exhaust leak problem...need advice

[justin11572]

My exhaust header always comes lose on one of the cylinders after running it a few hours. I already purchase exhaust studs with bolts from turner but have not installed them yet.
Any advice is welcome on how to install them. Is it posible for it to be installed withour removing the head? Hoping for some tips before I do the job.


thanks guys!!!

[ADA///M]

you dont need to remove the head.

Whats coming lose? the studs or the nuts?

If you have the new bolts coming...use some loctite on them

[justin11572]

its the studs....hope its not stripped!!!

[ADA///M]

its the studs....hope its not stripped!!!

even if they are, you should be able to repair them without removing the head.

[AndrewK]

Replacing the studs isn't easy with the head installed, but it can be done assuming no studs are broken and no threads are stripped. If your car has no A/C it will make it much easier. If the head is stripped it will require something along the lines of a helicoil to repair the threads. That's a very tough job to do with the head on as it will be next to impossible to do a proper job of drilling out the hole. If the stud is broken off inside the head, again it's next to impossible to remove with the head on for the reasons mentioned above. Don't even try to use an extractor. It WILL break off.

In my case I had one broken stud on cylinder #1. It was broken off flush with the head. My car has no A/C so I had some room to work with. I tediously used a dental pick to score a shallow groove in the middle of the stud. Just enough to get a jeweler's screwdriver to bite. The stud was not seized in there so I was able to get it out. I was lucky. My recommendation if the stud is broken or stripped is to take it to an expert.

Also, make sure you have the bracket installed from the transmission to the header. If that thing is missing it puts added stress on the exhaust studs. Info on the bracket can be found here.

http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread...xhaust+bracket

[///schwartzman]

If all of your studs are intact, I would not try to change them due to weird angles removing them or if one gets stuck and pulls threads out with it as was mentioned before tapping and installing heli-coils etc will be difficult to do properly with the head on.
If all is well with the studs, remove the gaskets and coat them with Permatex copper gasket spray, reinstall using the new Loctite stick on some new locking Cu bolts and you should be good to go!