Found out I have some pressure leeks in my intake system. My boost was only getting less then 13 psi according to my TORQUE APP. Did a pressure test and a lot was coming out of the compressor housing and the top of the right side intake plenum. I looked in the Tech section here on FTE and found nothing on replacing them. Went on Youtube and found one guy replacing the factory stamped ones with RiffRaff billet ones. As he was prying them off you can see the edges deform a bit. Can't say he was trying to save them however it looked like he was being careful. Not much info ether on the difference in the factory vs the billet ones as far as what to use in a stock situation and that's where I am. Stock turbo and injectors with a KC360 balanced kit . Read somewhere where the billet ones were made more for the high pressure turbos and I'm sure I'll never be over 25lbs. So if I stick with the factory plenums how do I safely remove them and what/how do I use to seal them. As far as the RiffRaff ones is it overkill for me also there are plenty of videos out there installing them.

Now the bigger problem is the compressor housing. I was careful when I put the 2 halves together not to pinch the O-ring and took my time torqueing the housing together. But stuff does happen so who knows what's wrong. For what I can tell it seems to be leaking from 12 o'clock to 7 o'clock towards the front. I cant see the back side. Here of problems sealing these before?

 

Generally speaking... i probably wouldnt try to save the plenums, you can replace them from amazon for less than 100$ if you want to try.... use a 5 way tool, or something similar, do not pry, you want to slip under and drag the tool down the crack to break the seal. If you succeed, and decide to keep them, or use factory replacement, you should get inserts... which are about 30$ just because you dont expect to hsve a lot of boost, doesnt mean they cant or wont work loose. The billett ones, or the inserts in factory, let you switch to a t bolt clamp, which almost assures that you wont have them slip off, for any reason, boost included. As far as the compressor housing leaking. Thats not one ive seen, but it does have an oring for a reason, did you change it for a new one?

 

I went with the riff raff on account I did not want to have to prep and re seal the original plenums. Like the oil pan this requires the special ford/international gray RTV. Once I added up buying 2 plenums, the rtv, the cost of the reinforcement inserts and the possibility of having to do the job again my choice was further confirmed. Either way you go make sure to use the special RTV if you keep it stock. The job is pretty straightforward make sure to block off the open intakes. A while back someone had a bolt fall inside the engine that way.

 

I did do the RiffRaff inserts in the factory plenums. Hind site now but should have check to see if the plenums were leaking then. I'm still new at this but they are leaking around the seal to the heads.
As far as the compressor housing the KC kit came with a new O-ring. So yes it was replaced. A friend of mine suggested using Dow Corning 111 to seal the new o-ring. I never heard of it. He swears by it.

 

I seem to recall not finding much in the form of a write up for resealing the plenums either when I was preparing for the job.

I was also concerned with deforming the plenum during removal but it ended up not being an issue. Actually don’t remember exactly but believe I carefully worked a putty knife around in various positions, especially at the leak point because already looser. Once the seal was broken it came off fairly easily. Cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned before reassembly.

My opinion, there’s not a real reason to pre-purchase new OEM. I wouldn’t plan on buying those unless something went bad during removal.

The Riffraff pieces I’m sure are great if you decide to go that route instead.

For the turbo oring, I would replace again. Disassemble and check all the sealing area for contamination or damage, or maybe a wrong thickness. Then figure out a way to bench boost check the turbo before putting it back in the truck. Just watch where you point that plug on the spyder end!

 

A sharp blade and a bit of carful prying won't bend the plenums, I just bought some cheap "billet" plenums from ebay for one of my trucks, quality is alright but what got my attention other than the price ($55) was that they were a thick and I can use T bolt clamps instead of the flimsy worm clamps.

 

Ya I saw those yesterday searching for aluminum plenums. I thought they were a cheap reproduction until I found on here searching where some guys built their own. At $55 I wouldn't attempt it. How do they fit and what turbo pressure do you run. Any leaks?
I do have one concern is that corner bolt under the HPOP and how do you get that out without removing the pump. Seen one guy use a Sawzall to cut the head off and turned the leftover stud out with his fingers. But he was installing the RiffRaff billet ones that eliminates that bolt.

 

Haven't installed it yet so no info there.

Bolt stays in place, the plenum is slotted so it can slide out, unsure of a billet install, my engine will be out for a rebuild so I won't have that problem.

 

I wouldn't waste time on the welded, flat eBay ones. They still use RTV to seal, and there have been several threads over the years of people having issues with the RTV blowing out and leaking. I would personally just stay stock or go with the Riffraff Diesel billet ones that have the built in oring. Not to mention, the flat welded ones can't flow as good as stock given how they are constructed.

 

I just did the same job on my 02. I reused the factory plenums, already had the plenum inserts. They came off easily with a flexible flat putty knife. A local ford diesel guru told me to use Permatex gray to reseal them, he never had any issues with it. It all went back together good with no leaks.

 

As mentioned, if reusing factory plenums buy the aluminum inserts. These are cnc fab ones. I decided to try to reuse mine as I had the motorcraft rtv already to re-seal oil pan. That little tube of rtv went a long ways.

 

Just got my computer back up and running. Thanks for the info Fish Bait. Is there a part # on that Permatex Gray tube? I'm sure Ford never made it and just relabeled someone elses. That goes on a lot in that industry. I know that is the way I would like to go. I'm retiring in April and won't have a paycheck till the end of June so if I don't have to spend the big bucks I'll eat better. Especially when I want to do RiffRaffs FRx, possibly the HPx and I've got to get that back pressure tube cleaned out or replaced. So minimum of $500 in more parts.

 

TA-31 is the Motorcraft number for the gray RTV. See what you can find for a cross reference.

 

Here is a FTE link to a discussion about using a none Ford RTV. How could it be that a RTV sealant would cause the oil to foam? There is no oil contact with the intakes. Is it the vapors that come off the RTV. I suppose that could get past the rings and into the oil. Here is the link. Interesting.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...tv-to-use.html

Here is one of the posts

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Use the Ford stuff or Wacker T-95 RTV, the company that makes the Ford stuff. Most other sealants (RTV) will cause the engine oil to aerate...not good for our engines' injectors.
I agree with ^Jim^, it's the only sealant I use for everything. That stuff is virtually indestructible and will hold even after the bolts have been removed....gorilla glue .

 

SOUS, who is PUPPERS