Had a coolant leak with no visible leaks, found out it was this problem. Used your video and I was able to do this entire job myself on my 99’ 4.2l f150. I’d never done anything this complicated mechanically before so it took me 8 hours but I saved close to $1000. Thank you man this video is great and shows everything. I labeled every vacuum hose and connection with colored markers for putting it all back together and that really helped.
Just wanted to say thanks. a Month ago i went out to start my 98-f150 4.2 and the engine would not budge(had seen/smelt some coolant for a few weeks off and on in the exhaust). I pulled all the spark pluggs and yup, cylinder number 4 was full of coolant. Must have watched this video atleast 20 times, learned alot, made lots of mistakes but a month later finished it today, all good now, followed all your directions. Again, thanks for making this video could not have done it with out it. I went over board and replaced all rubber hoses, thermostat, injector rings, valve cover gaskets, and of course, the felpro intake gasket set. Cleaned it all up like crazy. Looks great now.
bryan thibodeau Thanks Bryan! Your example proves exactly the reason why I do this. All you needed was a nudge in the right direction. You feel good about your accomplishment. You paid me with your gratitude, and that's all I could ever ask for. Thank you for being a cool enough dude to express it! ;)
Big thanks for making this video, I just performed this job on my ford 4.2 and had this video on my laptop in the garage through the process, probably wouldn't have been able to do it without such a detailed resource
+Justin Bourne Wow! Really? You did that? It's better than a service manual then? How's she running a month later? ;) Don't you feel like you just saved yourself $1,500?
Thank u for taking the time to document this step by step. Somehow i managed to go 245k on stock gaskets, got out of it one day and smelt antifreeze, thank God it leaked outside of the block. I went ahead and did valve cover gaskets and the thermostat like u recommend, new vacuum hoses and injector o-rings. Your awesome, this is one of the best tutorial videos I've seen, thank u once again. Made me think i Could do it only being 19 and never touching engine work.
:) Way to go, man! Give yourself a huge pat on the back! You took it even further than I did. I really feel like this video is some of the worst production quality, especially where the audio track is concerned. I agree the material is great... and I knew it was a common problem that would help others... but all my other videos were about a different platform so I was afraid my subscribers would be upset if I posted this. I remember being reluctant but determined to upload it. It still remains one of my most popular, and I regret not having spent more time on the audio track. You'll see I figured it out in future videos. Making this video taught me a lot. I'm glad we both benefitted from it!
Really thoughtful way of putting video together with fast motion segments! Too many youtube video waste a lot of viewers time with useless talking, you didn't! Most thoughtful of you!
I still do a lot of useless talking, so don't give me too much credit. It's never slow or light material, though. I try to respect everyone's time even though my average videos are still longer than sitcoms.
Thanks for the video. I too, had to watch it 20 times, sometimes at .25 speed. I have the 2 part plastic air intake. Those 3 bolts in the back were a bugger but after i ripped out the insulation, I could get them. If I had do do it again, I would have added the plastic white bushings before I reinstalled the IMRC thingy. The top of the lower intake was so nasty, I took it to the car wash and blasted all the grime off. Took all weekend, 13 hours like you said. Wish I could sit under the hood like you, I don't fit that well at my age and did the whole job on my belly after removing the hood latch and using old patio furniture cushions. Thanks again, I couldn't have done it with out your video.
Excellent repair video, good details.People who haven't done a repair like this should watch at least twice. The key to a successful repair is attention to every detail of diassembly and especially reassembly. Notice how he cleaned the intake mating surfaces with brake parts cleaner. This is very important. The torque (tightening) sequences are of utmost importance. Very well done!!
Thank you so much for posting this video! Almost done with this repair on my '03 F150. Putting the gaskets on right now. Some slight differences between yours and mine (upper manifold is plastic 2-piece, none of the bolts anywhere were 12mm) but overall it cleared SO many things up and made the project pretty simple and very straight forward. Thanks again!
Dad had a 99 f150 just like this with 4.2, even the same color. I remember doing this repair quite well. It had low compression on the cylinder that had the leak from starting with fluid in the cylinder, but it still ran good with the low compression.
Good job. Did mine at about 65k due to check engine code. For other viewers, the exhaust smoke at the end of the vid is just from a generous dose of good old carb cleaner used to clean the intake ports and EGR passages. It burns out pretty quickly.
If you end up needing to rebuild, consider a 2005-2008 engine with a post-2001 lower intake or the Dorman aftermarket intake. The coolant passages are smaller and cure the problem of blown gaskets. Be meticulous like Jafromobile because if you get a sufficiently large leak you can ruin the engine.
Hey this video is alot of help! I have coolant burning off my E150 work van and I'm hoping its just the intake gaskets. I was down to the intake when it just got too dark to see anymore tonight and I was trying to figure out if I had to take off the fuel lines. But your video was a lot of help! It was perfect with the captions and speeding up the process. Hands down best mechanic help I have ever seen on TH-cam. Gonna finish it tomorrow. Hopefully its not a head gasket!
Great video for this fix. Don't forget to plug in your cam position sensor when you are done or you will get a different 'Service Engine Soon' code fault! So nice to have this air leak fixed now. 2 day job for me.
I came to the comments to add this same advice. If you're taking the lower intake off already, just unplug the IMRC and take it off along with the intake.
Hey Jafro I don't comment on your stuff very much but I have to say thank you so much. I thought it was a blown head gasket but I remembered watching this video along time ago and watched it again while I was doing the repair. Thank you so much.
Fantastic video great job of editing ! I love the way you spend it up to reduce the viewing time. I have seen a lot of u-tube videos but yours is the best one yet. I watched it twice because I was thinking about buying a van with this engine at a great price. Thank you so much!!!! Keep up the good work!
Just so you all know, there is a whole different design on the lower intake gaskets for the 4.2 Ford. I just bought a set form Felpro, they are now metal with wide ( about 1/2 between ports) black rubber for the seal. Not the original plastic with 1/8 inch silicone bead (between ports) for the seal. Hope this helps someone!
If only I had known about this 5 years ago. Took my Ford to the shop, and they told me it was probably a head gasket issue. I was a broke teenager at the time and couldn't afford what they wanted. 1 or 2 times a year I'd just need to take the spark plug out like this video. It hadn't cost me anything huge yet, and I was dumb and pressed my luck. Well it did hydrolock hard one morning and bent a bunch of stuff up. Got a refurbished engine at the same shop, they put the frost plug in incorrectly and driving on the highway dumped out all the coolant and over heated the engine badly. It still ran till I sold the truck but it was definitely not new anymore and sounded worse than the old engine ever did. If I had just known this was the issues I would have done it some time myself.
Excellent video. Just completed the installation of new intake manifold gaskets on my 1997 Ford F-150 4.2L V6...this video helped out tremendously...thanks :-)
Trying to gather info on upper intake manifold bolt pattern and torque specs on the upper to lower intake as well as where to put the rtv on the lower intake to heads for my 02 Mustang V6 as the info is nowhere to be found on the net, not even in the Haynes manual I just paid $32 for. This shed some light on it. Thank you!
Outstanding video, thank you very much for a great presentation of a somewhat unpleasant task. I liked when you hugged that ole yellow car after showing emotion by using body language. Cursing the cab forward design was also called right on time! Funny. Thanks a million.
