Just curious if this might be the cause of my starting issue, i knew it was leaking before but never knew it was this bad. all i need to do is go buy some new bolts for the union between the manifold and the y pipe for the cat. I personally wouldnt think this would cause a starting issue but i want you guy's input on it before i go any further in my search.

 

Well, since you said your cab filled with smoke when you Seafoamed the truck, my guess would you do have a manifold leak. Get some new bolts and gaskets.

 

but my main question is, is this harming the engine at all? what does a exhaust leak cause IE loss of power, slow start, stalling, power surges ?

 

i ran a ford truck with no muffler after the headers on my farm. was a little slow starting (was a piece of crap so probably was from something else) but other then that ran fine. look up davidsfarm on youtube. he takes mufflers off all his cars and most of them start fine during the winter even.

 

Taking your muffler off wont really effect the performance of your car. Having a leak before your cat will, due to fuel ratio being off. If your headers( or stock exhaust manifold) are loose and you have a leak it will just make noise and there will be, again, a slight loss of power. But your truck will still run, and start. Its still a problem that should be addressed though, If you have an intake manifold leak then you have a big problem that would cause your ram to not function.

Have you checked your CAT to see if it was clogged or your A/F sensors are functioning correctly?

 

It was prolly slow starting due to the lack of exhaust velocity exiting the headers (manifold) which killed your low end torque....plus it prolly was crap since it was a ford.

 

yup i agree, i hate fords.

 

i hate fords as well lol


and my egr pipe that goes into the exhaust manifold i cut out, and hammered a bolt on the top of it. i have a leak from it, but it doesnt affect te starting. even on a cold morning like this morning it fired up like it was all warmed up and everything. started on the first crank.. So all in all i dont believe that will cause a starting issue.

 

i dont have a cat all i have is a Y pipe but apparently the guy i had do it never tightend down the flange between the manifold down spout and the Y pipe. and it's leaking there but i tried to tighten down the bolts but they just spin so i looked and the head of the bolt is recessed down inside the bolt hole for the flange which im thinking when he went to tighten it down he stripped the head of the bolts.

 

You just need to cut the old bolts off and replace them(nothing special). And there is no gasket, just a ball and socket design. Btw, this will not cause any kind of starting issue.