Novice needs help!

[Lilmussy323]

Just looked in my haynes manual and found the correct terminology to replace what I threw out there in the original post: So I replaced the starter on my 96 4x4 5 speed sr5 and now I've run into some problems. I took 2 bolts out of a bracket(support bracket) that seems to connect the transmission to the base of the header(front exhaust pipe) I took out are on the trans side(thinking it would make the task easier) and now I can't get the top bolt back in for the life of me. That's my first problem, now the other is that in the process of trying to get the bolt in I pushed/pulled/pryed on the header(pipe that comes down to meet the front exhaust pipe) and now that I started the truck there's smoke coming from the base of the header(where the front exhaust pipe connects to the center exhaust pipe) where it connects to the exhaust..There doesn't seem to be any cracks or gaps in the area. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I have no clue what i've done wrong. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[scottyb]

It may help if you loosen the two bolts that are in the bracket already to get the last one started then tighten them all up. As far as the exhaust leak, I would make sure all the y-pipe to header bolts are nice and tight. If that doesn't help, make sure the bolts are in good condition and replace them if they're not. If that doesn't help you could put in new exhaust rings. They look like this: