Any 5.4 experts out there

kirk

kirk

Member
My wife's 2000 5.4 is leaking at the intake. Quick research indicates not a gasket, but a new intake?

Leaking between the aluminum and plastic?

What's the most likely issue?
 
Correct. Very very common. A little piece of plastic breaks off underneath and allows the gasket to slip. Dorman makes a better replacement and comes with the gaskets.


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justbob said:
Correct. Very very common. A little piece of plastic breaks off underneath and allows the gasket to slip. Dorman makes a better replacement and comes with the gaskets.


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I'll second that.

My 2001 MGM still has the full plastic intake manifold. Behind where the alternator bracket mounts to the intake and right at the temperature sensor I have two cracks. I purchased the new intake but did not have time to put it on so I just used epoxy as a temporary fix. That Dorman intake is really the way to go. They have certainly improved the factory design.

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01MercGMLS said:
I'll second that.

My 2001 MGM still has the full plastic intake manifold. Behind where the alternator bracket mounts to the intake and right at the temperature sensor I have two cracks. I purchased the new intake but did not have time to put it on so I just used epoxy as a temporary fix. That Dorman intake is really the way to go. They have certainly improved the factory design.

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Click to expand...


My 05 GM had the same issues....... I put a P-51 intake on it. LOL
 
Bought a Dorman intake (Autozone Duralast branded) today. Might be a couple of weeks before I can put it on.

The fact that they had one on the shelf indicates it happens frequently.
 
Last edited:
kirk said:
The fact that they had one on the shelf indicates it happens frequently.
Click to expand...
This---^

That was the same thing I thought when I started doing research on mine. It's utterly shocking when you go to a salvage yard and look at the panther cars. That's where I got my replacement intake and it wasn't hard to find. Actually an original plastic intake would be the hard one to find. All but 2 of the cars there had the Dorman intake and they had TONS of panthers.

There was a class action law suit against Ford Motor Company about this issue. Not sure what models were included but the last day to file a claim was sometime in 2006. So much for that.

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77ff33c98e94d6bb986e12506ff21733.jpg
 
kirk said:
Bought a Dorman intake (Autozone Duralast branded) today. Might be a couple of weeks before I can put it on.

The fact that they had one on the shelf indicates it happens frequently.
Click to expand...



Worse yet is they stock the $500.00 fuel injection spider assembly for GM’s 4.3 thru 5.7’s too!


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MyBlackBeasts said:
That's too funny, I've never seen one fail!
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Seriously? I believe I’ve done four now.
The poppets are known for sticking wide open causing long delayed starts and cylinder flooding ultimately causing a no start.

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justbob said:
Seriously? I believe I’ve done four now.
The poppets are known for sticking wide open causing long delayed starts and cylinder flooding ultimately causing a no start.

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Click to expand...


Well I learned something today, good to know.


With all the 4.3 V6 S10 p/u's, Blazers & Astrovans I've worked on (many with high miles) over all these years, never ran in to it.



Thanks Bob.
 
Ive changed my fair share of injector spiders on the 5.7s on suburbans and tahoes in my day. The cylinders usually fill up with fuel and require you to remove all the plugs and spin it over to get the fuel out. The first time I did one was on my bosses truck and the engine hydro locked after I had it all buttoned up and went to start it. I remember my sphincter was swollen shut til I heard it running actually run I was hoping and praying it didn't bend a rod and was half expecting it to hang a rod out the block.

The plastic intakes are pretty common here too. In fact there is quite a few that still make it to us with stock plastic intakes.
 
A little more help gang

I got this swapped yesterday/today
All coils and injectors went in where they came out except that I replaced #5 injector
Everything back together, started up and out for a test drive and warm up
Runs great, no visible leaks, except it idles like crap at about 500 RPM

Throws 3 codes, p1000, p1131, p1151 - lean on 1 & 2

I cleaned the head surfaces, don't see any obvious issues, all vacuum lines accounted for, torqued per instructions

2000 Expedition 2WD 174k
Showing it's age, but is solid and ran well Friday

Any thoughs?
 
I would just go back thru all electrical connections and make sure they are fully clicked on and all vacuum lines, intake boot, and EGR pipe is fully seated. I’m sure it something simple.

Twice now I’ve had Fords act up because of electrical connections not fully seated. Once an injector, the other was A/C. They seem to be quite picky about being clicked fully.


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justbob said:
Worse yet is they stock the $500.00 fuel injection spider assembly for GM’s 4.3 thru 5.7’s too!
Click to expand...

MyBlackBeasts said:
That's too funny, I've never seen one fail!
Click to expand...

justbob said:
Seriously? I believe I’ve done four now.
The poppets are known for sticking wide open causing long delayed starts and cylinder flooding ultimately causing a no start.
Click to expand...

MyBlackBeasts said:
Well I learned something today, good to know.
With all the 4.3 V6 S10 p/u's, Blazers & Astrovans I've worked on (many with high miles) over all these years, never ran in to it.

Thanks Bob.
Click to expand...

decipha said:
Ive changed my fair share of injector spiders on the 5.7s on suburbans and tahoes in my day. The cylinders usually fill up with fuel and require you to remove all the plugs and spin it over to get the fuel out. The first time I did one was on my bosses truck and the engine hydro locked after I had it all buttoned up and went to start it. I remember my sphincter was swollen shut til I heard it running actually run I was hoping and praying it didn't bend a rod and was half expecting it to hang a rod out the block.

The plastic intakes are pretty common here too. In fact there is quite a few that still make it to us with stock plastic intakes.
Click to expand...

WOW!

Blast from the past!

My '96 S10 4.3L Vortec ran like a top until about 200K miles.
Then it started to idle roughly and get really crappy gas mileage.
Did some research and found out about the bad fuel injection spiders.
Wasn't going to bother with that mess, so I drove it for another 35,000 miles and sold it.

BTW: My brother has done the leaking plastic intake (recall) on his 2000 CV.
 
decipha said:
I would first clean the maf and replace the o2s
Click to expand...

Many of the injectors were really dirty. The one I changed had stuff over the tip (making me wonder how it ran as well as it did). I think my cleaning may have done more harm than good on others. Could I have plugged one of the three nozzles? Would cause symptoms I'm having.

174k on likely original injectors that were filthy. I'll change a couple more I think.
 
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