Great video. I am about to tackle the same job on my 2000 E-150 4.2L. I have an injector that is giving me trouble at certain RPM's so while I replacing it I am going to go ahead and remove the lower intake as well to thoroughly clean it and to replace those gaskets. The F-150 looks like its harder to work on than the van. I can get to almost everything on the 4.2L from inside as long as I remove the passenger seat first.
Breaks my heart cause I always loved and bought and supported Ford products faithfully. I am still holding out hope ford will do the right thing and reimburse us owners for replacement motors and or fixes for this extremely disastrous issue. Makes me wonder where is NTSA The National Transportation And Safety Board Or Consumer Reports in all of this??? From what I have seen this issue spans back over 10 years now with no one accepting responsibility. If Ford fails to come through for me then guess what product brand I will no longer purchase? Not only that but they need to remember that if you build a quality product the consumer buys he will tell a friend but if you build crap he will tell a thousand strangers. Think about it Ford...
@@freebird1ification Yep, I owned an 85, 89 & 92 f150 with the straight six. All were great trucks that did an incredible amount of work. They were absolute mules and I loved them. Bought a used 97 a fews years ago with the 4.2. What an overall pos for a truck. My next truck will be a Toyota. Refuse to own 1/2 ton crap U. S. manufacturers build.
I have a 98 F-150 with the same engine with 230,300 miles. If I have that issue at least I will know what had happened. Great video and a job well done!!
I didn't use thread locker on the bolts when I did this. It's been a few years so I guess it's ok. I didn't see anything on them when I removed them in the first place. Also, I changed the oil with walmart supertech brand before cranking the engine over. After a day or two of driving, I changed it again with the castrol high mileage that I prefer. This way I was confident that I got out almost all of the coolant. That coolant will wear out the bearings quickly if there's too much in there when you crank it!
11 years later and still the best video on this repair hands down. What did you use to clean the intake manifold? The Haynes manual mentioned something about not cleaning it. Just checking. 👍
Thank you so much. Just had the P1518 code pop up. Googled it and this video came up first. Now i have an idea of what I;m getting into. Hope mine goes as smooth as yours looks to have!! Thanks again and props!
You can probably just replace the plastic bushing that holds in the IMRC rod and call it a day. The P1518 is IMRC runner control. It doesn't have anything to do with the hydrolock problem my engine experienced while parked.
Bought the hydrolocked 98 f150. Was told coolant into TWO neighboring cylinders. Question: can bad lower intake gasket do that, or more likely head gasket in your best opinion?
+Wayne Ermine The torque specs are at 6:29 and 9:47, right here in this video. Sequences are at 6:13 and 9:37. Upvote Wayne so others can easily find it. :) b Edit: Look at those sexy original drawings I made to comply with existing copyright laws. Just look at those beautiful dang things. "Print Screen"
Very good video, in real time frame...he is very meticulous. However, i do suggest using a thread chaser tap instead of a cutting tap. It can mess up threads.
This is not that bad of a problem to have. It's $50 plus cleaning supplies. If it hydrolocked, pull all the spark plugs at once and crank it out. Put 'em back, start it, let it warm up, and don't drive it. Pull the plugs again and compression test it first. If the compression numbers are even, you didn't bend a rod. If you bent a rod, the numbers will be all outa waco and this becomes a whole different job. I recently wrapped my eyeballs around an extended-cab V6 that bent a rod from hydrolocking during startup. I got lucky. Mine didn't fire when I cranked it. It only went RRrrr-Kank. My compression was straight 150's. I stopped cranking it the second it went "kank" and did what was listed above.
Oh yeah... if it has a "doghouse", throw a tarp over it before you crank it or you'll get coolant all over the interior. If it does have a doghouse, it's a lot more comfortable doing this job inside the van than it is kneeling on the radiator support bracket. You also have a lot better access to the intake plenum. If it doesn't have a doghouse, dangit man, I feel your pain! Been there before! :(
Do you know th size for the lower intake manifold bolts? Some of mine broke and I'm having a hard time finding them. I found some on a website, it says that six of them are M6 x 1.0 x 62.5mm, but I have no idea what the rest of them are, nor where to buy them all as a set. Great video!!
My truck has been running rough the last 2 days and checked the oil and *violin playing sad music* water in the oil :( ... No smoke coming from tailpipe so that was the last thing I was expecting.
Demon50 This video can still help you. The head gaskets are just another 16 bolts away. Didn't see this comment the first time. Sorry 'bout your troubles. I'm about to sell my F-150. 235,000 miles later I'm tired of working on it. My rear axle is giving me all kinds of grief.
Obviously this post is very old, but for someone who found oil in their coolant and viceversa, before you pull the heads, understand that the same intake gaskets will leak coolant into the valley pan or V of the engine. This coolant will make its way into the oil pan. Finally, a Ford legacy issue: the timing cover doubles up as the water pump mounting plate. There are gaskets here that fail, and also dump coolant into your crankcase. Just some tips before you spend a weekend doing head gaskets, but ignore your timing cover gaskets which could be the culprit all along.
Thanks - about to do this job myself. BTW - you can now get a 5 pack of those IMRC rod bushings in a Dorman 'help' pack. It's Dorman part # 47099. $4.99 at your local auto parts store or order them from rockauto.
I have a 2005 f150 4.2L. I've looked everywhere for an answer. Problem is that the gauge goes to hot after 20 minutes of driving. It does not actually over heat. Changed cylinder head temperature sensor, thermostat, instrument cluster. Has no leaks no air in coolant system. I'm not sure if this model has a coolant temperature sensor.
a fine example of how the newer trucks with a 20 dollar part ends up costing over 1000 bucks to fix -thats why alot of these go to the scrap yard when this happens most folks dont have anywhere to do the repair or the tools so off to the scrap yard they go what a sham thats why i wany a pre 80s vehicle there mostly easy peasy and dont have to worry about emision crap
thx man i just bought an 2001 f150 and im running lean, and durrring excelleration i dont feel all the power is there, ive heard that gaskets on this truck are notorious for cousing leaks and making it lose power so hope this works im in for a long day.
I'm not sure this could help you with a lean condition? Do a coolant system pressure test, and a compression test before putting yourself through all this work. If it fails either test, then okay. Do this job. Replace the head gasket if it fails the compression test... but to solve a lean condition, go after the fuel system components (filter, not the pump) and vacuum lines first. Scan the ECU for codes to see what the ECU doesn't like and that will give you a push towards the real culprit. ;)
I'm a little over halfway through this fix. I was running lean in both banks, as well. This is time consuming, but it allows me to replace the upper and lower intake gaskets (which it needed by the looks of the old gaskets I removed!) as well as replace the injector o-rings and filters and the thermostat/gasket. Taking the upper intake off gives you a really good look at any possible vacuum leak issues/rotten hoses, too.
I've driven the car. For like a month and YES... YES...and heck yea.. the car as all those symptoms... Well I get my parts on Friday so can't wait to see what happend..Should I disconnect the ground cable?
I was going to buy new intake and head bolts but some say that it's not necessary.. I always thought that when they were torqued to spec that they would stretch and would have to be replaced? Should this be done or is it just a waste of money? Maybe I'll just invest in some good arp studs because I find myself pulling apart this 4.2 all too often...Me and this motor have a love/hate relationship lol.
