99 7.3 AMBULANCE EXHAUST MANIFOLD REMOVAL

[CISCO]

MY FIRST ENGINE REMOVAL JOB.ORIGINALLY CAME FOR OIL PAN & DIPSTICK LEAKING.HOW DO YOU REMOVE EXHAUST MANIFOLD BOLTS(ONE OF THE REAR BOLTS IS BROKEN OFF) SAFELY?THEY LOOK PRETTY RUSTY AND IM SCARED OF BREAKING THEM OFF. ANY TIPS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANX IN ADVANCED.

[Mbl35]

F or econoline?

[Bruce Amacker]

And, in the chassis, or out? If it's coming out I'd do the manifold(s) out of the chassis. If they're really rusty I'd blow the bolt heads off with a torch, pry the manifold over the remnants, and work the "studs" out with VG's and a torch. IIRC those bolts are "self-locking" with a triangular shape to the threads.

 

If it's a E and the engine is still in, there are a lot of removal options, let us know and we'll go over them. The big removal adapter that attaches to the cherry picker is cool but not necessary.

 

 

Good Luck!

 

[CISCO]

I REMOVED THE ENGINE WITH FORD'S ADAPTORS AND IT SITTING ON JACKSTANDS(TOOK ME 3 DAYS).WISH I KNEW HOW TO POST PICTURES.I WILL TRY TORCHING THE BASE OF THE EXHAUST BOLTS WHERE THEY GO INTO THE HEAD. IF THAT DOESN'T WORK I WILL BLOW THE HEADS OFF WITH A TORCH LIKE BRUCE AMACKER SAID. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

[Bruce Amacker]

Don't torch the base of the bolts, that will weaken them and they'll snap off. The idea of torching is to expand one item which would be the head. If you glow the bolt it will soften and snap off!

 

Burn the bolt heads off and pry the manifold over them, After that the stubs might just spin out with a VG or stud extractor. If they don't want to spin with moderate torque, torch the head (just around the "stud") trying not to get the stud hot, have the visegrips on them and work them free. If you want to e-mail me the pics I'll put them up for you (but it's not hard), my e-mail is bamacker@aol.com.

 

PS It might make it easier to read if you kill the cap lock button.

 

Good Luck!

 

[CISCO]

Thanks again for the detail response & excuse my writing skills. I will send you the pictures of the exhaust manifold tomorrow & I will try to send you some today.

Service writer has already upsold,front cover,front seal,rear seal,exhaust manifolds.I'm still not sure if the front crank seal is leaking,guess I'll find out tommorrow.I'll keep you posted as I go.Thanks you. Cisco.

[Bruce Amacker]

Cisco sent me these:

 

 

 

PS Sorry about what the Indians did to the Royals this week.

 

[CISCO]

Your funny,actually im from Glendale,California and I dont care about the Royals. I'm just trying to get this Diesel Buisness down packed. I need to update my info status cause I am in indianapolis,Indiana now.Love this website and the training on the 6.0 & 6.4 I bought from you @ turbotraining.com and now I need to get the 7.3 as soon as I can get out of the hole I'm in right now.

[Bruce Amacker]

Damn, you move quick! A couple of hours ago you lived in KC!

 

I've taught a bunch of times in Indy, mostly for Linder Technical Services at their conferences which they discontinued a few years ago. (I've taught a bunch of times in KC for Vision, too)

 

I went to the Work Truck Show in Indy a few weeks ago downtown at the convention center.

 

You know your 7.3 was probably built in Indy.

 

You know the front cover requires pan removal first, and it's a glued pan, right?. A tip- don't roll the motor over before dropping the pan off of it, but I suggest having it inverted when the new pan goes on. Put a LPOP on it while you're there, they are a trouble spot on 7.3s....

 

[CISCO]

Well I have tooking the manifold by heating the head and not the bolt and they came right out.Sorry I tried to post the pictures my self by didnt work. I'll try again sometime this week; really busy this week.

[CISCO]

HERE ARE THE PICTURE OF THE EXHAUT MANAFOLDS

[Steve Mutter]

And, in the chassis, or out? If it's coming out I'd do the manifold(s) out of the chassis. If they're really rusty I'd blow the bolt heads off with a torch, pry the manifold over the remnants, and work the "studs" out with VG's and a torch. IIRC those bolts are "self-locking" with a triangular shape to the threads.

 

If it's a E and the engine is still in, there are a lot of removal options, let us know and we'll go over them. The big removal adapter that attaches to the cherry picker is cool but not necessary.

 

 

Good Luck!

 

Who makes that Engine removal adapter?

[Bruce Amacker]

Steck Manufacturing, but I think it's been discontinued.

 

[Steve Mutter]

To bad, it looks like a nice adapter.

