Leaking Exhaust Manifold Studs

[Nitrate]

1981 2000. Counting from the firewall toward the radiator exactly which studs have the potential of leaking oil? RB

[spidernut]

It has been a while, but if I recall correctly the only one I had problems with was the second one.

[Jimb]

Have you ruled out leaking from the distributor and running down?

Jim

[Nitrate]

Thanks John, that saves me a lot of time. RB

[Nitrate]

Jim I'm going to check that today.RB

[azruss]

I have never had an exhaust manifold stud leak oil. The dizzy is a different story and are prone to leaking at the base onto the manifold.

[RRoller123]

Sure you aren't talking about the Head Bolts? A couple of them run through the oil gallery.

Correction: Coolant gallery. (Senior moment).

[zachmac]

I know from recent experience that one or more of the studs / bolt holes for the exhaust manifold absolutely DO go through to the oil gallery in a 2 liter head. Found it out when I tried to fill up with oil before having the studs installed and had oil pouring out the holes. I am pretty sure it was the last two towards the radiator BEFORE the most forward one but I'm not sure. Same thing with one of the two top center studs for the intake side.

[Nitrate]

Thanks all. From what I have found in checking the archives it would be #'s 2 & 4 the two highest ones.

[zachmac]

Thanks all. From what I have found in checking the archives it would be #'s 2 & 4 the two highest ones.

That jives with my recent experience.

[KevAndAndi]

Thanks all. From what I have found in checking the archives it would be #'s 2 & 4 the two highest ones.

Yes, and if we're counting from the firewall, #2 I believe tends to be more problematic. On my car, it is always wet, and when the engine is started, any fresh drips on the exhaust manifold down below create smoke that is disconcerting. I need to pull it and put some high-temp sealant on it.

[Nitrate]

Thanks everyone for giving me a hand with this. I have everything in that area very clean, I'm going to start the car, keep an eye on the problem areas, see what I see and turn it off after a few minutes and continue to observe. RB

[klweimer]

A great way to find leaks is to put a little UV dye in your oil (or coolant, but the dye is different for each), runs things for a while and then look for the leak path using a UV flashlight. With the lights off in the garage, you can see bright green glowing tracks leading right to the culprit. I use a Streamlight Twin-Task® 3C-UV LED flashlight made for police work that's built like a tank. Works great.
Kirk

[Nitrate]

81 2000. Ok I found the leak, now what? It was not the distributor mating surface, it was not the stud. The lower rear corner of the cam housing ( not the cam cover) on the exhaust side where it mates with the Head? I'm not sure if its technically correct to call it the Head but I'm not sure what else to call it. There is a gasket between the two surfaces, looks like it's metal reinforced . Small drops forming right at the corner. So how complex is removing the cam housing on the exhaust side? I'd like to replace that gasket. Since this appears to involve disengaging the timing wheel from the belt, removing the distributor and possibly changing the valve tappet clearance what do I have be careful about and keep an eye on? Thanks, RB

[RRoller123]

First, pull the valve cover and properly torque the Cam Box to head. It may be loose, I have found on two separate occasions at least 1 bolt under spec, and the spec is quite low anyway: 14 ft-lbs.