Well I had a bad exhaust leak. Like so many others on here, my studs were broken. As you can see in the pic below, it looks like both studs broke in the back cylinder and the manifolds vibrations caused damage to the head. It looks like the aluminum is flattened by the manifold contacting the head. Do you guys think the head is saveable? It is gonna be hard to find the exact center of the stud to drill. Hope the sealing surface is not to damaged. What do you guys think?

 

It looks tough, but I'm sure you could weld a nut on there to back the studs out.

 

You need to post your year and engine size. They all sit different in relation to the frame rail.

 

Sorrry. Its a 97 5.4 Lariat. Weld a nut to what? I thought about cutting the manifold and using it as a drilling guide. I'm concerned how the aluminum it beaten flat around the bolt hole. The sealing area between the bottom bolt and exhaust port looks to be half the thickness of the top bolt.

 

It will seal with good gaskets. How many miles ? You'll need a right angle die grinder w/-1/8" carbide burr. Yea, finding center won't be so bad and a burr will make quick work of it. Pull it ASAP after you bore, -while she's hot, - bet they will come out with just your fingers.

 

A 5mm will pull the others...

 

Its got 150,000 miles. It has been very well taken care of though. Thanks for the confidence. Right now I don't have much. Is factory Ford gaskets what you recommend? I just can't believe the aluminum got so deformed.

Thanks

 

You can go larger on the burr, - up to a 1/4" . I believe Lows carries those little burrs, - Made by Dremel. I have pics of that stuff in my Gallery.

 

Thanks, I will check your gallery out. Also one broken on drivers side. Bummer for me.

 

Oh yea Aluminum will rust like steel, - called white rust. That's why they quit using aluminum manifolds on these, - to corrosive. If you pull your intake manny, you'll see what I mean, -@ the front water jackets.

Gaskets ? Iduno, - someone else can help yuh there. I would see what Rock Auto online offers and go from there maybe. I've always got away with the cheapies so far. I have a good set of factory gaskets on the shelf, but I haven't needed them. I went with headers on my 98 and used the Pacesetter gaskets for that one.

I'm sure "Felpro" makes a good set as well.

 

Yea, you need to replace your trans mount, -it's trashed. That's the main reason the back studs are shearing. The mount wears out and vibrates the hell out of the Y. With your model, you have an exhaust damper plate bolted right down to the mount with a damper hanger to the exhaust. Down pressure and vibration stresses the first thing it hits that's relatively stationary. That would be those studs we are talking about.

The trans mount is cheap and pretty simple to replace.

 

Yep, I remember that Illinois (rust belt) rust. Glad it's a DISTANT memory!

 

Lucky you. I just tried to replace rear struts on a 98 Taurus. Hell, there was nothing left to fasten them to. Cars on the trailer heading for the scrap yard now. That's to bad, - it ran great.

 

Y2k, You might wanna get gaskets that will except Permatex Gold (with copper). That's good stuff and meant to be used with exhaust gaskets. That's what I used on mine, -quite a few years ago and it's still there doin the job.

 

I'd remove all the studs and put bolts in their place.

head looks fine from here you could wiggle a straight edge in there and check for warpage.