*Cliff Notes: I did my studs over the course of 3 10 hour days. Rust was my enemy, and my POS right-angle drill attachment derailed me for 1.5 days. But I successfully completed the job!!*



I had been driving with a broken stud in the rear manifold for months, but my new job finally allowed me to afford to attempt to fix it (so if I failed I could pay to have them fixed). I bought all the parts from DAVEB (~$50 after all is said and done) and bought myself a set of screw extractors w/ matching left-handed cobalt drill bits, a centerpunch set, a right-angle drill attachment and some assorted small cobalt drill bits. I got friday off, and figured it would take me all day friday and saturday to get the job done (I do live in New England and rusty nuts/bolts are a big issue). I was using the writeup in the sticky because the 4dsc one doesn't really address the rear manifold.

So, on friday I start attacking the car. Immediately I run into a problem. The WSP Y-pipe is such that it partially blocks access to two of the three nuts on the rear manifold. I also happened to snap the third stud trying to get the nut off (no worries, I had an extra manifold I was planning to put on the car anyway). I use every socket, extension piece, universal joint and wrench in my arsenal but it just isn't happening. So I finally concede defeat, drive down the road with a leaky y-pipe and have the local shadetree mechanic chisel the 2 nuts off for $10. I get back and for the rest of the afternoon I make some progress, and stop after removing the rear motor mount off the engine block, exposing the rear manifold to me. I spray the crap out of all the studs w/ Liquid Wrench (I find it dissolves rust much better than PB Blaster), and go to bed.

The next day I start removing the unbroken studs. This is a very tedious process. On the advice of Aaron92SE, I proceed w/ extreme caution so that I don't break any studs. It takes me 4 hours to get the 4 studs out, because access to the "upper" ones is very restricted, and they are very rusty. The 5th stud was actually broken, but the nut was still hanging there. So I have 2 broken studs. So I use a centerpunch and try to start drilling. Uuuuugggghhhhhh. I drill for an hour and make NO progress. Eventually, I figure out that my right-angle attachment is a POS and is inducing too much wobble in the drill bits, rendering them useless. LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU, DON'T CHEAP OUT ON THE TOOLS FOR THE JOB. By now it is night, and 20 degrees out (oh did I mention I did this outside in the driveway, as I don't have a garage). I quit for the night and scheme as to how I'm gonna drill these studs out.

It's Easter Sunday. Thankfully we are having a low-key celebration. I end up buying a right-angle drill at Lowes (which I may or may not return in a week ). The studs drill right out!! I use a #3 extractor to remove them. Side note: I had to relocate my P/S pump to access the lower right stud, but it was a piece of cake. I work till midnight but I can't finish so last night I finally got the crossmember back on and fired her up. Wow it was nice to hear the engine run without the putt-putt of a broken stud (mine were so bad they had progressed beyond the whistling sound into a legitimate putt-putt). And I have low-end power again!

In all, though my budget ballooned as the project progressed, it still came out cheaper than what a shop would charge and I have the satisfaction of knowing I did it myself. Though most people pull the engine to do these studs, it can be done with the engine in the bay!!

P.S.: I'd like to thank Matt and Aaron for all the advice they gave me. I hounded both of them throughout the weekend with questions I had. Thanks!!!


Pics:



I wonder which ones were broken??

 

The bane of my existance last weekend!!

 

cool, its a great feeling to have your car sound good, i know i was ducking down til i got mine fixed.

thumbs up man!

 

Dumb question: are the exhaust studs those bolts that hold the y-pipe on?

 

I wish I was that studly lol. But seriously, I've gone through this before, and unfortunately (in my 'pre org' days) I didn't know better to request that they be replaced with studs that actually stand up to the job. So 6 years later (I've owned my Max for almost 10) I am facing 4 broken studs again. What a flucking drag! Ah, well mang, you live you learn. Good job!

