On my 99, F150 I am trying to replace the Exhaust Manifold gasket and fix a broken stud. As usual the bolts are rusty and impossible to get at.

However on one of the bottom studs it is impossible as far as I can tell because the stud is so close to the frame that you can't get a socket over the stud. You can only see these bolts using a mirror which only adds to the difficulty. Any suggestions?

I am thinking of taking off the motor mounts to raise the engine a couple of inches. Good idea? Yes, no, maybe?

 

It's difficult, but not impossible. I replaced my headers (and believe me, putting on aftermarket is WAY harder than putting the stock back on) without loosening the motor mounts. I think it was just a matter of the right wrench. On some of the bolts we actually just used an open wrench and cranked for like 10min.

 

Sounds like you have yourself a really nice ride.

I finally got the bolts off after loosening the plate attached to the engine that holds the motor mount and was able to get a socket on. Mine is a 4.6L and both the studs on the port on the passenger side closest to the back of the truck were broken. I only have about 35K Miles on the truck. Have you ever heard of this? I am wondering if there is another root cause that I'm missing.

 

When I installed my headers about a year ago we had to remove the passenger side motor mount and jack the engine up to just get the stock manifold out.

 

Just took my 1999 F-150 4.6 into Midas to have them check out an exhaust system leak. They said the entire system looked and sounded perfect. I told them it was most noticeable when the truck was cold. After 3 of combed the underside of the truck, one of them found a stud sheared off. Same as yours -- passenger side, rear most stud. No nut in sight and no usable thread in sight. They looked but were unable to find any TSB's on it. They wouldn't do the work and recommended taking it to Ford. That was yesterday so I don't have any other info yet.

Seems a bit odd to me.

Jeff

 

Hi Jeff

Sounds the same as mine. The top left stud had broken off and I was able to slightly drill out the flange of the manifold enough that I could line up a smaller drill in the centre of the broken stud (when the manifold is cold the hole is way off centre of the block to allow for different expension, I'm assuming). I then got it out with an "easy out". Unfortunately most of this effort was wasted as the gasket was fried at this point so I had to take the manifold off to replace the gasket. All the nuts came off but the bottom one at the back (under the broken one). It broke as well and had to be removed after the manifold was off. To remove the two nuts on the bottom of the manifold in the middle, you need to take the three bolts out of the mounting bracket plate and jack the engine up just slightly. I put a 2x4 piece of wood under the pan right close to the frame (slightly angled due to the ridge on the pan) and jacked it up about an inch. I think this is a design fault where they don't allow enough tolerence and the manifold is stressing the studs. If you hear of any other let me know. I am pretty pissed with Ford these days. My truck has 35K miles on it and the ABS control module just went. It is approx. $500 USD installed!! I could understand if it went due to infant mortality of the electronics or if the truck was really old, but neither is true in my case.

Good luck with your manifold.

Cheers John

 

Thanks for the info John. Think I'm going to see what kind of numbers Ford gives me on this one though. Make sure you keep an eye on the inside seam at the bottom of your doors for rust. Have them take care of it before you go out of warranty.

Jeff