Engine intake manifold oil leak

Depending on what you're looking to do and how much you're willing to spend, here are some cheap options from Minneapolis Craigslist for you to consider. I dunno if your engine is the original engine to the car or if it's swapped from something else, but some of these may be an upgrade for you.....



I'm sure these wouldn't gain you much:

And here's some with a little higher price tag, but most likely would bump your compression:
 
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OR..... If you were so inclined, there is a 96 5.0L Explorer at U Pull R Parts in Mt Bethel listed online. Their pricelist online says that the complete engine would run you around $180-190. With that you'd get arguably the best production Windsor heads. With some parts swapping from your old engine, you could have that running pretty quickly and I'm sure you'd see a performance improvement even if you retained the stock Explorer camshaft. If you want more performance, you'd have a decent base to start with.....

Yes, I'm bored tonight!!! Lol
 
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OR..... If you were so inclined, there is a 96 5.0L Explorer at U Pull R Parts in Mt Bethel listed online. Their pricelist online says that the complete engine would run you around $180-190. With that you'd get arguably the best production Windsor heads. With some parts swapping from your old engine, you could have that running pretty quickly and I'm sure you'd see a performance improvement even if you retained the stock Explorer camshaft. If you want more performance, you'd have a decent base to start with.....

Yes, I'm bored tonight!!! Lol
If It's just the heads or a head gasket; I think I'll take some advice from you and look these up.
 
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Valve no, head gasket yes.

Well that took WAAYYY too long. Needless to say here is the leak-down test on #8.

I'm hard of hearing but I think I could hear it hissing at the back of the manifold. no bubbles in the antifreeze. I couldn't hear anything at the oil fill nor the carb.

Thoughts please.
Thank you,
Enzio
 

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If the air is coming out where the gasket blew out, it's either a head gasket or a defect in the block or head (such as warpage or a crack). You can verify that it's pushing combustion gasses out to the crankcase by connecting an air hose to that cylinder again and listening/feeling for air at the dipstick tube, oil cap, or breather.

You can also spray some glass cleaner or soapy water at the area you suspect while supplying air to that cylinder for a visual indication.

Hopefully it's just a head gasket.
 
No bubbles. It was pumping the air through there like crazy. I think when I shut off the compressor at it's peak pressure i could hear the air from the exhaust. So, that tells me the valve is bad and it doesn't solve the manifold gasket blow out unless I didn't do it right in the first place.

Unless you tell me different the head needs to come off.
 
OR..... If you were so inclined, there is a 96 5.0L Explorer at U Pull R Parts in Mt Bethel listed online. Their pricelist online says that the complete engine would run you around $180-190. With that you'd get arguably the best production Windsor heads. With some parts swapping from your old engine, you could have that running pretty quickly and I'm sure you'd see a performance improvement even if you retained the stock Explorer camshaft. If you want more performance, you'd have a decent base to start with.....

Yes, I'm bored tonight!!! Lol

What would be the best set up for heads and I'd even entertain a camshaft if i can make it happen without pulling the engine?
 
Heads need to fit the headers. I still have the receipt and they were blackjacks listed for GT40 heads. A kit would be nice.
I am going fishing again starting tomorrow afternoon so I have some time to ponder this situation. I'd like to have up to 300HP when done.
 
I think so. I'll replace the water-pump which is almost 30 years old so that'll have to go. (remember water pump envy) So the radiator will need to come out. small thing to take the grill out should be room to put a cam in there. Others here should be able to tell us because I don't know.

Fishing is something that I've put off due to life. Now's the time for me to catch up...
 
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No bubbles. It was pumping the air through there like crazy. I think when I shut off the compressor at it's peak pressure i could hear the air from the exhaust. So, that tells me the valve is bad and it doesn't solve the manifold gasket blow out unless I didn't do it right in the first place.

Unless you tell me different the head needs to come off.
Did you make sure the valves were closed before putting the air in it?
 
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I'll test it one more time in the morning. I tried with a pencil to bring it to TDC. If I went a little to far I'll check again. I covered the intake with dove and water mix. Again, I'm hard of hearing. especially high frequency. I'll ask for help tomorrow and let you know. Thank you for your help.
Enzio
 
couldn't find anyone to help out. most people are working. there is definitely air from the exhaust. I can't tell if there is any leakage at the manifold end seal. Now, I'm going to check one more thing when i get back from fishing which is to see if I have the #8 exhaust valve too tight and therefore not closing. I don't know if that's possible or not. But I will check.
thank you for all the help. i'll check in this weekend when i have a moment. where i'm going has signal.
enzio
 
What would be the best set up for heads and I'd even entertain a camshaft if i can make it happen without pulling the engine?

The best setup for heads depends on what you want from the engine and how much you're willing so spend. There are a lot of options out there! A set of GT40 heads from a 96-97 Explorer are pretty cheap and are a definite upgrade over stock. I'm sure you could reach the 300 hp mark with them. But they're bottom of the barrel in some respects compared to any kind of aftermarket head. Not that they're a bad head, it's just that there are a lot of aftermarket options that perform better.

I'm on my work computer right now, but when I have time later I have a couple pages bookmarked for some cheaper aluminum heads that I'm considering for my 87 GT convertible project at some point. One set is from Speedway, the other I can't remember off hand but they're basically Pro Comps if I remember correctly. There are horror stories with them, so if you were to decide to go that route the consensus is to have a reputable shop go through them with a fine tooth comb before installing them. The Speedway heads were in a comparison article in a magazine a while back. I can't remember which magazine it was, I think maybe it was Mustang Monthly? I'm probably wrong, but they performed on the lower end of the spectrum yet comparable to some higher end, name brand heads like Trick Flow and Edelbrock but for less money. Like I said, if I have time in a while I'll post the links as I have them bookmarked on my laptop.

And yes, you can swap the cam in the car. Just remove the radiator and grill and go through the opening. It's not quite as easy as it is with the engine on a stand, but it's definitely doable.
 
Ok, here are the links I have saved and the article I spoke of.






If you choose any of these, I'd say do your due diligence. I've seen some complaints here and there.....
 
Rained out from fishing till this evening.
Been thinking about the Cobra II and what I'm going to do. My lack of automotive knowledge makes me hesitant to get into something that I'm afraid I'll regret. So I'm thinking of getting 5.0 roller with cam and heads. Is that crazy?
I'd try to convert my old 69 block to roller but am unsure if I have the ability to do it and don't know if it's even possible or recommended.
 
Rained out from fishing till this evening.
Been thinking about the Cobra II and what I'm going to do. My lack of automotive knowledge makes me hesitant to get into something that I'm afraid I'll regret. So I'm thinking of getting 5.0 roller with cam and heads. Is that crazy?
I'd try to convert my old 69 block to roller but am unsure if I have the ability to do it and don't know if it's even possible or recommended.
There are retrofit lifters for non-roller blocks.

If you get a roller block, you'll need to have your flywheel re-balanced by a machine shop.
 
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