Exhaust Manifold Stud Drill Template Tool

Hey, friends, it's Len here from 1A Auto. Today we've got a 2005 Ford F-150 in the shop, and we wanna do another top problems video for you. Let's get started.

Okay, friends, so you know me, one of the first things that I always like to talk about in these videos is a safety issue on these Ford F-150s, there's a very big probability that you're gonna have a problem with the airbag system, when you have a problem with this airbag system, there's probably gonna be two symptoms that you're probably gonna notice, one of them is probably gonna be just an airbag light on your dash, that's the least problematic.

And the second thing that I hope you're probably not gonna notice is the airbag itself might actually deploy randomly, you're not even in an impact. That of course, could be very bad. And it could send you veering off the road or potentially worse.

Now, fixes that you're gonna find for this is gonna be something that you're not necessarily gonna have to do on your own. Ford actually sent out a recall about this, and they're gonna take care of it for you. Essentially, what they're gonna do is they're gonna remove the airbag unit, they're gonna make sure that they cover those wires with some sort of loom, or something protective to make sure that they don't actually get worn through and ground out. And once they fix this for you, you should be good to go down the road.

While we're still inside the vehicle, why don't we jump to the second issue that we have on this vehicle, and that's the blend door actuators. The issue that happens with these blend door actuators is they just stopped working internally, whether it's a component that fails, or it's an electrical issue. But it's a problem with the actual actuator itself, which we sell at 1aauto.com, by the way. Now the symptoms that you're probably gonna notice with this is once your vehicle is at operating temperature, of course there should be able to be heat that pumps out of those vents for you to warm you up, right? Well, let's say you go ahead and you turn that blend door switch so that it's gonna go to full heat, but maybe you feel around your vents and it seems like it's still blowing cold. Well, why is that? Like I said, it's because of the blend door actuator. It's very common for these to go bad on this. And like I said, it is something that we sell at 1aauto.com.

The next thing we're gonna talk about on these vehicles is the spark plugs, there's gonna be a couple different issues that you're probably gonna notice, one spark plug is gonna look a lot like this. The problem with these spark plugs, and this is more than likely on the six cylinder version of these engines, is the fact that the spark plug will actually work its way out of the cylinder. Because the threading that's supposed to be inside the cylinder that holds all these threads at the cylinder actually only has about half this amount of threads, maybe like five threads tapped into it. So you have only five threads out of all these that are actually holding in. Over time, the combustion gases and the heat and everything that's going on inside of that combustion chamber, starts forcing the carbon and everything up inside these threads. And of course, the air starts wiggling around. Once it breaks free, it can just kind of keep loosening. And once it loosens up completely, pops right out of the engine.

The other thing that you might notice with these engines, especially on the Triton with the three valve engines, it's gonna be a different type of spark plug. And with that, you're actually gonna notice the spark plug doesn't wanna come out. When it comes time to replace it in those spark plugs, you're gonna have to use a specialty socket. More than likely, it's gonna look something like this, it's a nice extended socket, that way there it gets down nice and deep inside those tubes that lead down to where the spark plug is. And then you'll have a nice good grip, and it won't be flexing around too much. Because, of course, if you were to have it like that, and it can flex around because you have a smaller socket on there with a big old jumbo extension, you could flex it around and potentially break your sparkplug, which if you're replacing it anyway, it doesn't really matter so much. But if you're just checking it or doing routine maintenance, and you want to make sure it was good, obviously you don't wanna break it.

But with that said, we're gonna continue on to the fact that the spark plugs do like to break inside of the actual engine. And that's due to the upgraded design of the spark plug. They actually have like an extended little piece that comes down here. And so what happens is, is they'll actually adhere due to the heat and the carbon and everything that's going on inside of that engine combustion chamber. It actually almost welds, we'll say. It's not a real weld. So don't hold me to that. But it almost welds to the actual inside of that cylinder head. So when you go to take this out, it doesn't wanna break free. And when it does, you might notice your sparkplug will break up along here, which is less common up around there. You might also notice that even though your socket's grabbing on to this hex head, it'll actually break off right along this area right here. And so you'll have the whole bottom area of the sparkplug stuck inside the engine.

Like I said, this isn't the sparkplug that I'm actually talking about on the Triton three valve engines. This one's a little bit different. But if you were to imagine that having the longer shank, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. That whole area just gets stuck inside the engine and it can become a major issue.

So now for fixes for this. If you were talking about the spark plug that had loosened up and kind of made its way out, more than likely you damaged the threads that are on the inside of that head. So what you're gonna have to do is you're gonna have to re-tap that head. There's a special kit that you can get that's gonna make it so you'll have basically it'll hold out the threads. And then you make new threads, you put in a little Heli-Coil. And then of course, you can put in your spark plug. And you should be good to go.

And then of course, if you were to talk about the spark plugs on the three-valve Tritons, that get frozen inside the engine, 1A Auto has your back. We've got our little kit here. All right, and this is gonna take care of all the business for you, it's gonna make your life a whole lot easier, and you're gonna appreciate it. Something to keep in mind is when you're actually doing those three-valve spark plugs, and you're worried about them being frozen inside the engine, because more than likely, at least one or two of them will be, it's a great idea to run some sort of carbon cleaning system through the engine prior to doing this service. And then also, it's important to remember, when you try to break those spark plugs free, you don't wanna really jam it, you wanna just try to go nice and slow, and you wanna listen for a little crackling sound you want to be like, tic, tic, tic, tic, because that's gonna be the threads trying to break free in there. If you go like this real quick, more than likely, you're just gonna break that spark plug right off, and you're gonna have a major issue.

