Intake manifold gaskets! What have I done?

[Beausdad]

So after deliberating on whether I had the testicular fortitude to attack replacing the intake manifold gaskets I decided I couldn't take the 3000rpm rev on start up any longer. I bought the gasket kit and got to work. Really wasnt as difficult as I expected. However, I was hoping that Ford would find one more thing they could operate with a vacuum line. Holy smoke it is ridiculous.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions. I can't afford to replace the entire intake manifold, you would think being made of plastic it would be cheaper than $900+. The insulation housing that surrounds the lower ortion of the manifold was all cracked and breaking apart. Is that vital? I left it on when I put it back in, but it was really deteriorated.

The next problem I have is now I get a P0201 and a P2195. First time for both of the those. Upon unplugging all of the injector relays to remove the rails all of the clips broke and so all I could do was push them on as tight as I could. I am at a loss.

I have to keep this thing running until we pay off my wife's new car. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[vipersinu2]

any crack or worn out oring will cause an intake air leak and run lean and idle like crap, I would idle truck and spray carb cleaner around intake and fuel injectors, if idle rises you need to fix that by replacing cracked intake, or replace the oring on the intake and orings on the fuel injectors.

 

[2000StreetRod]

Delphi EV1 connectors

P0201 Injector Circuit Malfunction - Cylinder 1
P2195 Ford - Lack of HO2S-11 Switch Sensor Indicates Lean

Correct the bad electrical connection to the injector.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

Anyway, I have a couple of questions. I can't afford to replace the entire intake manifold, you would think being made of plastic it would be cheaper than $900+. The insulation housing that surrounds the lower ortion of the manifold was all cracked and breaking apart. Is that vital? I left it on when I put it back in, but it was really deteriorated.

I am assuming you have the 4.6L V8? If so, the complete manifold is ~$150...where did you get a $900 quote?? It is best to replace it, as the plastic gets brittle as you found and falls apart. It may be alright for now, but it will end up leaking coolant into the spark plug wells and causing other issues.

 

[Beausdad]

The intake itself was not cracked. It is the insulation housing that slips around the lower intake that was all crakced. That wasn't it. I discovered the the P0201 was my stupidity in not plugging one of the injector relays in all the way. That is corrected now. However, the truck still revs to about 3000 upon start up and now it starts shuddering when you apply gas between 45-55mph. Its a nice massage, but pretty sure that isn't Ford's specialty. I have sprayed three cans of throttle body cleaner around the entire topside of the motor. Nothing changes at all. I replaced the upper plenum gasket as it came with the gasket kit and the old one was pitted. Thought for sure that had to be the problem.

I am taking it to the shop on Wednesday as I just can't figure it out. Any other ideas before I have to give up my first born(I like him the best so please help) would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Beausdad]

@ JoshMcMadMac - O'reilly quoted me $900+. They had three different people trying to pull it up in their system. I saw on here where several people said they got one on-line for about that price, but I don't have that kind of luck. I am sure I would go to the same place and they would say, " oh wait, Beausdad? yes sir for you that part is $875. Now bend over if you don't mind."

 

[pet575]

Check out this thread. I believe it has a link to purchase the part:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361187

 

[Beausdad]

Yup

That was the thread that I used to figure out how to do it. I saw the link, but when I saw the age of the thread I thought surely it can't be that cheap any more. I should have went and looked. It's all history now anyway as I am taking it to a shop today to figure out what is really wrong with it now, since it is worse than before.

 

[pet575]

With that cracked up intake you probably have several things going on with the fuel/air mixture. Probably also have some issues with whether your injectors are fully/properly seated if the clips broke. Good that you already found one issue with a loose plug.

Good luck.

BTW, the link is still alive and kicking: $160 for the part plus shipping.

 

[Beausdad]

The intake itself is fine. not a crack in sight. If you go to the link:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=361187
in his picture you will see how the piece that is all cracked and messed up is actually just an insulation sleave. It has nothing to do with the actual operation of the manifold. If you look at the new part for $160 on the part website you will see it doesn't ahve that sleeve on it. It is just the channels on the bottom. That is why I am confused about my issue. All of the injector plugs are seated tight. it takes some slight effort to pull them off. Everything is back together exactly how it came off with new gaskets and it runds like absolute crap. I have unhooked the battery multiple times to try to reset the computer.

It is like I changed the gaskets and the transmission said, "Hey what about me, you aren't going to work on me? I'll show you." I swear it is ridiculous. I just want a 1973
F-100 Ranger Custom XLT w/ a 351 Windsor. If you know anybody who wants an '03 Exploder and a '75 International scout I will trade.

