22re exhaust manifold bolt completely fell out

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Trail Outfitters

Trail Outfitters

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Well I was driving down the freeway and I heard what ounded like something falling off in the motor and rattling around til it was gone. Then instantly an exhaust leek started. I pulled the cover and can see the bolt that is missing, the furthest right bolt(closest to the cab).

Can I replace this without removing the whole exhaust manifold. Seems like a lot of work for one bolt. I was planning on heading down to the Toyota dismantler tomorrow to pick up the bolt. Or can I use a bolt from the hardware store if they won't sell just one bolt.

Any suggestions?
 
By the way when I say bolt I mean stud. SO after further inspections I realized the stud is sheared of inside the block. Does anyone know how long those studs are? It seems to be about 1 1/4-1 1/2 inches in from the manifold.

So what is the fix? I guess it needs to be drilled out. It just seems like a very tight squeeze to get to that back bolt to drill it out. Ahhhh...it is definitley drivable just annoying and I need to get it smogged for registration.

Thanks
 
That sucks man. At first I was going to say your lucky it fell out... Ehh sry man. Again that sucks.

Prolly the easiest thing to do is to try and drill it out where it sits. youll have to remove the manifold completely, which sucks. But the other thing to do would be to yank the whole head put it on a stand and drill it out that way.

In both situations it sucks. Leaving the head in, its a real pita to drill out those studs. Just did a couple on a landcruiser and even while having enough space to get a drill in there it still took 6 hours to get them drilled and re-tapped. Pulling the whole head is not as big a job as you might think, but if you dont have a friend to help you and haven't done it before its a little scary. But at least if you were able to put it on a stand or table itd be a lot easier to drill out the studs.

Keep in mind that the exhaust studs are hardened steel, and subsequently are really hard to drill out. Figure out which drill bits you need, and get a lot of them. (like 4 sets at the least) And if you can get your hands on some cobalt, or even better carbide drill bits itll help a lot. (more so the carbide bits)
Another thing to keep in mind is that the head is aluminum. Make DAMN sure you drill on center because even a HSS drill bit will chew through that aluminum like butter. (get a nice center punch and be extra careful on its placement) Also make sure to check periodically while your drilling to make sure your going through the stud and not the head.

Lastly if your going to go through the trouble of fixing this get oem studs. They are not that expensive and will be way better than stuff your gonna find at your local hardware store.

One last thought. you may consider buying another head, refurbishing/upgrading it and just swapping it out. Its nice to be able to do your valves and maybe even throw in another cam shaft anyway. (would be a nice perk to the whole situation and not as expensive as you might think)

Good luck man
Again sry man that sucks.
 
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You can fix it, but it's a HUGE pain to deal with the close quarters. It's always that last stud closest to the firewall that fails. You will need a right-angle drill of some sort.

Like Nate says, you will have to be VERY careful to not let the drillbit wander off-center from the hardened stud. If it were me, I would make a guide plate out of some 1/4" steel, drill a 3/16" hole in that, then try to fasten it to the manifold, although it sounds to me like the manifold is gonna have to come off. Position the hole in the guide plate over the center of the stud (maybe use a dental mirror), then drill slowly and carefully.

But, if you're not absolutely confident that you can do this, then I would pull the head off and take it to a machine shop, let them deal with it.
 
Once you have access and before you totally remove the exhaust manifold make a pilot that fits in the attach hole in the manifold. If it broke off clean and flat you could even spot the stud with a drill bit that's the same size as the manifold hole.

As the guys mentioned above you may need to track down a couple solid carbide drill bits to work the hardened studs.

What kind of mileage do you have on it? If you're approaching a timing chain change take the head off and have it overhauled, the machine shop can remove the studs and replace them with new OEM studs when it goes back together.
 
i consider drilling a bolt out a last resort, dont do it unless you are totally screwd. try and easy out first, or drill with a smaller drill bit tapping and inserting a screw and jam nut. try to get it out without drilling and re-tapping the hole, use some heat if necessary.
 
So when you are dealing with the stud, take the manifold in and have it planed. The manifold may have warped and aided in your broken stud.

Some of my end studs were stripped and some were ok. Sometimes you can make it work with a longer stud and hope to catch threads passed the stripped ones, but other times heli coil is the (marginal) way to go.
 
Yeah, first I'd pull the exhaust manifold and try an easy out or another broken bolt remover.

Costly, but EDM machining can remove the hardest broken off bolts without damaging the threading. You will likely have to remove the head to do it. EDM = Electrical Discharge Machining. They use a small electrical arc to blast off tiny bits of metal.

If you choose to get a new head I've heard good things about this shop: HEAD SHOP
 
Thinking of drilling there are drill bits that are reverse threaded. That is left hand threaded. We use them and sometimes the bolt will just spin out as we are drilling a hole down it's center.
 
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