Advise Needed Please! Also a warning to others doing the 00M12 Repair | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Advise Needed Please! Also a warning to others doing the 00M12 Repair

rbejexp

Member
Joined
September 30, 2006
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
City, State
CO
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 XLT
I think I maybe okay (car started fine and idle's well), but I want the group's advice. I think I messed up the lower intake manifold.:mad: I just finished replacing the lower intake gaskets and positioned & secured the lower intake to the engine. I went to place the upper manifold and started to screw it down and you guessed it, I was not aligned and as I started to screw the upper manifold I mistaking damaged some of the plastic ribs on the lower intake. I also cut a little of the new gasket with the screws. Since it was a Sunday and no way to get replacements for a couple of days I decided to bandage the damage with some non-hardening gasket sealer in the damaged spots. I put everything back and the car started up just fine. The real test will be tommorrow morning when I start the car after a good cold soaking.

I need advice, should properly go back and and get a replacement lower intake and replace the damage gaskets or if the car runs fine leave it alone? Does anyone know how much the plastic lower intake costs? - I'm worried that I just added hundreds more to my repair instead of saving by DIY.

A warning to all others attemptig the same repair. Be super careful when securing the upper intake. The tapping screws are stiff even when aligned and therefore do not give you a good indication that you are aligned or not. All the damn vac. hoses really cut your visibility to the mating surfaces, so it is really difficult to know when you are in the right position. Screw every screw by hand (tough by the way) and tighten from the center to outer edges.

Good luck and thanks for the advice in advance!!!

Merry Christmas...BTW!!!:D :D :D
 












I don't know what your intentions are for the truck, but if it were mine I would replace the lower intake.
 






The car idles great!! The gaskets really solve the problem. The old gaskets became hard. and clearly did not seal well. Just curious, there was a good degree of cooked oily residue in all the intake passages (plastic housings). Is this normal?
 






Back
Top