[Alex Bruene]

I use a forklift to pull 7.3 Engines from Econolines. Slip the forks under the exhaust manifolds as far as they will go in, then attach a chain from the forklift to the rear of the engine to balance it. Works great.

[Brad Clayton]

This is how I roll:

 

[GregH]

This is how I roll:

Glad you posed this - I'm going to show it to my engine repair lab class...

[CISCO]

i finished the job in 2 weeks(12 hours a day)now what if the bolts were to snap flush with the head. what is the best way to remove the broken exhaust manifold in the head. do you replace the head,drill,or what. i once tried removing an exhaust stud broken flush with the head and tried reverse drilling and an extractor and the extractor broke. i was off for the next couple of days i never found out how they got it out. i think this was a gas engine but cant remember its been 2 years now. just want to get prepared for it next time.

[CISCO]

by the way i have another ambulance with an oil pan gasket leak but they are not complaining about that. it originally came for a rear differential problem addressed by another tech and i now have it for a very long hard start and smokes slightly and smells like diesel slightly as well. icp is 3000,koeo pids and ebp is out of spec at 20psi with engine off and produces 8 mgp boost pressure(but it seemed to have enough power for me and it being an ambulance) @ wot once you get it started. seems to have a brand new idm, buzz test are all very weak and with no blow by. just started checking it today for a couple of hour. codes are: buzz test-p1668,koer p0476,and continous p1670. customer wants the bill to be higher than $5000.00 so he can get tax deductible. thank in advanced.

[Bruce Amacker]

I'd be checking fuel pressure at the back of both heads for a start. Check fuel quality as well. What's MFDES at a hot idle? If it's above 12ish it might need injectors. If the buzz test is weak the magnets might be sludged up (replace injectors or clean the mags if he's broke).

 

Watch FP and ICPV (volts only, never diag ICP pressure, especially on a 7.3) while cranking. ICPV should be .17-.24vKOEO and build to 1.5v within a few seconds cranking.

 

Killing 5G on an E-van should be child's play. Do your diag, pull the engine, reseal it and change the hard parts.

 

Good Luck!

 

[Keith Browning]

i finished the job in 2 weeks(12 hours a day)now what if the bolts were to snap flush with the head. what is the best way to remove the broken exhaust manifold in the head. do you replace the head,drill,or what. i once tried removing an exhaust stud broken flush with the head and tried reverse drilling and an extractor and the extractor broke. i was off for the next couple of days i never found out how they got it out. i think this was a gas engine but cant remember its been 2 years now. just want to get prepared for it next time.

When things break in the head like that probably the best and only way of getting it out at that point is to carefully grind it out using a grinding stone. You have heard of a Dremel rotary tool? There are many different types, sizes and shapes of bits... stones... to choose from.

[Bruce Amacker]

Quote:

=Keith Browning grind it out using a grinding stone.

Funny you say that. A friend of mine (shop owner) and I were just talking about this. He uses a Craftsman tile bit # 32352 to grind out broken bolts in heads. It's not exactly a drill bit but rather looks like a drill bit with burrs on all sides. I couldn't find a picture on the net that looked like it but here's the Sears link:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00932352000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

He says it's the cat's ass- grinds the center of the broken bolt out until just the threads remain, then runs a tap through, cleaning the threads out. I liked the idea.

(Sidebar- boy am I glad I don't have to drill out broken bolts anymore! I have one of my cars at a shop right now getting 3 broken exhaust manifold bolts extracted from an aluminum head)

[mrbudge]

As long as the broken bolt is in a blind hole weld on a nut with a mig and turn it out. If you are not good with a mig, practice! Make sure the end of the broken bolt is clean, no one is good enough to weld dirt or rust. I had a set of bolt extractors, and I threw them in the garbage. Welding on the end of the broken bolt heat cycles it and helps it come out that much easier. Broken 6.0l and 6.4 manifold bolts are routine, as are aluminum head engines. On the tough ones I will spray the welded nut with your fluid or choice to cool and shrink it before turning it out.

 

If the bolt is below the surface of the flange, build it up to the surface, then weld the nut on. I used to use a gasless mig, it seems if you can't get your gas to the bottom of the hole the weld won't bite as good, but now I just give her some extra gas flow and it works as good.

[ktmlew]

I'd be checking fuel pressure at the back of both heads for a start. Check fuel quality as well. What's MFDES at a hot idle? If it's above 12ish it might need injectors. If the buzz test is weak the magnets might be sludged up (replace injectors or clean the mags if he's broke).

 

Watch FP and ICPV (volts only, never diag ICP pressure, especially on a 7.3) while cranking. ICPV should be .17-.24vKOEO and build to 1.5v within a few seconds cranking.

 

Killing 5G on an E-van should be child's play. Do your diag, pull the engine, reseal it and change the hard parts.

 

Good Luck!

 

On F series, my habit has become compression test first. So many dusted engines out there now. I have never had the pleasure of working on a van though!!!