inlet manifold oil leak on windsor motor

quote:

just a bead of silicone about ¼ inch high

Ditto on my Cleveland. High temp RTV, permatex.

Many people are resistant to the idea of using no gasket on the valley rails (neither cork or rubber), but it works. This is how Ford has been sealing up its motors on the production line for many years. If you buy a Fel-Pro kit, instead of end pieces you'll find a tube of RTV.

It works very well. Lay a thick bead and let it dry 1/2 hour or more so that its no longer sticky.

On the cleveland, would this be with or without the turkey tray?

Both

use the turkey tray if your intake manifold will have exhaust heat flowing under it through the cross-over.

No exhaust heat, no turkey tray needed.

Either way, seal the valley rails with RTV.

cowboy from hell

Thanks for the replies guys. My manifold has been off twice in the last two years and leaked above the distributor after the first time. This time it has started weeping very slowly at the opposite end above the tranny bellhousing. I cleaned the area with thinners and applied a bead of loctite gasket which has stopped it but doesnt look too neat!
However I just had to remove the firewall cover to find the source of a small coolant weep and I see the manifold area also leaking oil again below the distributor.
Roger Brotton seals the manifold the way you guys say but he doesnt like the idea as the valley rails are very thin on the windsor and there is according to him the possibility of some sealant squeezing inside.
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by stephen:
...Roger Brotton seals the manifold the way you guys say but he doesnt like the idea as the valley rails are very thin on the windsor and there is according to him the possibility of some sealant squeezing inside...

Steve, that's why you allow the rtv to dry before you re-install the intake manifold. The RTV acts like a big rubbery seal, it doesn't extrude into a thin ribbon as it gets squeezed by the intake..

cowboy from hell

Just my 2 cents worth. Alot of the newer manifolds are designed to delete the end gaskets. If you stand them next to a older manifold you can see there is much more material in the sealing areas of the intake to take up the space of the old gaskets. Found this on a buddies 34 Ford P/U with a 302, the directions even told you to delete the end gaskets.
In my experance you have to follow the torque sequence very closely to prevent leaks. The more increments you take to get to your final torque, the better seal you get on your manifold. I was taught to torque in three even steps to get to your final torque setting. I have done it in four steps just to be sure everything seats right.
Jeff