Intake gaskets on '92 4.0, is silicone OK ??

[Rustydawg]

OK guys, I've got the old Ranger mill torn apart and spent lots of time cleaning up the lower intake manifold and I have replacement Victor gaskets for both the lower intake and upper.

I realize that silicone is used for sealing the front and rear of the lower intake to the block, but is it necessary or even OK to dab a little silicone on the port faces of the lower intake gaskets?

There's no documentation with the gaskets regarding this.

It seems like everything came apart dry, there were no traces of silicone except for the valve covers. I think everything was factory in my case.

 

[Big Jim M]

All the extra sillycone can do is to squirt out into the fuel passages or even into the oiled parts of the engine.
NEVER use sillycone unless it is specefically called for. There are only 2 or 3 small places on most engines that sillycone even MAY be used.
Clean dry surfaces and a good dry gasket simply cannot be bettered.
Big JIm

 

[Rustydawg]

Thanks Jim, you confirmed what I suspected. After looking closely at the replacement gaskets the intake port seals are actually silicone rubber on a stainless steel support so there shouldn't be any need for additional silicone.

I'd hate for all this meticulous & tedious parts cleaning to go to waste.