93 F150 2wd 351 auto
I just bought this truck in December and now I am losing antifreeze on the drivers side. I am wondering if these motors are known for the lower intake manifold gaskets to go bad. Even though I am a mechanic by day I rarely work on my own stuff I just play dumb and take it to a shop (I work on construction equipment, mainly do oil changes and prevenative maintence). Is this bill going to hurt??? I can't have this truck down since it is my only transportation.

 

I'm no expert, but first of all, you shouldn't have anything wet coming from your intake. You'll probably have to try trace where it's coming from. You'll be lucky if it's just a freeze plug on the side of your block that il coming loose. Also, your water pump could be leaking a little and running a trail of fluid to that side. Just do some investigating first. Good luck.

 

Actually i believe the 351w does have coolant passages through the intake. I would wash it down first and drive it a few miles or pressure test the system to verify where the leak is coming from. I've never done "just" an intake gasket on a windsor but i'm guessing at least 4 hours labor. If you call a shop they can look it up in shopkey or mitchel on demand and tell you what the labor would be.

-Jon

 

Yes the intake manifol can leak at the outlet passage. Because the intake manifold is aluminum and the heads are cast iron they expand at different rates. This causes the intake to squirm slightly against the head. This can cause the bolts to loosen and leaks to occure. Sometimes just re-torquing the intake will stop the leak but if it has been leaking for sometime then the gaskets will have to be replaced. When installing the intake it is a good idea to use a thread locker to prevent the bolts/nuts from backing off due to the squirming. If you have someone do the job for you make sure you instruct them to use locktight or some other thread locker. Contrary to popular beleif the thread locker will actually make the bolts easier to remove at a later date because it prevent corrosion of the bolts and studs.

Hope this helps.

 

Go figure! I guess that's why I work on marine engines.

 

Loctite makes the bolts easier to remove if they use the blue loctite and not the permanent red stuff that requires high explosives to remove!