2002 4.6L V8 Ford Explorer intake manifold HELP!

[opalescent 96]

So my '02 4.6 Explorer has the all plastic intake that is of coarse leaking at 80K miles...

I have looked around and found OEM Ford intakes for a decent price but they are now discontinued.. What!?? And I will not put the Dorman intake on my car ha ha. So I ended up buying the Ford Racing intake that is a direct replacement for PI motor Mustangs.

I got the intake today and it looks the same as my Explorer intake EXCEPT it has the heater hose inlet at the back of the intake. The explorer heater hose connection is at the front, in the aluminum crossover. The heater hose connection on the explorer intake isn't tapped or molded in if you will..

So will moving the heater hose connection from the front to the back affect cooling system performance in the explorer motor?

I can physically move the hose to the back and put a plug in the front of the intake but I just want to make sure I'm alright.

Thanks!

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

Why not the Dorman intake? It is better than the OEM part and a bolt-in replacement. Check out the Explorer Forums, there have been a ton of them used without incident.

 

[opalescent 96]

The Dorman intake is not better then the PI Ford intake. You lose about 10 horsepower with the PI dorman because it's the old NPI dorman with PI openings at the heads. It has less volume then the Ford and smaller ports. It also has the gaskets molded in with less composite material at the ports so is more prone to cracking.

Here is a link that shows them side by side for comparison:http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2422417

 

[opalescent 96]

The solution to my problem appears to buy a dorman heater hose cap and cap off the back heater hose junction and run the heater hose to the crossover. It comes on the dorman intakes and you can buy it separately