Hi, my 98 Durango has an exhaust manifold leak, since I can't find anyone in Dayton, Ohio to work on it I plan to tackle it my self before the weather breaks. There are broken bolts that may have to be drilled. I am looking for a jig to drill into the center of the studs. I am only able to find jigs for HEMI engines. Has anyone found jigs for a 1998 exhaust manifold with the 5.2 magnum engine?

 

is there any amount of bolt sticking out of the head?? If so, should be able to just grab 'em with some vice grips, and thread them out... (chemicals wouldn't hurt either....)

 

There are a few broken off past the exhaust manifold so I won't know if enough is left to grab onto until I take off the manifold. I want to have everything ready prior to deal with worst case, this would include having to drill them out which is why i'm looking for a jig information.

 

There isn't one commonly available that I am aware of.... You would have to cobble something together. If you have the room to maneuver, using the exhaust manifold itself as your jig might work. But, I would imagine it's pretty tight in there.

 

Thanks. I think I will have to consider using the welding method. I was able only get two of the six bolts loose, three broke in the block and one of the heads right at the end of the manifold. This starting NOT to be fun.

 

Exhaust is rarely fun...... I didn't mind doing it when I worked in a shop that was fully equipped for just such an occasion... Of course, custom exhaust was one of our major money-makers there.

 

Not fun is saying it lightly, I couldn't get a custom exhaust shop to do anything which included opting for them to install custom headers. I did manage to drive it to a friends property where it could undisturbed while I snail through this project. We managed to get the exhaust manifold off and verified 4 bolts need to be extracted. (good news haha) But welding a washer and nut seems to be out of the question since the heads are not aluminum (magnet sticks to it), so I risk a chance of welding the broken bolt to the head. So now trying to find some machine shop quality bits and attempt to drill them out. Before it snows!

 

If there is even a little bit of the bolt sticking out of the head, should be able to weld a nut to 'em, and they should pull pretty easy. The bolts get jammed up in the manifold itself, not the head.....

If you elect to drill them out, use left-hand drill bits. That way, while the bit is digging into the bolt, it will be trying to spin it out, not run it in tighter.