Demon50 You don't have to replace them. You should, but nobody ever seems to follow that advice offered by the service manual, and most likely because of how little torque is applied to them. If you over-torqued one, then it should be replaced.
Amigo ya arme mi motor 4.2 y funciona bien la válvula imrc, pero el cilindro 6 esta fallando, probé en que hubiese corriente en la bujía y si hay, probé señal del inyector y también esta, pero al quitar el cable de la bujía el motor no cambia su funcionamiento, es decir, se mantiene igual sin ese cilindro, tiene un sonido de taquetes sera que eso infiere en que no trabaje el cilindro? agradezco su ayuda. he visto comentarios de que el cable de bujía pierde su resistencia.
excellent video, does anyone have the numbers of the spare parts (gaskets) used for the metal manifold, as I understand it there are 5 pieces in total, top and bottom?
Nice production. I'm going to attempt this job on a Econoline 150. Have not seen it yet. But In your opinion, would the Van be more or less accessible than this Truck? Thx
If it has a doghouse it's a lot more accessible. It's hard for me to guess based on the info provided. I haven't had the luxury of working on an Econoline, but I've watched someone work on an old one with a doghouse, and once it's out of the way you've got 360° access and a comfy chair. That can't be all bad compared to a cab-forward pickup.
How long did it take for you to blow all the remaining coolant out of your tailpipe? I used your video when I was rebuilding my heads on my 4.2l. Just finished and I’m currently driving and monitoring for leak symptoms.
Yes I did. I found that the torque sepcs on the head to block were off and that it did not have enough pressure to hold the coolant were it belongs.also the lifters were overtighten. The specs I found for the engine were incorrect. Now I'm looking and hoping I didn't get any damage done to the piston. Can u think of any way to check the parts with the best results to better identified the problem? Thanks.
what year is this truck? same sequence for 00 f150 4.2 need torque lbs in inches and ft lbs please for my mechanic want to make sure this is done right thank you for the video Im actually going to be doing this with his help
It's a '99 and yes, same sequence. The torque sequence and specs inch pounds were all in the video but I bet you're back up and running by now. Notifications broke on this video about a year ago? I didn't see any of these comments until now. lol.
Only one observation guy, I can see that the new intake manifold gasket you installed wrong, I remember and I could see in the old gasket , that bigger water circulation holes bshould be to the front on engine.
I promise you this was discovered and corrected somewhere in this video, just really fast, and I recall doing it. I don't own it but the truck is still on the road today with this same repair still in tact, and a leak-free coolant system. It's well over 240k miles now.
Hi Jafro, Thanks allot for posting this video and all the other great ones you've put up. In a post you say its possible to change the IMRC bushings without taking the manifold off. Do you mean the lower intakes? cause i can't get my hands back there to even feel the thing. Also once you get the upper off can i change the bushings out without removing the fuel rail. Thanks again for the videos, TOP shelf!
Were you not concerned with bent rods or valves after you heard the loud bang?also I saw one of those "D" shaped clips from the gasket in my oil pan..how bad is that?
Nah, not on a cold engine. If everything was hot, maybe? In another video I do a compression test (60,000 miles later) and it registered straight 150PSI across all 6. It's called "Ol Whitey's Revival". If a rod bent, the compression in that cylinder would change. I've seen other V6's with this problem bend rods (but they were green, lol), I got lucky and I attribute that to it failing while it sat for over a week, and then I discovered it with a cold engine.
@@metalmaniaxx What? In the oil pan? How? Best I can guess is someone went in there before and replaced them, but dropped them into the engine while replacing them? I just don't see how they'd end up in the crankcase as they're sandwiched between intake and coolant passages. Not the oil system. There's no holes big enough for them to work themselves through the combustion chambers? Had to have been dropped there while the engine was apart. They'd be suspended in place with a bolt going through them while assembled so they couldn't fall out? That's what the hole in them is for. A bolt. You got me man... ?!?!?
@@Jafromobile thanks for the feedback.I'm happy to say there was no leaks going into the cylinder,and it wasn't hydrolocked.it was just very difficult for me to turn the engine by hand after I replaced timing components.I'm going to finish assembling it in a few days.let's hope it fires up after sitting for 18 months.thanks again
I have the exact same intake on my 97 f150 and I can not get the intake to come off. I have removed all of the top bolts is there somewhere else that it is connected to? Thanks!
How did you know it wasn't a head gasket problem? My 4.2 E150 did this a weak ago. Damn engines are expensive! Got to do a compression test. How many hrs did it take you to do this?
I went with my intuition. There are better ways to test it if you don't know... There's a chemical test you can do on the coolant system, but these engines are famous for doing this with age, and I found the dry rotted intake manifold gasket tearing it down & stopped there. It took me about 10 hours to shoot and finish this job. Look up "ol whitey's revival for a follow-up on this work and that chemical test I was talking about.
Where can I get the bolts for the lower intake manifold (x14) I’m replacing gaskets and noticed pitting in the bolts, I’ve looked everywhere online and even with my local dealer with no luck , I only find the upper intake manifold bolts(x12). Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
I struggled with this one myself. I went to 5 dealerships, and only managed to find 4 bolts among all of them. The best bet you have is to look at the part number in this video and buy them online. These are bolts that should be replaced whenever you remove the lower intake (according to Ford's service documentation) and they're never in stock, so... do you think even Ford's certified technicians ever follow that advice? Nope. The reason you should replace them is exactly the reason you describe. Mine were like that, too. I replaced the 4 worst ones and re-used the rest.
Jafromobile, Great video I have watched it several times. An older gentleman from my old apartment building has the 97 F150 with the 4.2 and he has water in the oil. He said he thought it was a head gasket leaking because he replaced the engine at 85,000 miles because it happened a few years back and the engine blew. I bought a house, no garage but a nice driveway to work, since we had the original conversation and offered to assist him. You can't work on cars in the parking lot of apartments here in Arlington VA. How do I tell if its Hydrolock or leaking head gasket? I have not pulled the plugs and turned it over, dead battery. I plan on tearing it down over the next few days and will start with the hrydrolock fix but i dont want to put it back together if I need to go further down. Any help here would be great. There is water in the oil, it looks like a wet milk chocolate.
+jafladd Watch my latest video, "Ol' Whitey's Revival", and the opening scenes of service work are 2 tests that will verify it without a doubt. I do a block test, and a coolant system pressure test. It's one thing if it's leaking in the intake (pressure test will fail), but if it's not a head gasket problem, there will be zero crankcase gasses in the coolant. If it is a head gasket, the job starts only 16 bolts deeper than the work you saw me do here. It's only 28 more bolts if you include the exhaust manifold nuts on both sides. Really, the heads are right there under the valve covers at 5:17 ready to pull. Buy the top-half gasket set instead of picking and choosing them individually. It costs about the same either way, but with the gasket set you've got everything you need to make a 4.2L V6 hold anything else it might be leaking from wherever else. ;)
+Jafromobile Thanks, I was a little reluctant to tackle this job because the only head gasket video I found was for a 4.6 liter and the two timing chains were messing with my head. I will check out your other video and I may just do it all to make sure is is good for a while. Jack
I've watched your video lots of time to motivate myself and I finally did it the other night. My problem was a leaking intake tube on the lower intake.It took me a good 8 hours. After driving it the next day it started overheating and now I have a milky substance on my dip stick and under my oil cap. I noticed that I installed my lower intake gasket in the opposite direction you did, with the part of the gasket with the little hole in the bottom of it I have installed toward the back of the engine and yours in the front. I am guessing that is for the coolant passage.Is that my problem? Thanks for any advice.
