Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club

[karls]

Anyone out there in BF Land had trouble with failed exhaust manifold studs on the Ford V-10 engines? While changing the oil I observed two missing and the rest rusty.

Doing a Google search gave the disquieting news that this, like the blown out spark plug issue, is another potential wallet buster for Ford owners.

If anyone has been through this I'd like to hear the outcome. Meanwhile, I'll report back if I find a solution through Ford or a local muffler shop.

[bcope01]

What year is your BF chassis?

Bill

[karls]

Ours is a 1998 24RB. I believe BF has been using this engine since 1996.

A Google search of "Ford V-10 Exhaust Studs" revealed that this is not an isolated problem.

Ford's better idea in this instance was to save a few pennies by using standard steel studs and nuts instead of stainless that should have been used in this high temperature environment.

The manifold isn't leaking now, but with two studs missing and no reason to believe that more won't break as well, it seems prudent to bite the bullet now instead of facing a giant hassle on the road this summer.

I have an appointment with a Ford service center this week and am trying not to think about the likely tab as this looks like a siege to correct.

Standby for more when I recover from sticker shock.

[karls]

The bill from the Ford service center for the exhaust manifold stud replacements was $1,146.

I'm not complaining as this is a thankless job considering the access issues. It took 12 hours and six more studs broke and had to be drilled out.

On the positive side, we'll have one less worry on our various excursions to the West and Southeast this summer.