Exhaust Gasket leak and stud broke

[Tully]

Wondering if someone could give me some advice. I took my truck to the dealership for an oil change and to inspect a noise that sounded like a belt was about to go. The diagnosis was $2500 in repairs for "Drivers Side Exhaust Gasket Has a leak. And the Stud is Broken, recommed replacing the exhaust gaskets on both sides"

The truck has 110k miles on it, and while it runs fine, it seems that EVERYTIME I take it to the dealer it's a $1000 adventure. I'm about fed up, I've had the truck since it was new and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the truck, but it's starting to wear on me. Whether I try to find an '09 or just move on, remains to be said, but I'd rather fix it, but not at this rate and continued cost...

So am I getting screwed by the dealer? Seems others have had this issue in other threads, although I don't see such high price tags...??

Thanks.
-Tully

[Olfart]

Don't have a price because the work was done under warranty, but a couple years ago my 2004 had 2 broken ex man bolts...1 rh and 1 lh and they had to pull the head in order to get to one of the broken bolts. Of course this meant new gaskets too. It was in the shop for almost a week for this and a power steering pump. So 2500 may not be too far off for a stealership shop where the labor is probably over $100/hr. Broken man bolts seem to be a common problem on older H2's. Don't know what year you have, but with 110k it might be time to bite the bullet and fix it if you plan to keep the truck. If you buy another truck you might end up having the same problem somewhere down the line. Maybe yo can find a local mechanic who could do it cheaper than a dealer

[Easy Ed]

I replaced all of mine (both sides) and it is not really bad job, just takes some time and some "grin and bare it" too when parts are in the way of getting another part removed. Examples, had to remove a O2 sensor to get to a manifold to exhaust pipe nut removed. Then I had to un-hook front drive shaft to get to another manifold to pipe nut loose. Just a bunch of small things to make the day go by before ya know it

I had all kinds of 1/2" extensions, rachets, sockets, knuckles, vise grips and so on and was able to get it done in a afternoon and evening and not had a problem since, the new manifold bolts are of a different design and should last longer, larger head and a bigger radius under the head causing less of a fracture point.

Part way down this page you can see all the parts http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=38098

Oh yeah, $2500.00 is too much in my book

Ed

[snmazer]

sometimes, not always, when I start up my 03, I get a loud hissing sound from under the hood. Sometimes it lasts a half a second, sometimes 10 seconds. Happens in spring, summer, fall,...but never in winter!
Does this sound similiar to what you experienced with the broken header bolts? I cant pin point what the problem is.

Scott

[mbdougl]

Get a price a a reputable repair shop. I got a price on replacing the faulty mirrors on my 04 and they wanted $1800, even the service guy said I would be better off getting them off ebay. I checked with a local body shop and they said they would put them on for $100. Dealers are really only good for warranty work!

[H2Much]

Agreed. I had one of those worthless exhaust manfold bolts break off in my engine head, had to have the head pulled. Even after that, the mechanic broke every drill bit known to man trying to drill it out so had to send it to special place to have them torch the bolt out. Had to have new aluminum added to the head and have the hole rethreaded, freaking nightmare. All that, plus replacing the gaskets... $1000. Now, with this being said, you just need to find a decent mechanic, end of story. With what you paid for what you got, you might as well had the dealership bend you over and welcome you to prison.

I found me a mechanic, been doing everything on my ride for the last 5 years, including the repair I mentioned above. Once you build that rapport and trust with someone, they are less likely to take you for a ride and are more likely to take care of your Hum like it was their own. Just my experience...

[Tully]

Originally Posted by snmazer

sometimes, not always, when I start up my 03, I get a loud hissing sound from under the hood. Sometimes it lasts a half a second, sometimes 10 seconds. Happens in spring, summer, fall,...but never in winter!
Does this sound similiar to what you experienced with the broken header bolts? I cant pin point what the problem is.

Scott

No, it sounds more like a flapping (or ticking) sound when I accelerate, although does stop after driving the vehicle for a bit...which led me to believe it was a belt or something? (which obviously i was wrong)

[Tully]

Thanks for all the replies. I am taking it to a local service station today to see what they think. I haven't been dissatisfied with the dealer up to this point, I'm used to them 'overpricing' and typically do my homework on the parts and service and then negotiate them down (which they've been flexible with - assuming the bad economy has helped my position)....new recent impression is that they are in even worse shape, this time around there was no wait to get an apointment and I walked into a newly renovated shop that looked like a ghost town.

I think things were more 'down to earth' when they were also a Hummer dealer, now that they are just Caddy again, I think their heads are in the clouds.

Thanks for the information, I'll assume it should be somewhere between a $500 and $1000 job and see what the guy tells me today. Those kind of numbers I can live with....

[fllaw1]

Originally Posted by Easy Ed

I replaced all of mine (both sides) and it is not really bad job, just takes some time and some "grin and bare it" too when parts are in the way of getting another part removed. Examples, had to remove a O2 sensor to get to a manifold to exhaust pipe nut removed. Then I had to un-hook front drive shaft to get to another manifold to pipe nut loose. Just a bunch of small things to make the day go by before ya know it

I had all kinds of 1/2" extensions, rachets, sockets, knuckles, vise grips and so on and was able to get it done in a afternoon and evening and not had a problem since, the new manifold bolts are of a different design and should last longer, larger head and a bigger radius under the head causing less of a fracture point.

Part way down this page you can see all the parts http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=38098

Oh yeah, $2500.00 is too much in my book

Ed

ED, I am thinking of doing the same thing you did and replace everything to my 03 it has 23k miles on it and the bolts look a little rusty from the exterior. What do you recommend to remove them with out breaking them off, I was thinking of hosing them down with Penetrating oil before I do it.

[Easy Ed]

Except for the broken ones, mine came loose without adding anything to them. The broken ones came out using a pair of vise grips. If you want to play it safe go ahead with the penetrating oil on the 12 manifold to head bolts and to the 6 manifold to pipe nuts.

The part number for the bolt is 11518860 and the stealership got me for $1.76 each in 2009 ($21.12 for the 12 of them). For gaskets, I bought them at NAPA and they were, FPG MS92467 for the manifold to head gaskets, the set of 2 was $13.29, FPG 61323 for the manifold to pipe gaskets they were $5.49 each.

Good luck, Ed

P.S. 23,000 miles, mine is at around 90,000 now.

Originally Posted by fllaw1

ED, I am thinking of doing the same thing you did and replace everything to my 03 it has 23k miles on it and the bolts look a little rusty from the exterior. What do you recommend to remove them with out breaking them off, I was thinking of hosing them down with Penetrating oil before I do it.

[HMH2SUT]

I have the same issue myself now. 2005 with 125k... I have 2 broken bolts on the drivers side. Found one bolt head in my driveway, stressed and corroded off...
hopefully i will get a chance to fix it this week I will take pics of the process and post them.

Thanks for the part numbers Easy ED

[HMH2SUT]

a few pics of the manifold with bolt heads missing...






passenger side, is this crack common? like a casting weak point?

[Easy Ed]

That crack is made that way, can see it in pic below, upper manifold.

Also, If I remember correctly, the oil dipstick has to come out to get the passenger side manifold off . One bolt holds the dipstick bracket to the engine block and it the goes into the engine block with a o-ring for sealing. The manifold won't go over the bracket that I could find, like I said earlier, just a bunch of grin and bare it moments to get the manifolds off. (May be because of the heat shield, I do not remember, been a while since I did the work )

Here is a link to my HUMMER page at Photobucket so you can see some of the "parts" and what I removed to get the manifolds out.
http://s639.photobucket.com/albums/u...i/HUMMER%20H2/ Plus other things I have there for reference or for questions that have been asked before.

