Manifold bolt nightmare just continues to get worse.

[Mickster]

I had the typical broken manifold bolt on the pass side. I've done this repair before on a previous ram with success so I had no qualms with doing it again. Well this one turned to crap, quickly. Attempting to get the broken bolt out with an extractor things went south and I ended up drilling to far and water came out of the hole. I drilled out the rest of the bolt and used a tap to rethread/clean up the threads. Put everything back together with new parts and thread sealent on the one bolt. Started the truck and there were no leaks and everything seemed like it was fixed. The next day I drove to work(2 miles) everything seemed ok. On my way home I lost heat, and when pulling into my driveway I noticed my temp gauge was all the way in the hot. I shut the truck off and popped the hood. There are still no leaks around the manifold. The top radiator hose was cold, the heater core hoses were cold, and the radiator cap was cold. I took the cap off and the radiator looks dry. I pulled the oil dipstick and it's a milkshake. Did my drilling a water jacket somehow cause it to get coolant into the oil? I know I'm already going to replace the head but could this have cause more problems or do you think I'll be ok after replacing the head? I've never seen drilling into a water jacket cause this so any input will be greatly appreciated.
Just for reference, it's a 2017 5.7L ram and it was the top bolt on the back of the head on pass side. I just did an oil change and checked all the fluids two weeks before this so I know the oil and coolant was ok before this.

 

[Wild one]

I had the typical broken manifold bolt on the pass side. I've done this repair before on a previous ram with success so I had no qualms with doing it again. Well this one turned to crap, quickly. Attempting to get the broken bolt out with an extractor things went south and I ended up drilling to far and water came out of the hole. I drilled out the rest of the bolt and used a tap to rethread/clean up the threads. Put everything back together with new parts and thread sealent on the one bolt. Started the truck and there were no leaks and everything seemed like it was fixed. The next day I drove to work(2 miles) everything seemed ok. On my way home I lost heat, and when pulling into my driveway I noticed my temp gauge was all the way in the hot. I shut the truck off and popped the hood. There are still no leaks around the manifold. The top radiator hose was cold, the heater core hoses were cold, and the radiator cap was cold. I took the cap off and the radiator looks dry. I pulled the oil dipstick and it's a milkshake. Did my drilling a water jacket somehow cause it to get coolant into the oil? I know I'm already going to replace the head but could this have cause more problems or do you think I'll be ok after replacing the head? I've never seen drilling into a water jacket cause this so any input will be greatly appreciated.
Just for reference, it's a 2017 5.7L ram and it was the top bolt on the back of the head on pass side. I just did an oil change and checked all the fluids two weeks before this so I know the oil and coolant was ok before this.

How damn far did you drill,as there's oil passages back there,but damn you'd have had to go all bohunk with a drill bit to go that far into the head.
Buy yourself a little mig welder for the next time,it would of been a lot cheaper in the long run,lol
Even if you've never welded before,you can usually take a welding course at your local community college,or do like alot of us older guys did,self learn by practicing on scrap metal

 

[Mickster]

I still don't know how I drilled that far. I have done this twice before and had no issues at all. I had tape on the bit to match the broken part of the bolt but I must have misjudged by a mile or I was not drilling straight. I really hope the 2 mile trip didn't warp the other head. Most of the coolant was in the oil pan by the time I got home.

 

[Oliver Closehauf]

My wife kept asking me what was wrong as I read the OP's post. Apparently I was audibly distraught and making painful noises.

You will want to drain the coolant, do a cheap oil change, cheap oil, cheap filter, run the motor for 2-3 minutes, drain it and do it again. Do that soon before you start rusting.

 

[Mickster]

That's right! I'll do that after work tomorrow. I wasn't even thinking about that.

 

[Mickster]

So I drained what was left of the coolant. I drained the sludge from the oil pan and it was yellow/ light tan(couldn't tell the actual color with a flashlight) but it almost filled up a 12qt drain bucket. Holy moly that took forever. It looked like slime stringing out at the end and it just kept dripping. I waited in the cold until it mostly stopped dripping from the pan and oil filter area. I filled it up with 7qts of 0w-20 from work and ran the engine for only a few minutes. Surprisingly there wasn't any rattles or weird noises. I pulled the dip stick and it looked like oil with a little bit of coolant in it, so that's good. I'll get more oil tomorrow and do it all over again tomorrow. As for the head that I destroyed, I found a Mopar wholesaler close to me who has a reman head for $450 and will ship it to me for $33 with a $150 core charge. Does that sound about right? The prices seem to be all over the place on the Internet but the reman units I found were $400 to $600. And if anyone has any recommendations for buying a head please let me know. My truck only has 59k miles on it so I would like a reman unit. I don't really want to go the used route unless it has low mileage like mine.

