Sites on the fritz. Erie tating.. Wrote the post/links twice now....more annoying than repeating yourself in voice mode

 

Exhaust studs terrify me, frankly. I've never had luck removing seized bolts. The last one I attempted shattered the EZ out.

That said, I'm thinking about just repairing the two broken studs, since it seems everything else is still fine. Thoughts?

 

That's fine... IF the manifold doesn't have to be removed to do so. Easy peazy.

 

Haven't seen anyone get that lucky yet ^^^

Depends where they snapped, Usually it's the back 2 or 3 pass side. Which occurs when the trans mount wears out.

Quite a bit more work fixing all that.

For E4OD/4R100 the mount is usually toast at around 150,000 miles. 4R70W may last a little longer as they are 4.5" shorter and quite a bit lighter. What happens is, the exhaust Y is supported by a plate just above the trans mount. Trans mount loses it's bushing/damper material over time. Trans drops about 1/2" , then it's metal to metal (no bushing material left). The combination of downward pressure and vibration (meta to metal) is then directed to the back of the pass side manifold. The extra stress overwhelms the manifold eventually, - snaps the studs, can even crack the manifold.

 

Yeah, I figure the studs are already broken so there's no harm in trying. If I fail, then I shift to the big job. If more studs break later on, well, I just keep going until the manifold fails, too.

I guess it's all a matter of whether I even want to try at all. I don't think I've ever gotten an EZ out to work... like ever.

 

It's two rear-most (Cyl. #4). They are broken about flush with the manifold.
How do I check the trans mount?

 

Part of this is $$, but it's also an effort to reduce electronic waste. The majority of phone sales are mow to people upgrading. I don't know about you, but I have probably a dozen chargers lying around the house, and enough USB cables in various lengths and configurations to reach from here to the moon.

I will say, though, with the fast chargers becoming larger and larger, many people may not have those.

 

We can all do our part to reduce electronic waste by not needlessly upgrading perfectly usable phones to phones without chargers.

You can call me Captain Planet.

 

What's a good equipment "starter kit" / book / website to get started with welding?

 

Hey Captain Planet,
I reduce electronic waste.
In my case it's being a tightwad. I grew up poor as dirt. Although my parents were from even worse situations.
I just got an iphone 14 but the last one was an iphone 8.
I got a 26 year old truck that is far cheaper to fix that get a new one.I do have a newer one but work gives me a stipend to have it, so it is a relatively cheap newer truck that meets their requirements and is less that the $ they provide.
They also give me more $ for me to answer the cell phone than the plan costs.
I had a 1983 sylvania TV right up until the OTA signals for it stopped. I think that was in 2009.
I do believe in cry once ,buy once so I have good (old Craftsman, Proto, Wright, Lisle...) tools, USA made Texas Jeans, kahkis from Camo Distributers (which is now closed), etc.

My wife and kids though, don't take care of anything, loose stuff, break stuff, Just get another one. They have never been poor.

Also, glad you found the problem on your truck. Sorry it's abitch to fix.