Exhaust Gasket Replacement on a 2nd Gen 2.7L 4cyl (With Pics)

Hey,
So my truck (2010 access cab 2.7L 4cyl MT with 200,000 miles) sounded like an 1800CC moped so I finally realized it was the exhaust leaking from the manifold to pipe connection. I'd lost one of the spring bolts and replaced it without realizing there's a gasket in there as well...
This is the spot of the leak.

and here's a picture in the truck with the spring bolts removed

The bolts were in rough shape when they were removed. I'd sprayed them down with PB Blaster the day before. The bolts that come with the truck thread into welded nuts on the manifold down pipe. These nuts disintegrate over time which in turn cause the spring bolt to just fall out while you are driving. The solution to this is to buy a nut to fit on the spring bolt from a hardware store and get a washer. It's a real odd place to get at because you're going to need to get one ratchet on top and one on the bottom. Both top sides can be braced against either the firewall or the transmission housing I think...and then you can ratchet from below to get them off...It takes a LOT of umph and many many many shallow ratcheting cranks...I think the OEM was 14mm and the replacement was 17mm. I recommend 6 point for this work. (11/16 in a pinch but the play will probably strip something) I had to improvise at one point and for the more forward facing bolt there is a mounting bracket for the manifold to the truck that gets in the way of the socket so you need a shallow one if you have one. I used my 17mm impact socket and put a torx through the lock hole in the side of it and braced that against the firewall so I could get the bolt off from the other side...

The part is walker exhaust 36454 for the 2 bolts and springs. Again there are no nuts or washers for the nuts as the OEM has welded nuts...so you have to buy some.
Old bolts removed, The OEM on the left and the replacement on the right (that's been in about a year) even getting the "replacement" bolt out after 1 year the threads were completely mashed up from probably banging into the edges of the opening in the pipe so I needed 2 new bolts...I reused the nut.

So the gasket is Part #17451-0D020 from Toyota.
https://parts.olathetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-gasket-174510d020
I used the generic Fel-Pro 61106 Exhaust Flange Gasket. This is a perfect fit for the 2.7L 2nd gen manifold to pipe. Yes it says 6cyl on the bag, but This IS the 4cyl part as well.

Here is my old gasket.

As you can see it's just garbage...
So once you get both spring bolts out you will need to remove the first rubber exhaust hanger to get some room to spread the pipes and slip the gasket in...Just use a big channel lock to push the rubber one way and pull it off...you can put some soapy water on the rubber first to make it slide easier. I put some dish soap in a baggie with warm water and it was easy to pour.

Now you can spread the pipes apart and slip the gasket in. The gasket goes in Thick/Flat side "UP" or away, tapering facing down. It sits right in there nicely.


Now thread the replacement bolts through, tap a little loctite blue on the nut and slip the washer on the other side. You can hand thread the NEW nut and bolt nearly all the way by first getting it started and then pushing the spring bolt up to compress it and then threading the nut...Do this for both sides before you tighten them down.


I have no torque specs for this as it's a spring bolt...just crank it down...
Installed.


When you fire up the truck it's going to burn off/melt the newly installed gasket and a bunch of white smoke will be wafting around..I'm guessing this is hazardous so don't go inhaling it.


Now that that's sealed up nicely and the truck doesn't sound like a moped get ready for the NEXT downstream exhaust issue...I know it's coming!
Good luck!

 

Thanks for the write up this was very helpful but unfortunately my leak is still there after replacing the gasket. I am sealing it up with some high temp epoxy and hope that works.

 

Thanks for taking the time to photograph the steps, your write-up makes this look doable for an average shade tree mechanic and easier than I bet it is.

 

Just saw this...You may have a crack in the manifold, common in 4 cyl engines...The tacoma heats up and then water splashes the hot manifold in a deep puddle etc and can crack the cast iron manifold. Look for a crack/leak...
OR it could be further down the line from the gasket around the Cat pipe...
Manifold is part #3 on the pdf diagram on my OP.