I've read about everyone elses woes, and now I'm singing them too. I bought my '97 F150 4.2 in Nov '02. Two weeks ago it started knocking. Here are some prices for you to compare with.

Ford dealer - $2000 crate motor plus $50/hr (16 hrs) labor right at $3000 out the door.
Jasper - $2000 engine plus $750 labor plus misc parts(fluids, belts, hoses, plugs & wires, etc).
Grooms - $1895 engine plus $500 labor plus misc parts.

To me, it looks like the warranty is the deciding factor.

Any input?

 

Allow me to reiterate my principal point:

"most of which, I suggest, are still on the road and running well."

We would all know it if this were not the case. I'm very sorry that some of you have had bum experiences. The majority have not.

 

Since all of this is fairly new to me, here's my ignorant question:
My truck did NOT throw a rod. Nothing destructive (to my knowledge) has taken place. The motor will not turn over, presumably due to water in the cylinders(?)
So what gasket is this that causes all this trouuble? Where is it located? I guess what I'm really asking is, can I not just have the gasket replaced and get the (alleged) liquid out of the cylinders and be a happy camper again? Or is there more to this than meets the casual eye?

I sure appreciate everyone's expertise and assistance here. I live, eat, and breathe on a motorcycle board similar to this, but oriented (pardon the pun) around the Kawasaki ZRX1100 and ZRX1200. Great group of peoplel, and there is always SOMEONE there with an answer. http://www.zrxoa.org/

Thanks again!!

 

ftl900,

It sounds like your lower intake gasket failed and filled a cylinder with coolant and now the piston simply will not move because the coolant can't be compressed. It may not be so bad. I've seen this before and all that may be needed is a new gasket, along with removing the coolant from the cylinder. That should take care of this unless the piston ring scarred the cylinder walls.

 

ftl900,
Welcome to FTE! - and welcome to a fellow motorcyclist! I am familiar with the ZRX site and have ridden with some guys in the Birmingham area who are members of ZRXOA.
While hanging out here, check out the Oil and Lube forum. The subject of motorcycle oils comes up occasionally. You can throw your 2 cents around in there!
OK, here's what I know (or think to be accurate)...
The head gaskets on early year ('97 and I think '98) models were prone to failure. Having been a participant here at FTE for a good long while, I've read various particulars on the consequences of their failure (broken rods, spun bearings, hydro lock, etc). IF your motor hasn't broken anything, then I'd guess the answer to your question might just be "yes". Pull the heads, clean everything out including oil, filter, and coolant, check, verify and reinstall heads with new material gaskets, then hope for the best.
One thing to note, the timing cover gaskets were also prone to failure on the early model years. So, check into having that looked at.
As you can see by rummaging thru the posts in this forum, there are mixed opinions about the 4.2 motor. As I type this I am thinking.....It seems that the majority - maybe the vast majority -of the complaints I have read are not actually centered around the mechanical engine components themselves. Rather the complaints / failures seem to have their origins in gasket failure.
My point being, I don't think the metal components are assembled and result in a crappy motor.
Look back thru the threads here. You'll find more info on this specific issue - probably more than you might care to read!

Look forward to hearing more from you!

Brian A

 

It seems to me that there are many complaints about the 4.2 motor, but then, I would not have stumbled across this board if I never had the gasket problem. I was searching for firing order info to confirm that I had the new plug wires on correctly ( I did not, the left bank was off by one) and found, like the ZRX page, a boatload of great information from a terrifically varied group of people.

So now I'll look into getting the heads pulled, and replacing the gaskets. I presume that I don't want the OEM gasket, or has Ford already seen the light on the subject? My guess is that if this only occurs in the 96-97 models, they have resolved the issue with newer motors. It also seems to me that the problems surfaces based on age, and perhaps deterioration of the gasket, and not mileage, since I have over 140K on mine, while some are failing at 70K or 80K, but still five to six years old.

Brian, if you ride with some of the ZRX guys in B'ham, perhaps you would be interested in hooking up with them in mid-May for a trip this way. We have a semi-annual get-together in the Georgia mountains, meeting at the TWO campground. We generally get people from 5 or 6 states, and always have a great time!! The ZRXOA actually has people with all kinds of bikes, since it's more of a motorcycle cameraderie thing than an elitist Kawasaki group. Some guys USED to own ZRX'es, and some don't and never will.

Thanks again for your time and the invaluable information!!

 

ftl900,

I've already built a Website about the issues with the 1997-1998 model year 4.2L engines. There is a lot of info there for you to look over.

You shouldn't worry about the head gaskets too much unless the engine was severely over heated. Ford redesigned the engine front cover gasket and lower intake manifold gaskets. These are the ones you need to worry about. Once they original gaskets are replaced, the engine should be fine. If you look around, you'll see that engines built with the revised gaskets, after January 1998, are very durable.

