tj884Rdlx

hi all!

i've heard my exh. man. ticking for a while, so i finally pulled the heat shield to investigate. two bolts came out easy, so i went to the lower one and snapped it. argh.

i look around the gasket, it appears to be a decent one with the metal v-bent shield at the top center, and all bolts/studs appear in place.

so i crank it over, i hear it from the back, i stick my hand back there and can feel the exhaust spit-spit-spittin' out on my fingers.

so i borrowed a compact mirror from a chik in the office, and take a look at the back of the head/manifold to see if the gasket looks solid. it does.

but there does appear to be a bit of a gap between the head and gasket. not really black soot covered, it looks a little white in fact.

can i just put a wrench on these two stud nuts back there, the upper and lower, and tighten up this gap to squeeze out that leak?

i anticipate soaking it first with penetrator. should i do it stone cold, or touchable warm, or no matter?

if i can squeeze off this leak, i can wait on a header until budget allows me to do complete exhaust. i was hoping this would stay low on the priority list, but it seems to me fighting for attention sooner than later! ha

all suggestions greatly appreciated,
tj

iamsuperbleeder

hmmmm, check the down-pipe too... they're notorious for splitting, and sometimes it can be hard to see cause it happens at the folds in the bend

exibit A, my old down-pipe

tj884Rdlx

hey i fixed my leak!

***NO I DIDN'T. *** argh. (10/4)

i soaked the two back bolts last nite, soaked them again this morning, and put the socket wrench to 'em. they were definitely loose. i tightened up as best i could, and no tick tick! put the shield back on and off to work i went. yay!

fortunately it didn't take long to do. reaching over the whole motor like that triggers a sharp pain where i broke some spine bones a few years ago. i had to stand on a chair and kneel on the valve cover to get in there. what a beyotch.

but i did it, thanx to the confidence i get from reading posts here at YT. saved me from buying a complete exhaust (which it will eventually need, but not right now).

so today's a bright day for me. thanx YT!

tj884Rdlx

IT'S BAAAACK!

ok, my exh. leak is back in the same place. i am going to attempt to tighten the nuts again on the two back studs. SHOULD I TRY TO BACK THEM OUT AND SEE IF THE STUDS ARE LOOSE? SHOULD I REPLACE WITH BOLTS? IS THERE A NON-PERM HIGH TEMP LOCKTITE TO USE?

any suggestions greatly appreciated.

tj884Rdlx

ok, as i said earlier, i tightened those back two bolts and the sound went away. for two days. so i tightened them some more the other day. this time i brought the nuts in so far that my standard size 14 will not go any farther. i need a deep well socket to clear the stud.
and yet the leak is still there. so now i'm assuming some of that gasket has indeed failed and needs replace.

i was going to get one at napa that looks like oem with the metal heat shield in the center.

then i thought i may splurge and get a new manifold from napa which comes with all necessary gaskets. i had considered a header, but i can't really afford a good one right now, and i prefer the crossover effect of the stock manifold. i'd rather have 1-3 and 2-4 than 1-2 3-4 pipes merging, as oem is designed.

i read somewhere that you can pull all studs and use bolts. is this true? can someone recommend the bolts? or should i consider new studs? i'm wondering if this leak is because my back studs are backing out.

i just spent four hrs searching exhaust manifold studs and read two complete engine build threads, including SUPERBLEEDER's which sucked me in like a blockbuster movie.

so if anyone can make some suggestions on this i appreciate any input you have.

thanx!
tj

tj884Rdlx

well, i went an bought a deep well metric set ($10 @ O'Reilly's on sale!) and tried to bring the exh. stud nuts in a little more. unfortunately they started spinning freely. so i took the nut off, and used two other nuts to attempt to drive the stud in farther. it went in. but when i put the exh. nut back on, it appears it's extracting the stud right back out.

so apparently it's stripped. i searched and found the best thing to do here is pull the manifold, helicoil it, (and consider helicoiling ALL of them for added strength) and remount. man what a pita.

CAN ANYONE SHARE SOME OPINIONS ON NEW HEADER (gonna have to be a cheap pacesetter) VS. A NEW OEM STYLE MANIFOLD?

the pacesetter header on fleabay is like $200. NAPA has the oem style manifold with oem style gasket set for $100. my wallet prefers the latter. i will eventually change exhaust to 2.25" with free-flow cat, but i wanted to do that next year.

all advice/opinions welcome.

kiyobrown

Well, if you have to get a Pacesetter, go with Summit Racing. At least its a reputable company, instead of half shady on Ebay. Although I know summit does sell em on ebay as well.

I have an exhaust stud backing out as well, probably will be doing the same thing as you, except I found my muffler has 3 cracks that are getting worse. Gonna get expensive. And I don't have the money do to exactly what I want, (does anyone?) so I am gonna have to compromise.

tj884Rdlx

i tried to do it myself, and just in taking off the heat shield, my back gave me a firm "NO YOU'RE NOT". so i took it to meineke today and said just replace the gasket and fix the leak. $200 out the door.

I'm going to put off doing the exhaust til i can afford to do it all at once, so i'm ok with this quick fix for now.

don't crash motorcycles if you want to keep working on your trucks. =(

tj884Rdlx

i did see on fleabay borla makes a muffler which appears to be a one piece from cat back for $63. maybe that can be a cheap fix until you can do it how you want.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bosal...Q5fAccessories

yodta

what do you need a new manifold for. do you think yours is cracked or warped?
you can buy just the gasket. I think it's only around $15.




I agree on the tri-y design of the stock manifold. apparently the idea is that it contributes to exhaust scavenging, and lets the engine breathe better while still maintaining low to mid-range torque.

You're not limited to 4:1 collectors with the header. One that I found works really well to the recommendation of other Toyota drivers is the Doug Thorley Header available from Summit Racing. Apparently they're not the same build or quality as they used to be, but I bought one anyway to replace an older Downey 4-into-1 header and I'm pleased with it. unfortunately more expensive now than I think they used to be.

as for your studs/bolts question, I prefer the OEM studs. Helicoils are fairly easy, and you should have plenty of space except maybe the rear ones, but if I remember correctly, you can still get in there okay. just remember to use cutting oil (yes, it's a special oil; you can get it at Home Depot or Lowe's in the plumbing section). also, don't try to cut the new threads in the fresh hole all at once. I got a short education on cutting threads from the owner of the machine shop I use. the technique is to turn, then back out, turn then back out. otherwise the material will jam up the tap, and it could break. you do NOT want to deal with a broken tap.
I'm seeing Helicoil kits between $22 - $55.

also, use Red Loctite on the helicoils so they don't pull out.

yodta

haha, beat me to it Gnarls!
'cept I like the Toyota self locking nuts

x2 on the liberal use of anti-seize, but only on what's stickin' out of the head though!

if you can find Copper Anti-seize (NAPA has it), you can also coat your exhaust gaskets with it to fill in imperfections. the compound will burn away, but the copper will remain.

tj884Rdlx

yes, my manifold is warped. and being 20 yrs old, i'd just as soon replace it, which i did.
i'm going to pass on a header for now since i can't afford one worth investing in, so i got a new stock manifold and gasket and it's all buttoned up. sounds nice and quiet, and i notice a hesitation i had in the a.m. on first long acceleration is now gone. now i need to toss a o2 sensor in and be done with exhaust until its time to redo the whole system. hopefully that will be at least a year from now.

next project, install my new springs and measure for new shackles.