Coolant Leak, Need Help

htrdmstng · Jun 15, 2004

I and not that familiar with the 4.6 but my 98 GT is leaking coolant from under the intake manafold somewhere, the valley is full of coolant. I checked to see if the intake was cracked but it wasn't. My friend's 98 GT cracked and my mom's 96 couger practically blew up. I understand that there are two coolant lines under the intake and that they may be leaking. Do I have to pull the intake off to check or repair the lines? Does this happen alot?

Thanks

Dark Knight GT · Jun 15, 2004

Yeah, I believe you have to pull the intake off to get a look at it. How much exactly is it loosing ? There's a gasket I'm trying to think of that might be causing the problem but I just can't quite remember the name of it.

5.0's 4 ever · Jun 15, 2004

I would personally put the system under pressure to find what is exactly leaking. If it is not the intake manifold, they usually crack right behind the alternator, the thermostat housing, or where the rear heater coolant hose fitting. Then in it would have to be the hose that goes through the valley of the engine. I forget what years finally went to an all steel coolant hose, but the earlier ones do have a rubber coolant hose around 4" long which attach to the fitting in back of the water pump. You will have to pull the intake to replace it. All you have to do is cut it out, replace the section with some bulk heater hose and hose clamps and you are done.
I have not seen that many leak at my work, we always replace them with bulk hose anytime we do an intake manifold though.

htrdmstng · Jun 15, 2004

I know the manifold is not cracked, that was the first thing I checked. It looked like the thermostat was leaking but I resealed that a week ago and I am still leaving puddles every where I park. Looks like I am going to have to pull the intake to be sure. Is it very difficult? Any thing to watch out for?

ChadS98GT · Jun 16, 2004

I would double check your intake....or try real hard to find where it's leaking from.....leave your car sitting for a while to dry up all the coolant and then start it up and have a few buddies watch....

I just replaced my cracked intake about a month ago....it cracked right behind the altenator...you would not notice the crack unless you saw the coolant shooting out.....and this didn't happen until I took my hood off and drove around the block revving to about 4k.....at idle it didn't leak at all....

so as I said before...let your car dry up and then start it up....let it warm up so your thermo opens...and watch for the leaks.....there is no need for you to yank your intake off to find the leak......you will probalby pull it off...find nothing..and put it back on and find that you still have leaks.......oh and I doubt it's leaking from the coolant line under the intake.....I havn't heard of there being a rubber hose under there....if that's true that would be the only way for leaks......realistically.

just my .02

to answer your question about the install/removal of the intake..it's pretty easy...I am by no means an expert mechanic...and I was able to do it....I had to do it twice to get it to seal right...probably took me about 4hrs the first time...and less than 2hrs the second.....so good luck and let me know if you have any questions....

ChadS98GT · Jun 16, 2004

also...check out this poll I started......feel free to add your vote..when/if you find a leak

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=461523

htrdmstng · Jun 16, 2004

I just made arrangements to take it to my friends work to have the cooling system pressurized so I can verify the location of the leak before I do anthing to fix it. Like ChadS98GT said no need to pull the intake and not fix any thing.

Thanks for the help.

AirWolf87 · Jun 16, 2004

not too many people know about it, but 4.6s were recalled because of that same leak....call your local ford dealer see if they will fix it for free...its worth a shot

ChadS98GT · Jun 17, 2004

AirWolf87 said:
not too many people know about it, but 4.6s were recalled because of that same leak....call your local ford dealer see if they will fix it for free...its worth a shot

to my knowledge this recall is now done and over with...it's to late to make a claim

d98gt · Jun 17, 2004

Yep.. they told me they had no record of this recall (I've had my plastic one replaced by Ford once before).

So due to the age of the car, that recall is out

LI98GTStang · Jun 17, 2004

Technically it wasn't a recall, just an extended coverage of 7 years/70k miles - whichever comes first on 96-97 stangs. It also covered some other mod motored Fords i.e. Crown vics etc...

htrdmstng · Jun 18, 2004

Well the intake is cracked where the t-stat goes in. Recall, extended warranty or not, Ford is going to pay for it or get an intake stuffed where the sun don't shine. Where's my vasoline?

ChadS98GT · Jun 18, 2004

htrdmstng said:
Well the intake is cracked where the t-stat goes in. Recall, extended warranty or not, Ford is going to pay for it or get an intake stuffed where the sun don't shine. Where's my vasoline?

let us know how that goes....

kj99 · Jun 18, 2004

Well, thats where mine is leaking. Mine stays wet right at the thermostat bolts, and where the gasket seals. I've had it sealed an sealed again with silicone, and it is still slowly leaking at the thermostat. I even had mine pressure tested, and they found no leaks... I didn't know they can crack at the thermostat housing. I'm just going to buy the headswap kit instead of replacing just the intake.

htrdmstng · Jun 21, 2004

I just got off the phone with Ford and they want me to take it to the dealer for an "inspection", then we will "go from there". Before any repairs are done Ford IS going to agree to pay for it.

GDawg · Jun 22, 2004

htrdmstng said:
I just got off the phone with Ford and they want me to take it to the dealer for an "inspection", then we will "go from there". Before any repairs are done Ford IS going to agree to pay for it.

You're lucky if you can get Ford to fix that unless you have some sort of extended warranty. The '98s weren't covered in the silent recall.

I had to replace mine myself. It's not too horribly hard to do. Just be sure to replace it with an intake that has an aluminum (coolant) runner.

If you end up having to pay for it, you might as well step up to a modified PI intake from Livernoise or someone else for only a couple hundred dollars more.

htrdmstng · Jun 22, 2004

Just so you know, I'm not doing this just for me. I am going to push until they recall all of them. I think it's a bunch crap that so many people are having problems with them, even the ones they fixed on the 96-97 models and they aren't doing any thing about it. I'll start a class action lawsuit if I have to.

d98gt · Jun 22, 2004

Think about it though htrd, your car is old. How can you expect the intake to last forever?

The PI Intake will get you a performance gain, and it'll run about $300 for everything

tomustang · Jul 20, 2004

just looked up to confirm my "intake-crack", where can i get the best deal for a new/better or the PI intake? and for the PI intake, do i have to swap the heads too? If i had the $ I'd just get the Saleen Roots blower that has the intake on it

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