- Joined
- Oct 1, 2026
- Messages
- 1
- Points
- 1
- City
- San Diego
- State - Country
- CA - USA
- Vehicle Year
- 2000
- Vehicle
- Ford Ranger
- Drive
- 4WD
- Engine
- 4.0L
- Transmission
- Manual
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
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
