Thinking I may be the next victim to broke exhaust manifold bolts….

[corneileous]

The other day after remote starting my truck and then right before getting in it to go to work I heard that dreaded tat tat…………..tat tat………tat tat tat…………………….tat tat sound so I’m assuming I’m the next one chosen to have the broken exhaust manifold bolts, ya think? Being that I haven’t officially ever heard the dreaded Hemi tick, I’m not really sure what that sounds like exactly but being that I’m pretty sure the 2008 I had before this truck had that same problem for about the last year and a half I owned it, this is making pretty much the same kind of sound. I haven’t verified yet that it only does this once it warms up but I’m almost pretty sure if this is what it is so I guess one of these days I get to make this repair number two under my lifetime warranty so at least I’ve got that. I’d really like to just put actual headers on it and possibly never have this problem again but I do have warranty and I don’t have the money to get headers right now so I guess this is what I’m gonna do.

 

[tidefan1967]

The other day after remote starting my truck and then right before getting in it to go to work I heard that dreaded tat tat…………..tat tat………tat tat tat…………………….tat tat sound so I’m assuming I’m the next one chosen to have the broken exhaust manifold bolts, ya think? Being that I haven’t officially ever heard the dreaded Hemi tick, I’m not really sure what that sounds like exactly but being that I’m pretty sure the 2008 I had before this truck had that same problem for about the last year and a half I owned it, this is making pretty much the same kind of sound. I haven’t verified yet that it only does this once it warms up but I’m almost pretty sure if this is what it is so I guess one of these days I get to make this repair number two under my lifetime warranty so at least I’ve got that. I’d really like to just put actual headers on it and possibly never have this problem again but I do have warranty and I don’t have the money to get headers right now so I guess this is what I’m gonna do.

How many miles did you make it to?

 

[corneileous]

How many miles did you make it to?

Not very far over 47,500. Granted, I remote start a lot and I have a very short commute to and from work so I guess to say the least, I probably shouldn’t be surprised.

So let me guess……whenever I take it in to get this taken care of, what are they going to do, only replace whichever one has the broken bolts?

 

[BWL]

The most receent dealer method i've seen, which I imagine is dictated by ram is if they aren't cracked just throw a new gasket and bolts in and call it good.

 

[tidefan1967]

Not very far over 47,500. Granted, I remote start a lot and I have a very short commute to and from work so I guess to say the least, I probably shouldn’t be surprised.

So let me guess……whenever I take it in to get this taken care of, what are they going to do, only replace whichever one has the broken bolts?

47K? Yeah that bites. Maybe you can talk them into planing the manifold for you so it doesn’t happen again.

 

[corneileous]

The most receent dealer method i've seen, which I imagine is dictated by ram is if they aren't cracked just throw a new gasket and bolts in and call it good.

Well, I guess that actually makes sense. If the manifolds are fine and if it’s just because of a couple of broken bolts, why put new ones on if it’s pretty darned inevitable and possible it’ll happen again in the next 50,000 miles?

 

[corneileous]

47K? Yeah that bites. Maybe you can talk them into planing the manifold for you so it doesn’t happen again.

I’ll have to ask them that. I just wonder if they’re gonna argue with me when I say from the research I’ve gathered that if the flanges weren’t forged with a slope to them that they probably wouldn’t have any warranty claims on broken bolts.

 

[IDSandman]

Dump them and go with shorties. My plan in a few weeks. Also replacing the Y pipe.

 

[corneileous]

Dump them and go with shorties. My plan in a few weeks. Also replacing the Y pipe.

Believe me, I’d sure love to but like I said in my opening post, I really don’t have the money to do that right now and second, being that I’ve got the Mopar MVP lifetime warranty on this truck, I have yet to hear any real definitive answers on whether or not my warranty would give me the same **** the factory warranty would when it involves doing stuff like that to your vehicle.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

Dump them and go with shorties. My plan in a few weeks. Also replacing the Y pipe.

I went with JBA titanium ceramic coated shorty's and went with SRT gaskets and bolts.

I also recommend you use permatex ultra copper on the collectors - schlock on a thick heavy bead on each side and then bolt up and evenly tighten.

I've had my shorty's on for about six months now and no leaks, no codes, just happy sealed exhaust system with better flow and a tidge of a torque increase (real gains come from LT's, but that's more cost and more to deal with than a straight bolt up with shorty's).

