Broken exhaust manifold bolt

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RSymons

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Yep , got one broken on drivers side all the way in the back. Its on a 2005 suburban 5.3 v8
 
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BOSS

BOSS

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That sucks, I never knew I had one either bc I never looked for it.

Easiest access is to put the truck up on jacks, remove the wheels and the plastic in the wheel wells.

Before you try to take the bolts out, give them a big wack like hell with a hammer to try and loosen em...if you have to, use a punch or a 1/2 drive extension to reach em. PB Blaster really won't get to the threads until you remove the oem headers.

B
 

alex1268

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same problem

I recently attempted to fix an exhaust leak on my 03 Tahoe. On the passenger and drivers side the bolt closest to the firewall was broken off, above level on the passenger side and flush on the driver side, along with another broken bolt on the driver side nearest the radiator. I was originally planning on using the old socket set and removing the stock manifolds and replacing the gaskets and maybe applying some high temp copper silicone.

Unfortunatly i live in Upstate NY where they douse the road with salt. That salt had not only rusted the header bolts to the point of being rounded off as soon as any pressure was applied but the heads of the bolts had been fused to the manifold themselves. I spent many days and night cursing each bolt as it slowly became more and more rounded off. I tried bold out sockets, bolt extractor left handed screws and this weird Drill Chuck looking thing that got a couple of them. In the end what worked the most efficient was to say F it and grind the bolt heads away then a hammer on extractor sockets to turn the bolts out.

I was able to utilize this unfortunate scenario to come up with the reason to buy new Gibson Exhaust headers. LOL. All of the bolts except that drivers side one nearest the firewall broken flush was replaced with Stage 8 locking bolts and copious amounts of anti seize. Also I took the time to replace the plugs with the E3 spark plugs. Also don't skimp on the High Temp Copper Silicone at each connection. Hopefully this can help with increasing my MPG efficiency
 

afpj

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All of the bolts except that drivers side one nearest the firewall broken flush was replaced with Stage 8 locking bolts and copious amounts of anti seize.

May I ask what you did with that last PIA bolt near firewall?
 

Da_Hoe

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Simple. GM uses ****** grade steel. Probably recycled Toyota's. I have extensive knowledge working on Subaru's and I must say that the studs in the heads come out very easily. Cad plated nuts and studs. Makes a freagin difference.

The exhaust ports face down at the road. So yeah, they see more crap then an exhaust header tucked up on top!!! ;)
 

mikewayne

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I feel the best technical way to remove the bolt is to put nut which just fits over it and arc weld the stud, wait until it cools down, then put a wrench and remove the same. Or else used penetrating spray for removing rusts.
 

mikewayne

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Thanks for such a good thread with such a informative things to work with, the thread really seems to be helpful for people trying to work with problems of vehicles all by themselves, as including images as well as videos does work out to be highly user friendly,and without much of technical know how.
 

dlr2416

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I had a bolt brake off today. I found it laying on my driveway then found the right side rear bolt broken off. Anyone have any suggestions for better aftermarket exhaust bolts? I'm planning on fixing the the bolt soon but don't know if I should take it to he dealer or do it myself. Does anyone know if this is covered under the power train warranty and if not how much will the dealer rip me off to do it?
 

DaUsedMCR

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I had a bolt break a couple months ago... it didnt start leaking until recently. I took it to my favorite exhaust shop, and they charged me $160. I brought them a new bolt and gasket from the dealer, and they removed the header, sanded down the header and the head, and reassembled and put silicon in with the gasket, as well as checked the rest of the bolts and fixed any other leaks I had. A bit more than i wanted to pay, but they are trustworthy and i don't have to worry about it now. They said the header didn't warp at all, but they sanded it to be sure it was flat.
 

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