Broken EXHAUST manifold bolts: Why GM, WHY ??
#11
TECH Veteran
I use ARP chromoly bolts now
#13
TECH Veteran
Yeah my '99 5.3 had no bolts break off. My 04 6.0 had one that was broken on it's own. Both TX trucks.
My '96 Impala had 4 that broke off on their own.
My '96 Impala had 4 that broke off on their own.
The following 3 users liked this post by 01WS6/tamu:
#19
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (4)
@54inches I'm not sure what correlation there would be there.
Long answer: Heat spots on those back two cylinders, which is where most people see the broken bolts. Consequently, those that have the factory and/or aftermarket 4 corner steam port setup
as opposed to the 2 port, do not seem to have the incidence of the broken bolts as much.
#20
TECH Resident
Never heard of steam ports being the cause. What about broken exhaust manifold bolts on engines that didn't have steam ports?
They seem to break at random locations in my limited observations. As far as I know, it's because of thermal expansion due to different coefficients from the dissimilar metals. Older cast iron head seemed like was less of an issue (also had cast iron manifolds) but still happened. Of course, the cycling of heating and cooling contributes as well.
I started putting that copper based anti seize when installing them, but don't really know if there's any benefit to that TBH.
I'm glad to hear the aftermarket bolts hold up better than OEM ones....
They seem to break at random locations in my limited observations. As far as I know, it's because of thermal expansion due to different coefficients from the dissimilar metals. Older cast iron head seemed like was less of an issue (also had cast iron manifolds) but still happened. Of course, the cycling of heating and cooling contributes as well.
I started putting that copper based anti seize when installing them, but don't really know if there's any benefit to that TBH.
I'm glad to hear the aftermarket bolts hold up better than OEM ones....