Then the y-pipe, yes, that's a really good idea! I did mine at a custom performance exhaust shop right after the shorty's went on where they made it up with 2.5" mandrel bent ss. I can say from personal experience that it's a huge improvement in flow, and well worth the effort and cost.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Do, yourself a favor and purchase the Remflex gaskets, because they are going to use crap factory gaskets and replace just the broken studs and NOT true up the manifolds, so the better gaskets might get you by, Gen 5 has the cross braced manifold that's not supposed to break the bolts but crack the manifold, but some are saying both are happening.

MOPAR Header/Exhaust Manifold Gasket

REMFLEX EXHAUST GASKETS are extra thick and compressable. REMFLEX gaskets fill voids on warped header flanges and exhaust manifolds. REMFLEX gaskets are good to 3000 degrees. REMFLEX gaskets won't burn out. No retorquing required with REMFLEX GASKETS.

catalog.remflex.com

 

[EdGs]

Only takes 30 seconds to verify.

When the engine is cold, reach in through the wheel wells and see if the corners of the heat shields are loose. If they are, youve got broken bolts.

Also the tap-tap will subside after the truck warms up. Usually. Sometimes they are warped enough that the Gap does not close completely up when it warms up.

That being said, if you short trip your truck, they can tap for a few seconds after startup. My RAM does this if I go to my in-laws house a block and a half away, and will do it every time upon restart.

I cringe whenever I hear it happen.

Remflex gaskets are top-rated for this.

Best wishes for a complete and lasting fix.

 

[HuskerRam]

Do, yourself a favor and purchase the Remflex gaskets, because they are going to use crap factory gaskets and replace just the broken studs and NOT true up the manifolds, so the better gaskets might get you by, Gen 5 has the cross braced manifold that's not supposed to break the bolts but crack the manifold, but some are saying both are happening.

MOPAR Header/Exhaust Manifold Gasket

REMFLEX EXHAUST GASKETS are extra thick and compressable. REMFLEX gaskets fill voids on warped header flanges and exhaust manifolds. REMFLEX gaskets are good to 3000 degrees. REMFLEX gaskets won't burn out. No retorquing required with REMFLEX GASKETS.

catalog.remflex.com

This. The remflex gaskets are thicker and "squishier" than the OEM ones. That extra girth will help fill the gap between the head and the manifold.

 

[rsdata]

That exhaust leak happened to my 2014 1500 in 2017 with about 50K miles... fixed with two bolts under warrenty... now it is 2023 and 140K miles and never had another problem.

 

[Tominator223]

Just tell em to use a couple lbs less torque on oem bolts. Then they’ll be less likely to break again. Until you can do headers

 

[Captain Bart]

Well, I guess that actually makes sense. If the manifolds are fine and if it’s just because of a couple of broken bolts, why put new ones on if it’s pretty darned inevitable and possible it’ll happen again in the next 50,000 miles?

 

[rosco11]

Yea, you would think after all this time Dodge would at least give us the parts for free, being it is cheap parts causing the breaks to begine with. I can tell you which one it is too, on either side. And what a pita to get to. Need a short 90 degree drill to get to it, if you can at all. Easiest way, and it is not easy, is to unbolt the motor so you can lift it a little.

Dealer charges about 900 bucks. Per side. Passenger side is easier to get to than drivers. And if you are really lucky, enough of the bolt is left to take it out with vice grips and a torch(dont heat it up too much, remember, it is alluminum).

 

[Captain Bart]

That exhaust leak happened to my 2014 1500 in 2017 with about 50K miles... fixed with two bolts under warrenty... now it is 2023 and 140K miles and never had another problem.

You are missing the point, by a mile. The manifolds were junk to begin with. They warp, and the tension snaps the front and rear bolts. The manifolds can be machined flat, since they are now heat-stressed, OR replace them with good manifolds that are used, true and not cracked. Use the Remflex gaskets. Get the Dorman hardware kit. No-one would install new OEM manifolds......as they are destined to warp at so pont.

Once the manifolds are off, the only proper method for removing the snapped bolts is with a drill guide plate that bolts up in place of the manifold. The studs are drilled out, all threads chased and blown out, and then the new hardware, Remflexs, and good manifolds go back on.

My mechanic did the entire job for a grand, and he took 3 days.

 

[BlackSheepRebel]

Dump them and go with shorties. My plan in a few weeks. Also replacing the Y pipe.

Not to threadjack, but what do you plan on going with? Been researching this and have ideas for headers but not sure in y-pipe so curious what combo you liked.

 

[IDSandman]

Not to threadjack, but what do you plan on going with? Been researching this and have ideas for headers but not sure in y-pipe so curious what combo you liked.

Total flow Y pipe.