# Broken Manifold Bolts



## chcav1218 (Jul 31, 2008)

How many of you guys have noticed the heads of the bolts on your manifolds are snapped off?


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

Pretty common issue on the LS series engines. Usually it's the pass side. Fortunately the remainder of the bolts aren't usually too tough to remove from the cyl head. They can normally be removed without much fight.


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## chcav1218 (Jul 31, 2008)

Yeh, mine are on the passenger side


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

yep tons of them up here in the rust belt of salt ny. 

remove manifold and inner fender well . 

then take a new nut next size bigger than broken bolt. hold it 1/2 way on. then using a welder plug weld it to the new nut. let cool. then use a oxy/act tourch to head the cylinder head area of the bolt. then slowly try and spin it out. 

some times it takes a few times with the weld the nut on and heat. but thay come out just fine. even works on broken ones that dont stick out. as weld wont stick to good to alum head. 

once out take a tap and clean out all the holes and reinstall with new bolts and gaskets.

p.s. if i recall 100% 8mmx1.25 pitch thread tap. not for sure as i do tons of this and other stuff. so i grab as i go.


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

If his is a 2000 like mine, then he could have cast iron heads. My 6.0 does. I got the broken bolt thing too, but two of them are broke flush clean in the head. Some drilling is on order for those ones


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## scottL (Dec 7, 2002)

They make a kit for just such a problem. Probably snap-on has it. You first use a special bit to drill into the bolt, then there is another bit which counter sinks and give you a platform to twist it out with. I've seen it ... just can't remember where.


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## yard5864 (Nov 8, 2007)

My 99 has 3 on the passenger side, and 2 on the drivers side  ... I am going to have to get those done before it gets cold.


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

have fun drilling those harden bolts guys. and i have the snap on kit also. but i have a mig welder and cutting tourch . grab a hand full of cheep hardware store nuts and get it done much faster. 

and sorry forgot the old first gen ls motors were cast head. 

p.s. if you have a broken back one by the firewall. it will be vary tight. i got saved 1 time with one cause he had a 3" body lift in it. gave me just the room i needed.


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## ServiceOnSite (Nov 23, 2006)

probally not the best idea to take an oxy.ac torch to an aluminum head though


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## coral (May 4, 2008)

what is the problem with the passenger side? i have an 03 2500hd did the same thing twice now, passenger side


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## BigLou80 (Feb 25, 2008)

My 02 2500HD had some snapped bolts and a cracked manifold, I was able to grab the bolts with vicegrips and spin them right out.


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## younggun86 (Sep 25, 2008)

just did my buddies truck. passenger side cracked almost all the way around right before the collector. i only broke two off on the passenger side. welded nuts, propane torch for about 5 minutes, then bumped the wreck back and forth till they came out. driver side was a pain. 3 bolts had snapped heads, one other snapped at the block. i only got one out without breaking it, the rest snapped off at the cylinder head. I did the driver side right after i got the motor up to temp. the bolts are 8mmx1.25. a side note, just buy new manifolds. it's cheaper in the long run than paying to get them welded and paying for gas. it's only about 170 to do both sides.


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## flykelley (Dec 29, 2003)

younggun86;591384 said:


> just did my buddies truck. passenger side cracked almost all the way around right before the collector. i only broke two off on the passenger side. welded nuts, propane torch for about 5 minutes, then bumped the wreck back and forth till they came out. driver side was a pain. 3 bolts had snapped heads, one other snapped at the block. i only got one out without breaking it, the rest snapped off at the cylinder head. I did the driver side right after i got the motor up to temp. the bolts are 8mmx1.25. a side note, just buy new manifolds. it's cheaper in the long run than paying to get them welded and paying for gas. it's only about 170 to do both sides.


 Hey Young Gun
How did you get the bolts out on the drivers side that broke off at the head? Im doing mine this weekend and Im sure that they will break off at the head, just my luck.

Thanks Mike


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## younggun86 (Sep 25, 2008)

flykelley;591589 said:


> Hey Young Gun
> How did you get the bolts out on the drivers side that broke off at the head? Im doing mine this weekend and Im sure that they will break off at the head, just my luck.
> 
> Thanks Mike


Actually...i passed it off to a local muffler shop. they want 150 to pull the manifold back off, and redrill the head. I'd rather have them screw it up and have to fix it then have to pay outta my pocket to buy a new head are tear apart his motor. plus it's his DD and he's got two little girls to tote around.


