Swear by it. My 4.6 (97 Bird) *never* ran so good. Gaskets built in, just clean block throughly, set it down and tighten with the proper sequence.
Ford had a settlement with the intake manufacture, for building parts not up to Ford spects. I suspect yours was replaced, before the settlement, with one that still was built defectivley. Before you buy a new manaforld contact a dealer to run the VIN to see of your car qualifies for a replacemnt under Fords extended warranty, WBMS
I had mine replaced after the settlement, but being a '96 it was past the 7 year extended warranty. I have the "new and improved" (ha!) manifold, but looks like it has the brass heater hose port. took it to my local shop today had it pressured tested, they say the leak was from heater hose, thighten clamp and retested and showed no leaks, told me to keep an eye on that hose. Yesterday went to the dealer that did the replacement in 2006 and told them of the possible cracked intake and they just wanted to laugh....12 months 12,000 miles they told me.
The Ford manifold I replaced was the second one. First one exploded. By the time I got around to replacing the second one (free via warranty) it was tattooed with JB Weld. Had to watch the water level from the day I bought this car new until I went with the Dorman manifold. Its nice to have a steady mid range temperature and not sweat the water level for a change and for good measure my mileage improved also. I'm pretty sure the Dorman is cheaper than what the Ford dealer has.
BTW, (Mike) its Fords responsibility to check products to see if they are "up to specs" before they pay for and install them.
And Grumpy, if you replace the thermostat housing you *do* want to go with Ford for that. All the imported stuff I saw was crap. I also went ahead and replaced the water pump while I had it that far down.
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