Replacing exhaust manifold and gaskets on 96 R. Likelihood of breaking studs?

[abscate]

Here cycles are the way to go. At least three cycles of getting them hot , then cooling down. Cycling busts up the rust and corrosion holding them in.

[Oly850]

I had a similar experience taking the turbos and exhaust manifold off my wife’s 2001 S80. I hosed them down with PB blaster and WD40 as a worked, and several studs came out my with nuts attached but that was no worries.

Absolutely true about the art & science bit. It helps to be patient and get yourself in a comfortable position to work. Sometimes that’s laying under the car where you can explore the deep mysteries of the universe, hold your knuckles when you mash them, etc. They say good mechanics never hurt themselves, I must be terrible.

[MrAl]

Hi,

Can you use those "easy outs" ?
I remember them from way back. You drill a hole in the center of the stud, then insert one of those things and use that to turn the bolt out.
They might call them something else too like "bolt extraction tool" or something else.

Certainly no way to get a drill in between the engine and firewall, I’m afraid, much less see well enough to get a straight shot. If the engine was on a stand out of the car or something, I would be much less worried about all this…

Oh sorry to hear that, i did not realize there was not enough room in there.

Well then another guess, not nice but still maybe possible, if just one or two break off, can you get by with the remaining studs that did not break off, leaving the ones that did break not replaced yet?

[MrAl]

Thanks all. I am replacing the manifold with a Japanifold and swapping my old 15G turbo for a fresh 16T. If I end up with any broken turbo to manifold studs or similar, those I can deal with, as the parts that are coming off the car are not going back on. However I'll be up shit creek as they say if I break a stud off in the cylinder head!

I have already proactively started hitting all the nuts with PB Blaster every other day in preparation for the work (as best as I can, anyway, just kind of blindly spraying at the recess in the manifold where the nuts are because access isn't great from up top). I'm just going to keep at this process until I find time to get the car into the workshop and up on a lift to do the work, and hope that it all comes apart reasonably well...

Hi,

Can you use those "easy outs" ?
I remember them from way back. You drill a hole in the center of the stud, then insert one of those things and use that to turn the bolt out.
They might call them something else too like "bolt extraction tool" or something else.

Ez outs belong at the bottom the nearest lake. Bad tools. Bad. Very bad

Hi,

I just mentioned that because when one does break off what else can you do. Maybe you have a better solution but one that comes after one breaks off. I agree heat is the way to go on this, but if one does break you have to do something, somehow.
He says he cant get a drill in there or a way to get the hole drilled right so that looks like it is off the table anyway.
It's a shame that car manu's don't seem to think about this stuff that much. I mean what do you do when one breaks off, take the whole engine out to fix it?
Volvo's philosophy on car repair seems to be, "Disassemble the whole car, and all the engine parts, fix the problem, then reassemble all the parts." ha ha. Maybe all cars are like this these days with all the extra stuff on them.

I have read that VW made a $25k electric vehicle now. Starting to look more interesting now.
Is Volvo even around anymore, and if so, i wonder if they would make an EV.

[slickdizzy]

In Volvo's defense, "exhaust manifold removal" is not something that should ever really be needed in the life of the vehicle, I am messing around in there to do upgrades...more likely than not I will just end up with a few studs that come out with the nuts (the constant heat cycling of the cylinder head probably helps make that happen) and I have plenty of spare studs, so fingers crossed...

Anyhow, not only is Volvo still around, they have a range of EVs, both under the Volvo brand and the new Polestar premium sub-brand.

https://www.volvocars.com/us/v/cars/electric-cars
https://www.polestar.com/us/

[454cid]

The usual solution to broken stud removal is to weld a nut onto the end, and then you're back to a wrench with a "bolt" that's been heated.

[abscate]

You can get a right angle drill in there but the difference between a mechanic and a parts swapper is a mechanic doesn’t break studs, s/he doesn’t apply torque to break fasteners, they break the bond first, or use a nut splitter/Dremel.

[MrAl]

You can get a right angle drill in there but the difference between a mechanic and a parts swapper is a mechanic doesn’t break studs, s/he doesn’t apply torque to break fasteners, they break the bond first, or use a nut splitter/Dremel.

Oh i didnt realize they were held on with nuts, i thought it was actual bolts that went into the block.

With nuts that's an entirely different story. I would not even try to remove them i would just cut them off with a Dremel like you suggested. Once you cut a slot in the side of the nut, it can be cranked off easily or just break it off. I've actually done that before long time ago. I would never even take the chance of breaking something off and have a really hard time getting it out.

[MrAl]

The usual solution to broken stud removal is to weld a nut onto the end, and then your back to a wrench with a "bolt" that's been heated.

Oh ok, i though they were bolts not nuts. I'd cut the nuts off not take a chance on breaking the stud.

[MrAl]

In Volvo's defense, "exhaust manifold removal" is not something that should ever really be needed in the life of the vehicle, I am messing around in there to do upgrades...more likely than not I will just end up with a few studs that come out with the nuts (the constant heat cycling of the cylinder head probably helps make that happen) and I have plenty of spare studs, so fingers crossed...

Anyhow, not only is Volvo still around, they have a range of EVs, both under the Volvo brand and the new Polestar premium sub-brand.

https://www.volvocars.com/us/v/cars/electric-cars
https://www.polestar.com/us/

I'd cut the nuts off not take a chance on breaking the stud. Not hard to do with a Dremel and even quicker with a die grinder.