Hi folks, I've got a 2003 Expedition with 215,000 miles on it... it started idling rough and then a day later dying while idling, so I took it into the shop, which said it had two lean codes and they thought it was the intake manifold gasket.

I didn't have $700 to pay to have them replace that so even though I'm in no way qualified I bought the part ($60) and decided to disassemble the damned thing myself. I got it all open, and oh yeah... that last gasket was toast. I am confident that was a problem, if not the problem with the car. Got the new gasket in and put the whole thing back together, and the two lean codes are gone, but in the process I sheared off one of the bolts holding the coils in... It must have been stressed from the last guy torquing it down so tight, I wasn't even giving it full power with my socket and it just snapped off flush with the bolt hole. I also sheared off another bolt on the left side of the EGR, that one trying to get it off... I used penetrating oil and tried to go slow but it was just siezed on there too tight and I sheared it off trying to remove it.

I was unable to extract the thing because I didn't have a long enough drill bit to get in there, and I was burning daylight so I wedged the coil down using a piece of wood hoping it would work well enough for me to figure out if my efforts had been successful. But apparently it's still not making good contact.

Fired the thing up, and it has nearly the same symptoms, except it dies instantly unless you are revving it, and it has the following codes and monitors:

Codes: P0353 & P0354 (Ignition coils C and D... but yay the lean codes are gone!)

Monitors: 5 Inc, Catalyst, Evap, 02 Snsr, 02 Htr, EGR, 3 Ready, Misfire, Fuel, Comp.

Now, most of those are due to the misfire, so I'm wondering if it's worth taking most of that apart again and attempting to get that sheared bolt out and replacing the coils, or if I should cut my losses and sell the car to the pick n pull for whatever they'll give me for it and attempt to find a new car. It's my daily driver and only car to get the kids to where they're going so I'm in a tough spot.

Could anybody help with deciding whether it's worth attempting to extract that bolt and replace the coils (or having the shop do it)? Thanks.

Picture of the mess I found under the manifold attached.

 

1st off.....Welcome to FTE

Kudos for your "can do attuide". It is a brave step to dive into something unfamiliar.

Ok, did you just replace the gaskets for the intake manifold ? or the whole intake manifold? I got the impression it was just the gaskets.

Were new sparkplugs installed ?

Actually it looks pretty clean under there....yes it can stand to be cleaner around where the porting mate up. Just be careful not to push the grit and grim down one of the holes....or any other misc items, bolts, screws, etc.

I guess I would replace the whole intake manifold. Reason being, as you have discovered it a fair amount of work to take it off. And these plastic manifolds can and have developed hairline cracks over time. SO with a new one you pretty much eliminate the chances of that happening. I recently did mine and if I had to do it again I would probably opt for the Motorcraft (OEM) intake manifold. Reasoning here is that you get all brass inserts for the bolts to thread into. Not a hole for a screw to self thread and run a better chance of stripping out. If you do go after market look closely to the warranty and how many brass threaded inserts are there.

SO a fresh intake manifold should take care of the COP hold down bolt situation, just have to get a new bolt.

As for the EGR bolt, that one you might have to extract, or get a new mating component and new bolts here too. I guess I would attempt to get it out 1st. but remove it and do that on a bench and if it works then reassemble.

For your miss fire after your 1st repair attempt. Check you make sure that your connection to the COPs and injectors are making good contact. Some times those little spades or pins get bent or pushed back. Or you may have a bad COP too.
I hope that you are torqueing down those bolts for the intake and such to the correct torque.

 

The old manifold was metal, is getting a new plastic one doable (ie they're compatible) or do I need to hit a junkyard and try to find a metal one? I did just replace the gaskets, but the two lean codes did go away, so it seems like a new manifold would only help in that it doesn't have a broken bolt in it, is that correct?

I did not change the spark plugs or coils but have been suggested that I should try doing that.

At this point I'm afraid of messing it up further and would be willing to pay the $1000 I have left to a shop if they can fix it for less than that... but if it's likely to need more work than that I'd be better off using that $1000 plus the $500 I'd get selling this thing to the pick n pull to buy a $1500 car off of Craigslist.

Do you think that it's likely to be fixable for under $1k, either by a shop or by myself?