Broken Manifold bolt....driver's side

**sills1** · 09-11-2006, 04:27 PM

How much trouble is this going to cause me....how long can I drive in your estimation before I have a leak? I've always wanted to put headers on the car, but not enough money to do so, so how long could I run without this bolt before it starts hurting my engine. I've always wanted to paint my intake and valve covers....maybe it's time to pull the heads so I can get the part of the bolt out that is stuck inside the head. ****************, I wanted wheels and tires first, but if it can't GO, there isn't a reason to SHOW.

**tigersport14** · 09-11-2006, 04:38 PM

get it fixed RIGHT AWAY. i may be 17 but trust me on this one, my firebird had a cracked bolt in the manifold and anti-freeze was leaking into the oil, and if i were to drive it around a few more days my engine was done for(as the mechanics tedl me)

**Wesman** · 09-11-2006, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by tigersport14

get it fixed RIGHT AWAY. i may be 17 but trust me on this one, my firebird had a cracked bolt in the manifold and anti-freeze was leaking into the oil, and if i were to drive it around a few more days my engine was done for(as the mechanics tedl me)

A broken off exhaust manifold bolt in the head will not cause antifreeze to leak into the oil, or anything even like that. That would only happen if the head itself was cracked, in which case you shouldn't drive the car at all.

The worst thing thats its going to cause is an exhaust leak, which still isn't great since its right at the exhaust ports. If you can feel the exhaust gas blowing out around the manifold or if the manifold is pulling away from the head, get it fixed right away. If its still sealed and isn't leaking at all you can drive it, but get it fixed as soon as you can.

**BlackLT1Z28** · 09-11-2006, 07:02 PM

I'd get it fixed soon. The sound of an exhaust leak might drive you crazy. I have one right now because my new longtube headers don't match up with my EGR tube and it popped out. So I hear a constant tapping noise when I step on the go petal.

**Marc 85Z28** · 09-14-2006, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by tigersport14

get it fixed RIGHT AWAY. i may be 17 but trust me on this one, my firebird had a cracked bolt in the manifold and anti-freeze was leaking into the oil, and if i were to drive it around a few more days my engine was done for(as the mechanics tedl me)

I think you may be confused. A broken manifold bolt could cause that, but not on the exhaust manifold. A broken intake manifold bolt could cause oil and coolant mixing. On top of that, that is impossible on the LS1 as it has a dry intake manifold.

I have a broken exhaust bolt on my drivers side head. Happened when removing the headers to replace the engine mounts. I reused the stock GM gaskets and applied a little Permatex Ultra Copper on it. It will seal anything! I had several bolts back out of another car with the UC on it and it never leaked.

The broken bolt will most likely cause a leak eventually. However I wouldn't worry about it until it does. Good excuse for headers

**sunsetorangess** · 09-15-2006, 11:56 AM

Yepp Yepp like said above, it is safe too drive but an exhaust leak may occur and if it does your gonna have too fix it, If you dont the worse thing that could happen is the sound ofcourse and if the leak is around any harness's it will melt right thru them after sometime. You shouldnt have too remove the head too get the bolt out. How did the bolt break?
J

**sills1** · 09-15-2006, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by sunsetorangess

Yepp Yepp like said above, it is safe too drive but an exhaust leak may occur and if it does your gonna have too fix it, If you dont the worse thing that could happen is the sound ofcourse and if the leak is around any harness's it will melt right thru them after sometime. You shouldnt have too remove the head too get the bolt out. How did the bolt break?
J

No clue how it got broken. I'm just glad I found the bolt so there is no puzzled look on my face when I begin to hear a leak. I hope it will last a while longer before I have to work on it. The bolt is the farthest back on the driver's side. No way to get to it without pulling the head off. Its too tight in there.

**BlackLT1Z28** · 09-16-2006, 02:33 PM

Sounds like a good reason to pull both heads off and get them ported...

**0rion** · 09-16-2006, 08:12 PM

Did it break off flush with the head or did just the end of the bolt break off? If just the end broke off I'd be tempted to pull that manifold and try to get it out of there with pliers or vice grips if there's enough bolt sticking out of the head to get them on. If it broke off flush with the manifold that still means you have a 1/4" or more sticking out of the head. You can slip the manifold off over that bolt and the 1/4" will be exposed.
ps
personally, I wouldn't do none of that until it became an issue. If it's not leaking I'd drive it until it does.

**redline** · 09-18-2006, 07:17 PM

had the same prob with mine. EXHAUST MANIFOLD BOLT on driver rear was broke when i bought it. luckily it had about a quarter in sticking out so when i put headers on it i just took vice grips and it came right out. Ive heard of this a few times and dont know why it happens but if its not leaking dont wory about it till you put headers on it. Its a bitch because of the factory lock tight but with some force it will come out.

**Connexion2005** · 09-19-2006, 03:03 PM

I had all 6 break on me so I can give you some great advice. Go ahead and flush the screw it with a cutting saw (make it flush with the flange i mean). Then take a a drill and a bit that is just larger than a 3/8. Drill through the broken stud (takes about 10 minutes per stud depending on how hard you press and the sharpness of the bit). Once you've clean out the whole go buy a 3/8 hex bolt, 2 matching spacers and the matching nut...then torque that baby down and you've officially got a custom cat flange mount. When your done with this just imagine that I did this six times and that if you look at the the top stud on the passenger side you will see how much of a pain that was.

**BlackLT1Z28** · 09-19-2006, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by Connexion2005

I had all 6 break on me so I can give you some great advice. Go ahead and flush the screw it with a cutting saw (make it flush with the flange i mean). Then take a a drill and a bit that is just larger than a 3/8. Drill through the broken stud (takes about 10 minutes per stud depending on how hard you press and the sharpness of the bit). Once you've clean out the whole go buy a 3/8 hex bolt, 2 matching spacers and the matching nut...then torque that baby down and you've officially got a custom cat flange mount. When your done with this just imagine that I did this six times and that if you look at the the top stud on the passenger side you will see how much of a pain that was.

You could do that...or you could pull the head and have it professionally tapped, drilled, and re-threaded. If you do it yourself, you could royally f-up and be stuck with a butched head and have fun messing with it later.

**Connexion2005** · 09-20-2006, 10:58 AM

Nah hes just talking about the flange at the end of the headers bro...Josh. On second thought I'm not sure after reading the thread...(are you talking about where the headers bolt to the heads or the y pipe buddy?)