After driving my 2008 Crown Vic P71 since I got it at auction back in 2013, I finally have had to do a repair on it. I started getting a whiff of coolant, at first intermittently, then more often. The 2-valve Ford 4.6 can be a 500K mile engine but it has its idiosyncrasies. One is the plastic intake manifold can crack at the coolant passage in the front around the thermostat housing. Sure enough, it was wet around there so I figured the infamous cracking had raised its ugly head. Dorman makes an aftermarket intake that is reasonably priced, but the word on the street is it will cost you 15 horsepower as it is copied from the old pre-power improved design. Plus they have a rep of not being very durable, putting you back to where you started. So I ordered an OEM intake mainly because of the power loss with aftermarket. It is not like the Crown Vic is a powerhouse already. Based on the price, Ford is very proud of them, and there is a persistent rumor that Ford is going to discontinue making them. When I ordered at the dealer, the guy told me there were only 192 in inventory nationwide, which doesn't seem like very many.
If you look closely, you may see an intake manifold in there -
The job requires a fair amount of disassembly, but it is all straightforward -
Sure enough, there was a puddle of coolant in the valley -
I have used Felpro gaskets for decades and have never had an issue. Since the Felpro was just over half of what OEM cost and looked just as stout, that's what I ordered. But check out the misalignment on the hole. It is puzzling. With all the jillions of Ford modular 4.6 engines out there, how could Felpro have got it wrong? Maybe the wrong gaskets were in the box? Who knows, but I wanted to get the car back on the road, so I took the Felpros back and got OEM, which fit perfectly, of course.
Two peas in a pod -
After taking the old manifold off, I looked in vain for any cracking, even under magnification. What I did find is what appears to be gasket failure. I now think the manifold is intact, and the o-rings succumbed to 16 years of heat and age. I put the new manifold on anyway since it is a fair amount of work and I had already bought it. I'll keep the old one in reserve.
The 2V 4.6 was in Explorers, F150s, Crown Vics, Grand Marquis, Town Cars, T=Birds, and probably others I have forgotten, so the odds someone on here has one are pretty good. So if you get a coolant leak, it may be just gasket failure.
While waiting for parts to come in, I picked the car up on the lift, changed gear oil in the axle and installed a heavy anti-sway bar from ADTR. The lift made it a breeze. Best thing I ever bought myself. If you have a place for it and you find yourself crawling underneath cars all the time, what are you waiting for?
Since putting the new bar on, I have been playing around in roundabouts to see how it feels. The police package Crown Vic already has heavier duty suspension than the standard cars, so body roll is reduced. But the new bar definitely has made a difference. The photos show the stock bar is a spindly thing. The front bar is beefier, but the one ADTR sells is is stouter yet, That will be the next purchase for my 4200 lb sports car.
