It seems the engineer could have made it easier

[Wifes03Exp]

My wife loves her 2003 Ford Expedition Eddie Bower, it has been with us for a long time, in Arizona an 10 years in Minneapolis, in my opinion the best turning ratio ever, the best 4x4 system, I have more positives, and I also have many negatives. The latest one is the coolant cross over behind the alternator, it was slowly leaking, I thought, hey I can do this…3 screws on each side, the Ford dealer sold me the two gaskets….they must have said “what an idiot “, they never mentioned anything to give me a hint on what I was getting into…..long story short, the manifold is out, I am doing the cleaning but I have to travel for work. My question so I do not make mistakes, do you recommend I reuse the old manifold and the two gaskets etc, etc or should I buy the Dorman manifold with all the gaskets already in place and get my self a low range torque meter to prevent over tightening the manifold? If the Dorman manifold is as good as their life time window regulator for my Expedition, I am in big trouble. Thanks for taking the time to read. A Gil

 

[whtbronco]

The general consensus on the intake manifold is to reuse your factory manifold if it is not melted or cracked. Clean it well and inspect it well. Then get new Motorcraft gaskets for all you can. Based on what I have seen from others on here if mine was damaged I'd go see if I could find a used OEM manifold to replace it. You can't use the old gaskets again.

If you use the Dorman manifold many have said you can plan to replace it again in a year or so.

 

[BigRed2004]

I replaced the original intake manifold on my ‘03 5.4 because of a coolant leak at the crossover tube. I had used the Dorman unit. The biggest problems with the Dorman unit is that there are no screw sleeves/inserts for any of the components except the bolts that tighten down the manifold. You’ll be using self taping screws for the COP Packs and I believe the fuel rail screws. So if you ever have to replace anything or back anything out you risk the screw holes becoming ruined. I would avoid the Dorman unless you NEED something now while waiting for a new OEM or fixing your current one!

I ended up going to a junkyard to find an OEM manifold that had a smaller creak than mine on the crossover tube. Went to Autozone and got some gasket maker plus gaskets. Put the gasket maker in the cracks and then inserted the gaskets before everything could set. I’ve had zero issues with this solution. The only thing I don’t have on the manifold is the “heat blanket” that goes on the bottom of the runners. I found no issues by removing it.

 

[Wifes03Exp]

Well, it looks like a trip to the junk yard is my next on going project. If what I find due to age is the same as mine, then the after market option seems to be my next option.

 

[whtbronco]

That's what happens to quite a few of them it appears. Here's a link to a new OEM intake.

2000-2004 Ford Intake Manifold 2L1Z-9424-AA | TascaParts.com

2000-2004 Ford part # 2L1Z-9424-AA - Intake Manifold

www.tascaparts.com