ThePollyew Yes. It's the problem. I'm less happy to break the news to you than you are to hear it. : \ That's unfortunate, man. Maybe next time you can do it in 6 hours? Remind yourself that an honest mechanic would charge you $1300 for this job. The average mechanic would tell you $2500, or that it's a head gasket and that you need to buy a new engine.
ThePollyew Thank you for the response. I already ordered my new gasket to to be safe and look forward to hopefully getting down to 6 hours. What takes so long is torquing all those bolts! Yeah, I keep saying it is far more cheaper for me to do it....... even if it is twice.
Mine was over heated twice, so I knew the double layered head gaskets were going to be a problem, Also the heads were slightly warped. I don't think your $1350 included head work. My valve and seats were done including new valve seals. And at 200,000 miles I didn't want to do it twice. All the gaskets are single use.
Thanks for the video, it cut down my shop time considerably. I decided since I had to order the parts I would do some porting(manifold and plenum) as well in the down time. thanks again! very helpful.
Quick question, I have 2 codes for P1537 and P1538 showing up. Do you think the IRMC would cause this code to show? Havent been able to get much info on how to fix this problem. Thanks
3 things can happen and cause those codes. 1. dry rotted cracked and crumbled plastic IMRC actuator rod bushings. This is the most likely cause. Dorman part #47099. Get 4. Impossible to see their location because they're hidden on the back of the lower intake against the firewall of a cab forward engine bay. That's why I show them with a mirror. The rods can pop in and out without removing the intake or the IMRC, and once the rod is out you can pick out the bushing and replace it. 2. Vacuum leak causing pcv system to fail and 3. filling the intake with carbon. It will be especially nasty in there if 4. the lower intake manifold gaskets are leaking coolant into the intake. I know I said 3 things. 4 won't lead to either of those codes. 4 leads to hydrolock. 4 just means there's plenty of gooey nasty shit for all of the carbon from a failed PCV system to stick to. 9/10 it's #1. But do a radiator pressure test to make sure you don't have leaky intake gaskets because the IMRC bushings are a lot easier to replace if you're already tearing down the intake to replace those gaskets. I mean... good luck reaching all 4 with it all assembled. I hate cab-forward design. Hate it. ❤ my Mitsubishis. No cab forward DSMs.
Well I'll be damn. Looking up info on replacing my 4.2L intake, and the only video I find is a fellow DSMer. Cool deal. :) Is there a way I can reach you? Used to have some contact info but can't find it.
I would like to ask, why does your IMRC Actuator look alot different from the actuators that fit my 97 f150 4.2? im havin the same problem, but mine say there both stuck open, so in the morning im goin to try to tackle the situation.
I picked up a 96/97 f150 for 500 bucks with a Seized 4.2, would it be safe to assume it hydro locked and did some internal damage or do you think its viable to unseize it with penetrating oil and a breaker bar? The truck has sat for about 10 years.
Pull the plugs. Fill the cylinders with marvel mystery oil. Get a big breaker bar and a socket. If it hydrolocked and the rings rusted into the bores, that ought to free it up.
Not well, unfortunately after trying to for a day I actually managed to loosen the crank pulley. I tightened it the best it could and tried for another week but she wouldn't give up the ghost, so I may just end up getting a new bottom end.
Thanks for sharing this - it was very helpful.... sincerely. However, I don't want to (or mean to) be a dick.... but I'm pretty damn sure that you installed your gaskets backwards. Note that the gasket labeled LH is for the Passenger side. This will probably cause your engine to overheat as the wrong water ports are now covered.
They're not blocked. The coolant ports are immediately below the rear intake ports, and between the front and middle intake ports. What you see on the end is a dead runner that goes nowhere. Nothing's blocked, and 80,000 miles later, never overheated. I did several coolant pressure tests, exhaust gas detection tests, etc… in the Ol' Whitey's Revival video. My work is/was solid. Sorry for answering 2 years late. You were the first of 2 people who thought this. I should have showed the lower intake flange, everything about gasket orientation would have been more clear.
I'm working on my truck as well and the starting problem sounds the same. However I took the job a bit further I had a bolt snap on the head. I fixed that and put everything back together. The engine turn on grate one time then the problem happened. But all gaskets are new and parts were cleaned any ideas. I have pic if u need to see them. Can u help?
Did Ford make a remake on these bad gaskets? i also had the coolent leak and it bent the connecting rod. fixed it and it did it again 30,000 down the road. Went with a rebuilt on the promise the gaskets were up graded. coolent leak again. 3rd time. of course i called ford and all i get is bs. Now i wonder: did they ever remake the correct gaskets?
Had a coolant leak with no visible leaks, found out it was this problem. Used your video and I was able to do this entire job myself on my 99’ 4.2l f150. I’d never done anything this complicated mechanically before so it took me 8 hours but I saved close to $1000.
Thank you man this video is great and shows everything.
I labeled every vacuum hose and connection with colored markers for putting it all back together and that really helped.
Just wanted to say thanks. a Month ago i went out to start my 98-f150 4.2 and the engine would not budge(had seen/smelt some coolant for a few weeks off and on in the exhaust). I pulled all the spark pluggs and yup, cylinder number 4 was full of coolant. Must have watched this video atleast 20 times, learned alot, made lots of mistakes but a month later finished it today, all good now, followed all your directions. Again, thanks for making this video could not have done it with out it.
I went over board and replaced all rubber hoses, thermostat, injector rings, valve cover gaskets, and of course, the felpro intake gasket set. Cleaned it all up like crazy. Looks great now.
bryan thibodeau Thanks Bryan! Your example proves exactly the reason why I do this. All you needed was a nudge in the right direction. You feel good about your accomplishment. You paid me with your gratitude, and that's all I could ever ask for. Thank you for being a cool enough dude to express it! ;)
Big thanks for making this video, I just performed this job on my ford 4.2 and had this video on my laptop in the garage through the process, probably wouldn't have been able to do it without such a detailed resource
+Justin Bourne Wow! Really? You did that? It's better than a service manual then? How's she running a month later? ;) Don't you feel like you just saved yourself $1,500?
Hands down the best car repair video I have ever seen. Usually it's someone with a phone camera and the picture quality is horrendous. Kudos to you!
Thank u for taking the time to document this step by step. Somehow i managed to go 245k on stock gaskets, got out of it one day and smelt antifreeze, thank God it leaked outside of the block. I went ahead and did valve cover gaskets and the thermostat like u recommend, new vacuum hoses and injector o-rings. Your awesome, this is one of the best tutorial videos I've seen, thank u once again. Made me think i Could do it only being 19 and never touching engine work.
:)
Way to go, man! Give yourself a huge pat on the back! You took it even further than I did.
I really feel like this video is some of the worst production quality, especially where the audio track is concerned. I agree the material is great... and I knew it was a common problem that would help others... but all my other videos were about a different platform so I was afraid my subscribers would be upset if I posted this. I remember being reluctant but determined to upload it. It still remains one of my most popular, and I regret not having spent more time on the audio track. You'll see I figured it out in future videos. Making this video taught me a lot. I'm glad we both benefitted from it!
