5.4l Coolant Manifold crossover leak

[Broncoholic]

Re-read the thread. If you have a coolant leak at the crossover tube, the plastic intake is known to fail. Installing a new gasket at the crossover tube won't fix the leak.

 

[jerod85]

Re-read the thread. If you have a coolant leak at the crossover tube, the plastic intake is known to fail. Installing a new gasket at the crossover tube won't fix the leak.

Ok I will be sure to just change all gaskets and Owings as I come to them. Thanks again broncoholic

 

[Al Steel]

It's been a while but just now getting back into fixing the Expy. The top end is literally completely apart and I'm assembling the parts I need to get it back on the road. Trying to source the intake, has anyone ever tried this brand?

ATP brand intake

I know, I know, OEM is the best bet but money is a concern sooo... Thanks!

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

It's been a while but just now getting back into fixing the Expy. The top end is literally completely apart and I'm assembling the parts I need to get it back on the road. Trying to source the intake, has anyone ever tried this brand?

ATP brand intake

I know, I know, OEM is the best bet but money is a concern sooo... Thanks!

Seem to be pretty well regarded. Dorman's will run you about the same ($181) from Advance after the standard 15% off coupon.

 

[Broncoholic]

I know, I know, OEM is the best bet but money is a concern sooo... Thanks!

I recommend sourcing OEM the way I have. I order from FordParts.com and "shop" from Lakeland Ford in Central Florida. Their prices are consistently under MSRP. I live on the east coast of Florida and my 2 local dealers sell parts at MSRP. When I order from FordParts (Lakeland Ford) most of the items ship directly from a warehouse not in Florida, and they ship FAST, so it doesn't matter to me what dealer I "shop" from. Also, by creating an account on FordParts, you get FREE shipping. The OEM intake is currently backordered, but so is the ATP. Here's a screen shot, it's basically the same price as the ATP.

So my recommendation is to get on FordParts and check dealers' prices near you, or just "shop" from Lakeland Ford. The only caveat of ordering the way I do is returns have to be handled by the dealer you selected, so you would have to drive, or pay to ship your return, to that dealer for them to return it to FordParts. A workaround that I just used for the 1st time this month - I received a bad part from FordParts and needed it replaced. FordParts was no help, "sorry, you need to go to Lakeland to return it". The Lakeland parts manager was helpful and was ready to pay for me to ship it to him. Instead, I ordered the replacement from FordParts "shopping" from my local dealer at MSRP and took the bad part to them to process the return.

Good luck with all of this. With parts on back order, depending on your personal urgency to get it repaired, you may land in a position of having to buy what's available.

 

[riphip]

I tried for 18 months to get an aluminum intake for my late 2004 5.4 and was never able to get a Ford part. I tightened the intake just a hair & it improved greatly but mine is not plastic. Do not know if available from Ford yet.

 

[Yupster Dog]

I know, I know, OEM is the best bet but money is a concern sooo... Thanks!

It will be more expensive when you do it twice.
Many theads on here telling of having to do it again with OEM part.
Don't take my word for it, do a search in the box top right of this page "intake manifold"

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Since we're on the topic, let me strongly advise against the OEM thermostat. The one that came with my truck was clearly clearly made by someone other than whoever makes them for Ford now. They are considerably lighter and many of them bounce temps all over. If you can get new old stock off eBay, the discontinued Stant SuperStat is my #1 recommendation. If not, Motorad makes one that is at least better than Ford's tstats.

 

[4XFORD]

Not sure on the plastic shield , but ghis is kind of a cross post.
Everything I read seems to point to using a motorcraft intake instead of the Dorman.
Here is the problem I need an answer to:
My 1998 intake has a electric like plug in on the lower intake. It is some kind of internal blend door I think.
However, every replacement intake is completely different.
The original intake on the vehicle has the heater hose moved to the front. I understand that from responses in s different thread. What I am running into is that not only has the heater hose location is moved to the front on the replacement manifold, also there is no electric connector at the front of the bottom intake.
1). Will this replacement intake ( with the heater hose moved to the pass front) and 2) that has NO ELECTRICAL CONNECTION on the lower front intake
Will this replacement work on this 1998 where there is an electric connection on the front lower intake. ( the replacement has no electric connection on the front lower)
AND I was told just to stretch that heater hose from the rear “L” shaped heaterhose tube, to the straight up heater hose tube ( moved to the pass front of the replacement intake) on the new intake.
Is this gonna work properly with the heater hose moved to the front pass and what do I do with the electrical connection that has no plug in in the replacement intake ?

 

[Al Steel]

I know this is a thread res but just an update. Unfortunately I let this truck go. I was going to do a write-up but given all the issues I had with this truck plus the rusted frame/body mounts that would never pass inspection without thousands $$$ in repair I decided it was not worth the time or money.

Thanks for the info and it might help me or someone else struggling with the same problem in the future.

 

[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!