Post by pmsteinm on May 29, 2015 12:05:50 GMT -6
So after eating a little coolant my 4.0 started eating a lot (like 1/2 gallon per trip). I assumed head gasket because everyone says that but when I did the pressure test I found that at least 3 of the 4 water crossover seals were leaking. They had been replaced once 120k miles ago under warranty.
You can pretty much follow the book procedure but note the following:
- You need a ratcheting wrench because you can't get a socket on the back 2. With a normal wrench it will take you a year. It's a pain as it is with the ratcheting wrench.
- You do not need to remove the crossover itself from the vehicle. I spent hours only to discover that you really can't remove it because 1 front bolt won't come out and it catches on a massive wire harness that cannot be moved out of the way. You can still get at the seals/mating surfaces to replace the 4 seals.
- The bottom front 2 bolts are a pain as well because of that wire harness. 1 bolt won't come out, the other can be removed. So working on 1 at a time and crushing the harness you can get them in an out. I used a wood skewer stick in 1 hole to hold the gasket in place.
- You probably don't need to disconnect the EGR exhaust pipe. I damaged it trying to force it back on after bolting the crossover on. I "fixed" it with liberal application of exhaust system sealer. If you do disconnect it be sure to reconnect BEFORE bolting the crossover on.
This took me 10 hours. Knowing what I know now I could probably to the whole thing in <5 hours.
You need to replace the throttle body and EGR gaskets when doing this. You may want to do the thermostat and water pump too while you are in there (you will already have easy access during this procedure.
You can pretty much follow the book procedure but note the following:
- You need a ratcheting wrench because you can't get a socket on the back 2. With a normal wrench it will take you a year. It's a pain as it is with the ratcheting wrench.
- You do not need to remove the crossover itself from the vehicle. I spent hours only to discover that you really can't remove it because 1 front bolt won't come out and it catches on a massive wire harness that cannot be moved out of the way. You can still get at the seals/mating surfaces to replace the 4 seals.
- The bottom front 2 bolts are a pain as well because of that wire harness. 1 bolt won't come out, the other can be removed. So working on 1 at a time and crushing the harness you can get them in an out. I used a wood skewer stick in 1 hole to hold the gasket in place.
- You probably don't need to disconnect the EGR exhaust pipe. I damaged it trying to force it back on after bolting the crossover on. I "fixed" it with liberal application of exhaust system sealer. If you do disconnect it be sure to reconnect BEFORE bolting the crossover on.
This took me 10 hours. Knowing what I know now I could probably to the whole thing in <5 hours.
You need to replace the throttle body and EGR gaskets when doing this. You may want to do the thermostat and water pump too while you are in there (you will already have easy access during this procedure.
