New Heads & Manifolds

[Dual Griffin]

I took my '01 Ram 2500 v8 to a local shop a few days ago to have the exhaust manifolds replaced. As expected, some of the manifold bolts broke off. Initially I was told that the shop could drill them out if they broke and that it would cost additional in labor. That was fine and I already expected that beforehand. After removing the manifolds they call me and tell me I now have two options. Option 1: pull the heads and send them off to a machine shop to have the broken bolts removed and put them back in with a 30 day guarantee. Option 2: Just pull the old heads and replace them with new ones with a 2 year warranty. There was only a $300 difference between the two options so I just opted to get new heads. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I've never been to this shop before so I'm just hoping I'm not getting the run around and out a lot of money unnecessarily. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar scenario when swapping the manifolds.

 

[grizzstang]

Drilling them out is a PITA and it is very easy to drill into a water jacket but it can be done in the truck.

The consensus is, it is easier to weld a nut to the broken stud and twist them out.

It sounds like the shop you went to decided to inflate your bill instead of removing the old studs themselves.

I would go somewhere else.

 

[Lyle Longboat]

They got ya good!
Local shop did my header install and full Custom exhaust for $1200 flat. $400 was for removing manifolds and installing headers. I had a “few” broken bolts. Took them the afternoon to do.

 

[pacofortacos]

Don't feel bad, your oem heads were shot anyways at this point.
If your heads weren't cracked, they would be in the minority.

On mine the heads cracked and the exhaust valve seats sunk and failed - as well as the valve guides by that point.

Hopefully they put on heads that have hardened exhaust valve seat inserts vs. the induction hardening done at the factory.

 

[Wild one]

Does the 01 2500 have a Hemi,or is it still using the good ole cast iron headed LA based 5.2 or 5.9 Magnum engine? If it's still a cast iron head the fix to replace broken exhaust bolts is usually a bit tougher then if it's an aluminium headed engine .

 

[pacofortacos]

The old Magnum series LA based motors, or a V 10 or cummins.
Most likely a 5.9 magnum.