coolant/oil in spark plug wells???

[knappy023]

2002 EX XLT 4.6 186000 miles

Alright so as the title says coolant and or oil in plug wells on passanger side. Wife got home and said the EX was running like crap and shaking really bad at stop light.

Threw the scanner on it got miss fire on cylinder 1 & 4. Pulled coil packs and the were soaked in coolant & oil. Dried the wells out cleaned up coil packs and packed them with dielectric grease. Seems to have fixed problem for now but not convinced it wont happen again.

What could be causing this? Whats the fix? I read up a little on it and gathered that it might be either the manifold gasket or the tstat housing gasket? ? Any help would be great!!! Thanks!!!

 

[chopperb]

probably the intake manifold. Had to do a few of these last week on crown vics

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

You will need to replace the intake manifold. You should strongly consider doing it ASAP, as letting it go will eventually ruin the coils and maybe more.

 

[thepotroast]

Definitely an intake manifold leaking issue. They crack and the seals deteriorate. This leads to the coolant leaking into the cylinder head walls.

The job isn't hard to do if you want to attempt it yourself. Repair manual will tell you what to do, or look it up on YouTube...plenty of good videos on replacing this fairly common issue.

Get a Dorman replacement which has the upgraded aluminum coolant crossover, an improvement from the stock plastic ones that the OEM ones are made with, which is the faulty area.

 

[DAT05EXPLODER]

i got a new intake manifold from rockauto.com for $160 shipped. was the cheapest i could find, search and you can find 5% off discount codes.

 

[yglide123]

I have the exact same issue: coolant in spark plug well on #8 causing a misfire.... but it appears to be seeping from within the well itself and not from the intake. I could be wrong, but any thoughts? Will begin taking it apart this weekend...

'03 Explorer EB with 4.6 V8

here's a shot of the coil that was pulled:

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

I have the exact same issue: coolant in spark plug well on #8 causing a misfire.... but it appears to be seeping from within the well itself and not from the intake. I could be wrong, but any thoughts? Will begin taking it apart this weekend...

You need to replace the intake manifold.

 

[yglide123]

It looks like the manifold goes around the spark plug holes though, rather than over them. Unless it is leaking and dripping into the well, but it really looks like its seeping from the sides of the well rather than from the top.

I'd be pretty happy if it's just the manifold.... was afraid it was something more like a head gasket...

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

It looks like the manifold goes around the spark plug holes though, rather than over them. Unless it is leaking and dripping into the well, but it really looks like its seeping from the sides of the well rather than from the top.

I'd be pretty happy if it's just the manifold.... was afraid it was something more like a head gasket...

A head gasket would not do that...as the head gasket is below the heads. What you have is the typical signs of a failing intake manifold.

 

[yglide123]

I was hoping that was the case. I just cleaned it out and there's no seam in the well (I previously thought there was), so the only place it could be coming from is the top. Will post an update when I have time to tear it all down. Thanks!

 

[yglide123]

Update: It was absolutely a leaking intake manifold gasket. Thanks for your input.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

Update: It was absolutely a leaking intake manifold gasket. Thanks for your input.

 

[kworonowski]

is it worth the time and effort to do myself or just pay the $240 to the mechanic to deal with this. (That's just the labor). The gasket under the thermostat is leaking and I figured that it would prolly be better to replace the whole intake with a new clean one as well as O-rings for injectors and new plugs then just replacing the gaskets. Any thoughts on this and anything else I should look at while I am at it.
137k 02 4.6l
130k timing gears/chains all replaced (cept the $2k ).

Thanks for advice

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

is it worth the time and effort to do myself or just pay the $240 to the mechanic to deal with this. (That's just the labor). The gasket under the thermostat is leaking and I figured that it would prolly be better to replace the whole intake with a new clean one as well as O-rings for injectors and new plugs then just replacing the gaskets. Any thoughts on this and anything else I should look at while I am at it.
137k 02 4.6l
130k timing gears/chains all replaced (cept the $2k ).

Thanks for advice

Is an afternoon of work worth $240 for you? If you are not well setup for this sort of thing, perhaps it is worth it.