Ford4x4LIFE

The manifold is in and the studs and nuts are on.

I took tuesday and wednesday off.

I loosened the 2 bolts on the motor mount and jacked up the engine ~1" and was able to free the old manifold. Looking at it, i think i could have got away with replacing the gaskets.... anyways, cleaned the ports and put in the new manifold and lowered the engine.

I'm maybe 12 hours in on this, to include time spent driving to sears and buying more tools (extensions, adapters) and to lowes to buy a dremel blade to cut one stud to the downpipe. All thats left is to connect the manifold to the downpipe, reinstall starter, mount the weel, test and reinstall wheel well liner and enjoy...

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Nice job.. you ready to do mine now.. lol

soupnutz

I've been tackling this job over the last few days. Pretty fun time. I could have gotten it done sooner but I shot myself in the foot a few times along the way. That, and I had a four day weekend from work and didn't want to spend the whole time working on the truck, so with the exception of the first day, I only put a few hours at a time into it.

Had a bad exhaust leak on the passenger side and thought the manifold was cracked. I pre-ordered a new manifold, stainless studs/nuts, and a stud removal tool. This job was a pain in the *** from the get go. The bottom starter bolt sheared off. This starter is a real pain to remove by the way, probably one of the most difficult I've ever pulled. The starter on my BMW was easier and it's not an easy job. Couldn't budge the exhaust flange nuts so I used the stud remover and sheared both of the studs off at the nut, the nuts came right off after that. Was going to drop the mid-pipe, but after grinding off the severely corroded clamps I decided to jack up the engine instead. Couldn't get the nuts off of the engine mount so I pulled the three bolts where it mounts to the engine. The only thing that came off easily was the a/c compressor and the upper intake manifold.

With room to work I found that my problem wasn't the manifold, but that both studs on the number 1 cylinder had broken off about 1/8 inch below the surface of the head. The rest of the studs came right out when turning the nut with the exception of one, but the stud remover made easy work of that one. Here's when the fun began. Made a trip to the tool store for a right angle drill, some new bits, and a set of extractors.

Starting with the bottom I got my pilot hole drilled, stepped it up for the extractor, and it came right out. Got the hole drilled on the upper one with no problem but as it got even with the head surface, the extractor broke. Was able to drill a second hole next to it and get the broken piece out, but with the extra hole, there was no way in hell another extractor would ever be able to bite on it. I've always wanted to get into welding so after another run to the tool store I found myself the owner of mig/flux core welder, (was a relatively inexpensive harbor freight one, but after it and the accessories it adds up). Had to run to Home Depot for the required materials to build an extension cord for it. After ten minutes of practice welding, I had a nut welded on and the stud removed in another 5 minutes. Had I done that from the get go I could have saved myself hours of drilling, bloody knuckles, and a few invented expletives. Also, when I removed the starter the solenoid terminal sheared off, so I welded on a new stud.

At this point everything on the bottom end is back together except for exhaust clamp which I need to go buy tomorrow. Just need to put the upper intake back on and re-install the serpentine belt and the wheel liner and wheel. Hopefully everything turns out good. My passenger cat is toast also so that will need to be done in the next few weeks. Hopefully with new clamps and new flange hardware it comes right off.

Also, when reinstalling the manifold I did use the dorman gaskets and manifold which I've heard mixed reviews about. I used high temp RTV on both sides of the gasket. That's what I've always done when installing headers on other vehicles and never had an issue. Hopefully that rings true for this beast.

Overall this truck is a piece of crap. I realize that every vehicle has it's nuances that are common throughout a year range, but this thing has a never ending list of common issues. Fuel injectors, the fuel pump driver module, VCT components, leaky chain tensioners, exhaust manifolds and hardware. I would say the cats because I've read of a few issues with them, but mine is bad from when the injector was leaking so I won't hold that against Ford. Almost forgot about the window regulators, I've had to replace three of the four so far.

I know I typed a lot, but maybe somebody else can get some needed info or tips from what I've posted.

GeneFord

I'm interested in this too. How long can I drive the truck this way before it gets really bad. My mechanic says he hears it when starting the truck but I can't hear it (bad ears). He had me put my hand over the exhaust pipe while he watched from under the truck and confirmed it is leaking.

muttwagon

I plan on tackling this next month but I had a question on which headers to use. I'd appreciate any input. The truck has 160k miles, only driven on weekends, about 5k/year, so I can't justify putting $500+ into it for JBA SS headers.

1. Dorman - Cheap, next best thing to OEM since they've been discontinued by FoMoCo, may or may not warp but with only 5k miles/year it should last some time

2. ProTuningLab SS headers - These are relatively cheap for what they are but questionable quality. Is the price too good to be true?
https://www.protuninglab.com/hds-f15...utm_medium=cse

Any other recommendations?

steinec

ATP has a set with lifetime warranty, not that anyone would enjoy having to pull warped ones back off, send 'em back and get replacements ! p/n's are 101361 (right) and 101420 (left). If I recall, they run like $75 a side.

ripping6gears

subieman89

I used stainless bolts with washer lock washer and nut
20k later still running strong

ccsaporito1

Gibson headers developed several cracks!
I purchased these headers about 3 years ago and 28000 miles later for my 2005 F150 5.4 3v. Both of these headers developed several cracks at the welds. I called for a warranty claim since they have a limited lifetime warranty. Mike at the company, stated that these headers were cheap and inferior for my truck. He stated that the only thing that he could do was to upgrade me to the stainless headers and charge me the cost of the new headers. I understand that I should be responsible for some of the cost of the upgrade. I tried to negotiate, however, they didn't entertain any price. Price is the price I was told. Upper management said the same thing. In the meantime, my truck is at a local mechanics business up on the rack taking the place of what could be future customers for this business. I explained this to them and they didn't seem too concerned about that as they shipped my new headers only FedEx ground and charged me the shipping! I explained to Victoria again that my truck is tied up at the shop for two weeks, they didn't care. They stated that the new headers would be shipped out on Friday, then they said Monday. I received an email late Monday from the company stating that the headers would be now shipped out on Tuesday with an apology and no offer of express shipping! Never again! Ridiculous!

Several cracks at the welds!

ripping6gears