Exhaust stud removal

Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:40 am

Does anyone know of a good garage for e30's in the Ilford area, got a broken stud in the block and need a decent garage that can get it out.

Any help appreciated

Stu

Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:49 am

Is this a 6 cylinder engine?

Is it one of the studs close to the bulkhead?

Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:10 am

Yeah sorry should have said it's a 325 and the stud is right at the front of the block, manifold is blowing when i put any load on it.

Stu

Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:25 am

Access is very difficult,as I am sure you know!

Usual advice with these is to remove the head and let an engine building type place remove the remains of the stud.

This is almost a common problem with these engines,the standard cast exhaust manifold warps 'banana' shaped over time,causing the studs at the ends to weaken,then snap,usually just below the head surface.

If you are able to remove the head yourself,you will save a considerable amount of cash,head off/replace is about half a days work for a skilled mechanic.

Snag is,once the head is off,you start on the 'whilst I have the thing in bits' syndrome,and these heads can cost £300/£500 in parts alone to refurbish.

May be worth your while having a hunt through the parts for sale section,looking for a re-furbed head,you want some sort of garrantee that a pressure test has been carried out and that the rest of the internal bits are in good order.

Sorry to be the bearer of expensive news....welcome to the zone,BTW!

Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:58 am

Cheers, was hoping i wouldn't have to replace/remove the head as it's only done 94k and was nice and quiet before this happened

the exhaust place i went to said there was a guy in the london area that used to specialise in removing the snapped stud but i wouldn't know where to start in trying to find him

My cheap car is getting expensive already, thanks for your help

Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:28 pm

I'm reading this with interest as I've got to remove mine soon.. get ready for 'sweary' posts full of hatred for manifold bolts.. why the hell didn't they make them M8 or something a bit more sturdy!

Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:45 pm

I anticipated snapped studs when I was putting my 6branch manifold on. So i bought a 90degree tool for the drill. Sure enough, one snapped (thank god nearest the front of the car) and I drilled the centre of the stud out, using my girlfriends small mirror to see what i was doing

then used stud extractors to wind the rest out. quick clean up with a thread chaser and you're done

took me around an hour

Mon Sep 12, 2011 4:43 pm

CHR1S1990 wrote:I anticipated snapped studs when I was putting my 6branch manifold on. So i bought a 90degree tool for the drill. Sure enough, one snapped (thank god nearest the front of the car) and I drilled the centre of the stud out, using my girlfriends small mirror to see what i was doing then used stud extractors to wind the rest out. quick clean up with a thread chaser and you're done took me around an hour

good thinking.. very good thinking.. thanks for the idea! I'm off to order me a 90 degree drill!

Mon Sep 12, 2011 4:50 pm

dont even need to go to that expense my friend..just an adapter will do off ebay (although a 90degree drill would be nice!)...

Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:08 pm

if you did f**k the thread up removing the stud,would a helicoil work?

Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:20 pm

Mine's not blowing ( amazingly ) but has at least 3 broken studs. Also got the customary front of head oil leak so the fecker's got to come off over the winter

Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:29 pm

As a rule if the head is in good order and needs no other work I take the engine out. It takes no longer than removing the head, and means the only new parts you need are 12 manifold studs and nuts.

Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:29 pm

There are plenty of trade guys out there who remove the remains whilst the engine/head is still in the car. Normally around 25 per stud.

Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:35 pm

The last customer i had for this job had been to loads of places to try and get it sorted in situ. Being the very back stud no one would touch it, He even had quotes of over £500 to have the head off ect, ect.

Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:38 pm

I like the sound of not taking the lump out tbh, I've not got the time or skills to do it myself so will have to try and find someone to do it.

Any links or anyone known to do it please let me know

Cheers

Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:44 pm

I was talking to an ex bmw mechanic not too long ago, he explained that renewing the exhaust studs was part of a service, Think he said 60k, and dealer had a jig that would bolt onto the remaining studs, then using a 90 drill, would drill out the snapped stud perfectly. Anyone else heard of this?

Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:05 pm

CHR1S1990 wrote:dont even need to go to that expense my friend..just an adapter will do off ebay (although a 90degree drill would be nice!)...
[/URL]

that is what I meant sorry...

although I do have a big old compressor so I might see if I can get an air one.. I need a garage so bad!!

Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:40 pm

Been to a decent bm garage and he wants £240 to remove all studs and replace with new plus all gaskets, he reckons 4 hrs does that sound ok?

Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:12 pm

stu328is wrote:Been to a decent bm garage and he wants £240 to remove all studs and replace with new plus all gaskets, he reckons 4 hrs does that sound ok?

stu328is wrote:...My cheap car is getting expensive already, thanks for your help

studs - £3
nuts - £5
manifold gasket - £18
downpipe gasket - £13
total - £39

and thats from BMW by the way

get him to remove the snapped studs at £25 each or whatever they are. bound to come out cheaper and least then you can say you've done it yourself

you could get a spare head for £240, keep in mind.

Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:37 pm

stu328is wrote:I like the sound of not taking the lump out tbh, I've not got the time or skills to do it myself so will have to try and find someone to do it.

Any links or anyone known to do it please let me know

Cheers

Speak to these guys http://www.broomebrothers.plus.com/index.htm or Flowtech Exhausts in the same Industrial estate - 020 8586 1717

Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:04 pm

Flowtech is my other option been to see him already, just trying to make sure it's done right first time

Thu Sep 15, 2011 11:34 am

Well!

I did my exhaust manifold gasket last night! took an hour and a half from start to finish, no snapped studs, no funny business.. the Victor reinz gasket from GSF fitted like a dream and the only bugger about the whole thing was that when I moved my brake reservoir for a bit more room I put it on it's side and it leaked everywhere

I recommend soaking all the fixings in WD40 or plusgas for a couple of days previous to doing the job itself like what I did! smells a bit but makes the job a bit more straightforward.. also cracking the nuts off hard rather than a slow gentle pressure is a much better option, do it while the manifold is warm and tap each stud with a tack hammer before starting out.. and good luck!