New stock exhaust manifolds or headers?

[Meccanoble]

I just checked and I'm missing a head of a bolt closest to firewall on driver side

 

[salisburyv]

i had to replace the passenger side manifold. RA. was cheap enough, and my mechanic said it was prob warped due to it leaking for a long time. Nice and quiet now.

 

[OR VietVet]

I just checked and I'm missing a head of a bolt closest to firewall on driver side

I believe that Dorman and another manufacturer that I cannot remember right now, makes a kit that clamps that tight and can replace that broken bolt at a later date. I have a couple kits on my rig that work just fine with no leaks.

 

[donjetman]

3 of the 4 corner bolts were broke when I purchased our Denali 4+ yrs ago, so I installed:
Exhaust Manifold bridge clamp, back driver side – APDTY brand # 028218 - $30
Exhaust manifold bridge clamps, frt driver side, back pass side – APDTY brand #028253- $67
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/lifter-tick-when-cold-berryman-b12.120184/post-1469315

 

[Meccanoble]

3 of the 4 corner bolts were broke when I purchased our Denali 4+ yrs ago, so I installed:
Exhaust Manifold bridge clamp, back driver side – APDTY brand # 028218 - $30
Exhaust manifold bridge clamps, frt driver side, back pass side – APDTY brand #028253- $67
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/lifter-tick-when-cold-berryman-b12.120184/post-1469315

I was looking on youtube and found a Dorman piece that had good reviews but wasnt sure how the forum would feel about it. Thanks for confirming. I just ordered the part you suggested. I will also order the better bolts and the gasket so i can do this all at once.

 

[Meccanoble]

Are there any suggestions on how to take the other bolts off the manifold without destroying them? Would be upset if I ended up with more missing heads trying to install new bolts.

 

[Geotrash]

Are there any suggestions on how to take the other bolts off the manifold without destroying them? Would be upset if I ended up with more missing heads trying to install new bolts.

I had good luck when I pulled the manifolds to remove the heads on my 2012 a couple of years ago. I had it parked in the garage and soaked the bolts with penetrating oil 2-3x over a couple of days. Then before removing each one I gave it a couple of taps with a ball peen hammer. No problems, but I wasn't worried because I was pulling the heads anyway and could have the machine shop finish the job if I broke any of them.

If you decide to go the replacement route, best to budget the time and plan to remove the heads if you can't get one or more of them out. R&R of the cylinder heads is a full weekend job when you factor in the cleanup and everything else that goes with it. But once you're in that far, you might as well do a cam swap. And then since you have to remove the timing cover for that, you might as well drop the pan and change the o-ring. And then... you see where this is going

 

[gooffeyguy]

I noticed the rear drivers side bolt head was missing on mine a couple months ago. It doesn't sound like it's leaking, but I have purchased the ARP bolt kit and have them for when I get around to doing them.

I figured I'd try the "weld a nut" onto the broken bolt trick, but I think I'll have to remove the header to do that because the broken stud is just below the surface of the header flange. I might be able to build up the weld though, but afraid of welding the stud to the header. Maybe get a small piece of copper tubing?

I didn't think about replacing the gaskets. Figured if I was lucky I'd just remove/replace one bolt at a time with the new bolts, but I think I'll buy the gaskets linked above and just go ahead and remove all bolts on each side and change out the gaskets and bolts.

How much clearance/play will there be with the header unbolted from the head but still bolted at the collector?

 

[TollKeeper]

I noticed the rear drivers side bolt head was missing on mine a couple months ago. It doesn't sound like it's leaking, but I have purchased the ARP bolt kit and have them for when I get around to doing them.

I figured I'd try the "weld a nut" onto the broken bolt trick, but I think I'll have to remove the header to do that because the broken stud is just below the surface of the header flange. I might be able to build up the weld though, but afraid of welding the stud to the header. Maybe get a small piece of copper tubing?

I didn't think about replacing the gaskets. Figured if I was lucky I'd just remove/replace one bolt at a time with the new bolts, but I think I'll buy the gaskets linked above and just go ahead and remove all bolts on each side and change out the gaskets and bolts.

How much clearance/play will there be with the header unbolted from the head but still bolted at the collector?

When I replaced the head gasket on my Saab, I took a ratchet strap, wrapped it around the exhaust manifold inbetween 5 and 7, and took the other end, and put it thru the wheel well. Then took the other end of the ratchet strap, and tied it off at the lower spoke of the wheel. Then I just ratcheted it until I got the space I needed to do the job. On my Saab, it was about 3 inchs, which was plenty.. But I also wasnt dealing with the broken bolt, just pulling the head. You have a wider engine bay than my Saab, so I would imagine you could get a bit more. I was against the frame at about 3 inchs..

 

[Geotrash]

When I replaced the head gasket on my Saab, I took a ratchet strap, wrapped it around the exhaust manifold inbetween 5 and 7, and took the other end, and put it thru the wheel well. Then took the other end of the ratchet strap, and tied it off at the lower spoke of the wheel. Then I just ratcheted it until I got the space I needed to do the job. On my Saab, it was about 3 inchs, which was plenty.. But I also wasnt dealing with the broken bolt, just pulling the head. You have a wider engine bay than my Saab, so I would imagine you could get a bit more. I was against the frame at about 3 inchs..

On the Yukon, you can loosen both sides and get plenty of slack in the headers by dropping them down with a jack under the y-pipe.