Chops

94 5.0L

I'm going to replace my lower intake gasket this weekend. Just curious if anyone had any words of wisdom?

Also, I feel I'm getting a little carried away with what else I could change out while I have it off. I was pricing injectors earlier, but think I'll pass on those. I was thinking maybe valve cover gaskets, and thermostat for sure. She's got about 175k on her. What do you guys recommend changing out?

r2wilde

All depends... how much do you enjoy your truck, if you plan on keeping it and what repairs have been done lately.

dirtcrew51m

Vc gaskets, thermo a must. And check the condition of the air cross over tube on the back of the heads.

qdeezie

I did this fairly recently. Make sure you get Fel-Pro gaskets so that the front and rear gaskets are rubber instead of cork to prevent future leaks. Also, replace your valve cover gaskets once again with rubber gaskets instead of cork. Replace the PCV Valve and replace the thermostat. Make sure the thermostat is installed correctly. When I took the thermostat off on my truck, the previous owner had it installed incorrectly with the thermostat on top of the gasket instead of the gasket on top of the thermostat. Make sure you use RTV and put it in the corners of the lower intake gasket. Don't be a moron like me and lose your distributor o-ring. Make sure you have a magnet handy for that one screw that you drop. Mark your distributor so you don't struggle with setting it. Be very patient when reinstalling your distributor. The fuel lines are a beast to get loose with the fuel line fitting tools. Get some extra carb cleaner to clean out your throttle body and IAC Valve. Instead of injectors, you could go for a new fuel pressure regulator. Ok, I'm done rambling.

Kickprivate

Clean CLEAN CLEAN until it sparkles like new, if you are feeling frisky pay a automotive machine shop to do the work, 50 bucks cleaned inside and out is not a bad deal. Use rubber gaskets over cork. Place small dabs of RTV on the head to intake manifold gaskets and the block to intake gaskets to hold them in place while placing intake manifold, it will save you time and a headache.

Place a small amount of OIL resistant RTV (RTV Black)to each of the four corners where the block/intake gasket meets the head/intake gasket to prevent oil from seeping out.

Most importantly, clean all surfaces thoroughly with a degreaser and carb cleaner to have a nice clean surface, clean all bolt holes with a high-powered carb cleaner spray or other cleaner.

Use new bolts also if available...

Now would also be a great time to pull rocker arms off and check push rods and rocker arms for wear and tear as well as using carb cleaner to check if push rods are clogged.

Chops

I've replaced the IAC, TPS, plugs cap, wires, rotor,cleaned the tbi about a month ago. Special tools to get the fuel lines off? I was going to get a variety if hoses to replace all the vacuum lines. Since I have delco plugs I was going to replace them with motocraft. I do like the truck, plan on keeping it as long as I can. It's a good old truck. Rusty but good. The only thing that worries me with it is that the frame next to the gear box cracked so I had it welded up....for now.

r2wilde

In addition I would include a new EGR unless you've already blocked it and replace all those hard plastic vacuum lines with rubber.

R

Chops

I was probably just going to clean my EGR out as best as I can. Can you replace the EGR tube with a rubber hose?

Is there a special tool to remove the fuel lines from the rail? Like with the fuel filter?

ymeski56

Um.....Hell no! Unless you're talking the Vac to it.

outlawz916

i did this last month to my 5.0, be gentle with your fuel rail, by new injector O rings for all your injectors, be careful not to snap any vacuum lines, and be gentle around your distributor, and i would try to drain all of your coolant because when you take the lower manifold off it will rise up and go into your cylinders. i used about 2 rolls of shop towels for cleaning and make sure you have a can of brake cleaner. check your injectors after you pull them to make sure their not broken, if they do break go to pick n pull and snag a couple. Get a chilton or haynes manual for you truck at an auto store so you can torque everything back to spec. use metal silicone to keep the gaskets in place when you lower the manifold back down onto it. goodluck, mines a 89 so you'll probably run into less problems than i did. you should be able to get it done in one day if you start early though