Geerhed

iTrader: (1)

My 90 SE Auto is making a weird noise on startup, which increases with RPM, but goes away after 1/2 mile or so.
Sounds like "chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga...." coming from the rear of the engine (exhaust manifold?). I thought there might be a hole, but the fact that it goes away as soon as the engine has been run for a little bit kinda shoots that idea down.
I heard another 3rd gen maxima doing this leaving a parking lot the other day, so perhaps you've experienced this and, even better, FIXED it?
Makes my car sound really sick on start up. It runs like a champ and has plenty of power, so it's not affecting driveability, just my nerves!

Help?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Broken exahust manifold stud. Leaks when cold, seals when it warms up. Soon it will leak all the time.

Geerhed

iTrader: (1)

I was just reading about the procedure for this on Bryan's Maxima Page
http://members.csinet.net/tisch/maxima/

I was hoping that this wasn't the problem, but had that nagging, sinking feeling in the back of my mind.

Looks like it's a REAL pain to fix this. Some advocate removing the engine, others say you need a second elbow in each arm to get to it. What to do, what to do...

Geerhed

iTrader: (1)

Sure enough, I went out to check the rear manifold studs. They were all there, but I was able to actually pull the bottom one furthest to the driver's side out with my fingers. The top one on the same cylinder feels a bit loose, too.

I guess the Search option isn't working in these forums right now, so at the risk of repeating a question:
Has anyone done this repair? Do you advocate pulling the head, removing the engine, or paying the repair shop to do it while sitting at home having a cold beer?

Thanks in advance!

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

If you can get a shop to do it for a decent amount, let them hassle with it.

fastflyingasian

iTrader: (1)

lucky but unlucky for me, i had that problem. when i got a quote to fix the problem i almost crapped myself so hard that you would have needed a front end loader to pick it all up. by the time the leak got really bad the the engine blew(timing belt). so on the new engine it had the same problem so they replaced the studs while it was out of the car. what they told me is that i had two options to fix the problem when i had the old engine. one is to remove the engine and or remove the heads. i'm with him ^^ , stay home with the beer

Geerhed

iTrader: (1)

On 4DSC.com there was an article relating to fixing the exhaust manifold studs, but it dealt with the front manifold, not the back.
Below that article was a reference to 'Clamp-A-Stud', a product by Nickson Manufacturing out of Connecticutt. I called their rep, and found that this product is for header/manifold joints (anyplace with a flange), not the head/manifold studs.
Back to square one.
Called my local Midas Muffler Shop, and the manager told me that the last one he did took eight hours, and the Maxima owner didn't want to pay for all that labor (can't imagine a Maxima owner wanting to keep his/her money!). Now, they won't touch the job because it ties up the bay for too long.
The Midas manager suggested going to the dealership because they see these all the time. I'm going to have to think about that one... It seems everytime I bring a car to a dearlership my family ends up eating peanut butter and jelly for several weeks afterwards.
The Midas guy also said that the job should be done with the engine and heads intact. He didn't elaborate on how one gets the broken stud off in that cramped space.
Anyone else do this job? Anyone?

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

If you're handy with tools, it's not THAT bad of a job.

the last time I did it, it took me about 6 hours to replace all of the studs- front and rear head... ON the car..
I had to drill out three in the front head and two or three on the rear.

for the front head, you'l have to remove:
AC compressor (don't disconnect the hoses, just unbolt it from the bracket and place it on top of the engine or somewhere out of the way)...
Alternator
radiator fan shroud (might as well drain coolant and remove radiator too in order to give you another 3" of space in there)
Y pipe
exhaust manifolds.

since you have to do the back as well, you're going to have to support the engine from the bottom (or top if you have a cherry picker) and remove the engine crossmember and mounts. then you have to remove the bracket on the rear of the block that bolts to the engine mount. get that off, THEN you can remove the rear exhaust manifold and get to the studs.
most likely, you'll have to drop the engine 2-3" inside the engine bay to get a drill in there to drill out the studs.


use tons of penetrating oil on the exhaust studs before you start the job- it makes things easier 3 hours later when you finally get around to removing the bolts.

use cobalt or better drill bits for this as well. 7/64" size is what I think I used.. Buy several bits as well and use cutting fluid. it makes a HUGE difference.. the $10 you spend on four cobalt drill bits and cutting fluid will be well worth the three hours you save trying to drill through hardened studs with a dull HSS bit.


umm, that's the main points.. Ive done this job about 5 times. not something I enjoy doing, but I'd rather drill out two studs now than all 6 when the manifold finally rips them all off and the exhaust falls off (I've fixed one of those too)

broncoguy

Matt is definitely the guru when it comes to this procedure. I did mine about 3 weeks ago, and he helped me a couple times with it. It's not really a horrible job, but budget about 10 hrs for the first time you do it. I was lucky and got the broken studs out no problem.

Geerhed

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the great information and advice. I have the FSM on CD-ROM, so I'll be sure to read up on all the peripheral parts you mentioned removing. I'm not afraid to get in there and mix it up, but it's nice to know that someone else has 'been there/done that' and that I (probably) won't screw it up too badly if I go in there with drill bits blazing.

Again, thanks!

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

yup... just be sure not to drill into the head when you're trying to get the studs out. that's a biatch to fix.