What broke, how long did it take to fix?
Wynn said:
What broke, how long did it take to fix?
2014, 137k miles. The gasket under the coolant crossover tube broke. It leaked basically all the coolant out in about 60 seconds. I think it was previously a slow leak and then burst when the temp got a little higher.
The fix was to flush any remaining coolant, remove the tube, put a new gasket on it, then put it back together. Gasket only costs about 15 bucks. All new coolant is around $50.
To get the tube out, you have to take the serpentine belt off, remove the alternator, and then use a die grinder to shave a small unneeded corner of metal off the head. It’s a tiny piece like an 8th of an inch. Doing this allows you to keep the intake manifold on.
As a novice mechanic, it only took me maybe an hour to get it off.
Putting everything back together is pretty straight forward.
@Emerson
Die grinder is a much better method than I used. Ball peen hammer also works tho 
Yes replaced the gasket twice without removing the pipe.
Zoren said:
Yes replaced the gasket twice without removing the pipe.
maybe it was overkill to remove it. Oh well 
Zoren said:
Yes replaced the gasket twice without removing the pipe.
maybe it was overkill to remove it. Oh well
Not at all! You know exactly what to do now in case you ever need to replace the pipe itself.
@Zoren
thinking i should replace both gaskets while i have it out, as well as the thermostat and its gasket. all are cheap and accessible right now
Nice! I always use silicon for some reason. Probably not wise for everyone but after using it to marry timing covers and head gap, it became a habit.
Marlow said:
Nice! I always use silicon for some reason. Probably not wise for everyone but after using it to marry timing covers and head gap, it became a habit.
silicone to lubricate the gasket before reinstalling? I rubbed some coolant on mine first.
yep, same issue on a 2011 5.4 triton. mine started weeping at 210k. When i was replacing the coolant pump i replaced all the hoses, gaskets, and thermostat. all parts where still oem which was impressive.
also took the time to install a block heater while the coolant was out. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UNAU6O