 5.4 with 88,000. After a long trip at high altitude with a lot of high rpm the manifolds were WHITE from the high temps. And cracked.

 

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Update* As of 9/1/15, the headers I purchased will NOT fit the 4.6l 3V motor. Apparently there are not headers made to fit this truck. I purchased manifolds and related hardware for $450. Add another $950 for labor and its fixed for now for $1400. Now after restarting the truck with no obnoxious exhaust leak under the hood, service tech tells me the right bank cam phazer is starting to make its death noises.......for what the truck is compared to what I would need to pull a camper the offer of $15,000 for a trade is very tempting.

Im going to look at a 2009 Dodge Ram 2500, 4X4, 6.7 Cummins after I pick up the Ford. My Ford has only 80,000 miles, so the trade will be easy. The Dodge has only 20,000 miles and is obviously well suited for tugging a camper.

 

Our 2009 has the same problem. It has 39,ooo mile, could it be covered under exhaust warranty ?

 

My 09 5.4 with 88,000 was not covered under any warranty. Both exhaust manifolds cracked..

 

Sorry it did not work out with the headers. Hate to see you go to the dark side (Dodge).

 

The powertrain on the trucks is covered for 6 years, 60,000. You can go to the Ford website to check if you have any warranty left.

Now the heat shields are rattling, and the ABS light came on about .5 mile from the repair shop. If I can get the light off and the rattle gone on Tuesday morning, I will be trading in the Ford for sure.