Zorin
Active Member
- Joined
- October 31, 2017
- Messages
- 93
- Reaction score
- 16
- City, State
- Milton, KS
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2006 Explorer Eddie Bauer
Yep!
After 23,000 mostly carefree miles of happy motoring, my Explorer started the dreaded tick tick tick of a warped passenger exhaust manifold. Figure, no biggie, I'm a pretty accomplished wrench, we'll fix it.
Yeah, right.
3 days, myself and a friend struggled, LOL! I got the manifold out, along with the starter, and the A/C compressor, fairly easily. Turns out, the studs on Cylinder one had snapped, but we anticipated this. What we did NOT anticipate was that the upper stud would be completely locked in the head. After trying two different extractors, and trying to heat the head a little, we still could not get it to budge, either in or out. The lower turned in as we drilled, telling us that one was coming out for sure. And it did, piece of cake.
I will share also, I bought a Ford Racing mini starter for it, hoping to replace my old original starter with a smaller one to allow for more airflow around the starter. It bolted up GREAT....only trouble is, it doesn't work with the 4.6L 3V with the 6R60. After installing everything, I hit the key to be greeted with a clunk and a WHEEEEEEEEEEE of a starter free-spinning. After removing it for inspection, I figured out that the Ford Racing mini starter bendix drive is shorter than the one on the Explorer....the bendix will not extend far enough to engage the ring gear on the torque converter.
So, I put it back together with only one stud in the Cylinder one exhaust...it's quieter, but I will be sending it to a shop to have the engine pulled and have the stud drilled out, and re-tapped. I will also have the shop replace all of the heater and coolant hoses and flush the coolant while they are messing with it.
A few folks told me to turn it in while it was nice and quiet, but it'll cost me about a grand to get a shop to pull it, and repair it. Can't replace this for a grand, certainly not with anything I like this much.
After 23,000 mostly carefree miles of happy motoring, my Explorer started the dreaded tick tick tick of a warped passenger exhaust manifold. Figure, no biggie, I'm a pretty accomplished wrench, we'll fix it.
Yeah, right.
3 days, myself and a friend struggled, LOL! I got the manifold out, along with the starter, and the A/C compressor, fairly easily. Turns out, the studs on Cylinder one had snapped, but we anticipated this. What we did NOT anticipate was that the upper stud would be completely locked in the head. After trying two different extractors, and trying to heat the head a little, we still could not get it to budge, either in or out. The lower turned in as we drilled, telling us that one was coming out for sure. And it did, piece of cake.
I will share also, I bought a Ford Racing mini starter for it, hoping to replace my old original starter with a smaller one to allow for more airflow around the starter. It bolted up GREAT....only trouble is, it doesn't work with the 4.6L 3V with the 6R60. After installing everything, I hit the key to be greeted with a clunk and a WHEEEEEEEEEEE of a starter free-spinning. After removing it for inspection, I figured out that the Ford Racing mini starter bendix drive is shorter than the one on the Explorer....the bendix will not extend far enough to engage the ring gear on the torque converter.
So, I put it back together with only one stud in the Cylinder one exhaust...it's quieter, but I will be sending it to a shop to have the engine pulled and have the stud drilled out, and re-tapped. I will also have the shop replace all of the heater and coolant hoses and flush the coolant while they are messing with it.
A few folks told me to turn it in while it was nice and quiet, but it'll cost me about a grand to get a shop to pull it, and repair it. Can't replace this for a grand, certainly not with anything I like this much.
