Exhaust Manifold to Engine Bolts

[Dr. Swagmor]

Hello everyone,

Recently purchased my first Ranger knowing that it was going to need some work. We believe it is either a head gasket issue, cracked head, or something related to the valves. We are working towards removing the heads to take them to a shop to get serviced and pressure tested.

We have nearly everything removed and the last piece of the puzzle that remains is the exhaust manifold. We broke two of the OEM bolts that fasten the manifold to the head and fully removed one of the bolts. To get the clearance to remove the head, we are pretty confident that we need to remove the remaining bolts (they will all be replaced during the rebuild). For the remaining 7 bolts, we cannot figure out how to remove them from the head. I looked for a 4 or 8 point socket and they don’t make them that small. I will include the picture that I have, the nut is still on in the image but it is currently removed as well as the pushrods.

Any advice on how to remove the remaining bolts or other ideas to allow the manifolds to move enough to give the required clearance? We have some basic mechanic skills but this has been a big undertaking for my buddy who’s been helping and myself.

It is a 2000 Ranger V6 4.0 OHV with a manual transmission

 

[SenorNoob]

First welcome to TRS!
Show us the rest of the project.

I'm gonna suggest a wrench on that. Boxed end if you can. Very tight fitting open end if absolutely necessary.

 

[Curious Hound]

I looked for a 4 or 8 point socket and they don’t make them that small. I

Looks like a regular 6-sided hex nut to me. Maybe I don't understand the question.

 

[Dr. Swagmor]

Thank you for the response, I have some better pictures to better explain my issue. The hex bolts came off mostly no problem, some seized and snapped the bolts. My issue is how to remove the bolts or how to move the exhaust manifold enough to get enough clearance to remove the heads. I couldn’t even find a wrench small enough to fit the square peg end and I can almost wedge a 7/36s socket but I don’t have enough grip to crack them off

Last image is the current state of the teardown.

 

[SenorNoob]

Oh, your looking to pull the studs...

There are tools for that too. Lots of people put 2 nuts locked together on them but that isn't exactly right either.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/performance-tool/performance-tool-stud-extractor/pfm0/w83203

No idea how it works. I've never used one...

 

[Roert42]

Studs is the word you are looking for.

 

[Roert42]

You could put two nuts on the stud and lock them together, then use that to turn out the stud.

Or

Stud extractor.

https://www.harryepstein.com/products/1952-wright-tool-stud-extractor-nos-x79?srsltid=AU7gw4WLkaNGwwLYg0jpvoRhD4Q5as8K6qqXjAs4HKJXbi40OL58pOMC

 

[Dr. Swagmor]

Interesting and thank you! I have been to oreillys, auto zones, and a ford dealership to get any help and had no answers until this post. I don’t have any impact drivers so I will spray with rust off and try the double nuts idea. I probably wont have an update until Sunday or Monday.

I looked into replacing the studs and from what I can find, they are obsolete and not produced anymore. I’m hoping to not have to take these off for a while after this project but is there a recommended replacement that would be easier to remove in the future?