Exhaust Manifold Bolts No Bueno

[donjetman]

3 of the 4 end bolt heads on my exhaust manifolds have gone BYE BYE. Leaks a little when its cold. A pro mechanic buddy of mine says this is common? What if anything should I do?
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[Rocket Man]

There's a few ways to take care of those. Drill and ez-out; stick a nut over the ends and fill the interior with weld so the nut is welded to the stud and then back them out or a couple companies make clamps that bolt into the unused threaded holes in the block and then use another bolt to put pressure on the manifold. Dorman is one of those companies. Kral is another. There's ones for the fronts and rears and another for the centers.

 

[GranPrix]

Damn sorry to hear. Does this usually happen up north?

BTW, LoL did you mean No Bueno? LoL

 

[thompsoj22]

Dont stop now! the lower exhaust is off, loosen/shear the rest and replace the manifolds and hardware. Im guessing under $200 parts. You must have a great wife that dosent mind fedex delivering boxes on a daily basis with only your name on them lol!

Just a caution, im hoping others will add hands on experience with the removal of the bolt shanks, do they back out easily or are they locked/seized in place by corosion in which case id leave them alone.

 

[thompsoj22]

duplicate delete

 

[thompsoj22]

duplicate delete

 

[drakon543]

since there is quite a bit of bolt still sticking out past the block its not too bad to fix. if you want to try and remove the manifold just by loosening the bolts get some pb blaster and spray the bolts every day for about a week. preferably when your not about the drive it or its still hot obviously. you might get the rest to come out if you work them slowly. best option to not create extra work for yourself would be to just the head off the rest of the bolts and remove the manifold. stud extractor or vise grips and some more pb blaster should make short work on removing the remaining parts of the bolts. get a whole new bolt kit from arp or someplace similar and torque them down.

 

[Rocket Man]

^^^I used ARP on mine, shit will never break again.

 

[drakon543]

as annoying a problem as it is its more annoying its fairly common problem on alot of vehicles.

 

[Derick]

Yeah a few bolts popped off on the suburban. I took it in for some exhaust service anyhow, so they took care of all the broken bolts too. From what I saw, GM used M10 heads, and they all broke. Replacement bolts are M12 and are far better.

 

[Derick]

I have the dorman clamp for right/front, left/rear if you are in need. 30 bucks shipped....brand new.

 

[donjetman]

Yeah a few bolts popped off on the suburban. I took it in for some exhaust service anyhow, so they took care of all the broken bolts too. From what I saw, GM used M10 heads, and they all broke. Replacement bolts are M12 and are far better.

Exhaust manifold bolts are gonna be another project for another time. I'm gonna let the sleeping dog lie for now.
Other future project are: new Arnott rear shocks, 2 door handles are acting up. I have a spare Topdog engine oil bypass filtration setup off a vehicle I sold that I can put on the Yukon. I'll utilize an ICT Billet OIl Cooler Adapter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072MKMWFM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
to come and go from the engine.

 

[Derick]

Exhaust manifold bolts are gonna be another project for another time. I'm gonna let the sleeping dog lie for now.

Well these products are literally exactly for that attitude. They use two existing threads in the block, and use a third bolt to push down on the manifold to make a better 'seal' for the manifold. Someone mentioned it earlier, didnt go into depth on what they do, but it's a bandaid to get by and cut down the exhaust noise. I had the opposite unit that I wish the exhaust shop would have given back to me.....but oh well.

 

[Scottydoggs]

ive done this repair. removing the manifolds not all that bad. looks like the heads popped off, better then flush to the head. once the manifold is off vise grips get the old bolt out easy.

i re used the factory gasket, and got manifold stud and nut kit.

 

[steve45]

From what I saw, GM used M10 heads, and they all broke. Replacement bolts are M12 and are far better.

How do you put M12 bolts in M10 holes? Drill and tap every hole? PITA!

 

[Ilikemtb999]

Time to get headers!

With that many broken I’d just do it the correct way vs the dorman fix. If I had just one, I’d go dorman.

 

[donjetman]

Time to get headers!

With that many broken I’d just do it the correct way vs the dorman fix. If I had just one, I’d go dorman.

I would love to install stainless headers, but too many projects, not enough time. I have the Dorman fix coming in the meantime.

 

[Rocket Man]

I would love to install stainless headers, but too many projects, not enough time. I have the Dorman fix coming in the meantime.

FYI the driver rear is almost impossible to get the Dorman clamp on due to the firewall. Some guys have figured a way but it ain’t easy. The others are a breeze.

 

[iamdub]

FYI the driver rear is almost impossible to get the Dorman clamp on due to the firewall. Some guys have figured a way but it ain’t easy. The others are a breeze.

I was about to say that Don's a jet man, which had me thinking he is/was a jet engine mechanic and probably has tools that turn bolts around blind corners.

On that note, Don, what's your affiliation with jets- Air Force? Pilot? Mechanic?

Maybe you and Mark (@Rocket Man) can share your propulsion stories.

 

[donjetman]

I was about to say that Don's a jet man, thinking he is/was a jet engine mechanic and probably has tools that turn bolts around blind corners.

On that note, Don, what's your affiliation with jets- Air Force? Pilot? Mechanic?

Maybe you and Mark (@Rocket Man) can share your propulsion stories.

Retired civilian pilot, 7 jet type ratings, smallest was the Citation Jet, largest B-737. I wanted to be a mechanic. My family doctor knew I had a bad lower back. He said don't plan on being bent over a fender all day for a living. I took his advise, until I retired I don't get near airports anymore. Been there, done that.

Tools? Harbor Freight, nothing but the best for me

My back's killing me from all the work I've been doing on the Yuk.