Exhaust Manifold Leak Cheap Fix?

Anyone have experience using the Kral brackets on a 5.4 3v Triton?


This kind of bracket attaches to the head and uses a bolt to push the manifold back down against the gasket/head.

Seems like a good short term solution if you’re dealing with broken bolts and an exhaust tick.

I have not used that brand, nor had I heard of them. Looks like a good option though.

I used a different brand that I got locally at O'Reilly's Auto Parts for a Ford 3.0L and it worked great. I think it was ~$20 and took 10-15 minutes to install it. I'll fix the right way when I need to remove the head, but I am not fighting that in the truck.

Very interesting, thanks.

In your situation, which bolt was broken? I stumbled across this particular manufacturer trying to find a solution for a broken passenger side lower bolt.

It was the passenger rear upper bolt that was broken off. I had been trying to find the exhaust leak, it was just a light ticking. I actually found it while replacing the coil pack since 1 of the 3 mounting points is this stud. I was shocked to find the bolt broken in half when the bracket started moving after removing the upper coil pack mounting bolts.

Here's a couple pics, but in this case there is a bit of the manifold mounting flange on the head sticking out to secure it. The 2 nuts are to lock the stud in place.

Thanks for that.

In my case, there are two holes at the back of the head just above the exhaust manifold. One small with not threads, and a larger one that is currently occupied by a large bolt supporting the transmission fluid dipstick.

It is my understanding that the specific bracket for a rear lower broken bolt shares the dipstick bolt, has an insert into the unthreaded hole and then a third bolt is torqued down onto the surface of the head at the lower bolt hole.

I will get it and report back how it works.

Please do, that sounds really cool.

It took about two hours for installation. I left the wheel on, due to working in a sandy driveway, didn’t feel comfortable with jacking in those conditions. Would have gone more quickly taking the wheel off.

You take off the black fender guard and access the manifold from the wheel well. Have to tap one of the holes to thread the bolt, but no problem - it’s aluminum.

You remove the bolt holding the transmission dipstick and replace it with a longer one when mounting the bracket.

Torque down the two bolts holding the bracket on, then, torque down the 3rd “pinch” bolt that pushes the manifold against the head.

So far so good. Can’t hear the tick/pop of that one cylinder anymore.

Definitely recommend this as a band aid/stitches if you’re dealing with a broken exhaust manifold bolt.

$50 for the bracket here:

That's great to hear. The brackets that Kral Auto Parts produces look nice and now we know they seem to work well.

I used to carry a piece of pressure treated 2x12 like 3' long for a jack pad back in my 4-wheelin' days. Something to consider when you need to prevent a jack or jack stands from sinking into semi-soft soil.