Exhaust manifold gasket leaking. Doh...

[wolfsburgnut]

Don't get too worried by the condition of the exhaust nuts, mine looked like that too, but the studs came out no problem.  I would recommend those  Canadian Tire tools somebody mentioned above.  I have used them many times, and they are a real life saver.

Peter

[speedy]

Nice pictures... looks like you are in for a fight though.  First thing I would do is soak those nuts for a long time with a good rust penetrant.  Note that WD-40 is NOT a good rust penetrant.  The two products I would recommend are Kroil or Mopar Heat Valve penetrant (from Chrysler/Dodge parts).  Soak them every couple of hours for a day or two.  Then get a 5-point 12mm socket, make sure it is seated all the way against the manifold and try your luck backing the nuts off.  If the socket spins, try an 11mm or 7/16" 5-point socket.  Use a hammer to tap it on if necessary.  If that fails then you are going to have to try more barbaric tactics.  If you can reach the nuts with a good sharp vice-grip, clamp it down and turn.  Another possibility is to use hit the edge of the nut with a cold chisel (in the direction to loosen the nut).  If those all fail, I would recommend cutting the nuts off with a dremel and cutting disc.  If you can cut a slot in the side of the nut you may be able to insert a large flat blade screwdriver into the slot and twist to spread the nut apart without damaging the threads too much.  You want to keep the threads as intact as possible to make it easier to remove the stud once the nut is off.

Keep us posted!

-Dave

[Staley]

If all else fails... you can use a SHARP long chisel and cut the nuts off.
man that sounds bad! LOL  It works for me in a pinch.  
If that seems too tough just use a torch and heat them up real hot after you soak them.. that might help

[LeeG]

Once upon a time I spent a year in a brake and muffler shop.  
If you have a oxy-acetalene torch, those will be no problem.  I'd start with a small flame, heat a red spot of side of nut, then stick a socket on it and undo it.  If it was too rusty for the socket and vice-grips wouldn't fit, I'd burn the nuts off with the cutting torch.  It is usually possible to burn nuts off and leave the threads on the stud untouched.....use a small flame, get a corner hot and cut through a corner of the nut at a tangent to the stud.  If you work quickly and carefully you can blow the nut down to the threads and never get the stud threads hot enough to start melting.  After you burn away one corner of nut you can usually pry it open or twist it off.

I would be worried to tackle those cold, snapping a stud off would really suck.  But if I had too, repeated soaking with penetrating oil would be a good start.

[HarryMann]

Mine were pretty rotten too... but they all came off. Trick is to clean them off as well as you can, and make sure whatever socket you use is well seated. On some that were dodgy, I used a 12pt 11mm socket.

Thats my approach, don't start until you've given yourself a good chance of succeeding - pre-clean all the threads and def. choose your socket by fit, not size.

Another possibility is to use hit the edge of the nut with a cold chisel (in the direction to loosen the nut). If those all fail, I would recommend cutting the nuts off with a dremel and cutting disc.

Yes, but this is actuially the correct tool, not a simple cold chisel.. its a custom nut/bolt punch... that will dig enough to shock-drive loosen the fastener, but not to shear great lumps off. Easy to make yourself, usage is all in the angling to drive + shock correctly ... see link.

http://wiki.80-90.co.uk/index.php/General_Screw/bolt_punch

[anarchyx34]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I was thinking about using something like this:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Compressors+%26+Air+Tools&pid=00952165000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Impact+Sockets&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

Oh also, will I need to remove the intake manifold for better access to everything? The area seems a bit tight.

[burn_your_money]

Defiantly take the intake off first. I think that one is 7mm allens.

Those items in the sears link are perfect. I use the mastercraft version and have not found a bolt that I couldn't get off. The only hard part can be if there isn't enough room to get the socket on them. Once you break the nut free with that tool you can usually switch back to a normal socket for the rest of removal
Your nuts look like all the other ones I've seen (that's awkward) Just put whatever socket fits on there and hammer it on as best you can.

[myke_w]

A sharp air chisel and some finesse would be your best pal here, you could either split the nuts, or spin them off. I just did the same job tonight with mine, works like a dream every time.. The advantage of an air chisel is the impact effect that knocks the nut loose instead of the slow excruciating process of twisting it with a wrench and maybe breaking the stud...
If you can't get anything on it it, you might try battery nut pliers, they have  a very short jaw for very high pressure...
A torch, as mentioned above would also get the job done, but the nuts will have to be red hot, and you'll still need a good grip..
Best luck..

[anarchyx34]

What would happen if I snapped one of the downpipe studs?

I know I could disconnect it by taking off the spring clamps, but I almost put an eye out the last time I messed with those, and would like to avoid screwing with them.

[saurkraut]

Use exhaust clamps to open your spring clips.  I use the 2 1/2" ones.  See the end of the post for a picture of an exhaust clamp as a c-spring tool:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2946138

Works better than the purpose designed tools, especially on the TD stuff. And you can have one on each clamp so installtion is a snap.

[anarchyx34]

Not doing to well right now. I already snapped two of the downpipe studs. Ill deal with that later. Now im fighting with the turbo-manifold bolts. Such an awkward location they're in. This car's going to be laid up for a while.

[anarchyx34]

Sigh... Ok. I got the turbo off, which was loads of fun. The intake manfiold was a piece of cake fortunately. Now I'm at the meat of the problem. I've gotten most of the exhaust manifold nuts (the studs came out on most of them) with relatively little drama. I'm fighting with the 2 middle ones on the bottom. The ones I took the pics of actually. The one on the right is so deformed that a 10mm socket fits loose over it. Not to mention that everything is in the friggin way and it's hard to get tools, arms, magic spells, etc.. over there. This car is teh suxxors.

[burn_your_money]

Go to sears and get those nut extractor things. You'll wonder how you ever managed without them. I can't even count the number of times I've used mine. The only problem is that they use a 17mm socket so it can be tricky to get in there, mine usually end up on an angle after pounding them on with a hammer
Are you wishing you had just pulled the head or have you not reached that level of frustration yet?

[anarchyx34]

Well that's something I never want to do again. The job is finished, and it truly kicked my ass. I borrowed a set of those Sears nut extractor things. It worked for only 2 nuts. The tool was too big otherwise and would jam up against the manifold. I had good success with hammering a smaller 12 point socket on and getting it off that way. The 2 that I took pics of were hopeless. I ended up cutting them off with a cut-off dremel wheel. That took about an hour and a half including a trip to HD to get more cutoff discs. I was lucky enough to get the broken studs out of the turbo with a lot of heat and a pair of vise grips. Going back together was far easier, except for threading the bolts that hold the turbo to the manifold. I had someone help me with that. I sprayed permatex copper sealant on all the mating surfaces, and I have no leaks so far. The car is so much quieter now!!

At one point I was actually considering pulling the whole motor, and it probably would've been faster to do that.

[DieselSteed]

Glad to hear you got the beast back on the road.