Upper Intake Seals

[elgato]

2004 3.0 with 35K.
I have the famous P171 and 174 codes. Clean MAF, 65 PSI fuel and no obvious vacuum leaks. My mechanic says that it is almost always the upper intake seals.
I could not find a good how to for this. Please post a link if you know of a good one.
It looks like the intake can be lifted enough to replace the seals with minimal disassembly. Is this just wishful thinking?
Any advice appreciated.
Thank You.

 

[Rearanger]

2004 3.0 with 35K.
It looks like the intake can be lifted enough to replace the seals with minimal disassembly. Is this just wishful thinking?

To do a good job I would say wishful thinking. You'll need to throughly clean the gasket sealing surfaces on the engine and manifold before installing the new gasket. Have you tried to re-torque the manifold first? 89 in/lbs. My FSM shows only 4 bolts holding the upper manifold, which, given it's size, seems less than adaquate - maybe that's why it failed so soon.

 

[elgato]

Great design. Plastic manifold and only four bolts!

It looks like there is no gasket, just six O-Rings that dry out. I am going to
re-torque it but I doubt it will help.

Has anyone else seen these fail this early?

Thanks

 

[Rearanger]

Great design.

This is my first Ford and I've had issues with Ford engineering.

I am going to re-torque

Do not over torque as manifold is plastic, it's in/lbs, NOT ft/lbs.

 

[graff104]

This is my first Ford and I've had issues with Ford engineering.



Do not over torque as manifold is plastic, it's in/lbs, NOT ft/lbs.

Yeah those inch pounds got me. Luckily mine is not the plastic intake so all i broke was the head off the bolt. I kept thinking there is not way that it needs to be THIS tight... then SNAP broken bolt... I got er fixed though

 

[betomonroy]

I had an issue like this. If your gaskets are dry and hard it is suggestable you replace 'em.
But if you overtorque the intake definitely you will have a crack in it creating a vaccum leak.
You can also check the brakes booster for leaks as it may also cause this condition.
Just unplug the booster and plug the hose for testing. If the fail persist... take two MEGA ASPIRINS and contact your friendly consultants at The Ranger Station with more feedback.