engine and drivetrain How Do I Stop This Oil Leak?

[bcarey]

I've got a very slow oil leak from a couple of head bolts (showing one below). I'm getting kind of tired of the oil burning on the exhaust manifold. 

 

Any tips on stopping this leak? Can I pull the bolt, clean it, and re-insert with a bit of loctite on the threads?

 

Thanks!

[cj]

Best thing to do is to remove the manifold, replace all the manifold studs with new studs/nuts and put thread sealer on the studs. Make sure all the bores are clean and free of oil. IIRC, the two top studs on cyl. 3 and 4 are drilled all the way through on early heads and oil settles there. When the old manifold studs become loose, oil seeps through the threads on the studs. It may not be a bad idea to remove the valve cover when cleaning the threads just to make sure the threads are clean.

Edited March 30, 2014 by cj

[bcarey]

Thanks for the tip, CJ. I searched on the topic and feel much better educated on the issue and the fix.

 

I'm wondering, though, can I get by with just replacing the offending stud? A lot of folks recommend pulling the whole exhaust manifold off and replacing all the studs at once, but has anyone here had success with the quick fix of just replacing the leaky studs?

 

Thanks

[M3M3]

You can do it right once, or you can do it wrong a lot of times.....

[cj]

You can do it right once, or you can do it wrong a lot of times.....

Bingo!

Studs cost a couple bucks each and the proper copper nuts cost about the same. Time wise, if you do the one stud properly, you'll still remove the manifold. You can also buy the exhaust manifold gasket with the later style that has a heat shield to reduce heat to your spark plug wires.

Edited April 1, 2014 by cj

[Brendan]

I just did this job this weekend.  Pleasantly, the oil goes everywhere as it leaks out, so even the lower studs were wet and they spun right out of the head.  I was terrified about snapping them off, but it was no issue.

 

I bought 25 of those copper nuts for like $14 on Amazon or ebay.  Should be an easy job, and cheap parts.

[bcarey]

Thanks, Mlytle, guys. That's what I figured. This was just the talking to I needed.