Really thoughtful way of putting video together with fast motion segments! Too many youtube video waste a lot of viewers time with useless talking, you didn't! Most thoughtful of you!
I still do a lot of useless talking, so don't give me too much credit. It's never slow or light material, though. I try to respect everyone's time even though my average videos are still longer than sitcoms.
Thanks for the video. I too, had to watch it 20 times, sometimes at .25 speed. I have the 2 part plastic air intake. Those 3 bolts in the back were a bugger but after i ripped out the insulation, I could get them. If I had do do it again, I would have added the plastic white bushings before I reinstalled the IMRC thingy. The top of the lower intake was so nasty, I took it to the car wash and blasted all the grime off. Took all weekend, 13 hours like you said. Wish I could sit under the hood like you, I don't fit that well at my age and did the whole job on my belly after removing the hood latch and using old patio furniture cushions. Thanks again, I couldn't have done it with out your video.
I'm replacing my IMRC today and this video has been extremely helpful. Thanks!!
what is an imrc ?
@@freebird1ification Intake Manifold Runner Control
Excellent repair video, good details.People who haven't done a repair like this should watch at least twice. The key to a successful repair is attention to every detail of diassembly and especially reassembly. Notice how he cleaned the intake mating surfaces with brake parts cleaner. This is very important. The torque (tightening) sequences are of utmost importance. Very well done!!
Thank you so much for posting this video! Almost done with this repair on my '03 F150. Putting the gaskets on right now. Some slight differences between yours and mine (upper manifold is plastic 2-piece, none of the bolts anywhere were 12mm) but overall it cleared SO many things up and made the project pretty simple and very straight forward. Thanks again!
Dad had a 99 f150 just like this with 4.2, even the same color. I remember doing this repair quite well. It had low compression on the cylinder that had the leak from starting with fluid in the cylinder, but it still ran good with the low compression.
Good job. Did mine at about 65k due to check engine code. For other viewers, the exhaust smoke at the end of the vid is just from a generous dose of good old carb cleaner used to clean the intake ports and EGR passages. It burns out pretty quickly.
Not only do you help us in the dsm community, But the ford world as well thank you.
If you end up needing to rebuild, consider a 2005-2008 engine with a post-2001 lower intake or the Dorman aftermarket intake. The coolant passages are smaller and cure the problem of blown gaskets. Be meticulous like Jafromobile because if you get a sufficiently large leak you can ruin the engine.
Hey this video is alot of help! I have coolant burning off my E150 work van and I'm hoping its just the intake gaskets. I was down to the intake when it just got too dark to see anymore tonight and I was trying to figure out if I had to take off the fuel lines. But your video was a lot of help! It was perfect with the captions and speeding up the process. Hands down best mechanic help I have ever seen on TH-cam. Gonna finish it tomorrow. Hopefully its not a head gasket!
Great video for this fix. Don't forget to plug in your cam position sensor when you are done or you will get a different 'Service Engine Soon' code fault! So nice to have this air leak fixed now. 2 day job for me.
Not many mechanics would take the time to clean out the threaded holes & bolts.
They just love the impacts & silicone.
Well done,double thumbs up!
I was able to remove and install the lower intake with the IMRC still attatched. It made it easier to service on the work bench. I hope that helps.
I came to the comments to add this same advice. If you're taking the lower intake off already, just unplug the IMRC and take it off along with the intake.
Hey Jafro I don't comment on your stuff very much but I have to say thank you so much. I thought it was a blown head gasket but I remembered watching this video along time ago and watched it again while I was doing the repair. Thank you so much.
Did the trick? Cheapest parts vs. most extensive labor job you've ever done? How's she running?
*****
Runs great. Owner says she runs better. I hate fords.
Lol! Cab forward design... please give me the name and address of the engineer responsible for that so we can "have a chat". :) Great job man!
Fantastic video great job of editing ! I love the way you spend it up to reduce the viewing time. I have seen a lot of u-tube videos but yours is the best one yet. I watched it twice because I was thinking about buying a van with this engine at a great price. Thank you so much!!!! Keep up the good work!
Just so you all know, there is a whole different design on the lower intake gaskets for the 4.2 Ford. I just bought a set form Felpro, they are now metal with wide ( about 1/2 between ports) black rubber for the seal. Not the original plastic with 1/8 inch silicone bead (between ports) for the seal. Hope this helps someone!
Bandits INFO Channel a 98 F150 4.2 V6 PVC hoses where they go
Bandits INFO Channel 1998 F150 v6 4.2 PVC houses need know where they go need a diagram or something on that
I'm
Bandits INFO Channel All depends on the Build date
If only I had known about this 5 years ago. Took my Ford to the shop, and they told me it was probably a head gasket issue. I was a broke teenager at the time and couldn't afford what they wanted. 1 or 2 times a year I'd just need to take the spark plug out like this video. It hadn't cost me anything huge yet, and I was dumb and pressed my luck. Well it did hydrolock hard one morning and bent a bunch of stuff up. Got a refurbished engine at the same shop, they put the frost plug in incorrectly and driving on the highway dumped out all the coolant and over heated the engine badly. It still ran till I sold the truck but it was definitely not new anymore and sounded worse than the old engine ever did.
If I had just known this was the issues I would have done it some time myself.
Excellent video. Just completed the installation of new intake manifold gaskets on my 1997 Ford F-150 4.2L V6...this video helped out tremendously...thanks :-)
Trying to gather info on upper intake manifold bolt pattern and torque specs on the upper to lower intake as well as where to put the rtv on the lower intake to heads for my 02 Mustang V6 as the info is nowhere to be found on the net, not even in the Haynes manual I just paid $32 for. This shed some light on it. Thank you!
You do very high quality work, great job.
thank you sooooo much for this great tutorial!, greetings from Mexico
Outstanding video, thank you very much for a great presentation of a somewhat unpleasant task. I liked when you hugged that ole yellow car after showing emotion by using body language. Cursing the cab forward design was also called right on time! Funny. Thanks a million.
Great video. I am about to tackle the same job on my 2000 E-150 4.2L. I have an injector that is giving me trouble at certain RPM's so while I replacing it I am going to go ahead and remove the lower intake as well to thoroughly clean it and to replace those gaskets. The F-150 looks like its harder to work on than the van. I can get to almost everything on the 4.2L from inside as long as I remove the passenger seat first.
Breaks my heart cause I always loved and bought and supported Ford products faithfully. I am still holding out hope ford will do the right thing and reimburse us owners for replacement motors and or fixes for this extremely disastrous issue. Makes me wonder where is NTSA The National Transportation And Safety Board Or Consumer Reports in all of this??? From what I have seen this issue spans back over 10 years now with no one accepting responsibility. If Ford fails to come through for me then guess what product brand I will no longer purchase? Not only that but they need to remember that if you build a quality product the consumer buys he will tell a friend but if you build crap he will tell a thousand strangers. Think about it Ford...
they dont care there all at the bank counting there money
@@freebird1ification Yep, I owned an 85, 89 & 92 f150 with the straight six. All were great trucks that did an incredible amount of work. They were absolute mules and I loved them. Bought a used 97 a fews years ago with the 4.2. What an overall pos for a truck. My next truck will be a Toyota. Refuse to own 1/2 ton crap U. S. manufacturers build.
