johnson8769

my exhaust flange is leaking and bolts are rusted bad enough i cant get a wrench on them but the flange is still in decent shape to get a few more years out of it

Dirtyhabit

Is it lose is that why it's leaking?

johnson8769

yes ...i can see thourgh the the flange but cannot tighten it up

Dirtyhabit

Cut the bolts with sawzaw and buy new ones

johnson8769

1 side i can get the stud out ....the othe side is threaded in and it is rujsted enough you cant turn it out and along the outer edge of the flange right where the studs are at is rusted thourgh...but overall the whole flange is still in decent shape.....not rusted and ready to fall apart.....is it bad to drive this...the gasket is completley gone and is a little loud.?

johnson8769

if i had a lift i could fix this in a an hour...i have a 200 amp welder ...id just weld the dam thing all the way around and be done with it but i dont have a lift.

extrashaky

Which flange are you talking about? If you have the bolt-together version of your exhaust, you have several flanges in it that connect the pieces together.

Did you soak the hell out of the bolts with Kroil or PB Blaster? Soak 'em for a few days, putting more on each day, then try to get the bolts out. If that doesn't work, heat them up with a torch to see if you can break the connection that way.

johnson8769

It is the flange that is connected to the manifold flange ...closest to the motor.

Rogue4x4

Don't do this. It's made to come apart for a reason. Cut the old bolts out, put new ones in. Not that hard. You said the flange was rusted out, near where the bolt goes through? Pics? If your flange is rusted out where the hardware goes through, you need a new one. If it has cancer, it's only a matter of time before the rest goes.

johnson8769

its rusted along the outer edge of flange just where the studs or bolts go thourgh thats why it is leaking and gasket is now gone....but overall the flange is still pretty solid not great but still solid....if i could weld the holes shut and re drill the holes im sure i could get a couple more yrs out of it but the rest of the exhaust isnt in the greatest shape either...just want to get threw winter and save up for new exhaust

extrashaky

Well then, to answer your question:

It isn't good for it. With an exhaust hole in it that close to the motor, you risk having cold air rush up through the exhaust manifold when you throttle back or shut it off. Cold air hitting the inside of a hot head can cause damage in some engines, mainly warped or burned valves. I don't know if that's a significant problem in the 4.0L, but I really wouldn't risk it. I don't think I would be comfortable with a hole anywhere forward of the firewall.

Can you park this thing until you can replace it? From this and your other thread, it sounds like you need to bite the bullet and spend the money on replacing the entire exhaust.

If you have to keep driving it like it is while you're waiting for parts, I would see about getting some exhaust tape from your local O'Reilladvancedautozone store to wrap around that joint until you can work on it. That's a band-aid at best, but at least you won't be sucking cold air.

Dirtyhabit

They have flange repair kits also