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Stupid exhaust stud problem

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Sarge1992 
#1 ·
Ok so I have a 97 Dakota with the 3.9 and the previous owner apparently welded a broken stud back onto the head (or at least tried to). So as it is now I can't even use an easy out on it due to that genius messing up the hole. I've basically come down to either drilling the entire whole out then installing a helicoil, or just getting another head since I plan to replace the head gaskets and rebuilding the heads in the next couple months anyways (truck has 230k miles, it could use it).

Anyone have any luck with installing helicoils for exhaust bolt holes or should I just hit up the local junkyard? And if I go the junkyard route, are all of the 3.9 heads the same or will I need a certain year bracket? 94-02's frequently pop up in the local junkyards so it shouldn't be too hard to get one.
 
#2 ·
You'll need a Magnum head; heads before 1992 or so will be LA heads.

After that, yep, interchangeable.

If you DO hit the junk yard, pull both heads; it's not uncommon to find small cracks in the heads, and you may pick one up that the cracks are not ignorable.

RwP
 
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