951sickness

Hello all, I have just located the exhaust leak on my 88 951. It is the exhuat stud closest to the firewall (#4 snapped off just above the manifold flange). How difficult is it to remove the exhaust manifolds? And what are the odds that the stud will come out? Just curious if these things have a habit snapping off clean to the head when they are removed. Do I really need to resign myself to removing the head? The fun never stops. Thanks in advance.

Joe Jackson

Removing the exhaust manifolds can be a pain in the ***, at least the 1-4 is. The 2-3 manifold will come out after removing the nuts and bolts then double-nutting the studs and removing them. do the same to remove the 1-4 but you'll then need to unbolt the passenger side motor mount and jack the engine up to get enough clearance.

Now that you can see how much of the stud is left you can make your decision. If it's flush with the head, it's up to you whether it's worth the risk to try and drill it out. If you get it, you'll feel good. If you ruin the head, you'll be pretty pissed. I'd suggest removing the head. Please though, do not try an easy out. Most likely it will break off in the head and you'll be pulling it and having to deal with drilling through really hard steel.

Now if it's got some stud left sticking out, I'd suggest threading a nut on and welding it to the stud. This will heat the stud up which will help it break free and give you a nice grip on the stud. If it backs out, great. If not, the stud will break and you'll be in the situation above.

Good luck.

dmoffitt

i just ran into the same thing, !@#$*")*(!@ $P)(*U!$@ #) $ studs. mine broke while backing them out for replacement... so frustrating.

I am probably going to have a local place "EDM" the thing out if i can find a shop, otherwise i'm just going to send the head out to someone who knows what they're doing, engine's out of the car, already have had downtime since jan1, so i might as well wait and do it right rather than jury-rig the thing...

a4944

I got the 1/4 exhaust manifold out by removing the metal coolant pipe. I backed out the studs and then rotated the exhaust manifold clockwise. There was only room near the firewall for it to come out. It was tough with the fuel lines crossing over the top. Not a fun job for me. I drained the coolant although maybe you can just pinch off the hoses to the metal pipe. I didn't lift the engine. It came out but it was a fight. I've read posts that suggested lifting the engine 1/2 to an inch with a jack. I didn't know where a safe spot was to lift it so I didn't try. I installed B&B headers, now I'm waiting for a radiator plug that I broke.

Mark