HELP Coolant leak, really bad leak

[splintrcel]

i was swapping out my intake manifold gasket and after everything was reassembled, i poured coolant in only to have it leak like crazy out of the area in between the thermostat and the engine where the new gasket was inserted.; I cleaned the engine face where the gasket goes until it was shiny clean. where the hell did i go wrong. I cleaned with iso alcohol. Should i of applied rtv or something around that area or what???

 

[splintrcel]

Well **** me. Apparently left doesn't mean it goes on the left side of the engine when lookin at it. I bet the gaskets are on the wrong side. FML. Well there goes two hrs of wasted work. Well any other things to know when installing a new manifold gasket such as rtv or anything.

 

[districk81]

I have a 2000 EB and finally got it on the road yesterday. its been sitting for 2 years. i did a air to coil spring swap. it rides great the problem is the first time i stopped after about 25 miles i noticed smoke coming from the engine and then smelled engine coolant. after further inspection i found the leak it is in the very front of the engine on the left (passenger) side there on the intake it looks like the front part of it, its metal not plastic i think its aluminum, any way its the only part of the intake that is metal and its up there in the very front. The right hand side is were the thermostat is located then it goes back behind the the alternator and the alt is actually bolted to it then it goes over to the left hand side and underneath there is were it is spitting out water. the valley is full of water and the fan is blowing water all over every thing on the left hand side. its not real bad like i could still drive it i just stopped every 7 to 10 miles and added water. it never over heated and it never took more than about half a gallon to refill the reservoir. like i said its been sitting for about two years because of the suspension so i just got it and i've never had a ford before. when i first found the leak i was like what the h#$% were is the radiator cap. needless to say i never found it. lol!!! I've talked to a couple guys at some local shops and all tell me that these triton engines with the plastic intakes are notorious for cracking and springing leaks. i thought it was a gasket they said wishful thinking its probably cracked either way its gotta come off. it looks like a h$%R of a job. has anyone else ever had this problem and could they please give me some pointers on it. Also i heard dorman has a good replacement intake and not to buy some pos off of ebay b/c they're trash. im working with a really limited budget so can't i just go get one from a pick a part.

 

[onlyexilove]

You should check out the F150 Intake. It is the same setup as yours but should be all aluminum and most boneyards will have it. The thing that throws me off is that your intake sounds like the one that is used on the Mustang. I have a 98 4.6L that I did the PI head swap on and originally was going to use the plastic with aluminum front coolant runner but found out that they don't have the runner flap (electrical round part that bolts in the front to give different runner lengths). The F150 intake should work just fine for yours and bolt right up. Check on yours first to see if it is the NPI or PI head setup as I think they didn't begin the PI heads until 2001. That will make a difference on the ports for the intake. The NPI intake has round ports and the PI intake has more square style ports. (NPI = Non performance Intake, PI = Performance Intake). I hope this helps some.