Taspeace
Member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2022
- Posts
- 37
- Reaction score
- 34
- Location
- Washington State
- Ram Year
- 2014
- Engine
- 5.7 Hemi
UPDATE: I had my two warped manifolds pulled and belt sanded on a professional "sanding table". It was very easy to see that the rear port on both manifolds had been leaking in all directions and that there was a smaller leak on the front port on one of the manifolds. No cracks could be found.
In 5 minutes both manifolds were flat and shiny across their entire length. Cost $40. I had them reinstalled using the Remflex gaskets as described above (you give up the aluminum heat shields that are on the stock gaskets and also on FelPro gaskets). I used the Dorman stainless steel bolts I had purchased, but removed the Loctite compound from the threads and had the mechanic use anti-sieze on them. I don't actually expect that the stainless steel will be better than the high tensile strength option bolts that Dorman also sells. Everything has been great since doing the work, and I don't notice any problems with heating parts of the engine that are near the manifolds. Headers, after all, would be much worse for heat transfer and I've never heard people complain about ill effects from heat the that headers radiate. Two hours labor for pulling and reinstalling the manifolds. THREE HOURS LABOR FOR REMOVING THE FIVE BROKEN MANIFOLD BOLTS, two of which had to have hex heads welded onto them in order to be removed.
I'm happy that things have turned out so well, and thrilled that it wasn't me under there cursing those broken manifold bolts! I'm hoping to be done with this for the remainder of the truck's life.
One unforeseen difficulty I had was that I couldn't find anyone in my area of over 150,000 residents to mill the manifolds. Several machine shops have closed due to slow business during Covid, but one place told me the real problem is that manifolds which have gone through many, many heat/cool cycles become so hard that they break the bits that are used in the milling machines, so customers don't want to pay what it would cost to mill them. He suggested a high quality industrial sanding machine - not the hand held 3" belt sander that I inherited from my father - and that's what I ended up going with. When I saw how good they looked, I knew that the Remflex 100% graphite gaskets, which have a 50% crush factor and are good for up to 3000 degrees, would do the rest of the job of sealing the manifolds tightly to the heads. And, as I've said, "So far, so good."
In 5 minutes both manifolds were flat and shiny across their entire length. Cost $40. I had them reinstalled using the Remflex gaskets as described above (you give up the aluminum heat shields that are on the stock gaskets and also on FelPro gaskets). I used the Dorman stainless steel bolts I had purchased, but removed the Loctite compound from the threads and had the mechanic use anti-sieze on them. I don't actually expect that the stainless steel will be better than the high tensile strength option bolts that Dorman also sells. Everything has been great since doing the work, and I don't notice any problems with heating parts of the engine that are near the manifolds. Headers, after all, would be much worse for heat transfer and I've never heard people complain about ill effects from heat the that headers radiate. Two hours labor for pulling and reinstalling the manifolds. THREE HOURS LABOR FOR REMOVING THE FIVE BROKEN MANIFOLD BOLTS, two of which had to have hex heads welded onto them in order to be removed.
I'm happy that things have turned out so well, and thrilled that it wasn't me under there cursing those broken manifold bolts! I'm hoping to be done with this for the remainder of the truck's life.
One unforeseen difficulty I had was that I couldn't find anyone in my area of over 150,000 residents to mill the manifolds. Several machine shops have closed due to slow business during Covid, but one place told me the real problem is that manifolds which have gone through many, many heat/cool cycles become so hard that they break the bits that are used in the milling machines, so customers don't want to pay what it would cost to mill them. He suggested a high quality industrial sanding machine - not the hand held 3" belt sander that I inherited from my father - and that's what I ended up going with. When I saw how good they looked, I knew that the Remflex 100% graphite gaskets, which have a 50% crush factor and are good for up to 3000 degrees, would do the rest of the job of sealing the manifolds tightly to the heads. And, as I've said, "So far, so good."
