Hair Ripping out pain! PI Intake Help needed!!

[Naptown_Stang]

Hey guys. for all of you who have done the PI intake swap i have a question. why am i leaking so much coolant?

Is there supposed to be a gasket for the thermostat housing? I sealed it with Silicone but it seems to leak a little still

Secondly, I used new PI intake gaskets which is what i was told to use, i put sealant on the gaskets, torqued the manifold and Im still getting a lot of leakage. Should i go back and re torque the manifold after the gaskets have seen pressure and fluid?

thanks for the help!

 

[pp_puncher]

I was in the same boat. Yes there is a t-stat gasket. It is a black rubber ring seal. Also I used the pi gaskets and put rtv around all the ports. I had to remove it twice to get it right.

 

[Lee12609]

did you cut the little plastic tabs off the gaskets first???

 

[pp_puncher]

yes

 

[Naptown_Stang]

yes i cut it off. It wasnt the best cut because i just used clippers. I geuss we need to take that. out. PPuncher. you bought brand new gaskets right? what do you think of my theory of the gaskets getting wet and working?

 

[pp_puncher]

Nope, they were the gaskets that came in the engine I bought with 80k+ miles. The gaskets are re-useable and I used needle nose pliers to pull off the tabs. Make sure you use some good permatex rtv, i used copper. Also make sure you lay the manifold down perfectly, and allow the rtv to cure. (24 hrs)

 

[Naptown_Stang]

oh, we didnt let it cure, crap. We used silicone from permatex. will it still cure if we ran it and it leaked and let it sit overnight?

 

[pp_puncher]

probably not, it needs to set before driving it.

 

[Lee12609]

The permatex beds to cure for a few hours before seeing water, after being torque, then you can add water but I wouldn't let it run with the cap on (building pressure) for atleast 12 hours.

 

[JDwhite98gt]

best bet is to redo it at night and let it sit in the garage, dont drive it untill the next day.

 

[pp_puncher]

+1

 

[joekd]

I know others here will argue this is the wrong way but I did mine the 1st time with PI gaskets, had a defective manifold which cracked but also had coolant leaks with the PI's (yes, I did RTV everything perfectly and proper set time)

When I redid everything I used non-pi gaskets and not a single problem

 

[pp_puncher]

either one can be used.

 

[Shane]

Do you have NPI heads? If so, use NPI manifold gaskets.

 

[Naptown_Stang]

oh. looks like i gotta take it apart one more time. thanks for the help guys ill let you know how it goes.

 

[DropTopPony]

I used PI gaskets and just 2 small spots of rtv. I then let it sit for the weekend before filling it up and running it, never had a leak issue but I had the luxury of not needing my car so time was not an issue.

 

[1Sic98gt]

I never used rtv on my gaskets when i did my swap. I ran it within hours of putting the intake on. Never has leaked. I guess i got lucky.

 

[Lee12609]

I never used rtv on my gaskets when i did my swap. I ran it within hours of putting the intake on. Never has leaked. I guess i got lucky.

arent you FULL PI SWAP though??

this is only needed when putting a PI intake on NPI heads.