Manifold Clamp - 07 Yukon 5.3 - HELP!

[Rocket Man]

Dam the trans! Lol. That would go to a shop depending how my funds look, lol.

And yes, no more exhaust tick. I am happy to not have spent almost 500 at the dealership. I may get the middle one for the passenger side as preventive measur to relieve the stress.

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Well I spent $4500 for the trans and torque converter so I need to save money where I can lol. But I found another way to install one of those clamps- removing the trans! Look! I'm not installing one though, I have no leaks plus I have no clamp.

 

[93blkongreenpro]

Well I spent $4500 for the trans and torque converter so I need to save money where I can lol. But I found another way to install one of those clamps- removing the trans! Look! I'm not installing one though, I have no leaks plus I have no clamp.

I thought you had the clamps on the driver side?

But 4500! Ouch. You making that awd supercharged power! Cams, lifters, the works! Big baller! Self installer!

Go ahead and do meth and a little 100-175 wet shot!

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[Rocket Man]

I thought you had the clamps on the driver side?

But 4500! Ouch. You making that awd supercharged power! Cams, lifters, the works! Big baller! Self installer!

Go ahead and do meth and a little 100-175 wet shot!

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Driver side front and passenger side rear. And I'm going to hold off on much more power for now, maybe just pulley down a bit on the blower to up my boost a few pounds. At least until I figure out what to do about the next 2 weak links- transfer case and front diff. Might have to delete AWD.

 

[KATfishing]

Congrats on the getting the installation done on those clamps! You should be set now. If at some point another bolt head breaks off, it should be much easier to clamp because those rear two clamps are known to be the most difficult to install. Hopefully, this is all you need.

 

[Cole123456]

For others that have this problem.. if you feel your broken bolts that go through the manifold. Are the heads just missing? or are they broken off farther in? If its just the heads that are missing, then if you give yourself room to work, then extraction might not be that hard.

I pointed out to a local independent mechanic (with provocative pictures on the wall), that i don't see why its any more expensive then just a normal exhaust gasket change, he agreed.

Unbolt the good bolts, pull it away. (If needed disconnect the exhaust manifold from the rest of the exhaust)

Pull the manifold away from the motor, and put a pair of vise grips on the studs that stuck out.

I think I paid less than 200.


RE- with provocative pictures on the wall -- some might ask why is this important..
There are two local independent guys near my house... one has a nice waiting room, its all polished, clean, no extra cars, no extra parts, has a receptionist, etc..... The other looks like a dump, has the pictures, they smoke, no one mans the desk, its hard to find the guys unless you walk into the shop.
Guess which one does better work for a lower price?

I took it to the dealership a few weeks ago for a oil change and told them I heard a exhaust leak and I was hoping it was leaking from when they did the cats.

Well, on the driver side, the rear two studs have broken. They told me high $400's to drill the studs out and replace them, then a extra $75 to clamp if they can't replace the studs. I was on Redrockets thread where he clamped them on his 6.0. So, $23 later, I have my Dorman manifold clamps.

I watched a few YouTube vids and I go out to the truck. #1, I have a ground strap in the upper hole. No problem.

Here I need guidance. How in the hevenly world would you get the bolts started, then tightened, that go into the head?

Please enlighten me and give me some suggestions. I'm not seeing how to do this in real life.

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[KATfishing]

I was really "gun shy" with my 08 Yukon when I discovered broken off bolt heads because I had an 05 Trailblazer with an i6 Vortec and when my local (and reputable) shop replaced a cracked manifold, several of the bolts broke off in the cylinder head as they were trying to remove them. In the end, they were able to remove all but one of the broken off studs. Removing the cylinder head and having it machined out was my last option and the labor cost to do that made it counterproductive. Clamps aren't available for an i6 Vortec. I traded that vehicle (loud and stinky) toward my 08 Denali. After about a year of owning it (bought it with 84K miles) it began to tick and that's when I noticed the broken off rear two bolt heads. The shop had recommended updating all the bolts (clamping as a secondary option on just the rear two bolts and leave the rest as is). I talked it over with the shop and went for clamping it. Even though I was told that the larger engines are easier to work on (mine is the 6.2 liter), there was still a chance that the "good" bolts could break off as they tried to remove them, potentially resulting in a similar situation... maybe more rare, but still possible. I didn't want to chance going down that road again. For me, the clamps were a great option.

 

[Glisella]

Me too! My hands all scratched and bruised up.

So the ground strap was attached to the head where the top bolt goes.

I bought a new battery ground strap and used the original bolt from the other strap. I don't like how it is ran, but it will do for now.

The truck acted all sorts of stupid when i tried to start it without that ground attached. Every ground is important. I may add a additional 0awg ground once I get some more 0awg lugs.

Also did plugs and wires while I was in there. #8 was a *****.


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Had a question for you if you can remember...do you know the size of the bolt holding in the ground strap? Since clearance is minimal I want to reduce any chance of stripping when I go in to attempt this. Thanks.

 

[93blkongreenpro]

Had a question for you if you can remember...do you know the size of the bolt holding in the ground strap? Since clearance is minimal I want to reduce any chance of stripping when I go in to attempt this. Thanks.

14 or 15mm I think.

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[Glisella]

14 or 15mm I think.

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Thanks! I was thinking 14mm.

 

[Glisella]

Ok, figured I'd do a write-up so maybe it'll help someone else one day.

2008 Yukon XL Denali, 6.2

I installed two clamps; drivers side rear and passenger side rear. I used KRAL clams, KAP169 & KAP108.

My rear bolt heads were both broken off so these clamps seemed to be a perfect solution.

Passenger Side: Took me about 45 minutes from start to finish.
Remove wheel well shroud.
Remove oil dipstick bracket, 15mm.
Unplug spark plug wires 6 & 8
Bend dipstick tube away from manifold
Install clamp. Do not tighten the brace bolt until both bolts are securely fastened.
Trim heat shield with tin snips around plug 6 to fit around newly installed bracket.

Drivers Side: Took me about 2.5 hours.
The tools that allowed me to do this were some ratchet wrenches with a flex head. I needed 15mm & 17mm.
Unplug wire 7 for more clearance.
Remove wheel well shroud.
I had a ground strap connected to the back of the engine, 15mm bolt. I used the flex head ratchet wrench to reach this bolt from the top of the engine and removed it. I later re-installed the strap to the hole located between plugs 5 & 7.
I then very patiently reached in through the cracks of hell between the rear of the engine and the firewall and threaded the top bolt first. I taped a magnet to my palm so when I dropped the bolt from my finger tips it didn't fall all the way to the ground. Don't tighten too much as you need the bracket to be able to move so you can get the bottom holes lined up for that bolt.
Next I did the same thing with the bottom bolt. This took about 1.5 hours of the total. 1.5 hours trying to get one bolt threaded just enough using my fingertips in an area I couldn't see and could barely reach. I tried going from beneath the car but really didn't want to remove the drive shaft or O2 sensors or anything so I just opened a beer and tried to be patient with it. I did try a socket on a universal joint with a couple extensions and almost got it a couple times, so maybe that way would work for someone.
Once I got both bolts threaded, I used the flex head ratchet from the top of the engine to tighten, then tightened the bolt that does the work applying pressure on the manifold.

That's it. No more Denali sounding like a diesel. I think I might do one more clamp on the drivers side in the middle of the manifold, as that side had the two rear bolt heads off, but will see how much it annoys me. As of right now I haven't had this quiet a truck at startup in a couple years.