I have had a 97 with the 4.2,and now an 07 with the same powertrain....Neither have ever let me down.The 97 had 186,000 on the clock when I traded her in,and not so much as a leak.The 07 runs and drives nicer than my wifes Impala LS.

 

Check the linkage rods on the intake manifold runners to make sure they are connected.
The only time I had that problem was when the manifold runner linkage let go.
Higher octane will reduce the pinging.
It is a PITA to get at, I know, but......
I don't think it would throw a code, unless the linkage disconnected at the business end and was jammed.
Just thought I would mention it. Fuel is costly enough.

If you have to replace the plastic clips...Dorman makes the part and is far cheaper than the stealership price.

 

I currently have a 1999 F-150 with a 4.2 and 155000 miles on it.. its also had a snowplow on it since 1999 so if it helps any I think its a great truck although from what I am reading the issues were in the pre 98 trucks so I guess it cant hurt to have yours checked out... Good Luck

 

Finished tearing mine down yesterday. Definetly was the lower intake manifold gasket. It was installed wrong. They didn't use the RTV in the correct places. It was a Felpro gasket so it was changed once before. I got it back together crossed my fingers and cranked it up. No knocking! I guess the water had washed enough oil out to make the noise. Plus a did not run it more than 10 seconds so that saved it too. When you replace this gasket I believe the torque sequence is critical. Make sure you follow it.

 

Lucky you I am glad for you I am about to undertake the same task with my 97 F with the 4.2 also, water is mixing with the oil. What brand of gaskit did you use ? I hope I find the same thing you found, faulty Intake gaskits.

 

have 97 f150 vin #1ftdx1720vkd70189,wondering if this is one of the bad ones built by ford. After 340,000 kms this truck has started running rough off and on.

 

well i bought this truck brand new drove it for the last 13 years . ran and performed excellent .untill last dec driving home from work was on (portman bridge vanc) it started knoking and sputtering . i forced it home . havent touched it till today found frost plug for block heater popped out. replaced it . now the water is leaking somewhere behind the pass side exhaust . cant see it and cant feel it either . do i have to rip the engine out to get at ?????

 

I just replaced 4.2 V6 in my 1998 F 1-50. It had just rolled over to 153,000 miles.
Not a lot of miles for an engine to throw a rod through the oil pan. But my advice would be this. My dad bought my 98 F 1-50 brand new and when I graduated high school two
Years later I bought the truck from him. It has lasted a while so all you can do is keep it properly tuned up(oil change every 3000 miles and just drive it. I have heard good things about the 4.2 and I have heard negatives. Everyone has a different opinion.

 

Take 2 for me. my 97 f150 4.2 broke a timing chain & ate a few valves @ 120k. I rebuilt it myself and was fine for a 2 years but started burning coolant so I either have a bad intake gasket or a head gasket. I had high compression in cylinders 2&3 compared to the rest. The next morning I found coolant dripping from 2&3 - explains the higher compression so I'm hoping it's a lower intake gasket

 

4.2L V6 5spd F-150 xl supercab owner here with approx 300,000 miles on the ticker so far with NO MAJOR PARTS CHANGE since new. The battery, alternator, DPFE, IAC, PCV, and EGR I have changed as well as the TPS. Dude it's all in how you take care of it, synthetic since new, retorque engine and chassis every 50K miles, regular engine/trans flushes with diesel, . I am just-just having to change my rear axle because I use it to pull a gooseneck 25' hay trailer.

I find the 4.2L a fantastic little 6cyl, capable, I tow 4 tons with mine for distances of 40 miles or less regularly (4th gear) and I know it's abusive hence the axle change but it never misses a lick and still runs smooth at highway speeds plus.

Don't be too worried. Because it is second hand I would drop the oil pan and check the mains and rods. Clean the crankcase out and re-torque the engine. If your bearings are good fill with synthetic and a quart of Lucas. Drain your trans and flush it out, if an auto change the filter. Check your UV joints and greases them the do the same for your axle.

 

I have a 1997 V6 4.2.

The only thing I would tell you to watch for mysterious disappearing coolant. Especially if there is no coolant under the truck, chances are you have a lower intake manifold gasket leak. This is the gasket between the engine block and the intake manifold. The gaskets are 3mm (i believe) thick and is like a piece of plastic with rubber around near all the edges. The design of the original factory gasket had sharpish corners and was too thin between the intake passageway and the coolant passage. Eventually a piece would break off, due to the vacuum that occurs when hot air in the engine cylinders cools off.

What happens is that coolant gets drawn into the cylinders. This usually happens overnight. On my truck I noticed that my coolant was slowly disappearing. Since the truck seem to run ok, I didn't really pay much attention to it.

Eventually the leak got so bad that when I went to start the truck in the mornings, it would run as if one of the cylinders wasn't firing, and lots of white smoke. After a while it would clear up, and everything would be fine, until the next morning after the engine cooled off.

Eventually I found out about the hydrolock problem, so I replaced the gasket myself in the driveway. It's not hard, just make sure you order the right gasket, or else your intake manifold won't fit. There's a 3mm and a 4mm. Mine was a 3mm. The 4mm gasket will not fit unless you have your intake manifold machined. The gasket kit I bought was made by Fel-pro, and it cost me about $50, although you could probably do better than that if you live in the US.

The new gasket was redesigned with more material between the passageways, and more radius on the curves. I believe sometime in 98, they increased the thickness of the gasket on this engine to 4mm.

Anyways since I changed it, I haven't lost any more coolant, and it's been running fine, although recently I had to repair a vacuum leak which caused a P0174 code, but that's another story.

Just keep an eye on your coolant level.

I had issues with the timing cover as well, but it changed while it was still under warranty.

 

- numerous recalls; engine front cover studs/gasket, speed control, lug nuts and more
- leaky rear window seal
- windshield wiper switch issues
- leaky heater core (dash must be removed to replace)
- leaky radiator
- leaking front cover gasket, water pump or lower radiator hose
- failed lower manifold gasket at 60K miles (all coolant to oil pan at 50+ mph on Highway 1, with my wife at the wheel)
- suspect tie-rod ends
- severed Park release switch wire
- dirty MAF (causing engine misses at shift points and OD lock-up issues)
- moisture-sensitive rear drum brake shoes (causing wheel lock-up)
- undercarriage and wheel rust (in CA!)
- door frame cracks
- tailpipe location (directed at right rear wheel)
- EXTREMELY hard to crank driver's side window
- failed O2 sensor
- a far less than honest and fairly mechanically inept local dealership

 

I wish I retorqued my intake bolts cause I had a few looser ones but disagree on how you take care of it. I'm sure the lemmons fail babied or not, either it's decent or not. My truck never leaked till I put synthetic in. I had 70k so maybe it was ready to leak?
Once overheated it went down hill for me. My 2nd rebuild I'm presure testing/shaving heads, using oem intake and head gaskets. Hope that will do the trick...

 

Maybe I got one of the early = BAD ones.

 

Hi, thanks for the help. My vin number is: 1FTDF1725VNA91810. If you could run this for me I would greatly appreciate it. At this point I can use all the help I can get.

Txs,

Fernando