My sister just bought a 97 f150 with the (now I read infamous) 4.2L engine. It has a manual transmission. She brought it over after she bought it and I took it for a drive. I noticed the following:

When driving in any gear at less than 2k RPM if you floor it the engine starts to speed up the truck, and then it starts missing/jerking/stumbling horribly. Felt like the engine cuts off completely for a sec then kicks back in.

Bottom line is, she bought from CarMax and has 4 days to bring it back (supposedly no questions asked). We planned on taking it in today to have someone look at it, but I'm wondering now after reading this if she shouldn't just take it back and get a v8 truck.

Please respond, as I don't want her to make a mistake she might regret!

Thanks all in advance!!

Robert

 

Welcome to FTE!
There are a few things to be aware of....
Gasket issues being the main thing. Browse back through the posts here and you'll find lots of info. I would suggest having it checked to see if the gasket replacement has been done by Ford.
If not, I hate to say it, but I'd consider returning it. Too much of a gamble.....
As far as the stumble goes...you'd just have to have that checked out. Sounds like it could be clogged fuel injectors or a clogged fuel filter.
I have a 2000 model w/ the 4.2 and the 5 speed. I have been very happy with it. It won't win many races, but it has proven to be as reliable as the sun rising in the east. I'll hit 91,000 miles this week and have never had any problem, well, I do have one bulb behind the climate control panel that burned out...

Do some more research and let us know what you decide.