[Hypnotini]

mechanic was pointing out to me on the plastic intake manifold that it was starting to seperate a little bit. it does look like there is some gapage from the top looking down.

True/false - does this happen.

if so...? what are the fixes? and or what are some symptoms to look for.


Question 2 -

Doing a search on the heater core stuff i am completely lost....

So occasionally i will get coolant smell coming through my vents, tank is not depleteing fast at all, no visible external leaks, floor boards dry.

Same mechanic thinks the heater core is going to eventually go.

Thoughts?

 

[SVTF410]

If you could post some pics of the separation area someone could probaly tell if the mechanic is full of crap or not, kind of hard to say on the coolant issue with out being there to see it.

 

[Zab]

Picture of the manifold would be good, but I'm thinking it might be the plastic couplings coming off or something, CFM sells the replacements and its not too hard to do following the How to.

And the coolant smell might actually be the heater core, we had the same problem with the escort and it wasn't until it would get very humid inside that we noticed the problem

 

[iminhell]

I'm going with, the mechanic is full of &^it.

As mentioned, the only common place for the SVT intake manifold to 'separate' is at the couplers. It's highly unlikely for a seam to come loose ... unless the manifold is subject to very high PSI or violent impacts, both of which would more than likely break something else first.
Far as what signs to look for, anything related to typical vacuum leaks ... rough idle, excessive fuel consumption and things of that nature.

As for the coolant smell,
Well if you say the coolant level doesn't deplete fast, that means that it does deplete and there is a small leak somewhere. There will be a stained trail from the leak point, it's just a matter of finding where that point is. Most common spot is the "blanking plug" on the bottom front of the water outlet housing, the gasket is what fails and is just an O-ring ... and there's multiple threads about it.
Other things would include the water pump gasket and water outlet gasket.

Coolant smells from the engine bay are often sucked through the vents, moreso if you don't have the rubber gasket on the wiper cowl.

 

[Hypnotini]

I'm going with, the mechanic is full of &^it.

As mentioned, the only common place for the SVT intake manifold to 'separate' is at the couplers. It's highly unlikely for a seam to come loose ... unless the manifold is subject to very high PSI or violent impacts, both of which would more than likely break something else first.
Far as what signs to look for, anything related to typical vacuum leaks ... rough idle, excessive fuel consumption and things of that nature.

As for the coolant smell,
Well if you say the coolant level doesn't deplete fast, that means that it does deplete and there is a small leak somewhere. There will be a stained trail from the leak point, it's just a matter of finding where that point is. Most common spot is the "blanking plug" on the bottom front of the water outlet housing, the gasket is what fails and is just an O-ring ... and there's multiple threads about it.
Other things would include the water pump gasket and water outlet gasket.

Coolant smells from the engine bay are often sucked through the vents, moreso if you don't have the rubber gasket on the wiper cowl.

"

thanks for the feedback all of you.

i probably didnt say that correctly about the coolant depleteing i mean its been 6 months and has just barely moved below the max line so its a very very slow leak. But the smell has been around for that amount of time. :-\

 

[Hypnotini]

Also i believe it is the couplers that are seperating. if thats the somewhat round parts that are going right into the head area. i will get some pics when the suns out and not raining soon.

 

[Hypnotini]

when i saw this picture where those couplers are is exactly where its starting to seperate a little bit.

 

[DEMENTED SVTF]

Just loosen the couplers push it back together and tighten. A 2 min job lol. There have been catastrophic manifold separations tho due to a back fire but urs looks normal. If u find one for sale its nice to have a spare.

 

[CaysE]

Agreed, it can happen over time where the couplers creep loose. A backfire can in fact split the intake manifold though... ask me how I know. LOL