I hear a ticking noise on cold start and thinks a bolt or two are busted on the exhaust manifold. I see its a costly fix.

But,

I came across this affordable make whatever it takes remedy called Exhaust Manifold bolt Repair Clamp Kit https://kralautoparts.com/product/ex...air-kit-kap169


Any hummer broken exhaust bolt owners know anything about this or have used this fix

 

I've used them and the Dorman ones (pretty much the exact same thing and work just as well - they are extremely thick and strong).

I just put headers on mine and 4 bolts were broken off. The only one I was not able to extract (without pulling the engine out due to the diffucult access) was the rear drivers side one. So I put the Dorman branded clamp back on that one with the new header. Works perfect.


That all being said - it is NOT easy to install due to the location. There are two threaded holes in the back side of the head which are between the head and the firewall. I installed it the first time 100% from above. Getting those two bolts started and then tightened is not easy at all to get to. Essentially you are holding the bolt blind between the tips of two fingers to get it started. What I did find is when I installed the headers I had the wheel housing liner out and it was easier to get to it then but still not super easy.

I also have one of the clamps too but ended up not needing it since I extracted that one. There are two clamps. The first one I linked above can do the drivers side rear or the passenger side front. The other one linked below can do the passenger side rear or the drivers side front.

I can say this - they do work great. They will clamp the manifold down as tight as you want. If the broken bolt is sticking up above the level of the manifold surface though, you will need to either grind it down flush with the manifold or pull the manifold and try to remove the broken off bolt. This is the other Dorman one.



Overall though, IF you are going to do the work yourself its actually cheap to fix if you are going to keep your stock manifolds. But it will be a good bit of work. You pretty much have to disconnect the exhuast manifolds at the joint and then unbolt them from the truck to get them out of the way. Then you can work on extracting the bolts. At that point its just the cost of a new set of bolts. I got aftermarket bolts on eBay for less than $15. Search for my recent thread if you want to see more about it as well as pics with things apart and all with the parts.