Exhaust Manifold Leak

[Doc Holliday]

I suspect I'm going to have an exhaust manifold leak on #4 cylinder of my 220 GPU.

Do I need to fix this? It appears that the stud fell out (the front one) and when I was puttin' it back in, the heli-coil disintegrated. The other stud is tight, but I'm concerned about a leak now. I know how to fix it, but I'm kind of hesitant to take the manifold off, as I've always had problems with these studs.

What are the ramifications of an exhaust manifold leak? If I should fix this immediately, any tips on how to keep the studs in and nuts tight?

 

[ricmey1]

FIX IT! Or you will probably burn a valve. Soak all your studs with rust blaster and pull the header off. Replace any bad studs and use new nuts and gaskets. Then run it and recheck nuts as they do come loose, if one is bad it should be a short job.