Manifold bolts 2nd time, plus manifolds

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RamHemi18

RamHemi18

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Such a simple and lasting fix. I wonder what percentage of Hemi owners have gone through the warpage/bolt issue? I would wager 70+ %.



Sounds like yours warped like a banana. That is alot of warpage. Not surprising, though.

Glad you got it sorted out, Good that you have the warranty.
Agreed, I'm very thankful for the warranty. Hopefully if and when it happens again I still have the warranty. I found the invoice from the previous dealers repair, they only did bolts and a gasket on the passenger side, lasted 9-10 months. Hopefully all new will last me a bit longer
 

EdGs

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The manifolds on my '15 were warped and twisted. Worked at them on a belt-sander for a good bit, but did not get them totally flat.

It was enough that I have put about 50k miles on since, with no issues so far.
 
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RamHemi18

RamHemi18

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isn’t there a new manifold design now?
So they’ll probbaly replace with those and instead of warping they’ll crack as reported by the 5th gen’ers
I'm not sure. The part numbers were 68045559BB & 5045486AA. Not sure if these have a revision or not. From my search on mopar parts it looks like these numbers are used from 2018 to current but only on the "classic"
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Hydrasport23

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Tires will wear out. Brakes will wear out. Not all Hemi's will have manifolds that will leak. Some engines will have manifold problems and others run forever with no failures. The failure seems to be the manifold bolts break because they are milled down in the middle of the bolt and they eventually may fail in the weakest point due to constantly expanding and contracting in length. The broken bolt will allow the manifold to leak and if run long enough with improper clamping force, the manifold may warp. I used a set of aftermarket bolts that did not have the reduced diameter in the middle of the bolt for my manifold bolt repair procedure. I had to cut them to the proper length, but they were much stronger bolts with a higher rated clamping force. Think of it this way, if your engine's head bolts broke, don't you think the head will warp or do you think the heads warped and broke the bolts? High tensile bolts may fail and that is common with a lot of machines that deal with heat cycles or vibration.
 

SpaceRanger1

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Gentlemen,
I broke a bolt sometime ago.. What I find is that when you have an Exhaust system that is a solid Y - Type system solid mounted to the engine that is rubber mounted to frame.. The weakest link here is going to be the exhaust manifolds and said bolts.. Engine torks hard motor mounts give a bit but exhaust don't.. a thicker flange is good but the bolts GOT to HIGH grade!!
My opinion of course.!!
 

Dusty

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FWIW
Since I had the chance to talk to a metallurgical engineer yesterday. I asked him about this problem. In the case of cast iron, until "matured" he felt short cycle warm-ups would be the greater influence for those affected with warping or cracking.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 3 June 2018. Now at 80209 miles
 

Taspeace

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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 Remflex gaskets (you give up the aluminum heat shields that are on the stock gaskets and also on FelPro gaskets). I used Dorman stainless steel bolts that 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 excess heating of 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."
 

Daniel Ortiz

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@Taspeace , so you got a mechanic shop to extract the manifolds and re-install after milling? Did they give them to you to transport to a machine shop and bring them back once the job had been done for re-installation (and more importantly, broken bolt extraction)? If so, I think that's what I'll probably end up doing as well. I'd like a qualified machine shop to do mine one day if they ever warp/leak. but I don't want to be the one fighting the bolts/studs out of the heads.
 

Wild one

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@Taspeace , so you got a mechanic shop to extract the manifolds and re-install after milling? Did they give them to you to transport to a machine shop and bring them back once the job had been done for re-installation (and more importantly, broken bolt extraction)? If so, I think that's what I'll probably end up doing as well. I'd like a qualified machine shop to do mine one day if they ever warp/leak. but I don't want to be the one fighting the bolts/studs out of the heads.
A buddy who owns a local shop,sends out the manifolds to his buddy that owns a carpentry/cabinet making shop,and has them planed on his big belt sander.If you're looking for a shop to sand them flat,maybe try out a local cabinet maker
 

jws123

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A buddy who owns a local shop,sends out the manifolds to his buddy that owns a carpentry/cabinet making shop,and has them planed on his big belt sander.If you're looking for a shop to sand them flat,maybe try out a local cabinet maker
Harbor freight $80 belt sander have yet to burn mine out kind of suprised tbh ahahah.
 
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