I have a 98 F-150 with the same engine with 230,300 miles. If I have that issue at least I will know what had happened. Great video and a job well done!!
I didn't use thread locker on the bolts when I did this. It's been a few years so I guess it's ok. I didn't see anything on them when I removed them in the first place.
Also, I changed the oil with walmart supertech brand before cranking the engine over. After a day or two of driving, I changed it again with the castrol high mileage that I prefer. This way I was confident that I got out almost all of the coolant. That coolant will wear out the bearings quickly if there's too much in there when you crank it!
He makes look easier than what it seems. If only I could of fast forward myself while I was doing mine... Lol. Good Job 👍
11 years later and still the best video on this repair hands down. What did you use to clean the intake manifold? The Haynes manual mentioned something about not cleaning it. Just checking. 👍
Thank you so much. Just had the P1518 code pop up. Googled it and this video came up first. Now i have an idea of what I;m getting into. Hope mine goes as smooth as yours looks to have!! Thanks again and props!
You can probably just replace the plastic bushing that holds in the IMRC rod and call it a day. The P1518 is IMRC runner control. It doesn't have anything to do with the hydrolock problem my engine experienced while parked.
K thanks
Bought the hydrolocked 98 f150. Was told coolant into TWO neighboring cylinders. Question: can bad lower intake gasket do that, or more likely head gasket in your best opinion?
Does anyone know what the torque specs are for upper and lower intake manifolds are
+Wayne Ermine The torque specs are at 6:29 and 9:47, right here in this video. Sequences are at 6:13 and 9:37. Upvote Wayne so others can easily find it. :) b
Edit: Look at those sexy original drawings I made to comply with existing copyright laws. Just look at those beautiful dang things. "Print Screen"
Very good video, in real time frame...he is very meticulous. However, i do suggest using a thread chaser tap instead of a cutting tap. It can mess up threads.
12 year old video still useful today. That job would take me about six weeks.
Thank you for making this video. You saved my life today
Great video. Mine sits hydrolocked right now and I was just considering my options. It looks like I might tackle this one. Thanks.
I'm scared this is what is wrong with my E-250. Thank you for the amazing video!
This is not that bad of a problem to have. It's $50 plus cleaning supplies. If it hydrolocked, pull all the spark plugs at once and crank it out. Put 'em back, start it, let it warm up, and don't drive it. Pull the plugs again and compression test it first. If the compression numbers are even, you didn't bend a rod. If you bent a rod, the numbers will be all outa waco and this becomes a whole different job. I recently wrapped my eyeballs around an extended-cab V6 that bent a rod from hydrolocking during startup. I got lucky. Mine didn't fire when I cranked it. It only went RRrrr-Kank. My compression was straight 150's. I stopped cranking it the second it went "kank" and did what was listed above.
+Jafromobile Thanks for the detailed reply! I'm just not looking forward to it, being a van. I hate working on van engine stuff. lol
Oh yeah... if it has a "doghouse", throw a tarp over it before you crank it or you'll get coolant all over the interior. If it does have a doghouse, it's a lot more comfortable doing this job inside the van than it is kneeling on the radiator support bracket. You also have a lot better access to the intake plenum. If it doesn't have a doghouse, dangit man, I feel your pain! Been there before! :(
+Jafromobile Good tip on the tarp. I was shocked by the amount of antifreeze that came out of yours!
You just won a new sub... love how you are fast with the steps..... Great info. Happy to be here.
Another brilliant design by Ford. Love your videos by the way, very in depth.
This video is a great help! I need to do the exact same work on my exact same model. Do you have a non-speedup version of the video? Thanks!
Do you know th size for the lower intake manifold bolts? Some of mine broke and I'm having a hard time finding them. I found some on a website, it says that six of them are M6 x 1.0 x 62.5mm, but I have no idea what the rest of them are, nor where to buy them all as a set. Great video!!
My truck has been running rough the last 2 days and checked the oil and *violin playing sad music* water in the oil :( ... No smoke coming from tailpipe so that was the last thing I was expecting.
Demon50 This video can still help you. The head gaskets are just another 16 bolts away. Didn't see this comment the first time. Sorry 'bout your troubles. I'm about to sell my F-150. 235,000 miles later I'm tired of working on it. My rear axle is giving me all kinds of grief.
Obviously this post is very old, but for someone who found oil in their coolant and viceversa, before you pull the heads, understand that the same intake gaskets will leak coolant into the valley pan or V of the engine. This coolant will make its way into the oil pan.
Finally, a Ford legacy issue: the timing cover doubles up as the water pump mounting plate. There are gaskets here that fail, and also dump coolant into your crankcase.
Just some tips before you spend a weekend doing head gaskets, but ignore your timing cover gaskets which could be the culprit all along.
Thanks - about to do this job myself.
BTW - you can now get a 5 pack of those IMRC rod bushings in a Dorman 'help' pack. It's Dorman part # 47099. $4.99 at your local auto parts store or order them from rockauto.
great video. thank you for sharing. what size are lower intake screws. as is in what size tap did you use? i assume something metric thanks
I have a 2005 f150 4.2L. I've looked everywhere for an answer. Problem is that the gauge goes to hot after 20 minutes of driving. It does not actually over heat. Changed cylinder head temperature sensor, thermostat, instrument cluster. Has no leaks no air in coolant system. I'm not sure if this model has a coolant temperature sensor.
a fine example of how the newer trucks with a 20 dollar part ends up costing over 1000 bucks to fix -thats why alot of these go to the scrap yard when this happens most folks dont have anywhere to do the repair or the tools so off to the scrap yard they go what a sham thats why i wany a pre 80s vehicle there mostly easy peasy and dont have to worry about emision crap
Nice I like the time lapse, and you should the bushing in the back.
thx man i just bought an 2001 f150 and im running lean, and durrring excelleration i dont feel all the power is there, ive heard that gaskets on this truck are notorious for cousing leaks and making it lose power so hope this works im in for a long day.
I'm not sure this could help you with a lean condition? Do a coolant system pressure test, and a compression test before putting yourself through all this work. If it fails either test, then okay. Do this job. Replace the head gasket if it fails the compression test... but to solve a lean condition, go after the fuel system components (filter, not the pump) and vacuum lines first. Scan the ECU for codes to see what the ECU doesn't like and that will give you a push towards the real culprit. ;)
im running lean in both banks
I'm a little over halfway through this fix. I was running lean in both banks, as well. This is time consuming, but it allows me to replace the upper and lower intake gaskets (which it needed by the looks of the old gaskets I removed!) as well as replace the injector o-rings and filters and the thermostat/gasket. Taking the upper intake off gives you a really good look at any possible vacuum leak issues/rotten hoses, too.
Thanks a lot for a great Video. i had this exact problem & with the help of your video was able to quite easy fix my sons truck! Kudos to you!
I've driven the car. For like a month and YES... YES...and heck yea.. the car as all those symptoms... Well I get my parts on Friday so can't wait to see what happend..Should I disconnect the ground cable?
Cool thanks. I'm gana try to get back at it on sat. Ill keep u posted. Thanks again.
