josh_truck

I got a 97 F-150 Lariat, its got 171,000 miles. and when accelerating it sounds like a tap, and i cant figure out if its an exhaust leak or a valve tap or even another problem. everything i have heard about an exhaust leak is it goes away after it heats up, mine stays constant. I decided to look underneath the engine today to see if i could find anything, and there is 1 out of 8 bolts broken. Its been driving me nuts since the day it started (2 days after i bought the truck) Let me know if you can help me!

JRV

I'm sure its just an exhaust leak. It was maybe starting on the previous owner, and he went to repair it and busted the bolt, because they notoriously break and have to get drilled out on these.

josh_truck

Yeah, that doesnt seem too bad... And this may be the excuse i was looking for to get me some headers

DORMAN68

Check your exhaust manifold gaskets and mounting studs. I have seen the exhaust manifold studs break off and cause exhaust leaks.

josh_truck

yeah, one of the eight studs are busted, im probably gonna have to drill it out because the bolt isnt long enough to put a new nut on it and its also really rusty...

josh_truck

Hey guys,

thought this might help...

i took a video of my exhaust and you can hear the tapping especially twords the end...

let me know what you think

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fNoFCPxoZ0

thebigcheeze

Hey Josh

i just bought a '99 XLT with a 4.6 Triton in it with 130,000 km,s and it just started to make that exact same noise I,m thinking and hoping that it is an exhuast issue?????????

kyle7

was the broken stud on the passenger side? just curious because my manifold hadf 3 studs break and i had to get the manifold on the right side worked on cost me a good chunk of change too. The shop said it was typical for these years to have a leak on the passenger side. So that would be my first guess.

josh_truck

Yeah it was on the passenger side Kyle. And big cheeze, my suggestion is to crawl under your truck with a trusty flashlight and look mainly on the heads at all the bolts that hold the manifold on and look for broken studs. also check where the manifolds bolt to the cats, i had to have them done on both sides because the bolts just rusted to nothingness. Let me know if you find anything...

kyle7

well actually when i got my exhaust done they told me the manifold had a leak and i should get it worked on and after spending $ on the exhaust i didn't have enough for the manifold work. so about 3 weeks later after next paycheck i took it back and they replaced the 3 broke ones and 2 more that were overly rusted. they checked them all for me which was nice since i was still learning about all this engine stuff and didn't know much. now there is a difference in noise in the exhaust pipes the passenger side is all gurgly when warm so i took it back and apparently the leak gutted out my CATs so... i dont see how but the cats are definitely hollow. you can tell. well i haven't got the 2 on the right replaced yet cuz i dont need emissions inspection til september. weird thing is i got no CEL which i dont understand.