Help! Exhaust manifold gasket blown

if one is blowed out then replace the other 5. its a good days job. if you get lucky and dont break any of the studs off in the head then you did good. i would up grade to a pdi or bullydog manifold while your at it dont reuse any studs at all. no fancy tools are required.

 

It's just nuts and bolts and some elbow grease

 

I have done it more than a few times. Its not easy but can be done with basic hand tools. The hardest part tool wise is getting the oil lines off the turbos a 1/4 drive flex socket works great.
The dealer wants 8 hours labor to change it. I would do it myself save the labor cost and put the money toward a PDI manifold. (the plain one not the ported/coated one)
Somewhere on here I told how to do it I will see if I can find that old post.

 

Make sure they give you the studs for the acert. The studes are the same for the e-model excepet the short stud for the acert is about 3/8 inch longer. You also need to make sure to get the lock nuts. Some of the ones I got did not "lock" very well you could turn them on by hand they did not stay tight either.
I can give you some advice that may save you a ton of work if I can explain it right on here.
1st you do NOT need to drain the colant.
remove the turbos and piping a 1/2" 1/4" drive flex socket makes that a easier to get at the oil lines. Make a mental note which oil line is facing what direction as they swivel.
Remove the turbo to block bracket.
Remove the 4 bolts that retain the precooler and pull it lose and lay it against the frame and bungee it there.
Remove the pre cooler to block bracket
Remove the exhaust manifold nuts 2 will require a wrench the short center 1 and the 1 behind the t-stat housing.
Remove the spacers and vise grip the studs out of the front half of the manifold. The spacer behind the t-stat housing you will have to remove with the spacer in place.
Pull the manifold and the rest of the studs.
Remove exhaust sleaves and clean the gkt. material off the block. Carb cleaner on a rag helps to remove any carbon build up that you might have.
Install rear half of the studs. They are supposed to be torqed to 28ft/lbs dont do that! Double nut the stud and put it in wrist tight with a short wrench about 10-15ft/lbs(if you ever break a stud you will understand why). Make sure the tappered part of the stud goes in the head.
Install the manifold. Make sure the holes are centered around the stud on the center section and put the spacers and nuts on just snugged up.
do the same for the rear section.
Same thing on the front except for the one you cant get to. That 1 you need to make sure that you put the spacer on the stud before starting it. Once its finger tight slide the spacer out as far as you can get it and use a pair of needle nose vise grips up against the manifold to tighten it. Center the holes around the stud and tighten all the nuts working form the inside out in a circular patern. I think its about 30 ft/lbs it might be 28 or 35 dont remember exactly I used my calibrated elbow and a 9/16 craftsman wrench.
Reinstall the brackets You may need to modify them with a grinder to get them to clear the manifold. I had to with my PDI manifold.
Reinstall the rest of your parts. The oil lines on the turbo can be a bit challenging to get the bolts to start. Hint the gkts will hold the bolts in place DO NOT over torq the bolts!
Hope that makes sense and helps.

 

An old stick welder, a flat washer and a nut work about the easiest to get a broken stud out of the head. If you get one that is stubborn tryin heating it up with a torch, let it cool down a bit, then heat it up again, wait till the red is gone then take it out. You might even have one that is broken already if you have a gasket out.

 

In this digital age, I would also suggest pictures in case you need them. It would be a goood reference point if this is your first time tearing into it

 

lots of PB blaster makes this go faster. and good luck not braking studs happens pretty often