The Common Exhaust Manifold Leak

Thanks to this forum, after I bought my truck used I was able to diagnose the ticking sound I was hearing as an exhaust manifold leak. Luckily it came with a 90 day, 4500 mile warrenty through gwc that covers the power train and exhaust manifold.

I talked to the mechanic in person. He seemed very confident and knowledgeable and since I've spent about 20 hours researching this thing I knew a lot about it. They let me back in the back where he had just finished working on a Ram that another customer brought in that had the same problem. He showed me the crappy studs dodge uses and explained that the heating and cooling of the thin bolts, along with rust, over time causes them to break. Unfortunatly they use the same bolts to replace them with. I've seen videos of this repair before where people use extraction screws. He walked me through how they do the entire process at the dealership. He showed me a bolt that had snapped off inside and told me that if they can't get them out the pull the head and send it to get machined out. He said about 75% of the time though if they take a rotating tool (like a dremel) and cut a thin slot in the bolt they can back it out with a thick straight screwdriver and save the customer a bunch of money.

I know a lot of people have fixed this on here, just sharing my expierence with the mechanic.

Just a quick warning, I also have a gwc warranty, and they won't cover a manifold repair with the broken studs. Only if the manifold or gasket itself is defective.

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I think there is an EPA warranty or something similar up to 80,000 miles that has to cover the broken manifold bolt because of emissions. I would search the forum for this. It pops up every once in awhile.

ckeefer58 said:

Just a quick warning, I also have a gwc warranty, and they won't cover a manifold repair with the broken studs. Only if the manifold or gasket itself is defective.

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That's stupid. It's obvously defective if the manifold isn't connected correctly. I'll find out tomorrow when they call the warranty company what they say. It specifically says exhaust manifold in the warranty.

500rider86 said:

That's stupid. It's obvously defective if the manifold isn't connected correctly. I'll find out tomorrow when they call the warranty company what they say. It specifically says exhaust manifold in the warranty.

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Yep that's what you would think. Had the dealer call them twice and they still wouldn't cover it. I hope you have better luck!

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ckeefer58 said:

Yep that's what you would think. Had the dealer call them twice and they still wouldn't cover it. I hope you have better luck!

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How much did you pay to fix it if you don't mind me asking?

Kotta390 said:

I think there is an EPA warranty or something similar up to 80,000 miles that has to cover the broken manifold bolt because of emissions. I would search the forum for this. It pops up every once in awhile.

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Unfortunatly the truck is at 84k.

It was around 300 total to have my garage take care of it. My mechanic does the broken studs all the time so he's pretty quick and I didn't get killed in labor. Also, I had the heat shields removed from mine when they were fixed (both sides). I've heard that due to heat transfer that the shield and the manifold heat up at different temps and pressure the studs. That shield is pretty light though so who knows.

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Any different studs available to use as a replacement? I'm about to repair my passenger side manifold. Will have the manifold machined flat again.


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ckeefer58 said:

It was around 300 total to have my garage take care of it. My mechanic does the broken studs all the time so he's pretty quick and I didn't get killed in labor. Also, I had the heat shields removed from mine when they were fixed (both sides). I've heard that due to heat transfer that the shield and the manifold heat up at different temps and pressure the studs. That shield is pretty light though so who knows.

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Awesome. I think they quoted me like 500-700 all the way up to 1300 if they have to send the head to a machine shop. And that's for one side. Your mechanic wouldn't happen to be in NC would he?

500rider86 said:

Awesome. I think they quoted me like 500-700 all the way up to 1300 if they have to send the head to a machine shop. And that's for one side. Your mechanic wouldn't happen to be in NC would he?

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Nope sorry, PA. I actually had the dealer cover it the first time because I only had my truck for a few weeks. I asked for both to be done at once knowing the other wasn't far behind, but naturally they didn't, lol.

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Not sure what year your trucks are, but this is covered under the ,5 year 100000 mile warranty.

You should be ok..they did mine and replaced the pass. side head cause they couldn't get the bolt out...all at 110,000 miles..FREE....LOL

2014 with 85,*** and just had mine done and it was covered under warranty.

JasonK94Z said:

Any different studs available to use as a replacement? I'm about to repair my passenger side manifold. Will have the manifold machined flat again.


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The OE studs themselves have been updated a few times now. The newest ones seem to be better and we hardly see any broken studs on 2013+ trucks.

Tach_tech said:

The OE studs themselves have been updated a few times now. The newest ones seem to be better and we hardly see any broken studs on 2013+ trucks.

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Thank you for the info!


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I wonder if ARP makes a set?

JasonK94Z said:

Any different studs available to use as a replacement? I'm about to repair my passenger side manifold. Will have the manifold machined flat again.

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Yup, get stage 8 Bolts, the OEM crap is made by the lowest bidder with maximum profit in mind...

If they had to Update them a few times, shows you how much they dont care about the consumer...lol... Mopar junk

ckeefer58 said:

Just a quick warning, I also have a gwc warranty, and they won't cover a manifold repair with the broken studs. Only if the manifold or gasket itself is defective.

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What is a GWC warranty? Thanks

huntergreen said:

What is a GWC warranty? Thanks

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It's a warranty company often used by used vehicle dealers. In regards to your earlier question my truck had 45000 miles on it at time of replacement​ but it's a 2010.

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