Do you ever have any problem starting it?
What do you do in Iqaluit?
Where would the closest dealer be?

 

You werent too serious about the V6 now were you? One guy's input about an engine he had to replace because of worn bearings, and your oh so grateful for the information.

I have a 4.2 V6 with 5 speed manual transmission. It works hard. I love trucks but mine never remain show pieces. I always end up beating the crop out of them and turning them into pieces that no one would want - me included! But sometimes these beasts just won't die, so....I start liking them all over again .

I'm not the easiest guy to impress. My 4.2 is 2wd, I really cant say how it does with 4x4 configuration. I can say this motor is tough as nails. The 300 may be better - only time will tell, but so far I doubt it. I have 134,000 hard miles on mine and it's still running strong. And mind you I really mean hard miles - thats much different than the highway miles many diesels accumulate.

For starters my truck is always loaded with at least 1000lbs of gear. I've got a ladder rack on my truck. I carry two extension ladders, 3 step ladders, one 12ft aluminum brake machine, aluminum tool box filled with tools, air compressor and generator. I also load the bed with as many boxes of siding as I can fit. Some days I'm pulling a 16ft enclosed utility trailer in addition to all this.

The single worst physical beating I've put on this truck was 14 square of roofing shingles in one load. Thats well over 3000lbs - besides the ladders and all. Went about 60 miles with this load - no problems - though the suspension was begging for mercy the whole time.

I have the original clutch on the M5OD transmission. I've had to smoke it a few times with overloaded trailers (this 5 speed has no granny gear )
but not with 5k or less. I'm thinking of putting 4.56's in this truck to give it a bit of a granny. This is even more important since I use larger than stock tires - I ditched the P235's for LT265's years ago.

I'm reluctant to admit this but due to some VERY unusual circumstances I won't get in to, I basically ran the truck under these conditions without an oil change for just under 14,000 miles - ONCE , and never again!

This truck of mine - like my others, dosent get a break - its not one of those trucks which carries something really heavy once in a great while and then usually sits pretty much unloaded for most of it's life. It's sitting fully loaded
in my driveway even now.

My brother owned a 4.6L with auto tranny. It was a nice truck but he got ticked with the fact that it eventually ended up running on 5 cylinders instead of eight. He didint like the truck enough to pay the big repair cost so he
wrecked it (stupid I know - but hes even harder to impress than I am) and I just let him use my old Dodge when he needs a truck.


Don't be afraid of the 4.2 - its one strong motor.

 

I see you have your mind made up on wanting a 4.6, but do a search on how many of them have head gasket leaks or spit the spark plugs out and ruin the heads.Good luck with whatever you purchase!

 

I have a '97 F150 XLT with 5 speed manual and 3.05 rear end. It now has 156K miles on it. I lost the head gasket on the right bank #1 cylinder at about 144K. My mechanic friend indicated that he thought the problem came from the dealer putting the wrong antifreeze back in after replacing the thermostat and belt idlers back at 100K. It definitely was not the correct antifreeze in it when we pulled the heads. Other than that, this has been an awesome truck. Even with the trailer towing rear end in it, I have been able to tag 20+mpg regularly on the Interstate at 65 mph. Of course that is making sure the tires are up to max etc.

Good luck on your search,

The Hat

 

My Opinion Is That The 4.2 Is Far Better Than The 4.6. They Put Out Close To The Same Amount Of Hp/tq, 4.2 Gets Better Mpg's, And Is Easy To Repair Yourself.

 

I have the 4.2 v6 with a 5-speed on a 4x4, and I am very happy with it.

 

No problems starting at all. If the temp drops past -25 I always plug it in...day and night. Small price to pay short of a no go at 7:30 the next morning. Only had one freeze up last year and none so far this year. I work in administration work in Iqaluit and tinker with the truck and snowmobiles on the weekends. Everything is flown in during the winter...larger items come in by "sea-lift" container ships once the ice leaves Frobisher Bay in mid July. There are 3 garages in town that do major repairs. The nearest dealer would be in Ottawa or Montreal, a 3 hour flight south.

 

I have a 2000 model, Crew cab w/ 4.2 and 5 speed manual. It has 156,000 miles on it. It has recently developed a very slight coolant loss problem.
The '97 and early '98 models were prone to premature gasket faiulre, but I don't count this as premature failure.
Tha problem started around 150,000 miles. I guess I just accept it as part of owning a high mileage vehicle (with aluminum heads).
Based on spark plug examination, it appears to be only affecting one cylinder (center cylinder - passenger's side). I have driven it like this for a few months now and until I checked the plugs, didn't know for sure where the coolant was going.
It only leaks when it is running - not any hint of the threat of hydro-lock.
Until this problem, this truck has been the most reliable trouble free vehicle I have ever owned.
Before this I have had to have the radiator flushed and replaced a $18 RABS sensor. That is all I have ever had go wrong. Still has the original clutch.

Would I buy another one?
I did today.
2005 F150 w/ 4.2 and auto trnasmission.

I kept the 2000 model and plan to fix, or have fixed, the problem with the head gasket. It is still too nice of a truck to scrap.

 

Thanks for all your responses. I got a truck yesterday and will post a thread about the truck and what I went through to find it. I'm sure you guys will have pretty good service from your 4.2's, but after what I went through with my wifes Windstar, I just couldn't make myself go for another one of those engines.

BrianA, are you smelling antifreeze at the tailpipe or seeing lots of condensation at the tailpipe? It is very possible that you are experiencing head gasket failure.

As far as premature at 156k miles go, the reason it is considered premature is that it happens before the engine is otherwise worn out. If the engine is otherwise running good and not burning oil, then headgasket failure at that point would be considered premature regardless of mileage.

