Looks like I need to replace an exhaust stud.

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92Landyacht

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My wife noticed that there was a ticking sound coming from the right hand side of the motorhome's engine housing. The sound only can be heard when the engine is under load. No sound when idling and no sound when decelerating. I think I located the source of the problem as being a broken exhaust manifold mounting stud. The MH is a 1992 P30 chassis with a 454 throttle body big block. Is this a common problem? What will I need to do to fix this?

Other than this the engine runs just fine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

Schurkey

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You'll need the new stud for sure. A package of exhaust studs can be had at any NAPA, Advance, Auto Zone, etc. If you're lucky, they'll come with brass nuts.

Probably need a new exhaust donut. Again, any auto parts store will have it--or be able to get it.

You can try replacing the stud with the manifold in-place, but you'll likely need to remove the manifold because the other studs will break when you try to remove the nuts, and the studs won't un-screw from the manifold without major heat (oxy-acetylene torch, or inductive heater.) Moderate chance you'll break one or more of the manifold-to-head bolts. Nope, this isn't a fun job most of the time. If the manifold comes off the head, you'll want to haul it to a machine shop to assure the cylinder-head mating surface of the manifold is still flat and smooth.

Put it together with brass or stainless-steel nuts on the new studs. Anti-seize the bolts into the cylinder head. Torque the bolts to 80% of spec, in the order shown in the service manual. I bet there's no gasket between the exhaust manifold and the cylinder head--and if that's the case, DON'T PUT A GASKET IN THERE WHEN YOU REASSEMBLE IT. The gasket acts like an insulator--the manifold runs hotter with a gasket, leading to warpage, cracks, etc.

This sort of thing has only been a problem for five or ten decades. I'm sure they'll come up with a "factory fix" soon. Until then, you'll be doing it the hard way, just like Grandpa did.

Or buy a brand-new Communist Chinese (or even worse, Vietnamese) exhaust manifold that STILL needs to be taken to the machine shop to get the cylinder-head mating surface planed flat and smooth.

Photos of a Dorman Chinese manifold--note rough surface, and cast-iron dingle-berry that would have disrupted exhaust flow if it hadn't been ground-out.

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[Edit] Sorry, my photos don't show how rough the machined surface is. In real life, it looks like the teeth of a single-cut file. Horrible.[/Edit]
 
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92Landyacht

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Thanks for the rapid response. I was afraid that that was going to be the deal. I just decide to go ahead and get a Banks Power Pack header system put on to replace the manifolds and exhaust system entirely. Not a cheap solution but if the manifold has to come off it may be the best time to bite the bullet.
 

Schurkey

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Years and years ago, a friend of mine re-did the exhaust system of his 97 K2500/454.

He said that replacing the 2-in, 2-out stock muffler with a pair of aftermarket mufflers made a bigger improvement in performance that the Banks headers he bought. The stock muffler had big pipes attached to it, but the internal pipes inside the muffler were choked-down, restricting flow.
 
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