Pass side exhaust leak

[Kidd7]

2000 v8 Ex EB 170k. Driving home from vaca it went from a ticking sound to a much louder roaring. It's definitely coming from the passenger side and either in the engine bay or very close; It's much louder in the engine bay than it is outside.

In doing some research it seems the earlier years had issues with the exhaust manifold cracking, is that still a concern for a 2000?

There is gasket material flaking off between the exhaust ports so I am thinking it's the gasket. Any advice on where else to look?

How much of a PIA is replacing the gasket or manifold, it looks really tight in there? I have some rust on the studs and heads and with it being 23 years old I'm concerned about breaking bolts.

 

[crunchie_frog]

I had two 2000 5.0s and they both had the gaskets give way causing a loud ticking noise. You should see carbon tracks (black marks) where the gasket has given way. At least in my case, I think part of the cause was some of the exhaust manifold bolts backing out, I had one that was missing altogether. I think they changed to cast iron in 98 and the cracking issue was not as much of a problem after that. The bolts connecting the manifold to the exhaust downcomer are likely going to be difficult if there is a lot of rust, I had to cut mine on one. Yes, bolts can break off in the head, the ones going through the thickest part of the manifold are the most susceptible from my experience. Otherwise, you will have to wrangle the manifold out and then back in and the job is not that bad if there are no broken bolts in the head. Mine had only a thin section of manifold at the sealing surface at the leak / gasket blow out point so I replaced mine even though there was not a crack. There are threads on this forum that walk through the job, I would think some youtube videos as well. Good luck.

 

[Turdle]

It helps to remove the front tire, and do the work thru the wheel opening after removing the fender liner extension. Count on bolts breaking, if you do need new bolts it's best to be 1/8 " shorter than longer.

 

[Kidd7]

Count on bolts breaking

That's what scares me. I've never been good at removing broken bolts. Easy outs always break and I don't have a welder or welding skills. Outside of broken bolts, the job looks like a PIA but doable.

 

[Kidd7]

So the job wasn't that bad. The bolts came out easy, the long bolt was the only one that gave me trouble, I got a little nervous at the amount of pressure needed to break it loose, but it did come right out. I used a ratchet strap to pull the manifold from the block and cleaned up the surfaces. It took care of the bulk of the noise, there is still a leak somewhere on the passenger side that I've gotta find.

 

[Turdle]

Good job. Take a real close look at the egr tube, and the dpfe hoses. The hoses can split and release exhaust pressure- noise. Mine has popped off without a cel code, so check them closely.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I broke bolts ALL over my other Mountaineer, but the exhaust ones came right out, even thought they were super tight.

My accordion split on my EGR tube. I capped it for awhile, and replaced it later.

 

[Kidd7]

I was able to poke around the engine bay today and couldn't find the leak. The EGR hoses are connected and in good shape. The accordion looks good, although it was hot so I was not feeling around the EGR tube. So still looking.

side bar: I did notice the pipe one of the heater hoses connects to looks pretty rusted, so adding that to the repair list. What is that pipe called, I'm not finding it on Rockauto.