# exhaust manifold warp



## DIE HARD NISSAN (Dec 28, 2004)

I think I know the answer here, but I'll still ask - I have a 95 XE 3.0, had a passenger side leak, didn't know if it it was the at the flange or the the manifold. I don't drive this truck that much anymore so I didn't take care of it when it first started. Now that it is awful sounding I decided to fix it. Found out it is at the manifold rear port. Noticed the bolt above that port was broken off. Had same problem on my old 95 XE. On that one I don't remember whether I broke it or the previous owner but when I decided to drill out and tap, drill bit slid off stud (without knowing it), into soft aluminum, thought it was going pretty smooth till antifreeze started coming out, but that is a story not worth telling other than I got it fixed with a large bolt. Back to my current problem. Not wanting a repeat of what happened the last time I drill and tapped, I was very careful this time. Ready to bolt everything back on and I notice I have quite a gap to close at that top bolt location (bottom seems to be right where it should be, as well as the other two ports), almost seems like that port has twisted (read WARPED). Looking online at for manifold gasket and studs yesterday, I saw Auto Zone and Advance Auto also sell manifolds. Now I'm thinking, do these things warp that easily (who knows how long that top stud was broken off). Also, because the same kind of leak happened in the same place on my other 95, is this a common occurrence with these 3.0 motors? I'm thinking the scenario is the owner hears the leak early on, feels the exhaust coming out around the port, tries tightening the nut, snappo, leaves it be till it gets too loud,finds out it is warped, auto parts place seizes this new opportunity and adds exhaust manifolds to their inventories. Oh well , back to the truck to try and take those f-ing flanged nuts off (can you say SNAP:balls


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

No, the studs break on their own. Nissan issued a TSB years ago regarding the problem and now offers harder exhaust studs to fix the problem. The two end studs and the center stud should be replaced, along with any others that are broken. It's possible that the manifold could have warped. To be sure, you can run a straight edge across it to check. If it's not too bad, a machine shop can resurface it (like you would to a cylinder head), but if it's substantial, your best bet would be to replace it. Always use new locknuts on the studs, available from Nissan, and replace any missing washers.

Ironically, Nissan went to larger 10mm studs (as opposed to the 8MM used on the VG30) on the VG33 engine, which cured the stud breakage problem, but then had problems with exhaust manifold cracking!


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## DIE HARD NISSAN (Dec 28, 2004)

Trying this: The bottom of that port touches, the top is about I'm gonna say a good 1/16 away, so it is more of a "twist" than a warp. I put a pipe wrench on the manifold extending out toward the upper control arm, I put the truck's screw jack on the control arm jacking it up under the wrench's handle. That closed the twist significantly, but it's still not against the head's surface, don't want to try and use my newly tapped stud to "bring'er home" so tomorrow I get out the torch and try some heat to finish the job. I only use this truck for the once or twice a week trip the the dump, plowing my driveway, and the maybe once a month 30 mile trip somewhere. Hoping to get another year or two out of her with the above driving schedule, plus I have nothing to lose, if I break the manifold, I'd need another one cause I don't think this one is a good candidate for milling.


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