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## Tweak (May 23, 2008)

Damn Chevy's...

My 2001 2500HD 6.0L had the same problem when I bought it.
I took it to my mechanic and had him mess with it.

3 bolts were snapped and had to drill and tap.
Also needed to re-machine the surface of the manifolds, put new gaskets,
the one manifold was cracked so he slapped on some JB weld (seems to of held up for 5 months now)
And while he was in there, the EGR tube that comes off one manifold pretty much fell apart on him when taking off the manifold, so that was another 300$ dealer part 

The whole ordeal cost me about $800-$900 aprox, I dont remember exactly, but I wasn't happy. This is my second chevy and although it is better than my Ford peice of junk was, it's miles below what any Toyota product is.
I regret not going with a Tundra.


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## flykelley (Dec 29, 2003)

Well Guys
I got started today, got the heat shield off and the last two bolts on the drivers side are gone. I can only hope there that there will be enough stud showing to mig weld a nut on them. The other bolts all came loose with out breaking. I had to heat up the nuts on the Y pipe to get them off. Now if I can only figure out how to get the spark plug wires off so I can remove the plugs. I have pulled like crazy and they won't budge. Back to the garage to see what else I can get done tonight.

Regards Mike


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

flykelley;591954 said:


> Now if I can only figure out how to get the spark plug wires off so I can remove the plugs. I have pulled like crazy and they won't budge. Back to the garage to see what else I can get done tonight.
> 
> Regards Mike


They do get stuck on there quite well Mike. A tip to make removal just a little easier...

Be sure to twist the plug boot at least a half turn to break the seal between the boot and the porcelain on the plug before attempting to remove the wire. Then, instead of pulling straight, wiggle the boot/terminal assembly side to side as your pulling. It will loosen the grip the terminal has on the plug tip.


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## flykelley (Dec 29, 2003)

B&B;591965 said:


> They do get stuck on there quite well Mike. A tip to make removal just a little easier...
> 
> Be sure to twist the plug boot at least a half turn to break the seal between the boot and the porcelain on the plug before attempting to remove the wire. Then, instead of pulling straight, wiggle the boot/terminal assembly side to side as your pulling. It will loosen the grip the terminal has on the plug tip.


Hi B&B
Thanks for the tip, I will give it a try. I got the drivers side done, 2 rear bolts broken off at the bolt head. I had enough room to put a nut on the broken stud and the I used the mig to weld it to the stud. The broken stud came right out. I just looked at the right side and I see that I have one broken stud on that side, so after dinner Im back to the garage to take that side apart. I would like to thank everyone for their tips, I never would have gotten through this project without your guys input.

Regards Mike


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

How'd you make out Mike? Get it back together?

Oh, and btw:


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## Danscapes (Jan 12, 2008)

This will make all you guys with Chevy's happy, my 04' F-250 had this exact problem and it was on the passenger side too. But before you go heating things with a torch and screwing your heads up try using a stud extractor. When I did mine last month I used one and they came right out, it is just like a socket with cams in it that back the stud out as you tighten it. Oh, and if your like me, once you get the manifold off you'll see that it's inside diameter is about the size of a quarter. So I took both side off and threw them away and put on a set of ceramic coated headers with ARP stainless steel bolts (NOT STUDS).


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## flykelley (Dec 29, 2003)

B&B;593863 said:


> How'd you make out Mike? Get it back together?
> 
> Oh, and btw:


Hi B & B
Thanks for the B day wish. Yes its all back together now and running great. Its also nice and quite. Like I said in a earlier post, thank god I had a mig welder to weld a nut on the broken studs. I think one of the worst parts was taking the oil filler tube out and reinstalling the darn thing. I did have to take the manifolds down to the machine shop and have them mill them flat. The drivers side had a nice big deflection in it. Got it done and I am happy.

Thanks Mike


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## rcpd34 (Jan 16, 2004)

My '01 8100 did it on both sides. Fortunately, I had the Major Guard extended warranty and they replaced both manifolds free.


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