HI all, in the middle of putting my engine back together after changing the heads. I have run into an issue with the 2 center manifold bolts that screw onto the double sided what I would call male screw. Only one of my caps survived being taken off. Now from what I could tell that outside screw cap is used to screw in the inside double sided bolt. Not sure what the hell you call this thing. The exhaust bolt kit I ordered didn't include any of the 4 caps, looks to me like they are just there to hold the heat shield which on mine was rusty and falling a part.

Anyway to secure and correctly torque the center bolts without the caps? Anyone have any clues on how you screw them on?

 

No help here, sorry. I can say that I don't have the heat shields on at all, so just use regular bolts all over. For a few years long ago (like '02-'04) I had shorty headers, so the heat shields have been long lost. I went back to the old OEM manifolds because the headers were noisy and leaky.

 

If your replacement part has reference to the OEM number Google that number and usually you'll get a site like Mopar xxxx.com that has a similar diagram as you posted.. there you can get the name , availability, part # etc. of your "double bolt"
Best to enter your specific vehicle as sometimes there are variants amongst even the same year..
Alot of confusion finally got cleared up on my 02 D where they switched over mid production year and little things are big problems after getting or ordering parts.. VIN is almost mandatory for most parts ... Well those diagrams open to different ones and itsi tricky for me at least, getting around if I'm hurrying.. Usally you'll get the number, right click, highlight and search.. usually someone has what you need or a forum post with a "how to" work around for the situation.. gl

 

So the double-ended screw thingy is called an exhaust manifold stud. It is installed into the head with a specific torque that usually differs from the torque used to tighten down the manifold. Some people will also put a thread locker compound on there. I don't. There is a tool set called a stud installer that is used to install these studs, however, most people don't buy the tools and instead apply two nuts tightened against each other to the manifold side of the stud (Always a finer threading) and then torque the stud into position. Don't go crazy tightening the nuts against each other. They just need to be snug enough to drive the stud in, not stretch the stud and damage the fastener.

The studs used must be hardened for exhaust manifold use. An intake stud may fit, but will deform before reaching the required torque.

"Exhaust manifold heat shield mount stud" is what I might call the female to male stud fastener that then threads onto the stud to mount the heat shield.

I would use the heat shields if you can get them. The heat just makes the Durango's propensity for arcing through the side of the coil wire that much worse. Failing the heat shields, put the coil wire in a rubber heater hose and route it away from metal as much as possible.

I would need to check, but I may have kept those bolts and the heat shields after swapping to headers...

 

FlynDodge, thanks for the explanation! I ended up doing the 2 nut trick after looking at a video on youtube. I put copper anti-seize on the bolts and just hand tightened making sure the bolt went in deep enough. I was able to get all the exhaust bolts except for the outer cover bolts and couldn't get the heat shields at all. They don't make them anymore. The amount of heat that those heat shields suppress is pretty impressive, now its super hot especially on the side where the brake fluid reservoir sits, I can feel the heat.

 

I'm glad you figured it out. YouTube videos can be really useful. Sometimes the things people do in those videos are scary bad too!

You might look around at the local junkyard to see if you can find a 5.9L engine that has decent heat shields. I built a twin turbo car where I used a manifold heat shield upside down to protect the brake master cylinder from heat. I also relocated all of the brake lines to outside the engine bay. It's unpleasant to be blasting down the straight and get brake fade going into the first turn!