Help! Removed Intake Manifold…Broke EGR Pipe, And What Is This Insulator??

[sweetbeats]

So, 2003 Eddie Bauer with the 4.6L V8. My driver side intake manifold gasket has been leaking coolant, so I pulled the manifold tonight to replace the gaskets.

Problem #1: I snapped the EGR pipe where it dives down the firewall…was flexing the assembly to help make clearance to pull the manifold out…see pic…red arrow points to the busted pipe. Yes there were audible expletives. What the hell do I do now? I see where the pipe connects to the passenger exhaust manifold but holy smokes that looks like a straight-up PITA to remove the pipe there…no clearance. Do I try to plug the pipe and do an EGR delete? We live in a rural area so no emissions checks. Or is it not that hard to remove the pipe and install a replacement? Or does anybody have any recommendations for how I might Zeus the two pieces back together?

Problem #2: see pic below…big insulator circled in red…what does this do? The plastic casing on mine is just coming apart. Do I just leave it as-is, or pull the whole thing out? Is it critical? Does this thing just help keep intake air from being heated by heat radiating from the block?

 

[fordysenior]

A common problem is that insulator bag gets brittle as time goes on. Take it off, throw it away, don't worry about a replacement. I was told it was a noise insulator, and that the part has no Ford replacement. I replaced my intake manifold with an upgraded one (Dorman brand with a metal crossover instead of the factory plastic one). I called Dorman, they said "throw the bag away", I did, I've had no issues with it gone.

As for the metal pipe, maybe you could use a piece of heater hose and a couple of clamps to reconnect it good enough to be useful. But it's been a few years since I had to deal with mine == or in other words, don't take my word for it due to my lack of knowledge on that subject. Hope that others will be helpful. I also live rural and know parts can be hard to come by.

 

[BKennedy]

JB Weld and a piece of heater hose? Wrap it in this stuff?
Amazon product ASIN B09BBHSJ9Z

 

[sweetbeats]

I’m not sure if what you’re calling a “bag” is the same thing I’ve got…my insulator is like a high density molded plasticized foam or something encased in a plastic shell. The plastic has become brittle and is breaking apart. Is that what you mean by bag? And I can just pull that out and toss it?

That JB weld muffler wrap looks like it might work…I was thinking I could see if I can find a brass barbed plumbing fitting that fits snug inside the tube, join the two ends together with that and then wrap the joint in the JB weld muffler wrap…?

 

[fordysenior]

Yes, bag plastic thing, noise reducer -- the brittle thing at the base of the intake manifold.

 

[sweetbeats]

Yes, bag plastic thing, noise reducer -- the brittle thing at the base of the intake manifold.

Okay. Thanks…not trying to quibble, just don’t want to jack up any detail that might be important. I pulled it out…this thing, ya? Toss it and don’t look back?

 

[mountaineer2004]

Yes, it's ok to trash it.

 

[LMHmedchem]

I have used steel epoxy putty to make repairs similar to your ERG pipe. I did this on a steel transmission cooling line. It was meant to be a temporary repair, but it was there until I sold the truck. I imagine that the ExhaustWeld may be similar. There is also a JBWeld high heat cold weld that may work. There are allot of brands of steel epoxy putty.

The big question with any such repair is the pressure, temperature, or solvents that the repair material will be exposed to. Without knowing the temperature and pressure of the material moving through the pipe, you can only guess as to an appropriate repair material. Whether you use a piece of hose or an adhesive, it needs to be able to hold up in the environment.

If you have to guess, a high temperature hose is a good place to start because the repair will be easy to reverse if it doesn't hold up.

LMHmedchem