Hi Guys, I purchased a 1997 F-150 V6 4.2 with auto trans a couple of weeks ago,The truck runs smooth and had plenty of power and breezed right thru NJ Mv inspection, While I was cleaning out under the seat I found a box of pushrods and a new rocker arm, I was going to toss them out but decided to keep them, Anyway about a week later while driving the truck I started to hear a loud tapping coming from the valve cover area, I thought at first that I may be low on oil so I checked and oil level was ok, Did an oil/filter change and this helped a little and then a day later I went to start it up and heard a loud noise and the truck started missing,I thought that possibly the timing chain(175,000 Miles) may have jumped and parked the truck,Anyway what turns out is that 1 push rod had punched thru a rocker arm so lucky I kept that box of push rods and rocker arm , I bolted it in and the truck is back running smooth,I am guessing that this truck may have had this problem before and that is why these parts were there under the seat, Has any one else had any experience with rocker arm failure on the 4.2, I am going to replace all of them shortly as I figure its the safe thing to do, The part number shows this rocker arm and pedestal was used on quite a few different ford engines going back to the late 70's-80's

Val

1997 F-150 4.2 V6 Auto Trans 6000 lb GVWR
2001 Ford Windstar 3.8 V6 Auto Trans
2002 Mercury Sable LS Premium 3.0 V6 DOHC

 

Welcome to FTE cmorningstar01! I can't exactly answer your question but I am sure that the guys in the V-6 forum can. Good luck!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum50/

 

Hi John,
Thanks for the welcome, I think the safe bet is to change all the rocker arms anyway, It appears that atleast 2 have already failed so my guess is that a few more eventually will. I will feel safer when I have replaced them all.

Valerie

 

Sounds like a good plan there. Good luck with it and check out the other forum and maybe you can find some other users that have some light to shed on this subject.

 

Take a GOOD look at the rocker studs. Ive got a 97 and have never had this issue,and would think that unless someone has been in there and "diddled" where its not necessary,Whomever was in fact in there wasnt very familair with the situation.Welcome to our part of the World!

 

Hi n5926g,
It is a pretty basic rocker arm setup and the rockers/fulcrums were still mounted correctly, Its just that the push rod punched thru the tip of the rocker arm where the pushrod tip/ball seats, This is obviously a mechanical/metal failure of the rocker arm quite possible due to over hardening during manufacture or metal fatigue either way I will play it safe and change them all, I plan on pulling the intake and heads this spring to replace the head and intake gaskets as my truck is an early 97 and from what I have read some of these engines are prone to gasket failure due to inferior quality gaskets.

Val

 

Good Morning Val,
Ive seen something like that on EARLY GM vehicles,but cant say that Ive heard of it on Ford...anything is possible.
Sounds like you have a handle on it.
Since your planning to do basically a "top overhaul" id suggest new rockers,new pushrods,and lifters.
MY 97 4.2 LWB is all original,with 165,000 showing.Ive had some concerns about the gasket issue,but in the 5 years or so Ive had it,there has been no indication of coolant loss,or water in the oil/cylinders etc.

 

Good Morning to you also n5926g,
I am not showing any coolant/lubricant loss/seepage/cross contamination but at 175,000 I figure it can't hurt to replace the gaskets especially since there is a history of gasket failure in the early models, I plan on having the heads done(valve job) when they are off but like I said I can wait until spring for that, I am going to go ahead and switch out all the remaining old rockers and pushrods within the next week or so and get that done, I will do a lifter change when I do the heads/intake and possibly a timing chain/sprocket change while I have it apart in the spring,The truck runs strong and is quiet and sounds tight, great oil pressure and plenty of power but I figure it is better to play it safe.

Val