Antifreeze leak ???

[A98StAnGlVr1996]

My sons 96 , 4.6 is leaking antifreeze somehwere from up top , and i just can't pinpoint it . Its leaking down from the left rear onto the tranz ,. Any suggestions fot a starting point would be great

[Drivermod]

First place to look on any 4.6 2V is the coolant crossover on the front of the intake manifold. They are prone to cracking. Ford even offered to replace them with a redesigned manifold that has an alumimum crossover instead of the plastic one.

[bobtsgt]

also check the valley under the intake for coolant pools. And check the rear heater hose nipple cast into the plastic intake for cracks. Like Ian said the front crossovers are very prone to crack too. Also check the heater hoses routing to the heater core at the fire wall

[mustang8998]

If it's the all plastic manifold, then yes, replace it with an aluminum cross over piece. Even if you find a leaking head gasket, still do yourself a favor and replace the intake.

FWIW, Ford will not replace it, under the rules of the class action suit. Been there, done that.

[bobtsgt]

if your going through the hassle of replacing you may want to swap to a PI intake instead. They can be had for cheap and are a great upgrade for a NPI head set up. The intake bolts right up with PI intake gaskets. Just have to put a little RTV around the coolant passages. Should take a couple of hours to swap. It will help in the higher RPMs and throttle response.

[MADMOD]

I bought my PI intake at Modular Depot for 120 bucks or so and it came with the aluminum cross over:bigthumb. I think Ford wanted close to 400.:flipoff: