Good to hear she's back to normal

 

Well,look's as if i join the cracked manifold club on the 5.4L engine.I got my old manifold off and got the new one today.I'm gonna put the new one on tomorrow.Just wanna say thank's to everybody for all of the valuable information regarding this problem.Thing i dont understand is what made Ford decide to use a plastic manifold intake in the first place!
Thank's
Danny

 

Welcome to the forum Danny

My guess as to why Ford went with plastic is because it's lighter and cheaper.
Cheaper is probably what was most important

 

Thank's Racerguy!I agree with lighter and cheaper.It seem's as if they figured a way for it to last beyond the warranty so i doubt they're worried.That should have been a no brainer!Bad thing of it is though is that i replaced it with a Dorman OE Solutions Intake but it's Plastic too.My truck is a 2001 F-150 Lariat Supercrew and it has right at 145,320 miles on it.Truck look's as if it just came off the showroom floor though.I did the repair myself and cost me right at 300.00 bucks for everything i needed plus a few odd and end things so i guess i'm lucky there.Again,i'm glad i came across this forum.Can't say thank you enough to all of the folk's here with various information!!

 

The good thing about the Dorman tho is that it's noticeably reinforced in the problem area - at the coolant crossover gasket.

 

Well,here i go again.I replaced the Intake on March 11th of this year,now it's cracked at the crossover on the drivers side.My truck started skipping monday and upon inspection i found that the #5 cyclinder was full of coolant in at the coil boot.Found that the intake is cracked in that area.Talked to parts store where i bought intake and they're going to do a warranty replacement so here i go again!Oh,and i sent the Ford Motor Company a nice e-mail about the plastic intake and they answered me basically telling me in a nice way to go screw myself.Way to go Ford!!!!

 

Well I have joined the cracked Plastic Manifold crew Bought a 2000 F150 SC Lariat 2 weeks ago and now mine is leaking (or more like spraying) at the known spot.

Already have the Dorman from Amazon and am in the middle of replacing it.

Just signed up to post up a big TY to you guys especially DogBox for those pics, they made it a lot easier to take on seeing what I had to remove and replace thanks a bunch BRO!

 

Thanks for all the info Steve(Ill). It's my in-laws truck.

I just also finished this project today. The opening for the crossover tube was leaking on to cylinders 1&3 causing misfire,high idle at start up and shaking during acceleration.

I did an oil change,spark plugs &fuel filter and it went down hill from there.

AutoZone & O'Reilly pulled code p0174. So I went to a shop and paid $45 to have a snap-on scan tool pull codes p0113 IAT high current,p1151 02 sneer,p0302 bank 2 misfire and p0316, oh yeah I almost for got low fuel pressure (was at 30 psi).

I wish I would drained the coolant before staring. The crossover bolts on the bottom are tricky. I bought the cardon replacement ,cleaned all the spark plugs boots ,wire and plugs.
Put everything back together and she fired up shaking and rattling caused by a vacuum leak. I found the leak and I also forgot to put the o-ring on the vacuum tube and she is :-X06fine.

 

I just got the Dorman manifold and plan on installing it tomorrow on my 5.4 Excursion. I am debating if I should do plugs or not. I think there's 80k on the set that are in the truck right now.

 

You're crazy if you don't do the plugs with the manifold off.

 

I replaced the plugs and I'm glad that I did. They appeared to be original Motorcraft plugs and the gap was at .082 inches.
All plug cavities on the driver's side had about a teaspoon of coolant in them. The Dorman intake fit fine and the only issue I had was removing the plug in the crossover so that I could install the Coolant Temp Sensor. Had to heat the aluminum to get the plug to come loose.

 

Glad everything worked out for you!

 

January 13, 2013.

2003 F150 5.4 Supercrew

132k Miles

Same leak, passenger side where aluminum outlet crossover meets plastic intake manifold. This thread has been invaluable.

Took it to Michael Tires this weekend. $1,707 Total to change the COP's, intake manifold, coolant and trans flush (I asked for the flushes) - No way, ain't robbing this cowboy.

Took me 2 1/2 Hours to drain the radiator, remove the alternator, remove the throttle body, remove the hundred other hoses and crap in the way and get the intake manifold off. Some say 5+ hours, no way. Should not take more than 3 if you have good tools and are organized.

Ordered everything online tonight.

Dorman Intake / Amazon.com $171 with tax
Autolite AP103 Plugs /Ebay $40
Rebuilt Injectors / Ebay $95
COP Coil Pack Set / Ebay Lifetime W $65

I am in for about $400 total after fluids and cleaners if everything else goes smooth. Dorman intake comes with gaskets and a new thermostat too!

I took pictures of every step of the way... Will post if it would help anyone.

 

Temple, these engine really like the motorcraft plugs and the right gap, know the risk of cheap COPS as well, some last some don't. Just saying

 

Motorcraft or Autolite is the general consensus I've found here.

My IM is cracked at the crossover joint on the passenger side. I don't trust the idea of a long term epoxy fix (piece of mind), so I ordered a Dorman that should be here tomorrow. For me, I took my time and made sure I labeled stuff as it came apart. 6.5 hours of removal, 2.5 hours of cleaning. Estimate it will take me about 2-3 hours to assemble.