y pipe bolt access

[RavoHimself]

what is the easiest way to get at the bolts on the y pipe where they meet the exhaust manifold

 

[kunar]

a really long extension with a swivel at the end. thats how i've done it anyways.

 

[Bennybooster]

It depends, passenger side its easy to reach from the bottom, driverside you have to reach way up into the engine compartment and its kinda a pain

 

[RavoHimself]

ok... now is it a bolt or a stud. because from what i saw it looks like its a stud. or just extremely rusty

 

[GMillion$]

From the factory it's a bolt that threads into the manifold.

I f'd up some of those bolts (had a pal helping (honest!!) who stripped some (because of access...) and had to cut em) when i did my clutch last week so I replaced them with a smaller diameter bolt w/ a nut.

my other 94 had the same thing done by the prev owner (bolts w/ nuts) for probably the same reason...

 

[Yellowsplash]

naw...its definitely a stud. Those gave me alot of trouble way back when...I just cut em because I was installing headers.

But you can replace it with a bolt for ease of replacement, that is if you cant get the stud out without having to cut and drill it out. I wanna say off the top of my head that its a m12x1.75, but its been awhile.

If you do end up drilling it out, you'll have to add a nut to the opposite side.

 

[bcost882]

haha..... swivel, extention, swivel, socket. maybe another extention in there....you prolly wont get it tight on the first try......lawn mower exhaust leaks for the win

 

[RavoHimself]

oh great. theres no easier way than from the bottom? from the looks of them i will probably have to end up cutting and drilling them out......... fingers crossed

 

[RavoHimself]

let me just say that as of right now i hate whoever designed the exhaust setup. its such a pain in my ass

 

[Yellowsplash]

Getting to it isnt that bad, and having the ball flange is much better and more forgiving then a flat flange and gasket that you'd find on a chevy, lol....a few extentions and possibly a swivel in there. Its getting em off because of rust and being seized thats the problem. I would highly recommend a higher grade impact wrench. I wish I had one when I was originally working on it. Not to mention the few days of soaking them in PB Blaster before you even start working on it.

 

[RavoHimself]

well i wouldnt get started on questioning my tool supply. lol about 8 years ago our garage burned down with my dads jeep in it 2 weeks after we had painted it. it was the only thing holding it up. insurance paid for all brand new tools. we have just about every tool besides a plasma cutter and a lift. so impact gun. thats a firm. lol. and trust me. i've been PBing them for a few days. today is the day where i see if the few days of prep helped

 

[RavoHimself]

well. i started taking off the bolts. i got one of the passenger sides off. and then the next one snapped. what would be the best way to go about removing the broken stud. please tell me there's a way to do it without removing the exhaust manifolds

 

[CraigK]

I don't know if your 4.0 Ranger is like the my BII, but you might get better access by removing the wheel and fenderwell. You may be able to grind off or hacksaw through the broken stud this way.

CraigK

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16138&highlight=y-pipe+manifold

 

[Andres629]

I got the two outer ones by going through the fenderwell, just like Craig said. Then, I just use an 8" extension and a 4" extension and a deep socket (15mm in Canada, anyway) and a breaker bar. Has worked for me... however, if you are trying to get the trans out (is this why you need to do this??) you don't need to remove the y-pipe. A little creative shimmying does the trick to get it out.

 

[RavoHimself]

well i needed it because the exhaust was leaking everywhere and basically needed to be replaced. i snapped the studs. went to get the manifolds off and snap. so the truck is pretty much screwed unless i want to take apart the whole engine and crap. so turns out i made a crappy deal. i probably need to sell it because i'm sick of working on it just to find more crap wrong/broken/rusted to the max.