Catalytic converter repair

[lrm]

My cat(s) are clogged. The shop called me and told me the cat on the left (drivers) side is blown out and emptied into the back cat, the passenger side one was not as bad. They are drilling out the bolts that support the tranny. They told me they have the new catalytic converter installed but have to drill out 4 bolts, they are hardened and take a long time to drill out. Why do they have to replace those bolts if the thing is already installed?

Anyone done this before and know what they're talking about? What are they doing drilling out bolts when the cat is already installed ?

They also told me a torsion bar (not sure?) is broken. When I'm going 55 or faster and hit a bump the steering wheel can get jerked around and not stay straight. Anyone know what that might be ?

4.6 liter V8, my plastic manifold (2 piece) is pulling apart. Coolant leak into the plug holes on top, causes short in coil, gas leaks into exhaust, causes cat to overheat and melt interior and eventually clog. There's a Ford tsb on the manifold it but it was for a limited time, my mileage is too high so it's mine to fix. $1000. Anyone done this before?

Anyone had any luck getting assistance from Ford once the tsb 'warranty' runs out?

Lots of questions, thanks for your help.

 

[swetrid]

The bolts that hold the crossmember to the body break off all the time so they are not lying and they are a pain in the as^ to remove. They have to take that off to replace the cats. The intake manifold also is a common problem on 4.6L. Ford won't help you on the intake either once its out of time or mileage.

 

[alexb2000]

I've been going through the same repair. My intake leaked and took out my converters also, my quote to replace both converters was $500. I haven't done it yet so I'm just resetting the light every 100 miles for now.

I replaced my intake manifold myself for <$300 in parts and about 2.5 hours. Make sure and get the new part from Ford (whether or not you do it yourself) as they have an updated intake manifold that is far better than the original one.

 

[matt0248]

Dorman makes a replacement intake too. It is also upgraded to avoid the failures of the original. I would venture a guess it is much cheaper that the Ford one.

I have used a few of the dorman ones on 4.6's and they worked well. The only issue I had was the supplied self tapping screws for the ignition coils.

 

[lrm]

manifold replacement 4.6l V8

I put in the Dorman manifold yesterday. Mounting the coils was slow, the fuel injector rails had to be moved, not so on the factory unit for me. Now that it's back together the engine is running rough and I suspect it's because of the EGR unit that mounts on the throttle body, the EGR pipe is smoking and burning the protectant wrapping on it. I did have to lift that up and bend it when I removed the manifold, what I did was use a strap to lift it up out of the way keeping pressure on it. This bent the EGR pipe because when I put it back on I had to push on the EGR unit to get it mounted back on the throttle body, my pulling on it had moved it off of where it used to naturally mount.

Anyone know how hard it is to replace the EGR unit and/or the pipe?
Thanks for your help!