DISCONNECT TO WELD QUESTION

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CFD244

CFD244

"I LOST MY ID IN A FLOOD"
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Hi Folks

I will be doing exhaust manifold studs on my 2007 1500. I anticipate mig welding a nut to the broken stud to facilitate removal. I planned on disconnecting the battery, but should I do anything else to protect electrical components?

Thanks
 
CFD244 said:
Hi Folks

I will be doing exhaust manifold studs on my 2007 1500. I anticipate mig welding a nut to the broken stud to facilitate removal. I planned on disconnecting the battery, but should I do anything else to protect electrical components?

Thanks
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I would disconnect both terminals, but that's still no guarantee nothing will get hurt. It's always a risk. You can minimize it further by keeping your ground lead as close as possible to your work.
 
If you want to be careful you might consider pulling the connectors off the "computer" and hook the ground clamp as close to the work as possible
 
I do that job all the time on dodge/ford/chev never had a problem,never disconnected anything , but I do put the ground as close as I can to where I’m welding ,pro tip put a bolt in the good hole in the cyl.head hang the ground off that , also weld a washer on first then nut onto that ,good luck usually 2 or 3 nuts before you get it out . Patients is a virtue.
 
I’ve done it a few times. It can be nerve wracking when the studs broken beneath the plane of the block and your doing a back stud using a mirror. Lol.
 
Did that on my Tacoma and forgot to disconnect the battery -- fried the ECU. Some people might "do it all the time" with no problems, but there's always a chance of hurting something. Always disconnect!!!
 
I always disconnect the battery//and a secondary ground=driving a 2ft stake in the ground using a set of jumper cables from that to the frame/engine
 
Great news.......The gasket was blown out, but no broken studs. Had to weld nuts onto the heat shield studs because they were so rusted no sockets would fit them. Installed new Dorman studs and manifold. Everything I have read says that it may happen again....I sure hope not. Thanks for everyone's input.
 
Those manifolds warp like fish out of water in the hot sun all day. If you place the flange side on a bench you can see how bad it is. Although it seems to be a manufacturing defect and heat cycles that do the damage according to everything I’ve read. I’ve never reused them or replaced with new ones. Headers seem like the best way to go.
 
A story: Back in the late 70's the striker post was cracking out of the sheet metal on my 68 340 GTS, 4 speed. My brother welded it with an arc welder-that's all we had available. It fried the mainshaft bearings in my 4 speed. After cleaning the bearings you could see where each ball fried into race, both inner and outer. That sucked!
 
We had it grounded good enough, we thought?
lemondana said:
A story: Back in the late 70's the striker post was cracking out of the sheet metal on my 68 340 GTS, 4 speed. My brother welded it with an arc welder-that's all we had available. It fried the mainshaft bearings in my 4 speed. After cleaning the bearings you could see where each ball fried into race, both inner and outer. That sucked!
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67dartgtgo said:
Those manifolds warp like fish out of water in the hot sun all day. If you place the flange side on a bench you can see how bad it is. Although it seems to be a manufacturing defect and heat cycles that do the damage according to everything I’ve read. I’ve never reused them or replaced with new ones. Headers seem like the best way to go.
Click to expand...
I've been doing a lot of research as well. Looks like it can go either way. I've also read that some guys think headers are sheite? Who the hell knows.....LOL, I will once I see how this works out. Thanks.
 
CFD244 said:
Hi Folks

I will be doing exhaust manifold studs on my 2007 1500. I anticipate mig welding a nut to the broken stud to facilitate removal. I planned on disconnecting the battery, but should I do anything else to protect electrical components?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I just did this on my 04. Just removed the ground wire from the battery and kept ground clamp as close possible. Also put a set of headers on while I was in there using remflex gaskets. Worked out perfectly.
 
Running a lead parallel to a harness is a no no too. I gently welded door hinges together once. Ground on the body and welding on the door.:realcrazy:
 
Welder ground clamp cleaned to shiny contact surfaces, securely attached to shiny bare metal of either piece to be joined is enough. Securely, shiny, and Bare, are the important words. If you are counting on a spark ground to form at first contact your car is toast.
 
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