Gen 2--V8, exhaust manifold

[blksn8k]

Mine started making a chirping sound at cold start-up about a month ago. Noise goes away after half a minute or so but it is getting louder and lasting longer. I am at a little over 42k miles so it should be covered by the powertrain warranty. The Ford Warranty Guide that came with the vehicle does list exhaust manifold under the 5yr/60k mile powertrain warranty.



I also have a noisy driver side door hinge. The noise is coming from the stop mechanism which does not seem to be a part that can be lubricated since it has a sealed cap and I have tried various types of lubricant to no avail. The noise gets especially loud after driving in dry, dusty conditions. I guess that is not something Ford expects anyone to do with a 4x4 vehicle. I had the same part replaced under the bumper to bumper warranty just about one year ago for the same reason and the dealer who did that replacement said the part would be covered by the 12mon/12k mile part warranty. However, after one of their service writers actually heard the noise and acknowledged that it could not be lubricated, the service manager denied the repair because HE could not get it to make the noise again. I contacted Ford Customer Care who contacted the dealer who told them they never heard the noise. I will be taking it to another dealer before the part warranty expires. This really burns me up since a dealer employee heard the noise, they acknowledged that the part was covered and would have been payed by Ford to just fix the bloody thing without all this aggravation. Needless to say that dealer has lost me as a customer. I also believe this is a faulty design since I have had the exact same problem with two different hinges and I do not abuse my truck by slamming the doors. Maybe I should...

 

[blksn8k]

Well, I just came back from visiting the second dealer and naturally they couldn't duplicate either problem. Not really surprised by that since the service bay was so loud that we had to talk loud just hear each other.



Fortunately, they did not find any broken manifold studs but they also couldn't hear the noise cause, guess what, it wasn't cold. As I stated before, my noise is more of a chirping sound rather than the ticking noise that others have described. I suspect mine is more likely a cracked manifold but it is not visible because the manifold is covered by a heat shield. The noise is usually only present at cold start-up and goes away after less than a minute. Dealer wants me to leave it overnight so they can listen for it when it is truly cold. With my luck if they try to remove the shield to look at the manifold they will probably break off a few studs.



The other problem with the door hinge is a little more complicated. The first dealer stated that the part was covered by a one year warranty on the part itself. The second dealer claims that would be true only if I had actually purchased the part. Since it was replaced under the bumper to bumper warranty it cannot be covered by the part warranty. Say what? Anyway, the Customer Care rep had previously offered me a 3 month extended warranty for my troubles but it carries a $100 deductible. The cost of the hinge is $65. I will probably buy the damn part and just replace it myself. I am currently restoring a 70 Mach 1 from the ground up so I think I can handle a flipping door hinge. This really isn't going to solve anything though since a year from now I will be going through this whole exercise all over again when the new part that can't be lubricated gets enough dust in it to start making the noise again. :angry:

 

[blksn8k]

Update on my exhaust leak. They had my truck from Friday afternoon until yesterday afternoon. They did find a broken stud when they pulled it apart. They replaced the driver side manifold, gasket, studs, nuts and donut. It was all covered by the powertrain warranty. Just a word to the wise. They said that the 4.6 and 5.4 3V engines are noted for warped exhaust manifolds. I assume that is why they are also breaking studs. Just replacing the broken studs may not solve your problem. So much for the exhaust leak.

I now have a totally new problem. During the exhaust repair they apparently managed to somehow to F up my charging system. The truck was running perfectly other than the exhaust leak when I dropped it off last week. When I went to pick it up yesterday it cranked slow but started on the second attempt. I didn't think too much of it since the AC was set on full blast and I just assumed one of the car wash kids or the service tech had been playing the stereo too long. I made one stop on the way home and it started fine when I left there. However, when I was ready to leave for work this morning it did not have enough charge to crank. I drove the Cobra instead. By the time I got home it didn't even have enough charge for the interior lights. Something is causing a continuous drain. It could be a dead cell but that would be a helluva coincidence. If I can get it started I told them I would bring it back in the morning. When I put a jumper battery on it and turned the key to run but not start the jumper box started vibrating. I now have a trickle charger on it but I really don't think that will do anything either.

You know I am about as loyal a Ford owner as you could possibly hope to find but this is really trying my patience and at this point I have blame most of it on dealer incompetence. This could very well be my last new Ford...

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

Maybe its just time for a battery?

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

THE SAGA CONTINUES....



Left side started the ticking over the weekend, goes to the dealership on Thursday. I'm sure its the same story...sheared off bolts, etc.



Roger, whats the update on yours??

 

[A1cntrler]

Mine has been find since they replaced (under the 60k drive train warranty) the driver side manifold, gasket and some studs. Was thinking the pass side would go next, but only like 400 miles left on the under 60k warranty...

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

It was roughly 5K between having the pass side fixed and the drivers side start to leak. I hope your good luck continues and doesnt spread to the other side...LOL

 

[A1cntrler]

Ok. Now the passenger side on my '07 has gone and done the same as the drivers side, but now I am past the 60k warranty on it by about 2k miles. So for this one I'll have to pony up the $250 deductible on my extended warranty. Still better than paying for the whole job, but I really wish they had fixed it before when it was in getting the other side done, or at least checked it. They couldn't because it wasn't making a noise yet. Now I just need to get the time to be without the Trac for a week again for the repair....

