lower intake gasket

[Markus]

I have the Felpro gasket for the lower intake and it has cork at the front and back seemingly where the note says to put the sealant although it doesn't state that exactly. The pic of this gasket on their site as well as Rock auto where I bought it doesn't show the cork. Felpro is closed until next week.

I'm wondering if I should put sealant along the area between the arrows outlined in red in the engine pic which is a little longer than the cork, going up the valley to the valve cover area. The yellow is where the cork seems to align and is technically the area 'between the heads' like the note says or between the lower part of the heads.

Also should I put the sealant only on the engine side or also on the intake side?
Thanks for any help.

 

[RonD]

May be something new, yes usually you get a tube of black sealant for each end of the valley for the seal

Cork would be good to use there, it swells and self seals when it gets oil on it over the years.
Cork is used for better seals that won't be touched for years, rubber is used if parts will be removed now and then because it can be reused for the most part, cork is a use once and discard gasket.

I would use sealant in the 4 valley corners and I also add thin layer around coolant passage ports on both sides of gasket

 

[Markus]

Thanks RonD.

So basically at the intersections of my yellow and red lines and then around coolant passages. Unlike the rubber Felpro gaskets I got for the valve covers I'm assuming it's not a problem to add some sealant on this type of gasket.

Would adding a thin layer to the cork be counter productive or just redundant?

 

[adsm08]

I seal both sides of the cork, with a big goober at each end.

 

[RonD]

But not too much
The excess sealant squeezes out and ends up as little balls in the valley and then in the oil pan and gets sucked into the oil pickup screen.........and stays there.

So Goldilocks that sealant, do it "just right" lol

 

[Markus]

Thank you both for your input, I could have guessed several permutations using my Spock hat and still not felt sure what I was doing. Even if Felpro gets back to me I trust this site more for vehicle specific info. Without this site and YT I'd have been stuck on a lot of the repairs I've done in the last ten years.

I've never even done the valve covers before due to the crazy gymnastics involved when all of the wiring and hoses are normally in the way. Anyone that has done those without leaks is truly a ninja. That's coming from someone who has changed the Tstat and PCV hose on a 2004 Focus with the 2.3 duratec engine.

Well, since I didn't go out last night I may have to make some Guinness stout pancakes today. Besides, my truck turned 30 a month ago and I bought it new so that alone has to be a good reason, right?