intake manifold confuses me

[Zapper]

so i took off the intake to put on new gaskets, and when i got the manifold off i was confused as to why it has a coolant passage in it, can anyone educate me on why it has that there?

 

[BlackBII]

I haven't worked on a 2.3 in a few years but if I recall correctly, the coolant temp sensor is in the intake manifold, where the coolant enters. One of the heater hoses is also connected to a steel pipe that wraps around the back of the head, and into the intake manifold.

 

[Rusty Bouquet]

so i took off the intake to put on new gaskets, and when i got the manifold off i was confused as to why it has a coolant passage in it, can anyone educate me on why it has that there?

Not much experience with the ranger head(s), but I race 2.3t's. And for those, it's partly the heater supply/return system. I've deleted them many times...

 

[RonD]

Why it is there is to heat up the intake manifold to prevent icing in colder climates, high velocity air can get very cold, and cold gasoline won't ignite with a spark, only gasoline vapor can be ignited with a spark.
Which is why all gasoline engines need to be Choked when trying to cold start them
Choke means to double or triple up on the amount of gasoline the engine gets to try and get at least 30% Vapor level in the cylinders

 

[adsm08]

Why it is there is to heat up the intake manifold to prevent icing in colder climates, high velocity air can get very cold

And the 2.3 doesn't generate a ton of heat either, so icing is a real possibility.