How can I tell if my intake is cracked?

SilverBullet00 · Nov 18, 2005

As some of you know I have been having some problems lately with my car. (I keep getting oil in my spark plug wells and Im loosing coolant) Today I went out to re-torque the plugs because they were coming loose again, pulled her in the garage, and behold: I puddle of coolant on the ground. As Im taking out the COP's I notice there is coolant spewing from around the intake manifold, the thermostat housing, and it looks like there is a small puddle of coolant under the intake on top of the block! I check the coolant resivoir, its near gone! The owners manual says to fill it when the engine is cold, So after I re-torque the plugs I started the car to see what would happend to the coolant level; the warmer the car got the more the level climbed. It probably got 3/4" away from the fill line. I also have white smoke coming from the tail-pipes. Could I have a cracked intake manifold?

a) What in the crap is going on here? Can anyone give an advise as to what would be causing this? I really dont want to take it to the dealership and get rapped on the price of labor for them to just tell me whats wrong with it.

b) What im thinking of doing of winter break is getting new head/intake/header gaskets, crower stage 2 cams, springs, and a SCT xcal 2 tuner (with a tune for the cams).. what do you guys think? could this solve the problem?

Twista · Nov 18, 2005

I notice there is coolant spewing from around the intake manifold, the thermostat housing, and it looks like there is a small puddle of coolant under the intake on top of the block.

Which intake do you have? The all plastic with the black plastic coolant overpass? OR do you have the the plastic one with the alumunm thermostat housing/crossover?

Thats what happen to mine when it 1st cracked. Over time it got worse and worse till it spit in half on the bottom of the thermostat housing also sending a crack to the side and busted right open. Ill take a picture of the crack today.

SilverBullet00 · Nov 18, 2005

Its the crappy all plastic one. I cant see a crack anywhere on it, but I know im loosing it somewhere. Im also loosing compression, could that be caused at all be the intake?

If its cracked Im probably just going to get the damn P-51 and be done with it.

Twista · Nov 18, 2005

SilverBullet00 said:
Its the crappy all plastic one. I cant see a crack anywhere on it, but I know im loosing it somewhere. Im also loosing compression, could that be caused at all be the intake?

If its cracked Im probably just going to get the damn P-51 and be done with it.

Have you taken off the water outlet and the thermostat to check the inside? Drain the coolant and get a flashlight and check all around the inside housing. Also the crack can be on crossover part middle or anywhere on it. The most common failure area's is:
-middle of the intake behind the alternator
-Around/Inside the thermostat housing
- It could be anywhere on that thing. I saw a picture yesterday where it cracked right by 1 of the sensors.

No idea, but if you cant find any cracks i heard people talking about pressure test if your familar with that.

SilverBullet00 · Nov 19, 2005

Anyone else have any suggestions?

SilverBullet00 · Nov 20, 2005

well I dont see a crack anywhere... I have no idea whats going on here

Twista · Nov 20, 2005

bump. im surpised no-1 has doesnt have any ideas

SilverBullet00 · Nov 22, 2005

Twista said:
bump. im surpised no-1 has doesnt have any ideas

Someone has got to have some more ideas...

BUMP

4.6modular · Nov 30, 2005

Dorn crappy plastic intakes. That's why Ford is getting sued for these intakes. I have a crack right at the thermostat housing. It's been there for 2 years. I'm trying to wait for this intake settlement to get over, but I don't know if it will last.

I'm thinking your intake is cracked in a spot where you can't see it. It might be cracked in a spot where it could be getting in the combustion chamber and going out the exhaust thus getting the white smoke. Is this smoke the smoke you get from starting the car in the cold or is this smoke totally different?

GoBabyVroommm · Nov 30, 2005

My advice to you is go and get a bullit intake. See if you can pick one up used or something. Your intake is cracked my 96 did the same *****. My 2v had 95k on it at the time so i figured it would be better just to drop a new 4v in. So i have a 4v and no more intake problem. My friends usually blow that plastic intake with spray. LS1 intakes are plastic and they don't blow weird.

Fix it fast because if you drive it like that you'll mess up your motor. The bullit intake is easy to install and get little horse power from it.

tomustang · Nov 30, 2005

If you have to refill the coolant often it's from the plastic intake cracking, most obvious

bryan0 · Jan 7, 2006

Sorrryyyyyyyyy

Sorry to bump back a month old thread, but I'd get yelled at if I made a new one with out searching sooo.....

I haven't driven my car in 8 days, but it was nice today so I took it for a short drive. In 2nd and 3rd gears (maybe 4th too, but i didnt go that fast) the car feels really hesitant. It feels like the car is bucking, kind of like if you were to brake but not downshift. I got back and looked under the hood and noticed the red light was on on my battery. I didn't see any coolant everywhere, the whole engine was pretty clean.

Do you guys think I cracked the manifold? Or maybe it's just because I put 87 octane in last time and i normally do 91? Or just because it's 35deg. out and the car wasn't warmed up (i let it idle for 5mins before driving.)

Any and all help is much appreciated. Thanks!

sbelyo · Jan 7, 2006

bryan0 said:
Sorry to bump back a month old thread, but I'd get yelled at if I made a new one with out searching sooo.....

I haven't driven my car in 8 days, but it was nice today so I took it for a short drive. In 2nd and 3rd gears (maybe 4th too, but i didnt go that fast) the car feels really hesitant. It feels like the car is bucking, kind of like if you were to brake but not downshift. I got back and looked under the hood and noticed the red light was on on my battery. I didn't see any coolant everywhere, the whole engine was pretty clean.

Do you guys think I cracked the manifold? Or maybe it's just because I put 87 octane in last time and i normally do 91? Or just because it's 35deg. out and the car wasn't warmed up (i let it idle for 5mins before driving.)

Any and all help is much appreciated. Thanks!

The same exact thing happened to me 7 days ago. I replaced the battery and cleaned the IAC and the bucking/miss was still there. I pulled the first coil pack on the driver's side closest to the thermostat housing and it was filled to the top with coolant. The next plug was half full and third only had a little. The fourth plug was fine. I suppose my intake is cracked. Check the sticky at the top about a replacement. I'm going to start calling service managers on Monday.

How can I tell if my intake is cracked?

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