Went to get my 'maro worked on and the mech said I have an exhaust leak caused by broken manifold bolts on the passenger side. He also said it isn't something he tackles (figures!). He said a dealer would fix it.

My question is who much can I expect to pay to have this fixed?

 

I had that problem my passanger side was held on by 2 bolts and the driver had 3. i had my frineds shop do it for 300.00, he hada get the manafolds reserfaced because they were warped and hada pull allot of crap off my engine smog pump alt powersteering everything. and then tap the screws and extract them. if i were you id expect to pay 500 or so i was looking around and people were sayin between 500-1000 becasue of the aluminum heads and it was somethin labor plus 150 for the first bolt 50 for each other bolt. I let mine go for a while til i finaly got sick of turing on my car in the morning with the vents on and getting exhaust fumes in my car. I know this is suspost be a common problem for our cars before i bought it my frined said 2.8's had that prob but he wasent sure on the 3.1 well its the same lol. i hada wait about 5 days o get it done to get them mechended and everything. i also had him clean out the exhaust ports and all the crap in the manafolds.

[This message has been edited by FAST RS (edited January 23, 2001).]

 

Here's something funny (?) for you. I bought the top end of a 2.8 a while ago; the guy tried to tear it down, but was snapping bolts left & right, so he left it alone. I took it all home, and he left me with one exhaust manifold. Two bolts were snapped. In the other head, there was one snapped bolt.

I was able to unscrew the snapped bolts from the heads with vise grips & a hammer!

It seems that "maybe" the head and shoulders of the bolts rust to the exhaust manifold, and that's what snaps 'em off. So, you could try removing your manifold and using vise grips/pliers.

The bolts are metric-thread, not SAE/standard thread. I have the bolt specs at home, I'll see if I can find 'em tonite. Definately use new bolts for the re-installation, they're cheap enough ($0.40 each at Pep Boys), and coat all the threads/shoulders/etc of the bolt with Permatex anti-seize compound.

Oh- but if you're looking to go somewhere to have this done, check around with other mechanics. Your mech just doesn't want to touch it, and didn't want to refer you to his competition.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

I had 3 back bolts broke on my pass. rear side and 2 on the front of my driver side, I did the job with out taking my heads off, I took me about 12 hours stright, I don't recomend it, but if ou want to do it that way have fun

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91 Camaro RS/SS
3.1LTR
Flowmaster Exaust
Hyperchip
K&N Airfilter
Ram Air,Cold Air Induction
Accel Wires,Cap,Rotor,Coil,
Plugs
Low Temp Thermostat
16" 91Z28 Rims, BFGoodrich CompT/A
Pioneer Speakers,Deck
Shift Kit

 

My first recomendation is ask around ask the exhaust shops in the area who does their header installation guy's that install header face the problem all the time.It's their worst nightmare but they get experianced and that makes all the differance ,Figure 200.00 + And figure well worth it. If cash is a problem expect to develop a new affinity for all those explatives you have been trying to eliminate from your vocabulary, Tools needed drill a new carbide bit (don't even think about trying to get one more job out of the ones anound the house) and an easy out as big as you can use and not effect the threads after centering the bit in the very center drill slowly carefully straight into the bolt this is best accomplished with the head off but it's your choice then using visegrips or adjustable wrench set the easy out and turn.Oh and one more thing before you begin soak those bolts with wd40 and tap with a malet the night before. Good luck