These engines, if properly maintained with adequate oil and filter changes, should go far beyond 156k miles unless it is used to pull a very heavy load constantly or near constantly, or is driven only on very short hops.

In the truck chassis, doing headwork on these engines might not be near as time consuming as it is when in the Windstar.

Best of luck with it,
Doc

 

I read some other threads after writing the above post and until I read them, I had forgotten that for serious engine work, the cab is usually removed which makes the work much easier. For that reason, it would probably NOT be easier to deal with head gasket problems in this chassis than the Windstar.

I have never pulled one of these cabs, but I've seen it done and had the procedure described to me. AS LONG AS you have access to a two post lift, it doesn't look to be too bad.

For those of you who pointed out that 4.6's blow head gaskets too, yes I'm sure they do. ANY aluminum head engine, or even lots of iron head engines, will blow headgaskets if overheated. The difference, in my mind, with my V6 experience is that it did NOT overheat, had NEVER overheated and it just blew.

For all I know, the 4.6 may end up doing the same thing, but I am not interested in buying another engine that is akin to my wifes Windstar. I wish everyone luck with their engines regardless of which one it is. Keep the oil changed and flush the cooling system every few years and put in fresh anti-freeze along with frequent inspection of the cooling system to head off any leaks and your chances of long engine life are drastically increased.

Thanks again for all your responses, and keep 'em maintained out there.

Have a great day,
Doc

 

Whomever commented about the 4.6 and its 'blowing the plugs out of the head' is confusing the 4.6 with the 5.4. The 4.6 is the most rock solid reliable of the 3 engines offered, and anyone who argues that point probably has a 4.2 or a 5.4.
But... they know the truth.

The 4.2 better milage? sure, its a smaller motor with two less cylinders to feed.
(and the V6 sound to go with it... )

The 5.4, yep.. its more powerful than the 4.6. It BETTER be, it has some CI's on that 4.6.

But, the 46 is the most reliable. That is a fact. Not to mention its the best sounding motor of the three. Someone post a poll, if they have any doubt. (about the reliability)

 

I see you have lots of other posts with more detail. Just wanted to say that I have an '01 with 113.000 miles. When I smogged it, they stopped to recalibrate the machine, because the emissions were so low. It runs great anytime, and I can't expect any more. No major repairs, just good solid maintenance. I have also heard the 3.8L story, and don't dispute it, just have had great expperience with mine.
Jeff

 

In all probability Ford has corrected the head gasket problem with these engines and I expect that they will serve you well.

In my case, I just didn't want one again after all I went through. I like my V8 and I expect it to serve me well. Only time can confirm.

Have a great day,
Doc

 

I think alot of you guys are grabing your belt and giving it a shake. "Yep, my x.x motor is king of the hill" blah blah blah. If you buy a truck to do truck type work, you buy it on it's tow rating, it's payload, and the area under the torque curve for your application. If you have the money then you can get something even bigger.

Let me put some things into perspective for your some of you. I had a 2.3 ranger with 225,000 miles. I towed a 3200 boat with that thing for years every weekend in the summer 4 hours round trip on 10 to 15k oil changed. It still ran strong when I donated it to charity. I had changed the head gaskets on a GM Monte Carlo in less than a day, and I swear every darn thing had to come off that motor other than the AC compressor. I bet I could do it to my spacious 4.2L in under 6 hours. And I'm a spark chaser (Electrical engineer).

I would have liked to have a 4.6 or a 5.4L motor because I plan on buying even a bigger boat (the 2.3L wasn't exactly sprinting up hills). I got the 4.2L with the towing package b/c I got it for 10k under sticker new (2004 heritage). It's got 11k on it. No worries from the motor. The limited slip is going out, and the tranny is making me worry (could just be the 6F temps), but the motor is fine and the driveline has no trouble pulling my boat around.

And now I'm going to let the cat out of the bag. I work for a automotive parts producer, the biggest one in the world. I gone the proving grounds of the big three. I have seen what they do to vehicles during testing. It's some brutal stuff. You can't take the highest volume selling vehicle in the world and not have a few ISOLATED problems. The quality is six sigma or darn close, trust me. Proper maintainance and they will last.

As for the 4.2L being a 3.8L. The days of just taking one motor and using a different bore or stroke have been long gone for a while. It's got an entirely different set of heads on it, the intake and exhaust are differnt. The block has webbing and ribs in all new places and machined holes for accessories are entirely different. If you think they just bored out the heads a bit or stroked or changed just the bore then you are seriously wrong. The competition in the truck arena is the toughest ever and the foreign market is trying to get a bigger piece of the pie. No manufacture can afford taking a older motor and just retuning it. Each year the HP and torque number go up, and the displacement numbers go down. The emmision get lower and the fuel economy gets better. You don't get this by taking a old motor and just changing something here and there. It's a total redesign.

Simplistic thinking like this makes engineers like me who spent years developing and testing stuff so your butt has a nice ride and isn't in the freezing cold stuck working on your truck really p!ssed. I'm cofident that by the end of my warrenty period I will have a trouble free vehicle for many, many years.

 

Fedds,

Thanks for the great response, but where were you when I needed you? I am just kidding of course.

The information about the complete redesign and beefing up was the kind of info I was looking for. With that information, I feel much better about the 4.2, but too late, "I ended up with a V8." That was for those of you old enough to remember the old V8 juice commercials.

I am just as happy or happier with the V8, but I would have settled for a V6 if I had known what you are telling me. I also would have had a much larger selection and not had to trapse all over Texas this past Saturday to come up with a decent truck that fit my criteria.

I am also an EE, but with a terminal case of Car Crazy. If I had grown up in Detroit I would have liked to spend my career in the auto industry.

Thanks for the no nonsense and analytical response.

Have a great day,
Doc