Ford V10 and exhaust manifold bolts.

The V10 2 valve engine has very poor exhaust manifolds. The 3 valve engine has very good exhaust manifolds, and flow pretty good. To notice any improvement in performance a very good set of exhaust headers is needed for the 3 valve. Any set of headers will show improvements in performance, heat reduction, and some mileage, for the 2 valve, depending if you can keep your foot out of it. Haven't herd of very many problems with the 3 valve exhausts, but it can happen. If the bolts keep loosening, the heads may have had the threads stripped, or pulled, and need a repair.

Don't know if the potential problem is systemic across all years but no problems with my 06 V10 after 42,000 miles. There is some contention regarding the coach builder inadvertently limited cooling air flow across the headers and engine in general designing the front cap.

Need to mention that they also work on gas engines, they had a 2013 Fleetwod in getting the exhaust manifolds replaced. The problem is that the manifold bolts can also break, than you have a real problem. I solved mine by having the banks kit installed with the headers. An added bonus is the performance

I was told at at a cummins service center that is a coach care dealer also that its good to idle the engine for a few minutes before shutting it off to cool the manifolds down.

OP again,

Their rig is a 99 Bounder, no slides.

Also when it comes to the "heat thing" is that during shut down time, or driving? With my 460 I would never shut it down right away, but let it idle for up to 5 minutes depending on the days drive. Heck, sometimes I wouldn't shut it off at all if it was just a fast pit stop.

It was my belief that shutting off the engine after a hard pull was just too much of a change in temperature. Don't know if it was true or not, but I never did have a problem with that 460.

John&Joey wrote:
I always knew that the V8 460 had a passenger side exhaust manifold bolt Achilles heel, but does the V10 have the same problem?

BIL&SIL just took off to Florida and had to have their manifold snugged up while on the road. I guess the bolts came loose and was making one heck of a noise, this was on a 99 Bounder Ford V10.

Was this unique, or something that seems to be recurring now that that engine has been around for awhile? I'm guessing they must have 40-50K on the rig now.

yes they do still have issues on the V10 but not as bad. its a heat thing

I have checked mine, but have found no problems. What MH do they have? Some MH's are designed so that there is more air flow around the manifolds leading to fewer problems.