Now the next thing I wanna talk to you about on these vehicles involves coil packs, and it's probably gonna come up with a symptom, basically, that looks a lot like a check engine light on your dash. And if you were to pull the code, it's gonna come up with something saying along the lines of maybe PO3012, to PO308. Essentially, each one of those numbers, the one 308 at the end there is gonna designate which cylinder has the issue. With that said, let's get into it.

Now these coil packs are known to have issues, they go faulty inside, it's just bound to happen. When it happens, like I said, it's gonna trip a little check engine light for you, you're gonna pull the code, and it's gonna tell you about where to look, it's gonna tell you which cylinder that is showing that it has the issue. Well, now let's say that you pull that coil out and you wanna make sure that it's working, how are you gonna test it? Well, what's the most simple way to test it, you just pick a cylinder that's either right next to it, or even on the other side of the engine from it and swap them real quick. At that point, you would run the vehicle. And if you notice that the misfire happened to move to the area that you just put that coil in, then you know that the issue was the coil. If for some reason the issue didn't move, and it was still remaining on the same cylinder, then of course, you would move along to testing to see if that spark plug is in good condition, and of course to make sure you have compression in the cylinder.

Now let's go with the assumption that after you switch that coil pack over to the other cylinder, maybe the issue didn't change, it's still in that same original cylinder. Well, what's the next couple things that you're gonna check, you wanna to check for fuel pressure, compression, and you'll also wanna make sure that you have a good spark coming from that spark plug.

Now the next problem I wanna talk to you about on these is the exhaust manifolds. Super common, let's talk about it. So now some of the symptoms that you're gonna notice from this is basically mostly a ticking noise. You might also notice a little bit of a smell of exhaust fumes, but that's a little less likely. With what I'm talking about with the ticking noise, it's mostly gonna be heard when the engine's cold. The reason for that is because once the engine heats up and it starts expelling that hot air out through the exhaust, of course, the metal on the manifold, it's gonna expand and close up the imperfections on the manifold, which more than likely would be a crack.

Now a cracked manifold isn't the only reason why you might hear this ticking noise. There might not necessarily be anything wrong with the manifold but it could actually be a broken exhaust stud. The exhaust studs are actually inserted into the engine block. And then, of course, you would have the manifold gasket, the manifold, and then you'd have some nuts that hold the manifold up against the gasket to the engine.

Over time, these studs, of course, due to all the heat and the moisture and everything that they get all around them all the time, they tend to rot away, and then they'll probably break. Generally speaking, it's more than likely gonna be one of the studs probably closest to the firewall, seems like it's the most common one to break. With that said, when that stud breaks, there's a very real possibility that the manifold is gonna be able to pull away from the engine block a little bit, especially if it's on one of the corners, like I said, farthest towards the firewall. When this happens, it creates an air gap. Of course, the gasket is gonna deteriorate more over time so you're gonna notice the ticking noise seems like it gets louder and at this point more than likely you're gonna start really noticing an exhaust fumes smell.

Now obviously exhaust fumes are very big safety issue. You don't wanna be breathing in any of that carbon monoxide so you need to fix any exhaust issue ASAP. With that said, depending on which issue you had, whether it was a cracked manifold, or the broken stud, it would lead you in the direction that you would need to fix. If you have a broken stud, you wouldn't necessarily have to replace the manifold. Although it is good practice to remove the manifold fully and then have it planed. At the same time as it's been planed, you'd wanna visually inspect the whole manifold to make sure you don't see any cracked areas. If you see anything that looks like a crack, well, now's the time to replace it. And of course, if it's just a crack manifold, you would wanna replace the manifold with the new gasket.

Now of course, if you do have to drill out one of those manifold studs, 1A Auto sells a kit that's gonna work perfect for that. Now the reason for this kit would be because when you go to drill out these studs, let's say that it is broken and more than likely, it's probably flushed with the engine block, you're gonna have to drill a little center hole, or a pilot hole. Okay? Once you do that, you would, of course, step up your bit to the next corresponding bit until, of course, you got to the size of the actual stud.

The problem with that is a lot of times when you're trying to drill out the steel stud that's going into the engine, if you go a little bit at an angle, you're gonna cause major issues, and of course, you could actually puncture the coolant jacket inside, which would be very bad.

Okay, friends, so we try to make a nice educational video for you about top problems with the '05 Ford F-150. Are there gonna be more problems? Yeah. Are there gonna be tons of great things about the vehicle? Yeah. Overall, would I say it's a great vehicle to have? Of course I would. Every vehicle has its problems. And this one's just like the rest. With that said, almost every one of these parts that we went over inside this list 1A Auto actually sells, including some of the tools that would make the job much easier for you overall. While I've got you here, if you liked the video, make sure you go ahead and hit that like button, boom. While you're at it, go ahead and subscribe and ring the bell. And while I still got you here, why don't you go ahead and leave me a comment. Let me know if there's something I missed or even if there's just something you wanna say. Thanks.

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What's up guys? I'm Andy from 1A Auto. Here I have this manifold template for drilling manifold bolts out. This one is Ford-specific. What's nice about this is it comes with these alignment pins. This is the longer one and the shorter ones. When you're trying to drill out manifold studs or bolts, a lot of times it's hard to get the drill bits center, so you take these drill bits. It comes with three of these double-ended smaller drill bits and one larger one and then also a stud extractor.

Take this drill bit, attach it to your drill. Put this bolt into the engine and you can drill straight which makes it a very nice, clean job. If you want this tool click the link in the description and head over to 1AAuto.com.

Thanks for watching. Visit 1AAuto.com, your place for DIY auto repairs, for great parts, great service and more content.