Failure mode - Ford Triton gasoline (Super Duty / Excursion / E-Series)

Exhaust manifold stud breakage / manifold leak

Reliability tier: verified - verify before ordering, see /disclosure/

Symptoms

a ticking that sounds like an injector but tracks to the manifold flange, worst cold
exhaust smell in the cab; soot traces at the manifold
snapped studs found at any manifold-adjacent job

Root cause

The manifold studs snap from thermal cycling (Ford TSB 17320: 'BROKEN EXHAUST MANIFOLD STUDS', MY2002-2004) and the manifold warps, leaking at the head. The 2V era carries the documented TSB; the 3V-era trucks see the same failure per community documentation. The tick is constantly misdiagnosed as injectors/phaser - the flange-soap test and a visual settle it.

Diagnosis

cold-soak then start: a leak tick fades as metal expands (vs phaser rattle that fades with oil pressure)
soap/bubble test at the flange; visual for soot tracks and missing stud ends
count intact studs per flange

Fixes

extract broken studs, fit the repair kit (inserts/studs + anti-seize) and new gaskets (repair kit) - no manifold replacement needed in most cases; kits are aftermarket by design

Exhaust Manifold Stud/Bolt Repair Kit (+ gaskets)

Prevalence

very-common