For three hours I did all I could, including several cutting heads on the Dremmel, tearing small bits off the nut with a crowbar, small sledge and chisel. All I got was a bunch of bruises. Oh, and by the way, to make things more fun, I nicked that dang oil filter, so I had a constant drip that I could not seal off with duct tape. I had kept oil in it, along with the filter, as I had to run it to relieve the fuel pressure as described on earlier post. Now that is done I will rid myself of the oil filter and old chocolate milk oil (that is about one week old, so we know antifreeze is mixing in with the oil).

Praying that the people who designed this puppy, whether engineers or management, made the rest of it better than their design on the exhaust flanges. Relatively speaking at this point, doing the Chevy 350 was a breeze, and that was my first one.

Waiting for the pain killers to kick in and a bite of cruddy Digiorno pizza, then will attack it with that one bolt in place, have removed the air cleaner, fan cowling and belt, so next is to handle the alternator, air pump (whatever that looks like) and a/c, then the connectors and the intake manifold. Sure looks like a spider's web caught in a hurricane up there, but hope it will nicely disassemble item by item. Any hints or clues (other than keeping my blood pressure down)?

 

Two big questions:

1) How do you disconnect the fuel line from the rail? I removed the clip, but it does not seem to want to simply pop apart!

2) What is the exact head size of the exhaust manifold bolts? 13mm was wobbly, 12mm didn't fit, 1/2" was close but slipped. I don't want to round these stinking things off like the flange bolts went, so I want an exact, exact fit (if possible).

edit: Oh good. After digging into another resource, as "RepairPath" simply says to disconnect the fuel line like it will pop right off, I find I now need to trot out and get an $8.00 tool to do this. I would have liked knowing that before I started taking the engine apart. Anyway, the question on the exhaust bolts still stands - I fear a real nightmare on them if the flange experience gets repeated...

 

I've got a '95 3.9L so I assume they're pretty much the same.
Does your fuel line to rail connector look like this?



If so, that retaining clip doesn't hold it on. There's a plastic duckbill type clip inside the bronze looking bell that holds it on. It's pretty hard to get too. On mine, I wanted to clean and rebuild the injectors anyhow so I simply popped all 6 injectors out of the manifold then removed the injectors from the rail. Now you can easily get a small bladed screwdriver in there to release the duckbill connector. Make sure you remove the rail as one piece. DO NOT remove the rubber hose that connects the 2 sides!

The exhaust manny bolts are 1/2". Spray them liberally with PB Blaster, tap the heads with a hammer and let them sit for awhile, then repeat the process. Use a quaility 6 point socket to remove them.

 

I was kicking around trying to insert a small blade screwdriver in the fuel connector, but feared screwing something up permanently (like the throttle linkage connector that snapped - the one on the inside of the spring assembly...). Not too sure what I am trying to do in there as I don't know the duckbill mechanism, but worth a shot as I wouldn't be able to get to a parts store for at least a couple days with the truck as it is now! EXCELLENT picture!

Bolt heads are soaking in PB as I write this. Will give them another shot tomorrow, bang at them, another shot, screw with the fuel line, then attempt to unscrew.

I GREATLY appreciate your help.

 

Got the exhaust manifold-to-block bolts out. Left side was easy (as I followed your instructions), but the right side was obvious someone had been down this path before rather half-backsided. One missing, two came out well but were obvious substitutions as they were 12mm heads, and one was a nut on stud that sheered off right under the nut.

I now have a stud sticking out from the head, about one and a half inches, and from the sheering, I can guess it is fairly well frozen in there. Is there a "best" method to remove it? I presume I should first wait until I get the head off (That right manifold, though still loosely bolted to the exhaust pipe, does move enough to get it swung out of the way).

 

Okay for your lines your going to need a special tool. You may be able to find it at an auto parts store. You can download the service manual from the FAQ in this section. It will give you all the details on your head gasket R&R as well as the details on the fuel line clip removal. It is in the Fuel system on pg 13.

What I suggest is to take out the fuel injectors from the rail and just tie up the rail back where it is out the way. So you don't have to disconnect it. Same thing works for the wires. As well as the AC compressor so you don't have to loose the Freon.

Or if your careful you could leave the injectors on, and just tie it up. That is one trick I did, and I didn't need to relieve the fuel pressure too. But one hit and you can destroy the injector.

 

After you take the head off, spray the broken stud with PB Blaster, do the hammer thing, latch onto it with a pair of vicegrips and you may be able to unscrew it yourself. If not, bring it into the machine shop and they'll mill it out and install an insert. Just had it done in mine. Cost $20. Also, with the heads off now would be an excellent time for a valve job and new oil seals.

Had some time today so I snapped a couple of pics of the inside of the fuel line connector. Just do it how I told you . Pop the injectors, unbolt the rail and it's free. Now you can move it around and get a good look at the fuel line connector. A thin small bladed screwdriver will slide in there. Just push one or two of the clips down and the rail will pop right off. Or, you can do it Crazy's way. That works too!

 

Ya I agree.

 

Understand the connector now and looking forward to attempting the "little screwdriver" technique! Would love to handle the valves, but am presently on a budget that would starve a mouse...

 

After minor interruption (just enough to let some cold weather slide in), I am back attacking this thing. As the exhaust manifold bolts are all at best in bad shape, I want to replace both those that hold the manifold to the engine, and those to hold the exhaust pipes on. Only problem is that when I check Autozone, this is what I am looking at:
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=426032_0_0_

and

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=223867_0_0_

The first group, for manifold-to-head, looks strange as it appears that both sides have two long bolts (closer to the firewall) and two studs (why not bolts, I do not see) out towards the front, That would mean I need four long blots and four studs, not seven short bolts and a couple studs thrown in for good measure.

As for the manifold-to-pipe bolts, I am supposed to get four of those $7.99/piece assemblies? Maybe it is time for me to call the parts counter at the dealer?...