#5 and #6 broken exhaust manifold bolt ears on head

[smokemifugotem]

has anyone had this problem? my 1st generation 5.9 cummins in my motorhome I just bought has #5 and #6 exhaust manifold bolt ears broken away from the head from what I assume to be caused by exhaust manifold shrinkage. and is there a fix other than a different head? has anyone had success having them welded back onto the head? I would appreciate any advice anyone has on this problem. I hope I didn't overlook any previous thread on this subject but I am not very computer literate and have little experience with forums. if this has been covered before please accept my apology for starting it up again. thanks.

 

[Shadrach]

Exhaust manifold shrinkage is common in this generation of engine regardless of what it is in. Motorhomes are bad because of the confined space and therefore quite often lack of washing and cleaning. The heat in this case, and I've seen lots of rusty motorhome engines as well, can cause all kinds of problems. Replace the cyl head and exhaust manifold and you should be good to go. This unit is at least 13 years old. Has the engine had horse power modifications done to it? Most people I have talked think the 5.9 doesn't have enough power for such a large beast and therefore have the power cranked up. This adds extra heat making the problem worse. This engine should still be a 160HP engine.

My friend bought a 96 Dodge 2500 from an old fellow who only used it to haul his fiver, but had the fuel cranked way up and no pyro. Three of the "ears" on the head had broken off. The exh manifold bolts were holding them on. We changed the head and exhaust manifold and added a pyro so he could tell when to back out of it. He did get a good deal on the truck.

David

 

[smokemifugotem]

thanks for the valuble info. wow. 160hp sounds anemic for that much weight. yes on engine mods. PO had a Banks Powerpack installed and from what I can tell consist of a "twin ram" intake, boost and EGT gauges, and probably something to crank up the fuel supply and turbo boost. does anyone make an exhaust manifold that won't shrink and destroy the head or bent and break the bolts?

 

[NIsaacs]

Your motorhome might be the 210/230 hp version. Do you have the VE or inline fuel pump? Do you have a high mount turbo with the water cooled aftercooler? If it is the high mount exhaust manifold, the 3 piece low mount Dodge will not work.

Nick

 

[smokemifugotem]

mine is the ve pump. my turbo is lower than the head. I will try to post a picture of it if I can figure out how to do it. it's too bad they didn't elongate the bolt holes on the ex manifold to at least allow for some shrinkage instead of bending bolts and breaking off the bolt ears on the head. that's pretty serious oversight since a head and new manifold isn't cheap or easy and cast iron can't be welded in a high stress area like that.

 

[NIsaacs]

Okay, the Dodge 3 piece after market will work then.

I had #1 and 2 ears break on my 1st gen Ford and had a machine shop weld new ones on, they did not even want the broken pieces. For years I had trouble with exhaust gaskets leaking and finally tightened the bolts so tight they broke. Come to find out the ports were off by 0.007. That was 20 years ago and all is fine, never lost another gasket.

Nick

 

[DVolk]

For a possible exhaust manifold option .check out the exhaust on case and kamatsu farm and construction equipment of which have Cummins in them

 

[smokemifugotem]

so does anyone know a source for a 1st. generation head besides Dodge, Fleetwood, or Cummins? I'm guessing theirs are all priced out of my reach.

 

[smokemifugotem]

how about this one? http://http://www.ebay.com/itm/111969374566?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT