over the weekend i put my headers on... well trying to take the original studs out... i snapped a stud in the head... being as careful as i could possibly be.. i managed to get it out but i damaged some threads in it.. the new bolt still grabs but only grabs deep inthe hole.. i want to fix it eventually b/c its only one of numoruos ways for my headers to start leaking if they dont already... what should i do? if im not mistaken... these are iron heads right? (stock) so i cant really weld the hole shut and tap a new one.. you think i could heli coil it? any ideas would be great short of getting new heads... and if i have to .. itll be r/t's but thast the LAST ditch option.

 

although i havent had a problem on the iron heads, I did have an aluminum hole strip on me and I used some (I think it's called) formathread??? and I think it was from loctite. not 100 % sure but I think it is still sitting in my tool box. I can look and see if it'll work on the dodge head when I get home. i'd also think the helicoil should work, but I have no experience with those... sorry.

another thought is that there is a puddy type of material that i've seen at the auto parts stores that once it cures, you can do whatever you want with it... drill and tap holes... worth a look.

 

I think new heads for that would be overkill. Steve's right. You have a few options. That "Formathread" he was talking about (I'm not sure of what he's talking about but the man knows his stuff), Helicoil that you were talking about, and I think the putty type stuff he was referring to might be related to JB Weld. Maybe? Worse comes to worse, drill and tap to the next higher size. Probably a metric. But I'd forget the new heads until you need them.

 

[sm=jawdrop.gif] of course he needs them now... dodge heads are notorius for cracking between the valves. worst cases cause a random misfire that you can never get rid of until you change the head. when I pulled mine off back in May 6 out of 8 cylinders had cracks between the valves, they were easy to see because there was a carbon trial between the valves...

I would tap to the next size as a LAST resort... because then your gonna have to drill out the header flange to get the next size bolt thru it and when you do go to the next set of r/t heads, you'll have a bigger hole on the mounting surface for that cylinder... try the other methods 1st. you loose nothing but time and about $15 bux in materials if they dont work.

 

Steve!! Remember me? I'm one of the more recent victims of that problem! I agree with you 150%, but I didn't want to suggest replacing those heads just because of the stripped bolt. He mentioned nothing about any other problems currently happening.

BTW, I just shot off an email to Ademi & O'Reilly LLP in Milwaukee. They specialize in Class Action lawsuits, on a contingency basis. For what its worth on the cracked cylinder head subject, I'm going to try and start a CA if they'll take it.

Lets see what happens. Probably leakin' into the wind, but its worth a try.

 

lol, I agree. no sense swapping heads (unless you want the performance gains) for stripped threads... I just got sick of the constant slight miss when i finally committed to the new heads. it never thru a code either.

 

Got sick of the miss huh? Tired of having your truck run and sound like a rattle trap hooptie?? Same here. Now, I love it even more. Worth the money, but not exactly at the right time.

Elk Grove still growing like a weed? I'm originally from Sacto. Mom still lives in Campus Commons across the river from CSUS.

 

it's worse than a weed... population is aproaching 120k now... with no improvements in the infrastructure. freeway access sucks. I'm fortunate enough to live by the itty bitty town of franklin that has their own I5 exit :-) wont be long before that gets f'd up as well...

I love my truck even more now then when I bought it. Enough to rip it appart again for the 2nd time this year for the lifter install... oooo I cant wait until it's back together... i'll be going back to the stock manifold at the same time. that alone is gonna bring back a bunch of low end torque lost when I modded the current one.

 

oh...guys dont get me wrong here... its not really me that doesnt want the head swap,,, its the wife... i damn near got slapped when i told her the next "toy" for the ram would cost close to 2g's (along with the 1.7RR and acc.) im gonna have to warm her up a bit.. but yea... im not sure what im gonna do... i dont think im gonna mess with it right now untill i have to and then fix it then...the only this im not sure about doing is trying to fix it in the truck or should i take the head off... dunno...thanks the the options though!!!!! id rather not drill the the next size....we will see about it... thanks again fellas!

 

You told her? Oh, boy. Sheeeeeesh. Ok, Marriage counseling 101 is now in session. Rule Number 1: Most women don't understand about us guys and our rigs. So NEVER, NEVER, EVER, tell them how much something is going to cost. Just do it and then say "I'm sorry honey, I didn't know it was going to cost that much" By that time, you already have the item in question, can't return it, and only have to take up with being slapped around a bit. Much better than to have to do without (without the item in question that is).

As for whether to replace the heads, that is a decision only you can make. They are, more than likely, going to need to be replaced sooner or later. (If you choose not to do it now, hopefully it will be much later). I just did mine (because I had no choice and had to do it) and it ended up fixing alot of problems. But if you aren't having any problems with them just now, then wait and save up the funds.

End of counseling session. Pay the receptionist on your way out.