I got 3 of the 6 broken in the left side head....and one on the right. Started hearing an exhaust leak a month or so ago, I guess that is what it is. So has anyone done this repair, and should I just go right to headers or stay with stock manifolds?
CK5
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6.0 manifold bolts broken off, now what?
- Thread starter 76zimmer
- Start date
79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
Are they broken or did they fall out?
Ive had manifold bolts fall out before, never heard of them breaking by themselves though.
Ive had manifold bolts fall out before, never heard of them breaking by themselves though.
sixb
1/2 ton status
I feel for you. I had a few break off in a 400 sb that I had. It was horrible. Mine broke off when I was taking the stock exhaust manifold off, they didn't break on their own. But any ways, I just soaked them with wd-40 for a day and then broke out the easy out kit. I thought that I would never get them out, after several hours of making up new words I finally got them out.
common around here on 4.8 and 5.3, done a few off them. out off the 4 repairs i have made once did i have too lift head. driver side head last bolt broke flush tried welding and heat would always brake. i always reused stock manifolds but got them planed.
Luckily when i did mine on my 6.0 they all came out nicely, some were super tight and i had to spray em up but it worked. We did a friends and he heated them with a little torch, which worked real well too but just be easy no to get em too hot. A little heat and they should come out nicely. I didnt put the manifolds back on tho i put on a set of jba stainless shorty headers which look way nicer but turn colors. The bolts are coated too so they dont get stuck in the head if they ever have to be removed. The gaskets are even a nice set of crush gaskets.
remove manifold.
clean broken nub with grinder.
plug weld a 3/8 nut to the nub of the broken stud. LET cool .
check real easy if it will spin out. if not heat head area around broken stud. then cool off fast with cold water.
should come out then. if not redo the plug weld nut trick. fyi i have done this to many times and some needed 3-4 try's and some up to 8-9 times.
95% removale track record for me.
works on both gm and ford problem. gm just use new metric bolts. and gasket to head and gasket for manifold to down pipe. also 3 studs for gm down pipe are special crimped threads and might not want to come off. so plan on new studs/nuts.
as for ford stuff same gaskets/nuts/studs. and ford has updated head studs copper coated.
clean broken nub with grinder.
plug weld a 3/8 nut to the nub of the broken stud. LET cool .
check real easy if it will spin out. if not heat head area around broken stud. then cool off fast with cold water.
should come out then. if not redo the plug weld nut trick. fyi i have done this to many times and some needed 3-4 try's and some up to 8-9 times.
95% removale track record for me.
works on both gm and ford problem. gm just use new metric bolts. and gasket to head and gasket for manifold to down pipe. also 3 studs for gm down pipe are special crimped threads and might not want to come off. so plan on new studs/nuts.
as for ford stuff same gaskets/nuts/studs. and ford has updated head studs copper coated.
sounding better than I thought....I haven't looked into the hole in the manifold, but I had my A/C charged today, and I asked him to look at the exhaust leak, and he said its a nightmare repair (and he don't do that kind of work). So maybe I can get to it myself eventually...I hear the ticking when its cold, but it goes away when it gets a minute or so on it.
I like the JBA headers idea, but I think I may be selling this truck in a year or so???
I like the JBA headers idea, but I think I may be selling this truck in a year or so???
I have watched and helped a friend remove many busted exhaust manifold bolts at his shop,mostly Fords break them most often,especially 460's and 351's...and they suck to remove,even with all the right tools and skills..the weld a nut on method works well IF any of the bolt protrudes even slightly,but if it busted off below the surface,its most likely going to have to be drilled out and retapped,and he's had little success trying to tap new threads in Ford heads--they are made of powdered metal and taps love to seize up and snap off,and threads seem to chip off instead of them being cut i that crap metal...one truck he had to buy a "bare" new head from Ford for 600 bucks and swap the valves in it and install it--took 3 days,it was in a one tinm dump truck...the welding trick woeks best on aluminum heads or engines,as the mig wire wont weld to aluminum--but on a cast iron head you can weld the busted bolt in permanently it your not careful...
I've use the manifold as a guide to drill out the busted bolts,if they broke below flush--bolt it back up and use a 3/8" drill at first to make a cone shaped centering hole,then use a 5/16" to drill thru the bolt..sometimes once you break thru ,a left handed bit will spin the busted bolt right out..the drawback to this method is you rarely can fit a drill in where you need it to be to do it...
