I have a 2001 Expedition 5.4. On the top of the engine to the passenger side of alternator there is an aluminum forged piece with a hose coming out of the top, which goes back into the firewall. This forged piece looks to be bolted on with a gasket and has a connecting passage way behind the alternator to the other engine bank on the drivers side. The gasket appears to be leaking coolant and drips about a 6" circle on the floor everyday. Is this just a coolant water way and can I unbolt easily and put a new gasket on it? I'm not a mechanic so I don't know how to describe it correctly. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Alright, it's the intake manifold gasket that is leaking coolant. 7 hours labor and about $600-$700 to fix. Do I just drive as is and add coolant every week?...I can buy a lot of coolant for $700. Or do I put in some stop leak stuff?

 

Definitely dont wait/ keep adding coolant.

Go buy a Chilton or Haynes manual and tackle this yourself. This is not a hard task, jsut a lot of little steps, but if left alone, you could puke all the coolant out if the leak got suddenly worse.

Plus, flooding the streets with your used coolant is probably not a good idea either, as it washes down the drain when it rains, and we end up drinking it eventually, or an animal could drink it, blinding or even killing the poor thing.

Good luck.

 

Does anyone know if the intake manifold is aluminum or plastic and is it reusable when you replace the gasket?

 

IIRC on the trucks its not plastic, and yes you can reuse the manifold, just replace the gasket, make sure both surfaces are clean when you remount. Gasket tack can help hold the new gasket in place for mounting.

 

You can get the intake manifold off in 1-2 hours tops. The gaskets are very easy to replace. No need to spend all that money. Might as well change your coolant out while your at it.

 

Do I need any specialty tools? How do you de-pressurize the fuel system? Is there anything I should look at or replace at the same time? I think part of the leaking is the water passageway from left bank to right bank...looks like it bolts on to the manifold with upside down screws. Is there a special gasket for this and what would it be called?

 

You may need the quick disconnect tools for the fuel lines.

As far as the depressuriziing the fuel system, one of two ways

1. Hook a fuel pressure gauge/tester up to the schrader valve on the fuel rail and then press the pressure relief button on the pressure tester, relieving the pressure

2. Unplug or tap the fuel pump inertia switch (right front kick panel)
and start the truck, let it run till it dies (less than 5 mins). Use a flat head screwfdriver to remove the plug to the switch, or just use the handle end of the screw driver to whack the body of the inertia swtich, there by simulating a 'collision' and tripping the switch.

Picutres would help here. Can you take some?

Since the system is depressurized, go ahead and slap a new fuel filter on there, you can use your new fuel disconnect tools for that too.... (driver side along the frame rail, about where the rear door is). Now would also be a good time to change your PCV valve, and inspect the PCV hoses for gumminess/soft ness (they tend to eat themselves up over time).

As someone else mentioned, repalce the coolant while you're at it. Check out your upper/lower/ and heater hoses.

Good luck.

 

I replaced the intake manifold gaskets this last weekend. It was a pretty big job for a rookie like me. It took me about 12 hrs with all the running back to the auto and hardware stores. Next time I could probably do it in 6 hrs. My intake is plastic and it had a small split in it where the water cross over connects for the coolant outlet that goes to the heater core. I did not want to cough up $300 for a new intake manifold so I just squirted some sealant in the crack. I'm hoping this will work otherwise it will be another Saturday and the extra $300. Bolting the water cross over back on to the bottom of the intake manifold caused some problems. The manual torque specs called for 18 ft lbs going in to the plastic manifold. I busted off two of the bolt heads before I realized that could not be right. Luckily they drilled out without damaging the threads. I'm thinking that the torque should be about the same as the rest of the intake manifold bolts, which is 89 inch lbs. I wanted the sealant to fully cure and since it was only about 55 degrees for most of Sunday here in MN, I'm waiting until tonight after work to fire it back up.