 

[EdGs]

Damn, it must've pumped your coolant right into the crankcase. That really sucks.

I saw on AllMoparparts.com a reman passenger side head was $466+ w/$150 core

New passenger side head was like $746 w/$200 core.

Good luck for a lasting and as easy as possible fix.

Would you please post some pics of the damaged head? It would be interesting to see just how it failed.

Very sorry you have to go through this.

 

[Grams]

Don’t waste your time and money shipping that old “core” to them. If you drilled it that badly….. it’s no good….except for a trot-line-anchor.

 

[Dusty]

I don't have the proper tools, the proper physical ability, nor the proper motivation. I'm too old. I like having a shop do this because if a mistake is made it's on them.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 142696 miles.

 

[RJR49]

Not saying you should do it but when a head gasket went on a car I once owned i used kerosene to clean out the slime. Nothing above idle and it worked pretty well. That motor ran on 30 weight. Newer closer tolerance motors may not do as well.

 

[HarryS]

Don't expect to get the core value on that head. When they find out what you did, it'll be trash.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Don't expect to get the core value on that head. When they find out what you did, it'll be trash.

Trash? Not hardly. It's solid aluminum. They'll just melt it down and make a Ford out of it.

 

[HarryS]

It's not "solid aluminum", otherwise, it wouldn't have oil passages and intake passages and such. It's worthless as a core, is what I said.

 

[Curmudgeon]

It's not "solid aluminum", otherwise, it wouldn't have oil passages and intake passages and such. It's worthless as a core, is what I said.

See this little guy >

I was making a joke, a joke that had nothing to do with you personally.
I do that. A lot.

Allow me to introduce myself...

 

[HarryS]

That's fine. I try not to be "funny" in normal posts. Lot's of time, people can't tell if its' a joke or not.

 

[Randy Grant]

If they make a Furd out of it, it's still worthless.

 

[Rustypipes12]

Dam man they sell a template to prevent what just happened and I have one that I was just going to put and EBay. I sold my 09' TRX4 a couple weeks ago and now have a 2500 Bighorn with the 6.4. While You're putting it together (or a shop is) have the exhaust manifold milled to take out the warpage. If that can't be done I'd recommend BD Diesel manifolds be installed with their hardware so you don't have this problem again.

 

[Hagar1]

I had the typical broken manifold bolt on the pass side. I've done this repair before on a previous ram with success so I had no qualms with doing it again. Well this one turned to crap, quickly. Attempting to get the broken bolt out with an extractor things went south and I ended up drilling to far and water came out of the hole. I drilled out the rest of the bolt and used a tap to rethread/clean up the threads. Put everything back together with new parts and thread sealent on the one bolt. Started the truck and there were no leaks and everything seemed like it was fixed. The next day I drove to work(2 miles) everything seemed ok. On my way home I lost heat, and when pulling into my driveway I noticed my temp gauge was all the way in the hot. I shut the truck off and popped the hood. There are still no leaks around the manifold. The top radiator hose was cold, the heater core hoses were cold, and the radiator cap was cold. I took the cap off and the radiator looks dry. I pulled the oil dipstick and it's a milkshake. Did my drilling a water jacket somehow cause it to get coolant into the oil? I know I'm already going to replace the head but could this have cause more problems or do you think I'll be ok after replacing the head? I've never seen drilling into a water jacket cause this so any input will be greatly appreciated.
Just for reference, it's a 2017 5.7L ram and it was the top bolt on the back of the head on pass side. I just did an oil change and checked all the fluids two weeks before this so I know the oil and coolant was ok before this.

Darn, if you were somewhere close in Ontario, I have a couple of heads that are in good shape, "as removed" from engine. Would sell them cheap.

 

[Rustypipes12]

I have a 5.7 template designed to keep you from drilling into a water jacket. I know it's too late to help you now but if anyone else has broken bolts and doesn't know how to weld , PM me I'll sell it cheap.