We often had to remove exhaust manifolds on junkers when someone needed one,and the bolts often looked like rivets after years of road sale exposure,making removal difficult or impossible...the bolts often broke if we could get a socket to grab them well enough,or nothing would grab them good enough,etc...so we resorted to using torches,we learned we could often blow the heads off the bolts,then pry the manifold away from the engine some,then cut the bolts again close to the manifold,and remove it--once the bolts had been cut and the torque was released,we could often take the remains of them out with our fingers,or with vise grips..
The worst part of this job is the fact they dont leave much meat around the bolt holes in the heads,leaving you little or no room for error--your drill goes off kilter even slightly.you'll be looking for another head...
...and todays metals seem to weld themselves together after 100K miles and salt exposure..good luck,your gonna need it...
I've use the manifold as a guide to drill out the busted bolts,if they broke below flush--bolt it back up and use a 3/8" drill at first to make a cone shaped centering hole,then use a 5/16" to drill thru the bolt..sometimes once you break thru ,a left handed bit will spin the busted bolt right out..the drawback to this method is you rarely can fit a drill in where you need it to be to do it...
We often had to remove exhaust manifolds on junkers when someone needed one,and the bolts often looked like rivets after years of road sale exposure,making removal difficult or impossible...the bolts often broke if we could get a socket to grab them well enough,or nothing would grab them good enough,etc...so we resorted to using torches,we learned we could often blow the heads off the bolts,then pry the manifold away from the engine some,then cut the bolts again close to the manifold,and remove it--once the bolts had been cut and the torque was released,we could often take the remains of them out with our fingers,or with vise grips..
The worst part of this job is the fact they dont leave much meat around the bolt holes in the heads,leaving you little or no room for error--your drill goes off kilter even slightly.you'll be looking for another head...
...and todays metals seem to weld themselves together after 100K miles and salt exposure..good luck,your gonna need it...
Cornfield creations
1/2 ton status
Very common around here, all the GM LS engines seem to have this problem, 6.0's a little more than the rest. Probably due to extreme temps with hard working trucks.
I've heard of a genius method where you heat the bolt with an oxy/acetylene util it glows. Then switch to oxygen only. If you get it just right, the bolt turns to liquid and blows out of the hole, leaving the threads intact. I have one broken on the 460 in the motorhome and may ask around to see if anybody local does this. I doubt it works with aluminum heads.
My six oh is the same way. Easy job very common. Use the same manifold but get it surfaced
zombie1969
1/2 ton status
9 of ten times if there's a nub left all it takes is some vise grips to get them out.Sometimes just turning them with your fingers will do the job.Welding a nut is the next best trick and last best is a reverse drill bit and if the drill bit doesn't walk it out an extractor is next.One thing I cant understand is why would they use such a small bolt for an exhaust manifold?If I had one Id drill them all bigger and install the good old 3/8 bolts that have worked for years.
Ive done a bunch of these six liters at work without a hitch, but have no motivation to fix mine haha. Hope youve already tackled yours
just tore into this today....took an hour to get the manifold off, and the 3 broken bolts out of the head. I've been soaking the bolts for about a week, once I got them manifold off, I hit the broken bolts with some PB blaster and all of them had about 1/2" sticking out, that I could get a pair of vice grips on, and worked them back and forth to get them out. Will get the manifold surfaced on Thurs...then put it back together. Went better than I thought it would though.
thansk for the tips again CK5'ers!
thansk for the tips again CK5'ers!
also i clean the holes with a tap to get the crap out. if i recall its 8x1.25 metric.
glad you got it done. dont forget new manifold to pipe gasket.
glad you got it done. dont forget new manifold to pipe gasket.
Don't got a metric tap, but they come out pretty good, don't seem to be rusty....I'll take an old bolt and run it in a few times the douche it with some brakekleen and then put some antiseize on the new bolts...I thought there might be a bolt kit out there for this, but not, I'll have to hit the bolt supply to get some new ones.
I got a perforated metal gasket for the head, from NAPA, along with the new manifold/pipe gasket for the down pipe connection. The nuts came off the studs pretty good on that part...again I soaked em many times before hand.