 

Nice work, Miz. Thanks for the pics and advice for tackling this job. It always helps to know what you may be getting into yourself later down the road. Perhaps, I will be preemptive and replace them before they give me a problem. Heh, I'll wait until I install a y pipe.

 

Congrats on a job well done!

I dred the job. Thankfully none are leaking. I'm tempted to spray them with something to help inhibit any rust progress.

 

When replacing the Studs which studs should you use? Where could they be optained from? I thought the dealer studs would be the best?

Dont have this problem yet but I think knowing which studs are the ones that are going to do the job and last the longes would be something important to know.

 

The studs I replaced are the ones that hold the manifold onto the head. Look at the second picture in my second post. The bolts that hold the y-pipe on are also studs, but aren't the ones I replaced.


I used the Z31 VG Turbo studs (part number is given in the 4dsc writeup). Supposedly if you request replacement Maxima studs, they will give you the stronger ones automatically. But a couple dealers I've asked about the stronger studs have no idea what I was talking about, and I didn't want to take any chances. The VGT studs are a tad shorter as well.


Thanks for all your comments.

 

is it an easier to replace studs on a vg vs. a VE and what kind of right angle drill did u use? Brand, etc.

 

I've never done it on a VG but the guy who did the writeup did it on a VG so it is very similar. I'm guessing maybe the only difference is where the P/S pump is located, but I honestly wouldn't even know. As for the right-angle drill, I don't remember what brand it was offhand (I actually made my sister run out and buy it for me ) but it has a 3.X Amp motor and cost ~$100. I got it at Lowes. Aaron told me his Craftsman right-angle drill attachment worked well for him, but Sears was closed on Easter Sunday.

 

And I thought that I spent a hard Easter Saturday hunting for a ball joint and putting it on Easter Sunday...

 

Good job. 1223456

 

How high have you jacked your car? I am trying to find out what kind of jack and stands I would need to do my studs. Last time I was under the car there was not enough space there to even pull the axles.

I am using something similar to this one and probably exactly same size: Small el'chipo jack

 

I jacked it up using a Craftsman 3-ton floor jack (21" lift height). I lifted the front up by the jack point under the radiator, stuck jackstands on the reinforced sections of the frame rails, then jacked up each side individually using the side jacking points the scissor jack uses to get maximum height. My 2-ton jackstands were at their maximum height and that gave me plenty of room to work with. I supported the engine with my jack (piece of wood on the oil pan) with 2 more jackstands as backups. I don't know if they have Wal-Mart in Canada, but a set of jackstands are $10US and a 3-ton jack is $40US at my local Wally World.

 

what makes the studs weak in the first place? is it that they just have weak tensile strength, or do they rust easily, or both?

 

Both, its the quality of the steel.

 

yeah , sorry about that

 

I should have saved the aim convos

 

nice, i just did the same job, looks so familiar, the triumphant stud on the bit! ha! ... but didn't you put those washers on backwards? ah. i dont think it matters anyway

 

Gee Miz, wish I knew you were doing that -- I would have driven down to lend moral support and pick up tech tips for when I have to do it on my 90 SE!
Good work!

 

Nice work!!! Does it make any difference that the Z31 studs are a tad shorter???
and do u have a pic of the right-angle drill u used???

 

And do you have pics of your jack and stands or the car jacked up?

 

Good work Michael...I am glad we had the motor out when we did mine. It made life so much easier. I wouldnt pull the motor to do them though if we werent already pulling it. I think I would attempt to do it like you did.

When I did the ones on my first GXE I just used an angle attachment and got them from the top...it was a pain but I got them out (2 of em).

 

is it possible to just remove the cylinder heads to do this, I have 2 broken studs in the rear and i was thinking of just removing the cylinder heads to do this, is it advisable?

 

You can do that, but a new head gasket costs $$$$.

 

I can't access the macro function on my digicam, that's why its blurry. The brand is GMC.

 

Good job there dude !

Does it makes a huge difference ?


Luckly , mine didnt broke in 200000 km ... touch on wood