HMH2SUT, You are welcome on the part numbers

Good luck, Ed

[HMH2SUT]

Decided to start the job now instead of putting it off, realized I had 3 broken bolts on the drivers side so no time to waste... got the driver side manifold off pretty easily. 2 of the broken bolts I can grab with vise grips but of course 1 is broken off inside the head, this coulda been a nice easy job!

Any tips on extracting the bolt from the head?






[IMG][/IMG]

[AndyMac]

Originally Posted by Easy Ed

The part number for the bolt is 11518860 and the stealership got me for $1.76 each in 2009 ($21.12 for the 12 of them).

Wow, they want to gouge me 10 bucks a pop for the bolts up here in the great white north. Think I may have to run state side for the bolts!

[Easy Ed]

Oh Sh!t, that is going to be a problem sorry to say.

Got to use a SMALL right angle drill with a 3/16" drill bit, run it at SLOW speed (bolts are prone to heat treat if you get them hot, hotter than when the motor is running, then you would need a carbide drill bit to cut it), use oil for cutting fluid and once you get through the bolt use a GOOD bolt extractor (not made in China) and hope it comes out, you don't want to know what you will have to do if that don't work.........

One other possible way to try and get it out and this is only if you have a welder and are good at using it, Hold a hex nut over the hole/bolt and go inside the nut and build weld up between the nut and bolt, melt the two together, let cool and hope you can put a socket on the nut and all backs out.

Good luck, Ed

[HMH2SUT]

Easy ed- Its nice to know im not crazy, my first thought was to use a welder but thought that might be over kill...
After going thru my tools I realized I didnt have an extractor or easy out in the size needed. So I tryed the welding method. Everything went as planned on the driver side. The 2 bolts with exposed threads I just slide a 3/8 nuts over and tacked them on. They would have came out with vise grips but this was much easier.
The third bolt was broken just below the surface of the Head. I placed a "fender" washer with a hole just smaller then the bolt hole to contain the weld to the bolt only and not the head. I welded the washer on then a nut and backed everything out...

passenger side is another story... 2 more bolts broke as soon as I tryed to turn them. Tryed the welding method but they are to far below the surface.
looks like I will be buying some new tools tomorrow..

Parts...
Every local parts store had the gaskets, only one could get the bolts but woulda took 3 days. so picked them up from the stealership for $2.50 a piece.

[johndjmix1]

Why not replace the bolts with stainless steel to avoid corrosion?

--John

[Garry]

Tully - I just did this repair on my 2004 H2 for about $40 and 3 hours.
What you need to do is buy the gaskets & bolts. This is definately a two person job but it can be done. What you need to do about two days before you do it is to spray the bolts and the broken bolt with PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench and let it soak in WELL.

Then remove all the bolts that you can with a socket - I broke off two additional ones when doing mine. After that you can side off the manifold
after you pull the spark plug wires - just side it off a few inches so that you can get a set of vice grips around that bolt stubs.

This is where the second person comes in - the guy on top provides the tork on the vice grips and the the person on the bottom is the eyes becuase you cannot see then while looking down into the motor. Once the vice grips are locked onto the stub they will eventually work free. This is where the three hours comes into play.

After you get them off just drop on the new gasket and bolt everything back together.

I have to do my passenger's side next becuase I have one that just broke off on that side too and I am not looking forward to it.

Good luck bro - been there done that.

Forgot to mention - use Class 90 bolts and you'll never replace them again. Here is the link for them at Fastenal - I had them bring them in for me. The OE ones are crap.

http://www.fastenal.com/web/products...1115929&ucst=t

[cashville]

I also have this problem. I have a broken bolt, so today I took all my bolts off, drivers side, and they all came out ok. I have the manifold off to the side a little, which lets me use some vise grips on the broken one, but I couldn't get it off. I was using a small pair of vise grips, I will buy a big one tomorrow, and try again