96 lower intake manifold

[mrtim4u]

Well just as I hit 202,000 miles on my ol 1996 explorer 4.0l 4x4 she started pouring out antifreeze out the back, after doing some research on explorerforums (love you guys) I figured it was coming outta the rear passenger side port, after a tear down sure enough the gasket was smoked. I took a few pictures along the way to show ya guys, and look at the build up in my intake ports! is this normal?? I gave them a decent cleaning. Oh and figured I might as well change the plugs for the first time in 50k..but to my surprise the motocraft plugs looked really good still..but oh well.
Now its all put back together but it sounds like she is sucking air from the upper intake..havent pinpointed it yet..could be a missed vac (not that lucky) but its causing it to run a little rough. I really hope I dont have to tear off the upper again I had to take a break and walk away for a few so I came inside and figured Id upload the pics I have so far..Im thinking I may take a vid here in a min and see what you guys think.

 

[lobo411]

Mine has 175k and I just redid my lower intake manifold gasket. My intake ports were very slightly discolored, but there was no significant build-up. I dunno how that much carbon could get into the intake passages. Maybe your PCV system isn't operating properly? It might help to replace the rubber hose that goes from the upper intake manifold to the PCV valve. They tend to get old and stretched out, and then you don't get a good seal. Cheap enough: $9.83 at Amazon, Motorcraft p/n KCV98. Amazon's catalog says that it won't fit our 96 Explorers, but they're wrong. It fits perfectly.

Assuming you didn't miss a vac line and replaced the upper intake manifold o-rings, did you use the proper torque sequence? The upper and lower manifolds have to be torqued in a criss-cross pattern from the outside in:

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/Dr/drivefast1971/2012-12-03_191620_1.gif

Another possibility...if you used the RTV that came with the Fel-Pro gasket kit...are you sure it didn't set up before you got it all back together? That's what happened to me when I originally replaced the LIM 2 years ago. It was a hot day and the RTV apparently set up so fast that I had no chance to get it back together properly. It leaked oil out of the valley until I finally re-did the job with slower curing RTV.