Just did the crappy plastic intake on a 2002 F150 5.4 with a Dorman part. I ran it at idle to operating temperature, no problem, filled it with coolant, no problem, took it out for a drive and all of the sudden it's literally pouring coolant out from behind the motor where you'd need x-ray vision to see and dripping down the left framerail and over the bell housing a little bit even when the truck is off it will drain the coolant out now. I figure if it was the intake it would've done it immediately. More likely is the close one leak open the next thing where the system pressurizes and takes out the next weakest part, but it doesn't seem like there should be a next weakest part in that location. So any ideas? Is there a freeze plug hidden back there or something that I can't see and don't know of? Thanks.

 

How was the plumbing coming off the rear of the water pump
as in post # 3 here
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...d-on-5-4l.html

 

I noticed that when doing the intake. That depression beneath the intake was very full of coolant, but my crack in the intake was right below the heater hose nipple and the coolant could have been attributed to the intake so I left it alone. Unfortunately it's really hard to see now with everything back together, but peeking in the corner I do see some coolant in that area again (I had vacuumed it out) - the only thing that threw me is a lot of people said this leaks on the right predominantly while mine is leaking to the left with only a little spillover to the right where it splashes on the top of the bell housing.

 

Hard to say,can you get your hands on an inspection camera,or even a mirror might help

 

Check the clamps on the heater core hoses, or the hoses themselves. Sometimes a bent or old clamp doesn't seal all the way around and fluid squirts and hits a different area which makes it look like the leak is somewhere else.

 

I had the exact same issue, but only on a 4.6 1998 Mustang GT motor. The one heater hose that fit on the left rear nipple turned into a gusher about10 minutes into start up. It was a Dorman also and what I found was the nipple had a two step tapper kind of deal. If you get the clamp on the wrong area she leaks like a ***** after it warms up. The other issue with that Dorman is on #3 and #4 you can't get a socket into the spark plug well without grinding out some plastic or grinding your socket. Be aware of that possibility in the future. I only use Ford intakes now from FRPP.

 

I figured I'd let everyone know the resolution (at least I hope it is) since I appreciate all the advice. I ended up taking the intake back off after checking the tube, the freeze plugs, etc and found that the gasket on the LR coolant port cover - one of the two "unused" ports that are just capped off with the intake, had a small defect which was basically a curve about 1/4" up and right where it was leaking from. I will NEVER use a Dorman again. It doesn't fit right, the self tappers are just stupid, and I've spent how long now chasing after an imperfection in a gasket because rather than using a good, steel gasket like Ford they cheaped out again with these horrible o-ring style things. Yes, I checked that the gaskets were present, but I didn't feel the need to put each one under a magnifying glass!

Thanks again for the advice and if you use the Dorman, check your gaskets not just to make sure they're there but to make sure they're in good shape.

 

Yeah...as I mentioned above, I was not pleased with Dorman either. IIRC if you have a bad gasket only a gasket specific to that Dorman intake will work.....where do you get that then?