Getting drive belt off 2002 Winstar

[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by Black_Blade

I was looking at the flex pipe fittings in CT, but since the bolts connecting the flex to the cat is all corroded and really need to be cut off, just not sure what kind of bolts they are. If I cut them off with a grinder or sawsall, are they threaded into the flange on the cat? or is it just a bolt with nut on one side? Mine are too corroded to be able to tell...

If your 02 exhaust is anything like the one on my 00, and I'm pretty sure they are identical, the "bolts" in question are actually studs and those sure caused me a major headache back in January. They cannot be unbolted or whacked out. Short of buying a new Y-pipe/cat your alternative is to cut them at the base using an ace torch, bolt cutter or hacksaw, then either drill out the stumps through the flange or use a pair of split-flanges over the old flange to pull the pipes together.

A more imaginative if somewhat hillbilly-ish approach is to use two old vise-grips to hold the flanges together, but this will require the use of high-temp "red" sealant to make sure the joint remains airtight. Keep in mind that the vise-grips will quickly rust shut and you'll never be able to remove them without destroying them first. This does look as idiotic as it sounds but no one but you will know they are there.

[tomj76]

The bolts can removed with the help of heat. That said, I didn't do it with the y-pipe on the vehilcle, but after it was off (I believe I may have removed the heads to get it off the flex pipe), I was able to heat the flange until it glowed red and remove the bolts from the y-pipe.

[Black_Blade]

Maybe I could use my shiny new mig welder, cut the heads off some bolts and weld the shafts in place...kind of ambitious for a newb learning to weld tho.

[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by Black_Blade

Maybe I could use my shiny new mig welder, cut the heads off some bolts and weld the shafts in place...kind of ambitious for a newb learning to weld tho.

Or you could simply use a welded fitting to join the Y-pipe to the flex. That was my first intention but I don't use the welder underneath the van unless it's high up on a lift and I didn't feel like pulling out the whole exhaust line in sub-zero weather, that's a project for the coming weeks as I need to replace both exhausts manifolds, the muffler and the hangers. May as well do this away from the vehicle and then hook it back up at once.

For this evening I was content with replacing an outer tie rod end, much more work than i thought getting the old end to unscrew, had to use a pipe wrench no less. In the process I have inadvertently gotten rid of the infamous negative camber that plagues so many Winnies. I suspect the camber is due to shot outer tie rod ends, more specifically Motorcraft ones. Those have serious horizontal play when in need of replacement, well over an inch. Only had time to do one side on mine so now I have one straight front wheel and one still with negative camber, but not for long.