Intake manifold gasket blew at crossover

[craig_collins]

Took my Egg Harbor (81) with 454 crusaders out for a ride and had a CO detector going off in the cabin. I just thought normal station wagon effect. Well this morning I decided to lift the hatches and take a look around in the engine room. I noticed by my choke housing that the intake manifold gasket had a crack and you could see carbon. I decided to fire up the engine and sure enough, exhaust leak coming from the area. What would have caused this failure with only 3 seasons on a rebuild? I was wondering when I pull the manifold if I should use the block off to close off the exhaust cross over in the intake? Thoughts????

 

[makomark]

Gasket failure....three seasons is a bit short...who's gaskets were used during the rebuild?

I'd suggest NOT using the blockoff plates or the gaskets with blockoff plates unless you are a summertime only boater...the intake heats up much faster in the factory configuration which ensures decent vaporization of the fuel...

if you eliminate the heat source, your mixture and distribution throughout the manifold will suffer until the intake comes up to operating temperature impacting performance and economy...that said, its your choice...