Hello, It's been over a year since a friend's 1996 F-250 5.4L exited our lives. Aside from rescuing the poor engine several times by adding 48 ounces of oil (yes, 1.5 quarts low-more than once), the only thing I got to do was replace the hood latch's safety catch spring which had rusted away.

I'm saying hello again because a worthy pal has stumbled upon a 1997 F-150 4.6L basic cab w/46,000 miles. It's been idle in a garage for a long time (~2 years?). One of its tires is flat. It's always been garage kept. Forest green with a black fiberglass cap and black bumpers. No apparent trim level designation.

I know so little of the situation. This is all happening 230 miles north of me. Should this truck become his I will continue reading then give you all a rich description. If anyone wants to post any "common knowledge" which could help in the purchase process or that vital first few days, please do.

This vehicle is exactly what he needs. Kira

 

IF seriously interested in "common knowledge" be prepared for a barrage of 'Sitting Is The Worst Thing' w/side order of Doubting Thomas replies.

Personally would always prefer a genuine low mileage vehicle over anything w/average mileage. A '97 is over 16 YO & it's EZ to find examples that never sat w/nearly 200,000 miles.

 

Hello, Yeah, I'm surprised sitting idle didn't jump out at me.
1) Alternators get blemished spots on their contact points and fail soon after a vehicle is resurrected.
2) Any battery will be just plain gone.
3) Brake hardware can bind up. I don't believe brake boots or piston seals go with down time. If the fluid was maintained the ABS unit will be OK (fingers crossed).
4) A/C seals dry out from not being wet from behind (I've always heard).
5) I'd hope and pray that varnish hadn't formed in the injectors. Find a way to send paint thinner through them?...remove them and soak them in solvent?...ultra-sonic cleaner?
6) There's a chance some "higher ground" in the engine MIGHT have some rust but I doubt it.
7) What would sitting do to coolant? Would you change from green to G-05 at this time?
8) The power steering hardware is probably OK.
9) Belts and hoses could be original.
Any poop on these topics relevant to a '97 is welcome. Kira

 

Got a '98 about 5 years ago w/only 7500 miles on it & heard all the "poop on" it. Was only a little bit "relevant" & impossible to definitively link to sitting. Nobody in their right mind would bet 100,000+ miles would have been better.

That said, it did have a difficult issue that had been a ball buster for dealership & local veteran FORD experts - that was most likely related to sitting. Theorize that belt driven component stuck from sitting just enough to twist harmonic balancer on crank pulley out of whack.

OEM tires gradually went out of round from belt separation, but that's no doubt related to age NOT sitting.

However 10+ YO original battery was fine!

 

As long as the truck has been cranked once a month it should be ok.

I just bought a 98 f250 5.4 with 34,000 miles back from my brother. I bought it in 2006 from a government auction with 17,000 miles. I drove it a couple of years in Texas and sold it to him with 22,000 miles on it. He used it to buy and store sacks of horse feed 10 miles every other week.
I did have the brake lines replaced since it originally came from Maine and was looking rusted & wet at the connections ($650 NONstealership). I replaced all 4 rotors & the brake calipers myself.
Then I did the following:
- replace the belt and both set of hoses due to the age.
-drain and replace all fluids (oil, brake fluid, coolant, power steering, transmission flushed (due to age of fluid), drain gas if old (check if gas tank strap was recalled),
-put on new tires if needed (check the sidewall for its year of manufacture),
- new filters (oil, air, gas,...) new wipers
-recharged battery

Drive...

My total cost of the things I did was just over $700, plus the $650 for new stainless steel brake lines. My brother had the plugs and coil packs replaced when he pulled off the bi fuel CNG.

I have only put 300 miles on it in the past 3 months, but it works perfectly fine.

 

as long as you realize the year and take that into account in the price thats fine. A 97 with 40k miles is not the same as a 2010 with 40K miles. I recently bought a 2002 with 100K miles. I like that since it is "low miles", but has not been setting forever. It was run monthly, just not often or extended distances.

