5.4L poor intake fit and new gasket design
 

I have my truck in the shop for Head gaskets.

The shop mentioned that another 5.4 L Ford he is working on has an issue with getting a Brand new intake to fit. The intake is such a loose fit that he can't get it to seal and it leaks coolant from the back part of the intake. He got a second new intake from Ford and it was no better. He has talked to the dealer and Ford direclty several times trying to get this resolved.

Says Ford is building the new motors with a newly designed intake gasket but that no one can get these gaskets until the old stock is depleted. The Dealer has tried to get the new gaskets and can't get them either.

He has had little to no issues in the past when he puts the original intake back on.

Has anyone heard of this before?

You didn't say what year your 5.4 is, the only thing that comes to mind is the "power improved" engine versus the non P.I. engine. Should be obvious to him though that the port sizes are different.

I'm with Ron, big difference between the 97/98s and the 99/03s.

Recently replaced the intake on my 01 f 150.I bought the intake at NAPA and it came with the gaskets in the box.Truck runs much better and after 1000 miles no problems yet with coolant or vacuum leaks.

My truck is a 2001.

However, the engine in question with the intake problem is in an ambulance and I'm not sure what year it is, or if there is a difference in the engines in the ambulance vs a standard truck. I would expect not as far as that goes, but I suppose is could even be new than an '03.

Since I'm a bit of a newbie to the Ford 5.4 L, I'm getting that there was a '97/'98 design, and a Power Improvement made in '99 on. This PI was "obviously" for more power and part of that was larger intake ports.

And it sounds like so far the people who have read this are not aware of any intake issue with the fit.

I should be talking to the Mechanic again tomorrow, so I'll see if what else he knows and if I can find out a year on that Ambulance.

Thanks,
Ed

The ambulance is a '97