I've got a 97 with the intake gasket problem. I'm going to do the repair myself.

Anyone got any tips or tricks for the job?
What part numbers will I need?

Also, the front seal gasket got replace about 100k ago on the recall. Should I replace that as well? Have any of those failed after the recall repair was done on them.

Thanks in advance.

 

hi,cart7,
clean every thing before you start the stripdown as those manifold screws are a pain to find under all that filth. with all the parts protected i would give it a blast with air to try and stop any filth falling into the engine during the disassembly.
count the screws as you remove them it helps to bag and mark them as some are diferent lengths.
tag vacum pipes and electric wires so you know exactly where they go.
take your time and be real clean.
i found fel-pro gaskets to be spot-on.
good luck bokker

 

I had water in the oil pan as well, even though I had the front cover gasket changed at 55k miles. Is changing the front cover gasket as hard as it looks in the manual. I can handle the manifold but the front cover looks pretty tough. There are some cam timing gears and synchronizers on there I'm not sure about. Did you ever change that?

 

if your timing chain gasket was replaced dont' worry about it, it will be fi ne. The water in your oil is probably from the leaky manifold gasket. More will leak into your engine when you remove it, so after you are done replacing the gaskets ont he lower intake, change the oil before you start it up, your'll be fine after that. Where are you located, I have worked on many V6's in fact I am doing a head gasket swap on a V6 mustang supercharged motor right now.

check out www.v6power.net for a lot of great info on the V6 motors, there are even truck guys on that site, the 3.8 and 4.2 are the same motor only different stroke.

 

I'm located a long way from Ontario, St. Louis, MO. to be exact. So you think that because the front cover was already replaced under the recall back in 2000 it probably hasn't failed, that the water is from the intake gaskets. I ask because the truck was exhibiting the intake gasket failures when this whole situation started.

Running rough, check engine light came on, wisps of white smoke coming out of the tailpipe when it was warm out, quick loss of coolant within 1 week.

I drained the pan, a bunch of water/coolant came out followed by the oil I had just changed a week earlier. I refilled the engine with new oil and started it up. No unusual noises or knocking though it was running rough.

 

hi again, has your oil pressure light come on yet at tick-over. if so that rough sound could be the main bearings on the way out. my motor was still running strong after all the oil changes etc but was completely shot when i stripped it.
good luck bokker

 

The check engine light came on the week the whole thing started. I never went in to find out what the codes were that tripped it.

So if the engine is running rough that's an indication that there may be internal damage? I'd like to know before I go changing out the lower gaskets. Like I said, after refilling the oil pan with new oil and starting the engine ran noise free, just a little rough on idle. Would'nt that be the water entering the cylinder through the intake manifold?

Also, what's the best gasket sealer to use when putting the new gaskets on?

 

use high temp RTV. It could be the timing chain cover gasket but I don't think so, unless the shop that did it didn't do it correctly, but anytime you have coolant in you oil its not good, keep an eye on that, coolant will destroy your bearings FAST

 

It was a Ford dealership that did the original gasket replacement under warranty. I guess it's worth a shot to change the manifold gaskets and see if she flys. At worst I'll be replacing the engine if there's more damage so I'm only out less than $100 in gaskets. Thanks for the tip on the gasket sealer.

 

hi cart7, you are dead right change the lower intake gasket and take a chance. again fel-pro gaskets offer a kit with all gaskets and sealer you will need.
with my engine most of the water went down the lifter drain holes and straight into the sump with very little in the cylinders. 46 sprout was right water eats bearings fast so stop running the engine if posable. bokker.

 

Just started on it last night. 8mm bolts holding the intake down?!

You gotta be joking. I guess I'll have to go out and buy a new torque wrench to adjust those things, my old one measures in foot/lbs only.

 

watch those bolts too, if they are like the Mustang V6 intake bolts they are brass and snap VERY EASY, they don't get torqued down too much, you will defiantely need an inch pounds wrench, keep us posted as to how she goes. Put an bit extra RTV in the corners where the gasket meets the head and the block together, other then that you only need RTV on the end seals.

 

Got the manifold off Saturday, everythings cleaned up and I'll get started putting it back together after the remnants of Dennis get done dumping rain on us the next few days.

Amazing, the right (driver side) bank lower intake gasket was visibly discolored, it appears the failure happened in the #6 cylinder and a little less so in #2.

 

well today was a bad one. Just installed a Jasper reman 4.2 in Nov 05' has 9800 miles and went to start this morning, ran for about 30 seconds and just stopped, now....nothing. Jasper has me doing all kind of diagonstics before they commit to replacement

 

any help email me at ccrider129@aol