goldylocks

iTrader: (4)

Hi,
I'm stuck on removing the stock exhaust manifold. The drivers side came out relatively easy, so did the y pipe. I've removed 5 of the 6 bolts on the passenger side one, however I'm stuck on the front most bolt. There is just no room. I'll include a pictures so you know what I'm talking about. Any ideas for how to take it out? Thanks[IMG][/IMG]

Snkebait95

iTrader: (16)

Did you take the alternater off? If you did there should be enough room with an open end wrench

goldylocks

iTrader: (4)

Yeah I took the alternator off, but I dont see how I would get a wrench in there...its too dark now though so maybe I'll try tomorrow.

Badazz 97 TA

iTrader: (18)

I took an old wrench and grinded it down to where it could fit in there. It took forever to get that bolt out but it did work much better after i grinded(ground??) it down.

defaultexistence

iTrader: (11)

Get some more of that **** outta the way,get off the Internet and just do it, buy a rachet wrench if you need to... It's not impossible , face it you are going to bust some knuckles , man up.

Snkebait95

iTrader: (16)

Might be able to get a small socket with a swivel on it

FormulaJoe

iTrader: (5)

Arr!!!!

Get a light and continue, following advice from defaultexistence.

whytryz28

iTrader: (28)

Its reasons like this why my headers are missing couple bolts on each side.

goldylocks

iTrader: (4)

Alright thanks for the responces I was able to jam a breaker bar with a deep socket on to it and eventually got it off...now comes the fun of getting the damn manifold out....

96SilverZ

iTrader: (2)

A saw will help a lot with getting it out

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

I used a box wrench while holding the surrounding tubes back. It only took 30 minutes.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

With headers? How do you keep the gasket from leaking? That's a good way to warp header flanges as well.
What headers do you have and what header bolts are you using?

Thomas Elliott

Just for some who need to know this, I had no idea the best way to remove and install the exhaust manifolds was to remove the crossover pipe as well as the oil dipstick, and pivot them to go in and out from under the vehicle. Good thing I had it on ramps. I was doing a head gasket replacement and struggled long to work around them to get the lowermost row of head bolts out. The only way I could get the manifolds off was to remove the heads first. My initial thought was it was going to be tough putting them back on until I realized they could far more easily be put in or taken out through the bottom. Their flanges are too large to fit between the heads and the shock towers but they are so slender they easilly fit between them and drop out the bottom. Be sure to remove the back two spark plugs on each side beforehand.

On those exhaust flange bolts, soak them with penetrating oil for a few days in a row before trying to loosen them. When breaking them loose just turn a tiny bit and then tighten them again the same amount. Then loosen a bit further and tighten again the same amount, loosening them a bit more each time. This usually gets them off without the dreaded snapping them off.

rynb15

good info on that last post. i have a set of headers sitting in my basement im dreading to put on!

Thomas Elliott

Headers shouldn't be too hard I would imagine although getting them to mate up to the rest of the exhaust system is a mystery to me. I hope yours has provision for EGR. My EGR diaphram had a leak so it wan't working properly before I replaced that part. The engine wanted to ping upon acceleration. Any quick jab at the throttle produced pinging. Personally I'd rather have the EGR in place though some seek to delete it.

Oh yeah, I want to correct something in my previous post. The passenger's side exhaust manifold had to go in from the top (only the driver's side had to go in from underneath the car). I ran into a snag on the passenger's side though, after getting it bolted back in place I tried to re-install the the metal EGR pipe that connects to the back of the intake and couldn't because the pipe's bolt hole is directly blocked by the transmission dipstick. Now I have to remove all exhaust manifold bolts except for the front one (which I'll loosen quite a bit) and hopefully pivot the manifold up and outward enough to get that EGR pipe bolt in. I wish I had put it back on BEFORE installing that manifold.

Life is a hard teacher. It gives us the test before it teaches us the lesson.