4.2L Life expectancy? ??
#4
I have a 2002 4.2 with 230,000 miles on it all it's had done is intake gaskets clutch and alternator. By far best truck I've ever owned, I'm a mechanic and sad to say I neglect it every single day and she just keeps goin been waiting for the motor to go kind of disappointed she hasn't ready to drop a fresh one in and tweak her up a bit. I'll never sell my old ford.
#7
Trending Topics
#10
I used to be an original owner of a 1983 F250 HD diesel pickup, and bought my 2001 F150 when it was 1 year old. I had some kind of rustproofing put on the F250 right after I bought it. When I junked the F250 after owning it for 30 years, the body was in very good shape considering all the winter driving and salt exposure it had. My 2001 F150 is extremely vulnerable to rust and has already had its radiator core support completely eaten away. The engine seems to be pretty durable, but the body is of poor quality.
#11
I used to be an original owner of a 1983 F250 HD diesel pickup, and bought my 2001 F150 when it was 1 year old. I had some kind of rustproofing put on the F250 right after I bought it. When I junked the F250 after owning it for 30 years, the body was in very good shape considering all the winter driving and salt exposure it had. My 2001 F150 is extremely vulnerable to rust and has already had its radiator core support completely eaten away. The engine seems to be pretty durable, but the body is of poor quality.
#13
Like most things normal care (including washing) will go a long way. I bought a 1997 F-150 because it was very clean, small (compared to my 2002 F-350 crew 7.3), and had a bad (but running) 4.2 engine. I pulled the engine to replace with a reman, but had to drain all fluids before returning as a core. The "stuff" that came out of that engine was like black Mayonnaise. It stunk to high hell, and was just disgusting. I washed the block out with old ethanol gas so it would look good, and not get rejected on sight. There was so much play in the connecting rod bearings I could slip a paperclip between them. Research turned up the original owner did not change oil. 145,000 miles latter bearings were ground out.
Anyway this thing made noise, but still kept on running. When I put in the new engine, I expected better performance from the new block, but it was the same with out the knocking. A friend who had a similar work truck for years drove it with me, and said, "no that is how the 4.2 performed, and I (he) loves it". 2.5 years latter, I am still quite impressed even after towing a few large horses in a steal trailer for a couple of hours. and I love the turning radius (regular cab, short bed). Run on 4.2...
Anyway this thing made noise, but still kept on running. When I put in the new engine, I expected better performance from the new block, but it was the same with out the knocking. A friend who had a similar work truck for years drove it with me, and said, "no that is how the 4.2 performed, and I (he) loves it". 2.5 years latter, I am still quite impressed even after towing a few large horses in a steal trailer for a couple of hours. and I love the turning radius (regular cab, short bed). Run on 4.2...
#14
I washed both trucks at about the same frequency over the years I owned each of them, drove them during the salty winters, except I drove the 1983 truck even more during the winter than the 2001 truck. I frequently crawled under both of them for routine maintenance & minor customizing. The 2001 is definitely more rust prone than the 1983 truck was.