After searching the forum I found the exhaust studs on a 22RE are 10MM x 1.25 and roughly 30MM long. Someone recommended using a 40MM long bolt if some of the threads are stripped out on the head.

When I installed the 40MM long bolt it seemed to tighten and stop turning with approximately 5MM of the bolt still sticking out. I tried it a couple of times but didn't force the bolt in for fear of further stripping the aluminum head. I stacked 4 or 5 washers on the bolt and retightened to what I "think" is 39 ft-lbs.

This stopped the exhaust leak and after checking the bolt a week later it still felt snug. I know I'll have to keep an eye on it until I can get the threads repaired.

Is there only room for about 35MM of bolt/stud in the head? What would happen if I kept cranking the bolt all the way in?

 

fyi if you over tighten the head bolt you could crack a waterjacket or crack cyl head in piston area depending on were stud is

 

the bolt probably bottomed out in the hole. you might be able to Heli-Coil repair the threads with the manifold still on (depending how accessible the hole is and how big the bolt hole in the manifold is). The repair isn't that difficult and even if you have to remove the manifold should only take an hour or two

 

I was very careful NOT to over tighten the bolt. I'd read enough warnings from my search and believed the advice.

My plan is to try the helicoil repair at some point. I put the longer bolt in to get the truck back on the road as a stop loss measure.

I have header that is pretty easy to remove so I can take that out of the way. Do I need to worry about metal shavings going back into the head or cylinder when I drill and tap for the helicoil? I've never done anything like that before.

Also, can I reuse my exhaust manifold gasket? Or am I just being cheap?

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

no metal shavings should get into the engine, but you can shove a rag in the exhaust port just to make sure. Buy a drill depth gauge, it's a little metal colar that goes over the bit, locks down with a set screw and will prevent you from drilling too deep.

As a rule, I never reuse gaskets (except the rubber valve cover gasket, but that's different). Buy a genuine Toyota gasket with the spark plug heat shields