35th Anniv Replacement Intake Manifold

I have a 99 LE that is leaking coolant from the intake manifold. After doing some research, this is a common problem for this manifold design. Ford has been covering this on an extended 7-year warranty from the in-service date. Unfortunately, I am outside that 7-year window now and am looking to do the replacement myself.

I can find "PI" manifolds and "Non-PI" or "NPI" manifolds with an aluminum crossover as replacement parts all over the web. Does anyone know which part to get? It appears that 99-04 4.6 engines would take the "PI" manifold, but I'm not sure. What is right part for the '99 LE? Thanks.

Phil

I finally got the job done a couple of weeks ago. I bought a replacement manifold from a local Ford dealer. It did not come with replacement gaskets to go between the manifold and the heads. Some of the aftermarket parts appear to have the gaskets built-in but the factory part does not. It does have the upper gasket built-in where the plenum mates to the manifold. It also did not come with a replacement alternator bracket which is needed because the mounting posts are in different locations on the replacement manifold. I drilled holes in my old bracket which worked fine, but went ahead and ordered a replacement part that fit properly.

Here's the details on the parts for anyone needing to take this on themselves; prices are from local Ford dealerships:

Replacement OEM manifold with aluminum crossover:
part # 1W7Z9424AB
$352.32

Replacement alternator bracket:
part # 1R3Z10153AA

Replacement manifold gaskets:
part # YL3Z9439AA (this one has a tag labeled "R" for right side)
$15.58
part # YL3Z9439BA (this one did not have a tag designating the side)
$14.33
When I removed the old ones they were both the "**BA" part #. The gaskets are identical (whichever part # is used) as they are rotated 180° from each other when mounted. The openings and mounting holes are identical on each head.

There is an online parts dealer that sells OEM parts for much less than the dealer: forddirectonline.com. I did not buy these there because I wanted them fast, but I have bought other parts there and they were factory labeled parts.

Another place that claims to have the OEM manifold is karkraft.com; part # KK9424PI for $139.95

I would recommend replacing spark plugs while you have it all disassembled as it will never be so easy to replace them at any other time.


Phil

Ford put out a 7 year warranty on this repair and it is based on the in-service date of your car. A dealer can look it up based on the VIN. My 7 years expired in July, so if the failure had happened 4 months earlier it would have been covered. Are you still in the 7 year window?