Certain things ought not break on a car. Exhaust manifolds are one of them. According to my mechanic, Ford previously used larger bolts to hold the exhaust manifold in place. I'm not sure the exact dimensions, but they changed from like 5/8" bolts to 1/2" bolts or something along those lines. Anyway, the result is that the bolts often break and the manifold warps. This is two-fold problem - the manifold needs to be replaced, and the broken bolts need to be drilled and tapped out. In fact, according to my mechanic it's worse than that because when they go to remove the manifold, often other bolts break off too. He said this never happened when they used the older, larger bolts. Anyway, the end result is that it is very costly to repair. My mechanic didn't want to do it. So I went to a large local chain (Conrad's in Ohio) and they didn't want to do it either. I asked the guy what it would cost, just to get an idea, and he said "at least $1200".
Certain things ought not break on a car. Exhaust manifolds are one of them. According to my mechanic, Ford previously used larger bolts to hold the exhaust manifold in place. I'm not sure the exact dimensions, but they changed from like 5/8" bolts to 1/2" bolts or something along those lines. Anyway, the result is that the bolts often break and the manifold warps. This is two-fold problem - the manifold needs to be replaced, and the broken bolts need to be drilled and tapped out. In fact, according to my mechanic it's worse than that because when they go to remove the manifold, often other bolts break off too. He said this never happened when they used the older, larger bolts. Anyway, the end result is that it is very costly to repair. My mechanic didn't want to do it. So I went to a large local chain (Conrad's in Ohio) and they didn't want to do it either. I asked the guy what it would cost, just to get an idea, and he said "at least $1200".
- Terry K., Seville, OH, US