When I took my heat exchanger apart a few years ago, there was some corrosion at the end caps and the stack wouldn't come out. When I finally managed to get it out (using brut force), the heat exchanger was corroded around the stack and was deemed to be FUBAR (a medical term. F***d up beyond all repair).
I hope this is not the case with yours, but it may be worth starting to look around to see if anyone's selling a heat exchanger assembly just in case.