It's not hard. May want to remove the radiator and fan clutch to give yourself a place to stand in front of the motor. That's how I would do it.
Then 6 bolts to remove the accesory bracket.(leave alternator and A/C compressor bolted to it and set it aside, tie it out of way with a piece of rope or wire)
Then the 12 intake bolts, no need to remove the throttle body or riser. Get a pressure line removal tool from auto parts store to disconnect fuel line, leave injectors in the intake, no need to remove them. That's it.

 

Is there a plug on the engine somewhere to drain the coolant from the block? I want to minimize the amount of coolant in the intake when i pull it

 

Yep. Crawl under there, whichever side you like, and look for pipe plugs. You'll probably want a square socket, plenty of penetrating lubricant, a hammer, a torch, and whatever rituals your chosen deity requires in order to avoid breaking the plug during removal.

 

Sounds like trouble. Does everyone drain the engine of coolant when they do this job or is it not necessary

 

If I weren't burnt out this week (so far) I'd have just gone ahead and answered that question before you asked it. Since I didn't, it's good you asked.

Drain the radiator, then put your bucket back under the open petcock. (Or the lower hose, if you drain the thing by pulling the hose. I usually do it that way just for the thrill of antifreeze in the armpit.) When you remove the thermostat all that can be drained out of the manifold while it's still installed will fall right out. It might all fall out before you get that far, but it surely won't hurt to keep your bucket in place. If your water neck (thermostat housing) has the bastard tab on it you won't be able to remove it until after the accessory bracket is out of the way -- in which case you might consider grinding the bastard tab off so that in the future you can replace the thermostat without removing the accessory bracket.

If it hasn't been done recently, the completion of the job is a perfect time to do a cooling system flush. If your heater core is original, flushing it might expose a leak that was previously hidden behind lime scale, but in that case it was fixin' to show itself soon enough anyway.

 

All the coolant was changed and flushed about 21000 km (13000 miles) ago when a remanufactured 5.9 was installed. Thanks for all the tips and advice everyone. If i have anymore questions i'll revive this thread. I plan on doing this job in the next couple months.
Thanks.

 

Watch this series of videos (4 total I think). Definitely worth watching if this is your first time through this job. Use blue thread locker on the plenum plate bolt threads.


Also I used RTV sealant around the coolant ports. I don't believe RTV is required other than at the four corners where the intake, cylinder heads, and engine block all meet. So other than that, it's up to you.

 

Thanks for the videos, i watched them all and it looks like an easier job than i thought it would.