cewhite3
LVC Member
Im working on a 2004 3.9L V8 cooling system. The car had a high pressure cooling leak at the front of the engine. I suspect something in the plastic thermostat housing / cross over pipe system is leaking under pressure. Since the car is 10 years old, I figured this would be a good time to replace all the plastic parts and the related hoses. The thermostat housing and the crossover pipe are easy. However, there is a plastic elbow attached to the block under the air intake that connects to the crossover pipe. This elbow is difficult to access. The shop manual is mum on this part. It looks like I need to remove part or all of the intake manifold to get to the bolts that attach the elbow to the block. Any advise on how to proceed would be appreciated.
It appears I have two options - 1) remove the complete intake manifold including the throttle body and throttle body spacer or 2) remove the throttle body and throttle body spacer. The shop manual covers removing the complete intake manifold. The shop manual does not cover removing the throttle body spacer from the front of the intake manifold (it stops at removing the throttle body from the spacer). I hesitate to remove the throttle body spacer from the intake manifold for a couple of reasons. The manual does not address how to remove the spacer and therefore I have no idea of the torque requiremets for the screws that attach the spacer to the intake manifold. Since I am screwing into a plastic part, I am worried that the torque setting are critical for when I reinstall the spacer to the manifold. Secondly, the spacer to intake manifold gasket is no longer available from Ford. Aftermarket versions are available, but it worries me that Ford doesn't offer this gasket (O-Ring?). This implies to me that Ford does not approve removing the spacer from the manifold. I hate working on plastic parts and fear that removing the metal spacer from the plastic manifold might lead to disaster.
Should I assume that plastic elbow between the block and crossover pipe is OK and not likely to fail or should I replace it (the part is cheap). If I should replace it, what is the best method to access it?
Thanks for any advice
Ed White
It appears I have two options - 1) remove the complete intake manifold including the throttle body and throttle body spacer or 2) remove the throttle body and throttle body spacer. The shop manual covers removing the complete intake manifold. The shop manual does not cover removing the throttle body spacer from the front of the intake manifold (it stops at removing the throttle body from the spacer). I hesitate to remove the throttle body spacer from the intake manifold for a couple of reasons. The manual does not address how to remove the spacer and therefore I have no idea of the torque requiremets for the screws that attach the spacer to the intake manifold. Since I am screwing into a plastic part, I am worried that the torque setting are critical for when I reinstall the spacer to the manifold. Secondly, the spacer to intake manifold gasket is no longer available from Ford. Aftermarket versions are available, but it worries me that Ford doesn't offer this gasket (O-Ring?). This implies to me that Ford does not approve removing the spacer from the manifold. I hate working on plastic parts and fear that removing the metal spacer from the plastic manifold might lead to disaster.
Should I assume that plastic elbow between the block and crossover pipe is OK and not likely to fail or should I replace it (the part is cheap). If I should replace it, what is the best method to access it?
Thanks for any advice
Ed White