O'l Henry Ford is rolling in his grave... a thin plastic intake manifold.. whats next? Clay engine blocks? Paper bellhousings? Plaster driveshafts???

Ok, had a minor coolant leak for a while. A new mechanic I tried said he wanted to check it. Well, he sure checked it. He told me that I had a crack in my intake manifold and it would be $700 USD to repair. I told him thanks, but I'd rather enjoy the leak. I drove a mile from the mechanic and steam began billowing out from the hood. He really made sure I would have to come back eh? Hell no. I let it cool down (and me), and got a comfortable ride home in a stylish 1994 Chrysler New Yorker that has normal, understandable problems like sensors and mechanical wear...

I work with adhesives and epoxies to some extent, so I knew that they could do the trick. The next day, I went to an auto parts store and discovered Quicksteel. It said it would fix radiators and exhaust manifolds so I took a $10 chance on 2 tubes of it.

The crack in the manifold was right under the thermostat, where the radiator hose meets the engine on top. I removed the 2 screws that hold the "waterneck" on, and discovered a nice big crack going all the way from top to the bottom of the manifold.

I plugged the channels in the manifold that kept seeping coolant toward the repair area and I cleaned the wound thoroughly inside and out with a towel. I mixed up a tube of Quicksteel in my fingers. I pulled the break open and forced some quicksteel into the crack. I then smothered the inside and outside around the crack. I smashed the quicksteel around the outside body of the "bowl" that the thermostat sits in, and up on top to make a new seal surface for the thermostat. I quickly jammed the clean thermostat back into place and bolted it down. At this point I didn't care if I glued the whole mess together. (It didn't glue it together I found out...) It dried in an hour. I then added coolant and MOST IMPORTANTLY!!!! some black pepper (that you have on the dining room table) They sell copper stuff and whatnot, same idea... you need to have little flecks in the antifreeze to find and plug up any remaining leaks.

This lasted me for about 6 months. Dry as a bone. I can't tell you how long my second repair lasted. A few days later, the car caught on fire a few minutes after I parked and went inside my workplace. By the time the fire dept. came(2 or 3 mins?) there was only a trunk lid, tail lights, rear tires and bumper. Bye Bye Ford, Never again!

As temporary as this repair is, it allowed me to save my money and keep my daily driver going all winter. I'll definitely spend that would-have-been $700 on a different car.

Having reviewed this site and others and finding out that Ford and government agencies are well aware of the problem, it is pretty annoying to find out that the consumer is once again left out to hang on this one. No recall??? You gotta be kidding me! Not only do I have to pay for this engineering f__kup, I have to buy the same garbage as the original equipment came with. $1650.00 Canadian to repair. I just got the vehicle back from my Ford dealer last week for $1100.00 worth of rear end work (see my other AutoBeef). There is also a steering problem with this vehicle (my third AutoBeef) that you would have thought the dealer would have noticed when they test drove the car. You have to wonder where some of these people are trained?

If I didn't like the car so much I would have scrapped it when I was told it would cost me $1100.00 for the rear end. I wouldn't say I wouldn't buy another Ford as all the auto companies (and I mean ALL) will screw you eventually and that includes the Japanese and Koreans.