I recently went to start my F150 v6 4.2 manual tranny, and upon starting it began making a very loud noise. Much louder than an exhaust leak. I had a mechanic friend disassemble the engine to the point that we see that the piston in cyl #1 is broken at the skirt. There was no foreign object in the combustion chamber and I saw no obvious cause for the failure. The mechanic is pushing me toward replacing the engine. I have priced a few and found them hard to get and expensive. Is there a down side to rebuilding if the head and block are not cracked? He said from looking at it, he thinks the cylinder is oval. There was not indication of failure before the failure, and I did not drive the truck after the failure.
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If I do have to replace the engine, is there a good place to get one from?

Thanks Bryan<ST1</ST1

 

I have been looking at the other threads and found the www.leakingfords.com link. I see now hao it happened, now I wonder at the best action to take. Any reccomendations?

 

well how did it happen??

 

I added the link but the short version is that there seams to be a problem with the manifold gasket failing and allowing the coolant to enter the combustion chamber. I did not have the indications of the contaminated oil or leaking coolant but I did have two occasions where I turned the key and the engine did not turn over. I thought it was a starter problem but apparently not. Then when it did start, it sounded like all hell broke loose. I believe that the coolant leaked into the cylinder and when the compression stroke came for that cylinder, the coolant would not compress, and it broke the piston and or the rod.

My question now is should I replace or rebuild?

 

Additionaly, the cylinder looks good, as seen without taking the piston out yet, The mechanic said it was oval but he did not mic it yet. Are the cylinder walls thick enough to bore out if it is out of round? I have heard of blocks that are "throw away engins".

 

That sucks. I just bought a 97' F-150, and I am kinda nervous about the whole gasket thing myself. I am trying to find out if it was ever replaced. And should I wait until it starts using coolant since I know if it doesn't turn over, don't force it.

 

I am glad at least some one is getting the word before it happens to them. Good luck.
Bryan

 

The leaky lower intake gaskets are common with the 97 4.2 L F150. Wish I had seen the leaky V6 site before I bought my 97 4.2L. Oil pressure that drops to nothing at the stop lights indicate damage to the bearings and light brown “gook” on the bottom of the oil cap shows presence of antifreeze in the oil that damages bearings. I had to replace my engine with a rebuilt engine. Actually a mechanic replaced it, not me.
I added 2 pictures to my gallery showing what my oil cap looked like before I had the engine replaced.

 

What do you guys think? Should I just watch for signs of gasket failure or should I replace them? They have might of been replaced already, it hard to tell. My truck has 129,000 miles on it, runs great though. It will cost about $700.00 to replace them.

 

Definetly need to find out whether or not they have been replaced!!...Someone here-Tom, Brian, Shane, James, or joe should be able to explain that to you in some fashion. And i think you would know since you have a 97 model is to replace those ASAP if they havent been replaced before!!

 

U are in a sticky situation...........I can only tell u what i would do k......If u cant tell if they have been changed, I would b willing to bet a good mechanic can, just ask a good ford mechanic to look at ur truck.......there should b signs of the change...........next i would make every effort to find the previous owners of ur truck..........if uve done these things then im sorry i couldnt help, let me know what u think...k..... ....I have a 2000 so ive never had to deal with it, but from what i read u usually see signs like low or no oil pressure, water in the oil, if all else fails i would just keep a close eye on the truck....good luck!!!