 

Good info AJ. I'm glad to have learned something. i.e. lower intake gaskets and not head gaskets.
Thanks,
Brian A

 

That helps a lot, I'll be calling around this afternoon to find someone that can work on it for me locally, and it's probably important that I know which gasket to have them change!!

I'll check out (and bookmark) your website as well... thanks again for all the help!

 

I don't have a 4.2 or even a truck, but I subbed to this site because guys are using the 4.2 v6 block to replace their 3.8 v6 mustang engines. Apparently the basic block is the same and it gives 94-98 stangs a little boost. I have been thinking about doing this and so I thought I would see what I could find out about these engines on this site.
I had a similiar problem on my stang with the head gaskets on my 94 going south at about 80K miles. Apparently the head bolts for that year were weak, but Ford did not recall, they just put out a TSB and fixed them as needed until the end of 01. Of course, mine went out in Jan 02. I replaced them myself, along with the water pump and a few other things. Some of you guys seem a little shy about trying to fix them yourselves, but it really wasn't that bad. It was the first time I had done such a big project on an EFI engine but it wasn't too bad. The amount of wires seems intimidating but just label things and dig in... if the engine is blown totally, that's a different story. I don't know if these have aluminum heads like the 3.8, but if they do and you change the head gaskets you need to get them resurfaced to make sure they are flat. If anyone wants to donate their 4.2 to my mustang project, I'd be happy to take it!

 

well guy's dad's truck is done. It's at the dealer now waiting for a new motor. It's gonna be $3200 and has a 50,000 mile warrante on it.
His truck was knocking very loud when he took it in so he's gonna have to get a new one.

I'm not a Ford fan at all but Dad is, so I'll keep my comments off this site about Ford. Thank's for the help guy's, I'm glad to see that there is a place for guys to share their pain about their POS 97 v-6's.

 

FTL900, pull the plugs and crank it. See if and where you get water.

 

Yeah, it's in the shop now. They pulled the plugs and got water from #4 and #5 cylinders. Gonna change both the intake and the front engine gasket, new belts & hoses, new timing chain, and it's gonna cost me $1300... and the mechanic says there's a small noise in the bottom end- may need crank bearings before this year is over, for another $1100.

But what are my alternatives? Not any good ones that I can see. Don't have the bucks to spring for a new motor, and if I put in a used one, there is no guarantee that it won't be in the same place a month or two later. So I guess I'll bite the bullet and fix it.

 

All I have to say i'm glad I listened to AJRagno and TallTomG about having my lower intake gaskets replaced!!!!!!!!!! If anyone is reading this with a 97 4.2 you better get them changed!

 

I bought my 1997 E-150 with the 4.2L motor last April hoping it would be a good work van for me and my business. Everything was fine, no complaints, until a week ago. , At 87,000 miles, my E150 was getting to be hard to start on occasion (it would click, but not turn over). I figured I had a bad battery, so I pulled the original factory battery (6+ years old!), got a new Diehard for about $80, and put it in. Everything seemed fine until the next day.

I was installing a hot water tank and a water softener for a client and parked my E150 in her driveway for a few hours. In hindsight, the only thing different about the way I parked was that this client's driveway sloped in such a way that front driver's side of the E-150 was sitting about a foot lower than normal relative to the rest of the vehicle. The truck was running absolutely fine up to and including this time when I turned off the key.

About four hours later, after completing the installation job. I hopped back in the E150, turned the key, and once again, I only got a click. My first thought, since I had a brand new battery, was that the starter motor and/or solenoid must be bad, too.

After a few more desperate tries, it started right up again, and I returned home. I then crawled under the van, pulled the starter, found it had a broken tooth on the pinion gear, ran up to Napa, and got a replacement starter for about $150.

I was glad that I found the cause of my starting troubles, and possibly the source of a slight ticking noise I was hearing, thinking it might be related to the broken starter gear.

After the new starter was in place, I turned the key, it started right up, but to my horror, it now sounded like a thousand jackhammers were turned loose under the hood. White smoke was billowing out of the exhaust pipe. I couldn't believe it. Looking for help on the internet, I found this forum, and to my disdain, discovered that my problem was a common problem to this make and model. Hydro-locked. Who would have thunk it?

Now, I need this vehicle for my livelihood, so I set out right away to find a replacement motor. None to be found. Seems they're scarce because of this problem. National engine rebuilders I checked with were out of stock. Local engine rebuilders said they could work with my block, as long as I don't throw a rod on the way to their shop. Also, the soonest I'd have a rebuild back would be several weeks.

So, the long and short of my Ford experience is this -- I had the van towed back to the used truck dealer I bought it from, he honored his commitment to providing me with a vehicle that will last at least one year, and took the Ford back in trade for a 2001 GMC G2500 Savana with 16,000 miles on it. Sorry Ford guys, but it looks like I'm back to being a GM man.