 

Hello, This thread is back after 26 days. I finally saw my pal's 1997 F-150. The body is in near perfect shape. The vehicle is teal, has a full sized box and sports a strong fiberglass cap. I do have a question about the engine's ignition. It appears there's a distributor at the front end of each camshaft and that the two distributors are fed by one coil or a paired (left and right) coil pack. Is that correct? Also, what kind of coolant does a '97 4.6 take. The old stuff smells not good and the hoses need replacement.
Also, the engine doesn't seem as down low and far back as the '96 F-250 and '97 F-150 other friends have. Was there a selection of body type?
1)There is one odd rust spot where the driver would drag his feet entering and exiting a vehicle. It's 18" long and reaches from beneath the sill plate extending forward, up the frame's edge. I know I'll be summoned to wire wheel, prime and paint that rust zone.
2)The rubber brake lines were shot and the lines going out to them were so rusty that my friend's mechanic replaced them. He used a roll of brake line and a "double flaring tool". I wish I could've seen it.
3)Due to the vehicle's short hopping, the ears on the exhaust manifolds had rusted away. Two new manifolds go on the engine today.
4)The recall parts regarding the gas tank straps. The tank gets rehung and replumbed.
5)A rear spring shackle. One had already been done.
6)Work the fuel filter's front fitting free and install the repair kit. Maybe the fuel filter should be covered with candle wax to keep it clean and removable.

All in all my pal did OK. He paid $2,500. 'Twas a mutually agreed upon price based on an arbitrary $4,100 book price minus $1,600 for repairs. The repairs will reach $2,000. I'll get pictures next time I see the vehicle. Kira

 

A 4.6L V8 does not have a distributor. The 1997 has two coil packs, one at the front of each bank, with wires to spark plugs.

Antifreeze is the conventional green.

Engine mounting as far as where they are located are all the same whether they are 4.2 V6 or 4.6 or 5.4 V8s. Same body and frame.

My low-miles '97 that I ordered up new back in '96 sounds like an expensive museum-quality collector truck as compared to your friends low-mile find!

 

Hello, To Torky2: If I read your last sentence correctly, you likely have a very nice truck. My friend does too excepting the vehicle has salt rust on the frame and apparently did short hops. A retired man used to drive it to the local coffee shop. The exhaust manifolds needed replacing because the ears rusted off from little or no hot driving.

Yesterday we flushed the cooling system. I'll classify the coolant's condition as "proof of neglect". It was opaque, rust tinged chocolate milk in color. It's odor was honestly a mixture of a decaying animal and strong urine. It was a disgusting, foul blend. We foolishly decided to flush it with the thermostat in place. It gave us time to visit. In short, we must've run 65 gallons of water through the system. At the first three "1/4 way" points I added 2 oz. of Cascade dishwasher detergent (then rinse), a 10 oz. bottle of NAPA "10 minute" cleaner (then rinse) and finally a caustic cleaner made by MAC in North Carolina. Each cleaner produced a severe darkening of the rinse water. After driving with the caustic cleaner for 20 minutes we used a "trickle-in, trickle-out" rinse. The water ran crystal clear.

To clean the reservoir we used an acid cleaner he had on hand. It looks new now.

He wanted green coolant from Walmart, an AMAM, and is hell bent on adding water pump lube-hence my other post on the subject. There's no talking him out of it.

It felt great to get that foul crud out of the engine. His hobby now is to kill the rust before it gets to the exterior of the truck.

Kira

 

I just purchased a 1970 short bed with 49000 miles it was sold by the state of California department of correction it was most likely used to drive around the fence. It was a basic truck no power window locks has ac cruse. The guy I bought it from installed a flow master and an alarm . I noticed the key are old style no chip in them. It runs like new. I would like to change the instrument panel to one with a tach so they are out there

 

Must amend my previous post b/c sitting long periods can damage tires. My '98 only had ~7500 on it when I got it about 5 years ago, but had been driven a few miles almost weekly, then parked in garage.

Sitting for an extended time can be related to tires going out of round & belt separation. In the good old days it was advised to jack up & block a vehicle up off ground that must sit a long time - to save tires.

Where a vehicle sits is also very important. Sitting in a climate controlled garage is a world apart from sitting out in the weather under trees or at the sea shore. However sitting in a damp enclosed dirt floored barn can be an open invitation to rust & rodents.

 

oops not a 1970 that would be something Its a 1997
sorry

 

Hello, My friend hasn't put 200 miles on his '97 yet. I caught up with him today and had my first real ride in it. I casually checked to oil. The little lug on the end was completely dry. He was 3 quarts low. Can you believe it? I thought the engine sounded a little "hallow". Kira