Ford 6.8 V10 Exhaust Manifold

[C-Money]

Pretty safe to say I have a leaky exhaust manifold in my 04 F350 with the 6.8 V10. Its been noisy for a while now. Last weekend pulling the 5th wheel, the sound reached a new octave, which I have not heard yet. Question is...am I doing any harm to the motor running it with the bad manifold? As always, the motor runs like a top, and runs strong...

[Henrydog]

I'm not a mechanic, and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn, but I believe you can burn up your values

[Crunchy]

Normally a fairly easy and inexpensive job  if you have room to get at the bolts.  Likely to occur is a few of the bolts will break.  That is where the pain in the butt part comes in.

[jackelope]

Normally a fairly easy and inexpensive job  if you have room to get at the bolts.  Likely to occur is a few of the bolts will break.  That is where the pain in the butt part comes in.

Either bank calls for 2.8 hours labor. Soak the bolts down with some good penetrating oil a day ahead or so.  Replace the manifolds even if they're not cracked along with all the hardware. Trust me on this.

If the leak is bad enough I believe you could run the risk of burning valves, but I've never seen that happen before and I don't know enough to say for sure.
@Woodchuck  ?
@Buckmark   ?

[Boss .300 winmag]

Normally a fairly easy and inexpensive job  if you have room to get at the bolts.  Likely to occur is a few of the bolts will break.  That is where the pain in the butt part comes in.

Either bank calls for 2.8 hours labor. Soak the bolts down with some good penetrating oil a day ahead or so.  Replace the manifolds even if they're not cracked along with all the hardware. Trust me on this.

If the leak is bad enough I believe you could run the risk of burning valves, but I've never seen that happen before and I don't know enough to say for sure.
@Woodchuck  ?
@Buckmark   ?

Is this due to manifold warping?

[C-Money]

Not sure, I believe its just the typical broken bolts...I better get it in for repairs...

[jackelope]

Normally a fairly easy and inexpensive job  if you have room to get at the bolts.  Likely to occur is a few of the bolts will break.  That is where the pain in the butt part comes in.

Either bank calls for 2.8 hours labor. Soak the bolts down with some good penetrating oil a day ahead or so.  Replace the manifolds even if they're not cracked along with all the hardware. Trust me on this.

If the leak is bad enough I believe you could run the risk of burning valves, but I've never seen that happen before and I don't know enough to say for sure.
@Woodchuck  ?
@Buckmark   ?

Is this due to manifold warping?

If you mean the reason for replacing everything, yes. They're probably warped. Good chance they warped and already broke bolts. They do crack sometimes also.

[Woodchuck]

Normally a fairly easy and inexpensive job  if you have room to get at the bolts.  Likely to occur is a few of the bolts will break.  That is where the pain in the butt part comes in.

Either bank calls for 2.8 hours labor. Soak the bolts down with some good penetrating oil a day ahead or so.  Replace the manifolds even if they're not cracked along with all the hardware. Trust me on this.

If the leak is bad enough I believe you could run the risk of burning valves, but I've never seen that happen before and I don't know enough to say for sure.
@Woodchuck  ?
@Buckmark   ?

Is this due to manifold warping?

If you mean the reason for replacing everything, yes. They're probably warped. Good chance they warped and already broke bolts. They do crack sometimes also.

Typically it is the warp that breaks the bolts, I highly suggest replacing all as suggested. You can have the manifold resurfaced but chances of the problem returning is high because you just took thickness off. In an extreme case I suppose you could burn a valve but I have never seen it. The big issues are exhaust now getting in the cab and it could throw oxygen sensor readings off because of some fresh air getting in to the exhaust. 

[follow maggie]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think I have this same issue coming on with my Chevy 8.1L. Are there any benefits/downsides to replacing the manifolds with headers?