My '01 F150 4.2 may be due for an intake gasket. On two chilly mornings lately I have had a puff of white smoke on startup. Not losing much noticeable coolant but I want to catch it before it gets bad and trashes the engine. What have most of you paid to get the gasket replaced? One place quoted me $350. I would do it myself but don't have a lot of spare time and I'm getting a little old to stand on my head to get to the engine on this thing. Thanks for any help!

 

had the upper o-rings replaced, with diagnostic charge it was 500-600(wallet still hurts 6 months later).

 

My 2000 went at 155,000 miles, which was about 3.5 years ago.
(truck sold since then)

I had the LIM gasket replaced, bead blasted inside of aluminum intake, and some other little misc charges.
Total was about $450 IIRC.

$350 sounds good if you know them and trust they will do good work.

 

Just picked it up from the local Ford Dealer this afternoon. Lower intake gaskets, thermostat, anti-freeze and oil change: $389 Seemed fair enough to me and this dealer usually stands behind their work very well.