 

[esclamada]

Try swapping the injector from cylinder 1 with another from the opposite bank (5,6,7 or 8) and see if you're getting the same code. I guess you have a faulty injector or wasn't seated properly. Did you replace the o-rings?

If you have a high idle why did you replace the intake manifold? It could be any hoses that were ruptured/cracked.

-----------------------------------------------------------
MY MOUNTY
http://www.facebook.com/diyfordexplorer/photos_albums

 

[vipersinu2]

do you think it is a vacuum leak, isn't there a pvc hose that wear a hole thru pipe? did you change plugs and wires?

 

[Beausdad]

I have sprayed three cans of carb cleaner around every square milimeter of that engine and not a fluctuation of any kind in engine running. I replaced all gaskets involved with manifold and throttle body. I replaced hoses from MAF to throttle body. I did not replace all plugs and coils as coils are $50 a whack and plugs are money as well. I just don't have the money to keep shooting in the dark. I gave up and took it to a shop. I am hoping that since the owner goes to my church I won't get gouged.

 

[Beausdad]

So I got it back from shop and it ran pretty good for a week. Then it was right back to crap. In looking at some other posts I think the problem is that the Thermostat housing is leaking coolant into my plug wells and fouling out plugs and or coils. However, that still doesn't change the high idle problem. Like I said in previous post above. I have sprayed 3 cans of throttle body cleaner around the entire top of the engine and every hose on the thing and there is no fluctuation in how it runs. It is only on start up andstopping that the thing tachs up to about 3000. It is going through a quarter of a tank of gas a day just because of the idle and I only drive the thing about 35 miles a day. Someone referred to the hose that cracks that goes into the EGR. I fixed that a month after I bought the thing 6 years ago by putting a hard plastic elbow on it. No problems there. I replaced all rubber hoses to IAC and EGR. Only hoses left to throttle body and other places on intake are those colored plastic hoses and they all appear to be fine as well as again I have sprayed crap everywhere with no results. I hate to drag this on and on but I am at my wits end. Oh yeah - @ pet575 - When I go to the link in your thread about the Dorman 615-175 it says it doesn't fit an '03 Explorer 4.6l. I can afford $160. Some moron at O'reilley quoted me the $900 and Ford Parts wants $331 for OEM. I would love to spend $160 and keep this thing on the road for another 100K miles. I just can't afford the gas right now. It's killing me.

 

[pet575]

I've heard the same question regarding 2003 engines/Explorers. I do not know the answer for sure but I'm recalling from somewhere in the back of my mind that the part fits all 4.6L V8's used in the 3rd generation Explorers. I say that having no idea where it came from or how it was verified-just information that I heard.

I DO know that if you go to the Dorman lookup tool on their website, it says that the part number that I used does NOT fit the 2004 Explorer or the 2003 Explorer. It does note that the Crown Victoria is an application it fits, though. Most anyone would agree that the Crown Vic and explorer 4.6 V8 is exactly the same. Bottom line, this part DID fit my '04.

 

[Beausdad]

[MENTION=84796]pet575[/MENTION] - I want to thank you for al of your help pet. That thread gave me the opportunity to do something I have never done before and the fact that i did it and had no left over parts after reassembly made me very proud. I would hate to spend the $160 just to find out that Ford did some tiny thing different on the '03 than on everything else. that is totally my luck with this thing. I will check into it again though and possible give Dorman a cal if I can to see what their reasoning is. thanks again for the help and rest assured that your post is going to get me through the installation of a new intake manifold at some point in the near future.

Thanks brother.

 

[pet575]

No problem man. Wish I had a little more info for you but hopefully someone will chime in with an answer to your question. I agree that spending $160 on the wrong part is frustrating. If you have an alternate car or at least the luxury of being able to have some down time then you can always send it back prior to installation if it doesn't match.

Good luck!

 

[Beausdad]

No worries. I'm gonna bite the bullet and do it. Now that I have done it once I am sure I can cut down the time it takes to get it off and on in about half. In the time it took me last time to remove and replace I should be able to remove, replace and if necessary remove and replace again. Hell I was jut glad I didn't have extra parts left over when I was done. thanks again for all of your help.

 

[OUMX117]

beausdad,

Did the new intake fix your problem? My truck is experiencing similar symptoms and I'm about to pull it apart and find out.

 

[LMHmedchem]

I'm pretty sure you will need to do a PCM reset after making repairs of the kind you describe. If you don't reset your computer, it will still be running on the settings it was using before you made the repairs and did the cleaning and such, so it could run just as bad as before. The PCM needs to re-learn new settings based on the current condition of your engine.

LMHmedchem