I was going to buy new intake and head bolts but some say that it's not necessary.. I always thought that when they were torqued to spec that they would stretch and would have to be replaced? Should this be done or is it just a waste of money? Maybe I'll just invest in some good arp studs because I find myself pulling apart this 4.2 all too often...Me and this motor have a love/hate relationship lol.
Demon50 You don't have to replace them. You should, but nobody ever seems to follow that advice offered by the service manual, and most likely because of how little torque is applied to them. If you over-torqued one, then it should be replaced.
That was freaking epic. Amazing video. Subbed for sure.
It this is the video that made you subscribe, you're going to love it here.
Amigo ya arme mi motor 4.2 y funciona bien la válvula imrc, pero el cilindro 6 esta fallando, probé en que hubiese corriente en la bujía y si hay, probé señal del inyector y también esta, pero al quitar el cable de la bujía el motor no cambia su funcionamiento, es decir, se mantiene igual sin ese cilindro, tiene un sonido de taquetes sera que eso infiere en que no trabaje el cilindro? agradezco su ayuda. he visto comentarios de que el cable de bujía pierde su resistencia.
excellent video, does anyone have the numbers of the spare parts (gaskets) used for the metal manifold, as I understand it there are 5 pieces in total, top and bottom?
Nice production. I'm going to attempt this job on a Econoline 150. Have not seen it yet. But In your opinion, would the Van be more or less accessible than this Truck? Thx
If it has a doghouse it's a lot more accessible. It's hard for me to guess based on the info provided. I haven't had the luxury of working on an Econoline, but I've watched someone work on an old one with a doghouse, and once it's out of the way you've got 360° access and a comfy chair. That can't be all bad compared to a cab-forward pickup.
Jafromobile ty kindly!
Hello, how can I change the injectors of a Ford 4.2L V6 2001, is it the same technique?
How long did it take for you to blow all the remaining coolant out of your tailpipe? I used your video when I was rebuilding my heads on my 4.2l. Just finished and I’m currently driving and monitoring for leak symptoms.
One complete heat cycle. If you're on two heat cycles and it's still going, make sure your coolant level isn't dropping.
Great video, I like the attention to detail!
Yes I did. I found that the torque sepcs on the head to block were off and that it did not have enough pressure to hold the coolant were it belongs.also the lifters were overtighten. The specs I found for the engine were incorrect. Now I'm looking and hoping I didn't get any damage done to the piston. Can u think of any way to check the parts with the best results to better identified the problem? Thanks.
what year is this truck? same sequence for 00 f150 4.2 need torque lbs in inches and ft lbs please for my mechanic want to make sure this is done right
thank you for the video Im actually going to be doing this with his help
It's a '99 and yes, same sequence. The torque sequence and specs inch pounds were all in the video but I bet you're back up and running by now. Notifications broke on this video about a year ago? I didn't see any of these comments until now. lol.
Only one observation guy, I can see that the new intake manifold gasket you installed wrong, I remember and I could see in the old gasket , that bigger water circulation holes bshould be to the front on engine.
I promise you this was discovered and corrected somewhere in this video, just really fast, and I recall doing it. I don't own it but the truck is still on the road today with this same repair still in tact, and a leak-free coolant system. It's well over 240k miles now.
Great video
Thank you sir for sharing
Hi Jafro, Thanks allot for posting this video and all the other great ones you've put up. In a post you say its possible to change the IMRC bushings without taking the manifold off. Do you mean the lower intakes? cause i can't get my hands back there to even feel the thing. Also once you get the upper off can i change the bushings out without removing the fuel rail. Thanks again for the videos, TOP shelf!
Were you not concerned with bent rods or valves after you heard the loud bang?also I saw one of those "D" shaped clips from the gasket in my oil pan..how bad is that?
Nah, not on a cold engine. If everything was hot, maybe? In another video I do a compression test (60,000 miles later) and it registered straight 150PSI across all 6. It's called "Ol Whitey's Revival". If a rod bent, the compression in that cylinder would change. I've seen other V6's with this problem bend rods (but they were green, lol), I got lucky and I attribute that to it failing while it sat for over a week, and then I discovered it with a cold engine.
As for the D-shaped thing, I think I need a timecode where it happened. It's been a long time since I did this and I'm not quite sure what you mean?
@@Jafromobile it's around the 3:26 mark.the bright metal pieces in the manifold gasket.
@@metalmaniaxx What? In the oil pan? How? Best I can guess is someone went in there before and replaced them, but dropped them into the engine while replacing them? I just don't see how they'd end up in the crankcase as they're sandwiched between intake and coolant passages. Not the oil system. There's no holes big enough for them to work themselves through the combustion chambers? Had to have been dropped there while the engine was apart. They'd be suspended in place with a bolt going through them while assembled so they couldn't fall out? That's what the hole in them is for. A bolt. You got me man... ?!?!?
@@Jafromobile thanks for the feedback.I'm happy to say there was no leaks going into the cylinder,and it wasn't hydrolocked.it was just very difficult for me to turn the engine by hand after I replaced timing components.I'm going to finish assembling it in a few days.let's hope it fires up after sitting for 18 months.thanks again
I have the exact same intake on my 97 f150 and I can not get the intake to come off. I have removed all of the top bolts is there somewhere else that it is connected to? Thanks!
Do you remember what size taps you used to chase ur those threads?
How did you know it wasn't a head gasket problem? My 4.2 E150 did this a weak ago. Damn engines are expensive! Got to do a compression test. How many hrs did it take you to do this?
I went with my intuition. There are better ways to test it if you don't know... There's a chemical test you can do on the coolant system, but these engines are famous for doing this with age, and I found the dry rotted intake manifold gasket tearing it down & stopped there. It took me about 10 hours to shoot and finish this job. Look up "ol whitey's revival for a follow-up on this work and that chemical test I was talking about.
those little plastic bushings are 5.00 each at ford, autozone 6 for 5.00
Thanks for the tip! I hope I never need to buy them again, but if I do, I know where I'll go!
Dorman 47099. Thanks for the heads up.
Where can I get the bolts for the lower intake manifold (x14) I’m replacing gaskets and noticed pitting in the bolts, I’ve looked everywhere online and even with my local dealer with no luck , I only find the upper intake manifold bolts(x12). Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
I struggled with this one myself. I went to 5 dealerships, and only managed to find 4 bolts among all of them. The best bet you have is to look at the part number in this video and buy them online. These are bolts that should be replaced whenever you remove the lower intake (according to Ford's service documentation) and they're never in stock, so... do you think even Ford's certified technicians ever follow that advice? Nope. The reason you should replace them is exactly the reason you describe. Mine were like that, too. I replaced the 4 worst ones and re-used the rest.
Thanks for the reply!! I managed to get my hands on some bolts similar enough to work from a specialty bolt shop in my area!! Great video BTW
Excellent video.
Jafromobile,
Great video I have watched it several times. An older gentleman from my old apartment building has the 97 F150 with the 4.2 and he has water in the oil. He said he thought it was a head gasket leaking because he replaced the engine at 85,000 miles because it happened a few years back and the engine blew. I bought a house, no garage but a nice driveway to work, since we had the original conversation and offered to assist him. You can't work on cars in the parking lot of apartments here in Arlington VA. How do I tell if its Hydrolock or leaking head gasket? I have not pulled the plugs and turned it over, dead battery. I plan on tearing it down over the next few days and will start with the hrydrolock fix but i dont want to put it back together if I need to go further down. Any help here would be great. There is water in the oil, it looks like a wet milk chocolate.
