Make sure the mating surface's are all damn near perfectly clean. It's been awhile since we did mine but I'm thinking we used a little RTV to hold the plastic piece in place

 

Ahh, the secret is revealed

 

How did the water get in to the oil?

Waters in the oil but there's no oil in the coolant, it's not blowing smoke or anything so it has be the gasket

 

That I'm not sure about. Zman or HeyYou or someone else a little more knowledgeable will have to provide some input on that.

 

I think the coolant got in through the failed gasket, and leaked into the valley. I don't know how the coolant circles through the back of the intake, but it's defintely not in the cylinders , so it's not a head issue. I hope

 

Also, the RTV should sit at least 12 hours before adding fluids. Maybe I'm **** redundant, but being cautious like that has saved my bacon many times.

 

It may have set for 2 hours before running. Will take this into consideration

 

I didn't even let it sit that long before adding fluid's to mine, but we went easy on the test drive and took it easy on her for the first couple of day's before really "getting on it"

 

The rubber gasket along the back doesn't seal anything except the crank case. (well, ok, the lifter valley....) Only coolant passages are on the heads. Just put a thin bead around the coolant ports on the head, and on the intake, don't want alot, as the bolts don't have a lot of torque on them to squeeze out any excess.

Also, keep in mind, there are coolant ports that go thru the timing cover as well..... pressure test your cooling system once you have the intake back on, to make sure you got the leak.

 

So why is it leaking out the back then? And how do I know where the coolant ports are