Y-pipe removal

[sfwjesse]

Ok guys...93 Ranger 4x4, 4.0 L 5 spd

I am in the process of trying to replace the clutch slave cylinder. According to the haynes manual, i need to remove the exhaust to get the tranny out. This appears to be impossible.......i think i could MAYBE get the passenger side bolts that connect the manifold to the y-pipe.....i can get a ratchet on them, and maybe if i heated them glowing red they would come out. However, the driver side i can only get at one bolt, the other maybe but certainly cannot get a torch on it to heat it. I see no possible way to get this job done other then to cut the y pipe underneath, unbolt the headers and then remove the remaining y-pipe and buy a new one. Any ideas or past experiences to share??

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

if your y-pipe bolts are rusted...your manifold bolts will be worse. leave them alone or youll be trying to remove broken stucks from your heads.

ive never had a problem using a really, really long extension and a 1/2" breaker bar (or pnumatic impact ) to get all 4 y-pipe bolts off. its the 2 (or 3?) that hold the y-pipe to the cat converter that usually give me trouble...but those are accessable enough that you can just cut the heads off, punch them out and replace them with new hardware.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

^+1

When I pulled the 2.9 from my Bronco, I unbolted the manifolds... It wasn't really unbolting as much as it was just snapping the bolts off and bending the exhaust around it... There are 4 manifold bolts stuck in the heads of my 2.9 sitting in the lot... I'm glad it's junk, otherwise I'd be pissed...

 

[sfwjesse]

well i guess i will attempt to break the y-bolts free then. I was thinking of just getting headers and redoing it all but now that you say they will snap off in the heads i am scared. If the breaker bar doesnt work and the nut heads round out......i may try cutting the pipes and U-bolting a sleeve back over them afterwards....or have someone weld it.

 

[sfwjesse]

Ok, tried one bolt on the y-pipe. I got a MAPP gas torch and heated the piss out of the manifold around the bolt, then i put a socket on it with a breaker bar and reefed on it. I broke one 3/8 extension, so i got a better one and reheated. basically the head of the bolt ended up rounding off, the corners just violently snapped.

Now I am in limbo. I have 3 options.

1) take manifolds off, snapping many bolts in the process. Acquire a right angle drill, remove various engine parts in my way, and drill out heads, retap and buy new headers and y-pipe.
2) does the exhaust even need to come out????? It looks like if you pull the tranny off the guide pins, then tip the tail down, it can slide out over the exaust.
3) cut a piece out of the y pipe, then somehow patch/weld/ubolt it back on after the tranny is back in

Please advise...thanks!

 

[2old4this]

I went through this last year, I couldn't get the trany out without removing the Y pipe ('94 4.0). The trany had to come down to get the shifter stub assbly to clear the cab floor. I broke 2 out of 4 bolts in the ex manifold. drilled them out and re tapped. Royal pain...but that's what happens when you work on old stuff!!

Good luck
Pat

 

[AKBroncoII]

I have never had to pull it. Whether an auto or manual.

 

[sfwjesse]

ahhhh, now i see some hope. If a super mod says i can do it without pulling....then maybe i can. I will proceed with the extraction. If the shifter hits the floor....i will cut the floor.

 

[AKBroncoII]

You must pull the shifter, you don't have to pull the top cover. Pull the trim panel that sits on the floor inside. Should be 3 or 4 little bolts.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

ive heard it can be done without removing the exhaust. ive had the transmissions out of 4 different RBV's and could never get the trans to clear the exhaust. maybe i just didnt "want" it bad enough.

i would just cut a chunk out of the crossover part of the y-pipe and weld it back in later.

 

[sfwjesse]

well i was able to acquire an oxy/acetylene torch and get that mother glowing hot. It STILL wont come out, and now the head is rounded. I have given up separating the y-pipe from the manifolds, i am convinced the bolt and the manifold are now the same piece of metal. I am going to attempt to remove the tranny without taking the exhaust off. If that doesnt work i will probably cut the pipe and bring it somewhere to be welded. Pretty frustrating......and a really bad design by ford (if the tranny wont come out with the exhaust in place).

 

[sfwjesse]

Just a follow up. As most of you stated, the tranny will NOT come out with the exhaust in place. Rest assured, i tried everything possible, including removing the aluminum plate around the stick shift, and turning the tranny clockwise and ccw. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY to get it out without removing the exhaust below it. I will be purchasing a sawzall tomorrow to remove that section.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

ive done manifolds on fords and buicks. heat up the bolts on the manifold until there cherry red. let em cool off a little then heat em up again and ratchet em out when they cool of a little again. if they do happen to break off. if your VERY CAREFULL. you can actually melt the bolts outta your head. just dont heat the head up to much or you can mess it up. and angle the torch slightly to allow the lag to fall out, then run a tap through to clean up the threads. and your good to go. hope it works for ya.

 

[CraigK]

sfwjesse

I haven't done the driver's side yet, but I got at my passenger side bolts by removing the fender well plastic, and cutting the bolts manually with a hacksaw blade holder saw. There is a pix in this thread.

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

CraigK

 

[cocoasranger]

I pulled an auto trans and replaced it with a M5OD R-1 on my 89 2.9L Ranger without pulling the y-pipe, but from most comments on this site it appears you can't do this on later models.

At mufflers shops they first try heating the manifold ears where the bolt enters bright red, and loosen using a 6 point socket and impact gun. If that fails, they go right to cutting the bolt heads or shanks off with a torch, then remove the bolts with a stud extractor and impact gun (again with heat on the manifold ears).If the bolts break off flush they either drill them out and re-tap, or more often open the hole with the torch and re-tap the hole. We did hundreds of them at our shop and it usually went pretty quickly since the techs were wizards with the acetylene torch.