+jafladd Watch my latest video, "Ol' Whitey's Revival", and the opening scenes of service work are 2 tests that will verify it without a doubt. I do a block test, and a coolant system pressure test. It's one thing if it's leaking in the intake (pressure test will fail), but if it's not a head gasket problem, there will be zero crankcase gasses in the coolant.
If it is a head gasket, the job starts only 16 bolts deeper than the work you saw me do here. It's only 28 more bolts if you include the exhaust manifold nuts on both sides. Really, the heads are right there under the valve covers at 5:17 ready to pull. Buy the top-half gasket set instead of picking and choosing them individually. It costs about the same either way, but with the gasket set you've got everything you need to make a 4.2L V6 hold anything else it might be leaking from wherever else. ;)
+Jafromobile
Thanks, I was a little reluctant to tackle this job because the only head gasket video I found was for a 4.6 liter and the two timing chains were messing with my head. I will check out your other video and I may just do it all to make sure is is good for a while.
Jack
Hey Jafro, what year engine application is the gasket set? The parts stores have 3 different listed. Mine is a late model 98. Mostly 99 stuff fits
My truck's a '99. :)
Great video.. THANKS!!
I've watched your video lots of time to motivate myself and I finally did it the other night. My problem was a leaking intake tube on the lower intake.It took me a good 8 hours. After driving it the next day it started overheating and now I have a milky substance on my dip stick and under my oil cap. I noticed that I installed my lower intake gasket in the opposite direction you did, with the part of the gasket with the little hole in the bottom of it I have installed toward the back of the engine and yours in the front. I am guessing that is for the coolant passage.Is that my problem? Thanks for any advice.
ThePollyew Yes. It's the problem. I'm less happy to break the news to you than you are to hear it. : \ That's unfortunate, man. Maybe next time you can do it in 6 hours? Remind yourself that an honest mechanic would charge you $1300 for this job. The average mechanic would tell you $2500, or that it's a head gasket and that you need to buy a new engine.
ThePollyew Thank you for the response. I already ordered my new gasket to to be safe and look forward to hopefully getting down to 6 hours. What takes so long is torquing all those bolts! Yeah, I keep saying it is far more cheaper for me to do it....... even if it is twice.
Mine was over heated twice, so I knew the double layered head gaskets were going to be a problem, Also the heads were slightly warped. I don't think your $1350 included head work. My valve and seats were done including new valve seals. And at 200,000 miles I didn't want to do it twice. All the gaskets are single use.
Thanks for the video, it cut down my shop time considerably. I decided since I had to order the parts I would do some porting(manifold and plenum) as well in the down time.
thanks again! very helpful.
Excellent video. I really enjoyed watching.
Great video, do you know if that 90 degree pipe on the front of the lower manifold is replaceable?
Absolutely great video. I honestly have never seen one like it. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Thanks a Million
Quick question, I have 2 codes for P1537 and P1538 showing up. Do you think the IRMC would cause this code to show? Havent been able to get much info on how to fix this problem. Thanks
3 things can happen and cause those codes. 1. dry rotted cracked and crumbled plastic IMRC actuator rod bushings. This is the most likely cause. Dorman part #47099. Get 4. Impossible to see their location because they're hidden on the back of the lower intake against the firewall of a cab forward engine bay. That's why I show them with a mirror. The rods can pop in and out without removing the intake or the IMRC, and once the rod is out you can pick out the bushing and replace it. 2. Vacuum leak causing pcv system to fail and 3. filling the intake with carbon. It will be especially nasty in there if 4. the lower intake manifold gaskets are leaking coolant into the intake. I know I said 3 things. 4 won't lead to either of those codes. 4 leads to hydrolock. 4 just means there's plenty of gooey nasty shit for all of the carbon from a failed PCV system to stick to. 9/10 it's #1. But do a radiator pressure test to make sure you don't have leaky intake gaskets because the IMRC bushings are a lot easier to replace if you're already tearing down the intake to replace those gaskets. I mean... good luck reaching all 4 with it all assembled. I hate cab-forward design. Hate it. ❤ my Mitsubishis. No cab forward DSMs.
Im hoping its the bushings also but also purchased a tool to check vacuum. Thanks for the reply and you video helped a lot also
Great video... I have a 02 v6 mustang. I need to change the IMRC linkage rod plastic retainers.. do u know if I have to remove the intake manifold...
I lol'd when you pushed the colt out of the garage.
thanks for sharing this!
nice job... good video quality and explanation
Well I'll be damn. Looking up info on replacing my 4.2L intake, and the only video I find is a fellow DSMer. Cool deal. :)
Is there a way I can reach you? Used to have some contact info but can't find it.
I would like to ask, why does your IMRC Actuator look alot different from the actuators that fit my 97 f150 4.2? im havin the same problem, but mine say there both stuck open, so in the morning im goin to try to tackle the situation.
I picked up a 96/97 f150 for 500 bucks with a Seized 4.2, would it be safe to assume it hydro locked and did some internal damage or do you think its viable to unseize it with penetrating oil and a breaker bar? The truck has sat for about 10 years.
Pull the plugs. Fill the cylinders with marvel mystery oil. Get a big breaker bar and a socket. If it hydrolocked and the rings rusted into the bores, that ought to free it up.
Thanks for the pretty quick reply I'll be back in a week or so to let you know how it went!
Trae Wallace So, how did it go?
Not well, unfortunately after trying to for a day I actually managed to loosen the crank pulley. I tightened it the best it could and tried for another week but she wouldn't give up the ghost, so I may just end up getting a new bottom end.
nice vid
whats better the 7.3 or the 4.2
Nice job
Thanks for sharing this - it was very helpful.... sincerely. However, I don't want to (or mean to) be a dick.... but I'm pretty damn sure that you installed your gaskets backwards. Note that the gasket labeled LH is for the Passenger side. This will probably cause your engine to overheat as the wrong water ports are now covered.
They're not blocked. The coolant ports are immediately below the rear intake ports, and between the front and middle intake ports. What you see on the end is a dead runner that goes nowhere. Nothing's blocked, and 80,000 miles later, never overheated. I did several coolant pressure tests, exhaust gas detection tests, etc… in the Ol' Whitey's Revival video. My work is/was solid. Sorry for answering 2 years late. You were the first of 2 people who thought this. I should have showed the lower intake flange, everything about gasket orientation would have been more clear.
I'm working on my truck as well and the starting problem sounds the same. However I took the job a bit further I had a bolt snap on the head. I fixed that and put everything back together. The engine turn on grate one time then the problem happened. But all gaskets are new and parts were cleaned any ideas. I have pic if u need to see them. Can u help?
What Millage did this happen?.. i have a '99 E250 that is loosing coolant and its not burning it/. the van has 63,000 miles
Did Ford make a remake on these bad gaskets? i also had the coolent leak and it bent the connecting rod. fixed it and it did it again 30,000 down the road. Went with a rebuilt on the promise the gaskets were up graded. coolent leak again. 3rd time. of course i called ford and all i get is bs. Now i wonder: did they ever remake the correct gaskets?
Epic Intro! Thumbs up