1999 Ford Explorer 4.0L -need assistance on removing upper intake

I went thru a 100 posts on "Intake gasket" search but I couldn't find any repair information on the 4.0L intake gasket replacement. I did see a post from someone that is having or had the same problem I'm having right now but there was no follow up. I'm having difficulty pulling the upper intake off. All nuts and connections have been removed except for the egr tube that's connected to the upper intake. According to another site, u should be able to just pull straight up, clear the intake studs, turn the intake to the left and then up due to the fact the egr tube is curves inside the intake towards the front of the upper intake. No luck. egr tube won't separate from the intake. I was hoping someone on this site has had the same problem. This is a little long but I wanted you to know everything has been disassembled to this point. :confused: BTW this is a 4.0L OHV engine

I really need a ford explorer guy or girl at this point

Are you sure you have the OHV/pushrod engine and not the SOHC engine? The service manual doesn't detail at all the EGR tube for the pushrod engine. Do you have the upper intake manifold loose, you just are unable to separate the EGR tube, or is the manifold not separating from the lower intake manifold?

If you send me a Private Message with the request and an e-mail address, I can send you a PDF of the relevant sections from the factory service manual.

-Rod

Help me out rod, Yes, It is a OHV 4.0L engine. same engine depicted at this link. A link from ranger-forums, I stumbled across. Click or past into your browser.
http://www.ranger-forums.com/showthread.php?t=27084. (no offense intended) The originator of this thread (CAW) hasn't posted to since Feb 2011, Was trying to get a hold of him but can't. If you know anyone, that had this problem, I could use the help. CAW, even posted in his notes that removing the upper intake was a PITA with the EGR tube. I'm virtually at the point to where I'm going to just take out the intake studs, and replace the lower gaskets too. Maybe, that should be the way to go. Not sure

The factory service manual doesn't call out anything special for getting the EGR tube loose. I've had a couple apart like shown in the link and so far they've all just come loose with a bit of rotating and pulling. Do you maybe have some freeze spray you could use on the EGR tube to try to get it to shrink? I realize it will be difficult to get any sort of penetrating oil or solvent to flow up to the joint.

Is there any chance that you can get to the other side of the EGR tube, and if so, is it a manifold that you can disconnect, or is it all one assembly?

-Rod

Thanks for the advice, Rod. Decided to go to the other side of the egr tube. I found this link you might be interested if this problem arises again, with anyone else. I disconnected the the two bolts that connected the egr valve, removed the top 1/2in nut for the dipstick tube, bent the dipstick tube flange over the stud so I could get to the nut underneath. In the link they want you disconnect more of the egr assembly, but for me I didn't have to. Funny thing is, I still can't remove the egr tube from the upper intake, no worries though I'll put it back the same way I took it off. Thanks again for the quick input. Here's the link I went by,
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145716

Thanks for the link and glad you managed to get your intake off. Hopefully all this effort/frustration will result in you getting the issue fixed!

-Rod

Rod, Have a question on torque specs. Had to work the last couple of days and getting back to this. Here's my problem on torque specs on my 1999 Explorer, 4.0L OHV V6.
2000 ranger - upper intake studs, (15Nm-11lb-ft, upper intake "Nuts"- (23Nm-17lb-ft)
1998 ranger - upper intake studs, (12-16Nm;9-11lb/ft), intake "Nuts"-(20-25Nm-15-18lb/ft)
My haynes book 1991-2001 Explorer, intake studs-(72-84in-lbs,6-7lb/ft, nothing on the nuts that hold the upper intake down. A 4.0L OHV v6 is a 4.0L OHV v6, right? If you have in-lbs specs for these, especially the nuts, It would be appreciated. Don't want to snap anything

Per the 1999 Factory Service Manual for the 4.0L push rod engine, the torque for the upper intake manifold nuts is 23 Nm (17 lb-ft) and there is a sequence for them. If you provide me with an e-mail address via Private Message, I'll send you PDF files of the manual.

-Rod

Just a shout out: Had the P0171 & P0174 codes "Lean bank 1 & 2". Went thru a laundry list of possibilities one at a time and It came down to the upper intake gaskets. A lot of problems on the way but with the help from automotive forums and Shorod, especially, the truck is back together and knock on wood, It hasn't thrown the codes since, just in time for inspection. Since I had the top of the engine apart anyway, I took some more abuse and changed the lower intake gasket, valve cover gaskets, Injector o-rings, plugs and wires. Thanks again!

Awesome, glad you got it fixed! Thank you for following up.

-Rod