2002 F250 SD CC LWB 4X4 5.4L Auto

A few days ago I send my son to get a quick oil change at the Ford dealer, and the dealer tells him that the studs are bad on the passenger side manifold, the manifold is probably warped, and it will cost about $800 to do the job .... drill out the broken studs, etc

I just got a call from my son, he says he heard a little pop, and a bad exhaust leak, and he can see missing manifold studs/nuts.

Is it much of a job to repair this? $800 repair bill is bad timing right now. I guess it is easier than the V10.

If I'm able to get the the passenger manifold ok, I soak whatever hardware is left with penetrating stuff, and then is there any special way to get the old studs out of the head? Any one use a kit, or what particular drill bits to use?

Anything to be especially careful of? Is it easy to mess up the threads inside the head with the drill bit?

Or is removing these broken studs a job best for someone with more experience than me?

Thanks alot.

 

I just went through the whole stud thing again on my 99 V10 w/ 160,000 on it. The best way I've seen to get the broken studs out is by welding a nut to the remaining portion of the stud. If this dealer sees a lot of trucks they will be familiar with welding a nut on. If not, go somewhere else.

 

The difficulty of broken stud removal all depends on how much stud is left and how much elbow room you got.

If the stud is broken off at the surface of the head, it can be a beach to remove especially if you don't have a straight shot at it.

If there is some stud sticking out, then welding or vice grips will usually do the job. Some guys swear by the old, heat it up hot and then touch a candle to the threads several times. The wax will wick into the threads and make removal easier. Alternately some liquid wrench and time may do it.

If you use an Easy Out, be extremly careful you don't break it off or then you have a real problem. I have heard there are reverse twist drills that work better than easy outs since you got to drill anyway to use an easy out, let the reverse drill make the hole and usually while drilling it will turn the broken stud out.

I have only had to remove a few studs in my lifetime and more times than I like, it has been a beach.

If you don't have elbow room then I would let a shop do it. You might even have to remove the head to get at it.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

To add to what Mr. Henderson says, I would say $800 is well worth it if you do not have the proper tools to perform the stud removal procedure.

You might also want to consider getting a quote from a local repair shop instead of the dealership. There are no special "Ford Only" tools involved here and your average repair garage should be able to handle the job.

 

The shop that just did mine with the welding a nut on process - found an extractor in one stud and a drill bit in another - both were left in the head by a Ford dealer 80,000 miles ago.

 

The original studs are galvinized so they usually come out if you get a bite on them. The welding process with a mig welder is the only way to go...Thats how I did mine..


Dick

 

$800 seems a little high. I had 4 broken studs on my 99 F250SD V10 and wanted all the studs replaced with stainless steel to prevent it from happening again. The manifolds were ok no cracks or anything but they were taken to a machine shop for resurfacing... lot cheaper than replacement. For everything done by a local shop it costed me a little over $400 for both sides. I'd shop around a little

 

In my '98 with the 5.4 I had one break off flush with the head. Took me two days, but I did finally get it out. Not fun.

 

Thanks, guys.

I need this truck immediately. I have no garage that the truck can fit into. There is snow and ice on the ground from this storm we just had (great timing ..... no storms all winter until now). Ten day forcast is for highs of 20 degrees and wind. All I have is an old buzz box and an acetylene torch ---- no mig welder. Dealer can take the truck now. I think I'll bite the bullet, and just take it over to the dealer. I just hope I don't get a phone call saying they have to go over that $800!

"Gotta do what ya gotta do"

 

Jim.....

I'm going through that same scenario right now as I write this. My 2003-XT F250 4x4 is in the shop for what was originally going to be exhaust manifold gaskets and new S/S studs. The 2 rear manifold bolts on both side were completely rusted away almost flush with the heads. The truck has 70,000 miles on it. While at the dealers, I got a call informing me that both head gaskets were leaking coolant and needed to be replaced. Dealer said it wasn't critical to do the heads right away but they would need to be replaced very soon. Well, since they are taking off the exhaust manifolds now and replacing the studs anyway, I figured I may as well bite the bullet and have the whole thing done at once and get it out of the way. It is going to cost me about $2500.00 for the whole job. I bought the truck used about 8 months ago and got a great deal on it so I really don't mind sinking a few more dollars into it to get it back into tip top shape. Even with the mechanical skills I have after years of working on and restoring cars, this was a job I felt more comfortable leaving up to the dealer. Besides, if anything goes wrong, I can always take it back and have it fixed. Not something I was looking froward to, but, as you said, you gotta do what you gotta do........Dan