Intake Gaskets Replacement Findings

[Vegas Sporty]

So I'm mid steam with replacing my intake rubber intake gaskets on my 2001 Sport Trac. [See Pictures] I'm a little surprised about the amount of oil around the rubber gaskets. Wondering if this is normal? Engine runs decent but was having an intermittent stalling issue after being parked after driving in very hot weather. Very similar to the feel of a vapor lock. Truck never over heats and never burns oil so runs fine otherwise. Could this be a PVC valve failure? Sucking oil into the intake? Also wondering about the part on the front side [see picture] of intake which two small hoses from heater core feed into and one larger vacuum feeds around the back of engine to a PVC valve on driver side valve cover. Any sugestions?

 

[Vegas Sporty]

So anyway job completed. Runs fine. I did notice while removing some of the bolts which hold down the intake were not as tight as some of the others. Wondering if these eventually cause the gaskets to fail during hot restarts and maybe causing intermittent stalling. I thought I saw a mention of that these should be re-torqued (89 in.pd.) as a regular part of maintenance. Truck has 37k original miles. Is this the reason of why many modern cars (ex.Honda's) are putting oil catch cans of them hopefully catching some of this oil before it returns to the cylinders via the intake? I do use 100% synthetic oil (w5-30). Could this be the reason of this oil build up? Should I go back to non-synthetic? I also cleaned the PVC valve before re-install showed no signs of clogging.

 

[Larry Holmes]

So anyway job completed. Runs fine. I did notice while removing some of the bolts which hold down the intake were not as tight as some of the others. Wondering if these eventually cause the gaskets to fail during hot restarts and maybe causing intermittent stalling. I thought I saw a mention of that these should be re-torqued (89 in.pd.) as a regular part of maintenance. Truck has 37k original miles. Is this the reason of why many modern cars (ex.Honda's) are putting oil catch cans of them hopefully catching some of this oil before it returns to the cylinders via the intake? I do use 100% synthetic oil (w5-30). Could this be the reason of this oil build up? Should I go back to non-synthetic? I also cleaned the PVC valve before re-install showed no signs of clogging.

I’m sure the consensus is to stay full synthetic although I don’t have any other info on your other inquiries. But an interesting point is on re-torque of the intake. I don’t think that’s ever been done on my 04 ST except for a valve cover gasket replacement some years ago. Now at 162K miles I still drop a half quart every 6 month oil change under the engine from IDK where but I did find oil on top of the intake last year when I replaced the timing chain tensioners. It was mixed with coolant from a leaking plastic thermostat housing but I think that’s unrelated to the presence of oil. Let us know if there’s anything to that 89 in/lbs as a periodic process please.

 

[Todd Z]

did you replace the injector O rings and bottom rings too ??

That's a heater for the TB and PVC.... you can bypass that,,,,,

 

[Vegas Sporty]

Just o-rings on bottom of intake. What is the issues with failing injector o-rings? Didn't see any fuel residue or have any smell of fuel.

 

[dvdswan]

Then don't touch them. I just had a P0303 (misfire #3) which I thought was an injector. Turned out the injector sleeve was cracked. I replaced the #3 injector anyways with the sleeve as I had it. I did not pull or replace the other 2 injector O-rings or sleeves and should have. #2 injector started to leak after re-install. I had to tear it all down and replaced the other 2 injector O-rings and sleeves for that side.

 

[Vegas Sporty]

I'm still getting a wave of idle variations. Vacuum leak or something else? After doing some research about what could flood the intake with air and I came across a video about this electric vacuum regulator. It opens and closes the ERG valve. So bench tested and sure enough the solenoid was un responsive and I believe it's supposed to be closed (sealed) when off the engine. Mine you could blow air through it. So going to replace and see what happens. I did test the leads coming from the computer and it shows 12v. with key on. Well see.....

 

[dvdswan]

Is that the solenoid above cylinder 5ish?

 

[Larry Holmes]

I'm still getting a wave of idle variations. Vacuum leak or something else? After doing some research about what could flood the intake with air and I came across a video about this electric vacuum regulator. It opens and closes the ERG valve. So bench tested and sure enough the solenoid was un responsive and I believe it's supposed to be closed (sealed) when off the engine. Mine you could blow air through it. So going to replace and see what happens. I did test the leads coming from the computer and it shows 12v. with key on. Well see.....

Waiting to find how it works for you. I suffer low idle in colder weather and idle adjustments haven’t made a difference. It seems like a simple and relatively inexpensive fix.