hey guys, Im about to get my Exhaust manifolds changed. Both sides leak and sound terrible. Im wondering what some of you guys have spent to had them repaired. Both sides

Its a 2007 5.4L
I think that year has the newer studs, not sure about that either

Thanks

 

Just upgrade to headers now. I hear that the manifolds on these trucks are garbage . . . so are the CATs.

 

haven't heard anything about the cats, but I have heard that the stock manifolds are just as good as shorty headers, the only gains are with long tube headers, and even then there not great..interesting to see what others say

 

You heard wrong, at least for the 07-08's. Obviously they aren't as good as headers, but they are decent for factory. The cats are also just fine on the 06+ trucks when they went from the 4-cat to the 2-cat system.

Roughcountry26, I don't know that I would bother repairing them if they are cracked though, as it's really a PITA to get them removed and I'd be worried about them failing after a repair. Obviously if it's that much cheaper to repair them then go for it, but I'd look at the JBS shortys as a possible upgrade, albeit minor. The factory manifolds flow decent, but shorty's will still perform better, it just won't be some 20HP increase over the stockers on a factory motor.

 

Well obviously something is wrong if his are leaking. My mechanic friend says that this is a common problem on all trucks 2004 - 2010 with the 5.4. If you tow a lot they go quicker. They still have a lot of problems with bad cat converters even after switching to the 2 - cat design.

If the OP goes with a quality set of headers and gaskets he won't have to worry again until he gets his next truck. It is true that the OEM manifolds on the later trucks flow almost as well as shorties, but why not get the best you can get if the opportunity presents itself.

 

I'm sure your mechanic friend is the end-all be-all of exhaust manifold/catalytic converter data, but it's not a problem that rears its head much on any of the F-150 forums. It happens, but not enough to merit it being a "problem". You have to realize that there are hundreds of thousands of these trucks on the road, so even if your mechanic friend sees one every few months, it's not likely to be statistically significant.

I do agree that switching to headers is a viable option if your are already removing the manifolds, but if cost is a major concern he could possibly save a few hundred by just having the other ones repaired. He won't likely know the cost or options until they remove the manifolds and see what the problem is.

 

Well, a lot depends on if he is installing them himself. I'm sure the labor of installing new/repaired manifolds costs more than a decent set of shorty headers.

 

While the manifolds aren't an epidemic they certainly are an issue. Mine are going now just hit 100k. Ill be going long tube next year because of it.

 

Install cost on manifolds vs any headers will be the same, and headers will cost more because they aren't OE parts and most shops won't want any potential headaches from installing them. Unless you want the added noise from headers, I would just do Rockauto manifolds. I put long tubes on my 06 5.4 and noticed almost zero difference I power, even with no cats and custom tuning. I did it entirely for sound though, so that's fine.

Hours on the passenger side is in excess of 10, and driver side is around 4-6. I'll look it up on my alldatadiy account later if I remember. But I'd budget for it to run you ~$1500 just in labor. I'd also suggest you get an alldatadiy.com account (everybody) because the info they have is what 95%+ of shops use to quote parts and labor for repairs. Shops can only charge what that site lists as labor, otherwise they're charging too much.

 

I was quoted last year on 600-700 install including 1 stud breaking for Lt's. Big mustang shop around here.

 

Much less than what I thought, sorry about that. However, you do need to budget for broken stud extraction times as well, which can add considerable cost if you live in the rust belt. Even I had issues with two of them and my truck has been in Texas for its whole life.

Straight from alldata. Bold is the hourly. Ford dealers charge ~$120 down here, it's cheaper in other places. At dealer with OEM parts, that's about $1300 if all goes well. (8.6x120) + 270 = 1300. Rockauto manifolds are fine and you certainly don't need to go to the dealer.

Exhaust Manifold

Replace


Right Bank
B 4.9 6.8

Left Bank
B 2.1 2.9

Both Banks
B 6.2 8.6

Parts Information OEM Part # Price

Exhaust Manifold

Exhaust Manifold


Right
7C3Z9430A $126.65

Left
7L1Z9431A $150.73