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

oh man..that sucks! Maybe the dealership will cover all the work, 2K isnt as much as we had. We were told the studs are redesigned too to handle the heat better. Good luck~

Sondra

 

[A1cntrler]

On the drivers side it only looks like they had replaced 2 of the studs that were broken (They handed me the two parts that had to EZout anyways) and used the rest of the old ones on the drivers side, with a new manifold.

 

[Carey Frennier]

Wonder if this is something I should look into now, before it becomes a problem. Anyone know if there is a TSB out for this?

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

At least we got new studs with the new manifold, each side seperate of course.



I dont know if its worth looking into now, or waiting until you hear it. Ford wont do anything until there is a leak.

 

[Frank Zabski]

I've just discovered I have the exact same problem. I have 56k. I bought my truck off lease but have an extended warranty...Have to bring it to the dealer...Not looking forward to the visit...What would happen if you just "let it go?"...Mine only lasts about 10-5 secs...

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

Thats about how long it lasts, just until the manifold starts to heat up.

 

[A1cntrler]

Have not had time to take it in yet to have it repaired. The wifes car decided to have transmission problems right when I was supposed to take mine it, so mine is on th eback burner for the moment until we get her car all sorted out.



Aside from the annoying noise (which will get worse) the dealer told me last time that it will cause emissions problems and check engine light eventually. I don't really believe it tho. The part that concerns me is having the exhaust leak out under the hood and possible up into the fresh air intakes for the HVAC system...

 

[Rob Beil]

Thanks for all the great info.

I had similar issue.

4.6L V8

It started out with a slow leak, probably about 4 months ago. Took it to a private shop because I have no warranty any more, 76k now. Luckily I have a pretty good shop and he basically told me we can not find the leak, keep driving for awhile and when it gets worse bring it back in.

Well that day finally came about two weeks ago, so took it in and was told the manifold is cracked. Told he it happens a lot with ford 4.6, etc

Had it fully replaced and they did snap off 4 bolts during the process and he wanted to pull the engine to extract the bolts, which was gonna bug big bucks, we agreed to put bolts back and let it be for now and see how long it would hold. Well a week later it sounded worse than when i took it in. He still wants to pull engine to get to bolts, says they are in a bad place.

I took it to the dealership today to see what they could do, he yes right away that they could get them out. So we will see what the charge is on this one, yeah. Another problem with the Trac. I am seriously considering trading in!!!!



On another note, someone mentioned above about starting problems, any updates?

I am going to start another thread on that one... to see if anyone else is having problems.

 

[Rob Beil]

For those above that had this repair done, did they have to pull the engine to have this work done.

dealership is saying they want $600 just to pull the manifold off and then they aren't 100% if they will be able to get the bolts out from there or have to pull the engine.



Just looking for advise on what others had to do. This is like a never ending nightmare. 80% I am going to trade this thing in now but if i don't get repairs done it will be worth nothing.

 

[Tim Schey]

This is why I traded mine in. I couldn't see paying $1200 to repair one side and then hope and pray that it didn't happen again to the other side.



The bolts are thin and this is a very crappy design.

 

[A1cntrler]

Took the Trac to the dealer yesterday to see about having the Passenger side Exhaust Manifold fixed now. Has only been a few thousand miles since they fixed the other side, but would not look at the pass side because it was not making the noise. Now, with 62,350 miles on it, they initially said that it was out of the warranty (6yr/60k) However the manifold should be covered under the emissions warranty (8yr/80k). So I left it with them overnight so that they could give it a cold start in the morning to hear it. They called me up a little over an hour ago to tell me they had bad news, that it will not be covered by any warranty because it is the opposite side of the one they already fixed. I then told him the check again, and he told me that he had just come from the service managers office and they said that it was not their fix because it is out of warranty. I reminded him that he said something about the Emissions Warranty when I dropped it off, and he said he would run a level 2 and 3 OASIS on my VIN to see what he came up with. Still waiting on the deeper level scan to come back, whatever that is to see if they can warranty it or not.



I suppose they could say that the manifold is warped because the studs broke and the studs are not covered, but what if the manifold warped first and broke the studs? Either way it is not good, but worst case is that I will have to pay the $250 deductible for my Mechanical Breakdown Coverage, but I would rather not have to pay that, and I am sure the warranty company does not want to pay it either, so maybe they will go to bat for me like they did when they said miraculously at the end of the last repair that it was covered (Actually the warranty co. called me to tell me it was covered)

 

[A1cntrler]

Just heard back from the dealer. Apparently the deeper OASIS scan revealed that my truck is covered, not by the drive train warranty like the driver side, but this time by the emissions warranty, which in some cases goes out to 8yrs/80k. He said the same parts need to be ordered for the Pass side now too likely, and they will know more once the teardown begins tomorrow. Will have to see what all is involved in the Pass side manifold now. Not even sure yet which studs/how many are broken.



I will update as news comes available, if for not other reason then to document it for others who have the issue or will have it in the future.