5.4l Coolant Manifold crossover leak

[Mako825]

The other day I was headed to work and the ol expy started to hesitate a bit at highway speeds. Didn't think much of it, I was low on gas so maybe some bad gas or something. On the way home I put in a few bucks but the problem got worse, no time to work on it so let it go. Next day I took it to fill up in the morning with no hesitation but then noticed a big puddle of coolant under the truck (!!). Topped off with coolant and limped home keeping a very close eye on the temp but it never overheated. Checked it out later to find it's gushing coolant from the union of the coolant crossover and the manifold. So bad I can put my finger over it to stop it (not a long term solution especially once the engine gets hot ). It's so bad under high rpms that coolant sprays all over the injectors/coils and even the computer, which is why I'm getting the hesitation and misses.

I tried to open it up to see if there was a gasket, a cracked plastic riser or metal, or something and quickly saw that I was getting into a job that might be more than an hour or two fix. I did some searching and it is starting to look like the entire intake manifold will need to come off (WTF?!). A couple or questions here to that end.

1 - Could this be a gasket failure between the coolant crossover and the intake manifold?
2 - If it's not the gasket where does it likely fail, plastic manifold or old aluminum crossover pipe?
3 - Is this an easy fix or am I looking at tearing apart the intake and replacing it, the gasket, and or the pipe? Can someone direct me to an online procedure for this?

To save a few thousand words, here are some pics:

Crossover with heater hose removed. Notice coolant pooled everywhere.
View attachment 74153

This is where it's leaking.. back side of the crossover pipe, union of the pipe and manifold, dead center.
View attachment 74156

I knew I was in over my head when it started to look like the union wasn't a plastic riser, but part of the entire intake manifold. Plus I can't figure out how to remove this bolt (blurry screwdriver in lower frame points to it).
View attachment 74154

Wide shot to show how bad it is. Notice coolant pooled on top of coils and injectors.
View attachment 74155

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas? Strike a match and collect insurance?

Thanks!

UPDATE - Yeah that was fast... I just spoke with my neighbor, a Ford master mechanic and shop supervisor, and he confirmed that the manifold will have to go. Fun.. and he also suggested all the O-Rings, seals, and some other gotchas (like the EGR system connections) that I should be mindful of. Said it would be $1500-$2000 in labor if there were no issues + parts at the $tealership. Well I'm not spending that much. So I will probably tackle this myself. Will likely do a writeup with parts/tools list etc in another thread if it hasn't already been done. Any tips or links to "how-tos" are appreciated!

Well - After I got home from a quick errand, I parked and smelled the odor of hot coolant. I investigated under the hood and the pictures I took of my '03 Expedition are identical to those of Al Steel
I called the shop and they sent a tow truck. They know all about the Ford manifold woes. But they will test and pressure check. If the quote to repair is too expensive, it may be time for me to go get a new one. ugh

 

[Al Steel]

Hi Mako, yup, nearly the exact same experience I had. If you are lucky, it could just be the rubber gasket that failed. Pulling the manifold is a pretty big job but doable if you are a DIY kind of guy. Not sure why Ford chose to make a connection that is prone to fail (heat cycling plastic to hot metal with a rubber gasket.. almost designed to fail!) and then make it integral to such a large and critical component like the fricking INTAKE MANIFOLD. Just bottles the mind.

Anywho, if you are lucky and it's a blown out gasket it's a cheap easy fix. If the union is cracked or broken out then you don't have much choice but to go with a new manifold. Not too expensive but hard to source. Do NOT go aftermarket from everything I've read on the subject, MC only. It's the labor, not the part that is the expensive thing here. You don't want to save $100 on a cheap part, spend 8 hours putting it in and then have to tear it all apart again in 6 months. Buy cheap, buy twice.

If you have been deferring maintenance now would be a great time to do valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, coils, and any other Mx items that are now very easy to get to, like pulleys, serpentine belt, tensioner, etc. removing the intake manifold makes it tons easier to reach all those things.

Note: There is a soft cardboard(ish) heat shield(?) that comes attached to the underside of the manifold. If it's not oil and coolant soaked try to preserve it when you take the manifold off. Mine disintegrated when I removed it. I'm pretty sure a brand new OEM intake comes with it, but if you go aftermarket or junkyard, you may be missing this part.

Bring lots of shop towels, a siphon, cans of engine degreaser, and a high pressure air source because a soup of oil, coolant and dirt pools deep in the recesses of the head, makes a real mess that you will have to clean up before doing any work.

Good luck!

 

[Mako825]

Hi Mako, yup, nearly the exact same experience I had. If you are lucky, it could just be the rubber gasket that failed. Pulling the manifold is a pretty big job but doable if you are a DIY kind of guy. Not sure why Ford chose to make a connection that is prone to fail (heat cycling plastic to hot metal with a rubber gasket.. almost designed to fail!) and then make it integral to such a large and critical component like the fricking INTAKE MANIFOLD. Just bottles the mind.

Anywho, if you are lucky and it's a blown out gasket it's a cheap easy fix. If the union is cracked or broken out then you don't have much choice but to go with a new manifold. Not too expensive but hard to source. Do NOT go aftermarket from everything I've read on the subject, MC only. It's the labor, not the part that is the expensive thing here. You don't want to save $100 on a cheap part, spend 8 hours putting it in and then have to tear it all apart again in 6 months. Buy cheap, buy twice.

If you have been deferring maintenance now would be a great time to do valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, coils, and any other Mx items that are now very easy to get to, like pulleys, serpentine belt, tensioner, etc. removing the intake manifold makes it tons easier to reach all those things.

Note: There is a soft cardboard(ish) heat shield(?) that comes attached to the underside of the manifold. If it's not oil and coolant soaked try to preserve it when you take the manifold off. Mine disintegrated when I removed it. I'm pretty sure a brand new OEM intake comes with it, but if you go aftermarket or junkyard, you may be missing this part.

Bring lots of shop towels, a siphon, cans of engine degreaser, and a high pressure air source because a soup of oil, coolant and dirt pools deep in the recesses of the head, makes a real mess that you will have to clean up before doing any work.

Good luck!

Al - Luckily with the help of your posts describing what you found, I was able to communicate to the shop what I thought the issue was. They got in there and it did require a new intake manifold, gaskets and an o-ring kit for the fuel injectors. It wasn't cheap but it could have been worse. They got 'er done and I'm now back out on the road!