My 1997 4.6 L f150 with 120K miles ran great when cold and would miss at low rpm or under load once warmed up. I found "chocolate milk" on the under-surface of the oil filler cap so I guess my head gasket is blown. My local dealer told me that the water leaks into number 3 cylinder and to replace the engine for $6000 so I'm ready for desparate measures.
The oil itself is normal so I hoped a bottle of K&W motor sealer would do the trick. My heater coil was leaking and bypassed years ago. I thought I'd seal it at the same time as the gasket but when I tried to get the hose off the intake manifold hose fitting, it bent and cracked at the very base. This aluminum tube high rise fitting appears to be pressed into the rear part of the manifold. It is not completely broken off so I am considering gluing it on. ?liquid metal? some kind of epoxy? Is there some way to fix this? Do I have to replace the manifold? Please help me.

 

HI!... If it's anything like the 5.4 aluminum intake manifold then it will be a very thin walled steel tube that is pressed into a hole in the intake manifold. If you remove the intake manifold from the engine you should be able to remove whats left in the hole. You can do this by cutting it off flush with the aluminum, and slicing the steel tube down wards toward the intake manifold. A DREMEL with a small steel cutting bit would work best. Once out you can probably just get a short piece of thick wall aluminum tubing and have a local welding shop butt weld it onto the intake manifold. Or you can see if FORD offers a replacement tube for the intake but I doubt it. I did this on the opposite side of the manifold for the "COOLANT PASSAGE MOD". It worked out great I never had any leaks or problems.

 

Regarding the coffee colored oil under the oil fill cap. This has been addressed quite a bit on this site lately. As mentioned in other posts this is not always an indicator of a blown head gasket or other major issue. Sometimes moisture accumulates in that area and mixes with oil mist from the crankcase. This happens usually during cold weather and short trips make it worse as the engine dosen't get hot enough to "cook" the water off. If the oil in the pan looks ok then I would question if the dealer is as knowlegable as he wants you to believe. Another question I have about the dealer is where does he get his information regarding coolant leaking into cyl #3? Does he have reason to think this is the case with your engine or just 4.6 engines in general? I have been Dyno testing these engines (4.6) since their inception almost twenty years ago. There is no or ever has been a issue with coolant leaking into cyl #3 unless an overheat was present and then a coolant leak could happen in any of the eight cylinders if the head gasket was compromised. Before I would cough up big bucks for a new engine I would take your truck somewhere else for another opinon. Again your dealer may have more information than what was presented in your short letter but this is just my opinion based on your letter. By the way fixing the intake as suggested above is a good idea. There are a lot of sharp mechanics on this site that know how to think "out of the box".We could use more people in this business with that ability... Just make sure the tube can't come out as that could cause engine failure from an over heat. Good luck.

 

Really appreciate your responses. Prior to my taking my truck to the dealer I had two days in which the motor would not immediately turn over. It was as though the motor was locked up. I thought the battery was dead but after three or four tries the motor would turn over like nothing was wrong and start right up. I told the dealer about this and asked them to replace the battery. They said the battery was good and the motor was bad. I pulled the plug out yesterday and found the electrode was rattling loose in the plug. It was brown but otherwise not looking like it had endured months of watery misfires(As if I know what that would look like).
I would much prefer gluing the tube in place without having to remove the manifold. Is there a way to glue tube to the manifold? Its cracked but still in place.

 

HI!... How much of the coolant tube would still be there if you cut the tube just a fraction under the crack? When I did my custom routing of my heater hoses the 90 degree bend of the coolant tube was in the way so I cut mine just below the 90 degree bend. So basically it was now just a straight piece of coolant tube about 1.5 inches long. I just slid the heater hose over the coolant tube and used two S/S hose clamps to secure it.

I wouldn't suggest "GLUING" it because that will not work out very well. It needs to be modified or replaced. You can get the intake manifold off in like 30 minutes. The intake gaskets are reusable.





You can take the intake manifold off almost completely assembled.

 

lol man u find any chance to post pics huh lol

 

HI!... You find any chance to harASS me...........

 

Thanks Neal,
My tube broke about 1/32 inch above the manifold. The tube is long enough to just press whats left back in if I just cut it off and grind out the stem. Did you press yours on yourself or did a machine shop do it? Did you mean that the manifold could be removed in a half hour from an intact truck or from a motor outside of the truck?
I'm seriously considering tacking the broken edge with JB Weld then building up the base with MSR quicksteel epoxy. I spoke to a friend today who said he did something similar that lasted two years till he sold his car.
Dynotech,
Really appreciate your post. It got me thinking. I drive to work and home each day about 7 minutes each way. The humidity is always high here in Kailua and your explanation of condensation sounds right. I'll bypass the block sealer.

 

HI!... I didn'y press anything. I just cut mine down to get rid of the 90 degree bend.

 

im not lol every guy likes to show off shiny car parts

 

I spent the whole day just removing the manifold. Neal, if you could take yours off in 30 minutes . Would have bought a manual if I was sure the truck will survive. Frozen screws gobs of rust, mud oil and muck in the spark plugs holes and alot more. I'll have to wait till monday to have a tube welded on.
I found the number five plug looks oil fouled and the number three had a loose electrode. Man this thing is going to be different when I get done.
This truck hasn't given me any problems at all and even has the original clutch. I've never had a truck go much past 120,000 miles and I'm wondering how many miles other people are getting.
I wonder what my patients are going to think when they see my black nails and cuts on my hands.

 

HI!... Make sure when you put it all back together that you put never seize on every single bolt. I do mine with a CRAFTSMAN 20 volt electric drill with the socket attachment extension and use 1/4 drive sockets. If you think 30 minutes is fast, I removed my 5.4 the last time in 3 hours in my driveway with no air tools. Done it so many times now I can do it with my eyes closed!

 

What's never seize? How much torque do you use on the intake manifold screws? There are the large ones on the perimeter and the smaller central ones. If you put the screws in with a 1/4 in drive in a drill, do you have to use a torgue wrench after the bolts are in?

 

HI!... Never seize is a paste that you apply to the threads of bolts to keep them from rusting or seizing in their holes. You only needed to remove the outer manifold bolts. The center ones just hold the lower plenum on. You can remove the whole intake manifold as a unit. I've never used a TQ wrench on the intake bolts. I just do it by "FEEL" like when you to a tranny pan. I just tighten with the cordless drill about 95%. Then I go around with a ratchet and tighten them up by hand. Never had a problem.

 

I took the manifold to a machinist and he threaded the block and screwed a copper pipe into the hole with a threaded fitting on the other end to recieve the hose. It worked fine.
Despite the new plugs, the truck still misses and backfires. Will a leak in the head gasket cause backfires? It seems to me a faulty plug wire would be more likely. The number five plug was black and oily.