**Urgent** 2000 Explorer 4.0L OHV. NEED HELP with Plenum Gaskets (Upper Intake) Info

[FHP89LX]

**Urgent** 2000 Explorer 4.0L OHV. NEED HELP **Update**

Hi,
Please by aware this is my Daily Driver vehicle and it's down at this moment.

UPDATE WITH MORE PICS ON POST #4

My Explorer has 172K and I was getting a code PO305 # misfire. I search on the forums for days until i found the problem. I already replaced, wires, plugs, coil, cleaned IAC. Then I needed to replace the Intake (plenum gasket) Manifold gaskets. My upper intake is the Plastic One.

I went to Advance auto and bought Part# MS90732 (Fel-Pro).
When I removed the upper intake, I found an Fel-Pro Gasket (part# 96684)on between the upper and lower intake. Keep in mind that the old rubber gaskets were still on Upper Intake grooves.

Im confused. Why did the gasket kit only come with what's on Pic# 2 (including the O-ring)

What is this Fel-pro (96684) for?

I'm not sure where the thick gasket goes. Do i need to buy the Fel-Pro 96684 gasket?

Pic#1 shows what i removed from the upper intake.

Pic# 2 are the new parts that came in the MS90732 Kit including the EGR tube O-Ring

This is the gasket kit ( sorry about the quality of pic)

 

[FHP89LX]

Any idea's on this? I will be up all night to fiqure this out. I need the truck to be done before I head out to work.

 

[FHP89LX]

Please,

Does anyone know if I have to install the Fel-Pro Gasket (part# 96684) on Pic #1 that was between the fuel rail and the upper intake?

 

[FHP89LX]

Wow 53 views and no replys? anyways this is what i did:

This is for the misfire on #5

replaced plugs, wires, coil, intake gaskets from pic#2 (MS90732 Kit ).
I did a compressing check at a local mechanic shop and all was good.
I checked to see if circuit was good on injector #5 and that was good.
I replaced the #5 injector. We suspected the injector could have been bad because fuel was not burning on #5 plug.
I also changed all the o-rings on the injectors.

The truck still misfires really bad and it feels like its running on 5 cylinders. Still no CEL yet. This was supposed to be my vacation time and i cancelled everything because of this. I need this truck to be ready. It's my bread and butter! My daily driver and brings the money home.

I removed plug # 5. #6 and took pic's just to show you whats going on. These plugs were change 6 month ago and one of those plugs was changed two weeks ago. Any Ideas????

Please help.

 

[dean1997sport]

I just checked mine ( i just bought a set for a 98") and the gasket in pic#1 is the one i have, I am sorry i dont know any thing about the gasket/spacer? in pic#2 maybe take it back and see if all the kits for that part number are the same (have the same gaskets) maybe there was a mistake. I am pretty sure the gasket from pic#1 goes between the fuel rail and the lower manifold dont quote me I havent done mine yet but just looking at other posts for so long thats what it looks like

The part number i got is
MS90732 and its for a 98' OHV same one you have and it does not have that gasket in pic #2

 

[FHP89LX]

I just checked mine ( i just bought a set for a 98") and the gasket in pic#1 is the one i have, I am sorry i dont know any thing about the gasket/spacer? in pic#2 maybe take it back and see if all the kits for that part number are the same (have the same gaskets) maybe there was a mistake. I am pretty sure the gasket from pic#1 goes between the fuel rail and the lower manifold dont quote me I havent done mine yet but just looking at other posts for so long thats what it looks like

The part number i got is
MS90732 and its for a 98' OHV same one you have and it does not have that gasket in pic #2

Thank you for the reply. I just went ahead and just installed what came with the kit in PIC#2 (upper rubber gasket, EGR O-ring tube gasket, and the Fuel rail gasket.

 

[dean1997sport]

Did it work out ok?

 

[FHP89LX]

Did it work out ok?

Nope... I updated post # 4 with pictures of my plugs.

Any ideas what could it be??

 

[miraj1090]

...What is this Fel-pro (96684) for?

I just ran into this issue while working on my 1997 4.0L Ranger. Considering the date of your posting, I will assume that you probably don't own the Explorer anymore, but here is what I have found/surmised:

It appears the thick gasket acts as an insulator. It's placement between fuel rail and the upper plenum is what makes me think this is so. The original spacer on my engine was a hard injection plastic, slightly under 1/4" thick. I had to replace it because it has begun to disintegrate. It seems like the plastic was 'cooked' or made brittle from the heat coming off the aluminum fuel rail. I can only imagine what the intake plenum might have looked like and how it might have caused the engine to act up/throw codes etc.

The original plastic spacer was very smooth, but still had a gasket between the plastic spacer and the fuel rail. Your thin gasket should go between the spacer and the fuel rail. However, with the plastic being replaced by paper, I am thinking it would be a good idea to get another thin gasket and position it between the spacer, and the upper plenum as well. In other words; sandwich the thick gasket between two thin gaskets. My rationale is that the rubber gaskets integrated into the upper plastic plenum might seat better against the rubber coating part of the paper gasket openings better than just interfacing directly with the spacer.

Another reason why I think my theory is correct is that the studs are pretty long - to me that's an indication Ford's engineers took the spacer into account when designing the stud lengths.

Again, I think the purpose of the thick Felpro 96684 is Ford's attempt to protect the plastic upper plenum from overheating and thus warping. This is precisely what i have seen happen on my wife's 2005 Grand Prix; it warped an started leaking antifreeze. That turned out to be pretty costly because it meant having to buy an upper plenum.

You may also notice there are brass (metal) washers built into the gasket material where the studs insert. That tells me they act as a detente to prevent the paper gasket from crushing completely.

My advice would be that you not toss the spacer. Install it - Thus, my final answer is that the spacer was designed for thermal protection of the intake plenum.

I hope this helps. And if I am wrong, please let me know - Scientific method requires skepticism.