I'm on my fifth Ford Truck and they have all been great.
My 97 - 4.2L is running srong at 90,000 miles with no coolant loss.
Should I replace the gaskets before it's too late? Is it inevitable that the
gaslets will go?
This is a great truck and I would like to get many more miles out of it.

 

yep, definetly replace them b4 it's too late. It should cost anywhere from 500-1000 bucks. There are some guys around here that have had their gaskets replaced before they went bad and leaked.

 

YES and YES.

 

refer to:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=340552
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=348912

 

My girlfriend just got a 97 V6 a couple of weeks ago with 108,000 miles on it. I'm assuming that it would probably be for the best if we went ahead and replaced the gaskets before they fail, but I'm not sure what all needs to be replaced. Is it just the upper and lower intake gaskets, or something else? I'm not real sure what we're talking about here though. I've searched but I'm still in the dark, so if someone could give me a rundown on what's happening It would really help me out a lot.

 

It's the front cover gasket and the lower intake manifold gasket that go bad.
Incidentally, I talked to a local car expert named Pat Goss on his radio show
yesterday and he said if you haven't been faithful changing the coolant
every two years that the gaskets will deteriorate and go bad.
I'm guilty! I'm having the gaskets done next week.

p.s. Goss also said that he has seen these engines go 300,000 miles with
good maintenance.

 

A few people here, namely BrianA and Travlnman, are halfway there

 

The 2000 is now at 160,000.
I'll bet Thomas has passed me by now.
The plan is to give my son my 2000 when he turns 16. He will be 13 in one month.
I want to see just haw far the 2000 4.2 will go. It appears 200,000 will be easy.
I expect 300,000 will be the same - if we can keep it that long.
I believe that aside from the gasket problems, the 4.2 is a robust little motor with lots of life span potential.

 

All your questions are answered at this website;
www.leakingfords.com

 

hi, has anyone noticed that the leakingfords web site is no longer available. this is a great loss as i no longer know which are the correct gaskets to use. i have a damaged engine and parts in great britain are very expensive. 500$ for a gasket set.
£6,000 to have a crate engine fitted (about 14000$). i am doing my own rebuild and have the engine stripped and all bearings are shot. crank shot. oh dear dear.
regards bokker

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=340552

hey brian,you said the knocking basically stop after you let it run and it didnt knock after you stated it the next day . i am not sure if i should let it run for awhile or what . i have a knock but the truck doesnt really run bad and it just did it in the afternoon and i checked the oil and i dont see any of the water signs ,i reved it up a little but did not let it run much any sugg. from anyone would be awsome it is a 98 4.2 152,000 this time i am not taking to ford as i am bleving that it is a may need to be rebuilt as it may be leaking gaskets what should i test for i not sure if the engine cel is on yet other wise not one problem yet...


thanks
justin

 

I would start with the basics.Let the truck sit overnight.Unscrew the oil drain plug just enough to see if coolant drips from the pan.If coolant is in the oil it will settle to the bottom of the pan.If coolant is present your timing cover is most likely leaking coolant internally.Then,remove number 1and 4 cylinder spark plugs and see if coolant is present.If so the lower intake gaskets are leaking.Or,go have a pressure check done.But,if you do and the gaskets are weak the pressure test will blow them.If you say its knocking,most likely you have a bent rod from hydro-lock.Usually you can just replace the rod and bearings on that cylinder and all will be ok.Thats if none of the other rod bearings are damaged.Good luck and keep us posted.