03 Intake advice

I am looking for some advice, My new to me 03 expedition 5.4 came with the coolant leak at the passenger side front of the manifold, I got everything to reseal it and started the job yesterday and was extremely disappointed to find out someone had installed a Dorman manifold already. So my question is should I stop before I get any further and try and find a good ford manifold or should I just continue forward and reseal the Dorman unit? I stopped before I got to far in to it so it’s not a lot of work to reassemble at this point. 179,000 miles on the truck no ideas on the manifold.
Appreciate any input.

03trk said:

to find out someone had installed a Dorman manifold already.

Click to expand...

Unless you want to do it again, get a OEM manifold.

Many post on here about getting aftermarket manifold, and they all had to do it again with a OEM intake manifold.

At that age & mileage, there would be 2 main questions I would have to answer before proceeding:

A) Am I planning on keeping this beast running for a good while longer, AND:

B) Can I find an OEM manifold in a junk yard somewhere close by for a reasonable price ?

If the answer to A is yes, then I would invest in a genuine ford manifold, either new (if you can even find one) or from B....

If the answer to A is NO, then I would stick with what you have & just seal it up as best as you can, and get whatever miles are left in it.....

I know that in '24 I had the right side manifold replaced on my '011 with an OEM part and it cost me about $1350...some of which was because the shop had to torch/cut/grind off the original bolts & studs, tap & drill the new holes, then attach the new parts... so lots of labor involved !

Good luck with whatever you decide

Thank you, I definitely want to keep it ! I have done a lot of reading. I guess I will probably reassemble and start looking for a manifold .

Here's an option. I have a new one from this listing in my garage for my 2004 that has a very slow leak at the same crossover location. I was about to go aftermarket.

I have ordered the correct Manifold, could someone be so kind as to let me know what size and length bolts I need to get? I can’t reuse what is currently on the manifold as it’s a Dorman and I would like to have the bolts ready to go when the manifold arrives.
Thank you

I was hoping to have replaced my intake over either of the last 2 weekends. Unfortunately that was not to be and it looks like my next opportunity will be in June. Sorry to say I can't help with the bolt info right now.

Thanks everyone, I was able to go harvest most of the bolts at pull a part.
Just about have the old manifold out. Running out of time for today