I own a 1997 ford f150 and just had a spark plug blow out the head. I have done a simple internet search and it appears this is a common problem with fords 5.4 which needs to be addressed.
1997 Ford F-150 engine complaints
Page 10 of 19: complaints 251 to 280 of 544, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The truck has a rod knocking sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to the mechanic who stated that the front cover gasket and manifold side gasket failed allowing coolant to leak into the cylinder. At cold start, the coolant in the cylinder caused the piston rod to break. He also stated that the engine would need to be replaced at a cost of approximately $5000.
Intake manifold gasket leaked antifreeze into motor and ruiened motor. Had to have motor replaced.
The pick up engine compartment caught on fire within 5 minutes of being parked and turned off. The pick up was totaled. The insurance adjuster will inspect the pick up to determine the cause of the fire.*ak the truck was a total loss.
I have a 1997 ford 150 4.2 l v6 truck . Do to ford using a falty gaskets to build the engine I have experianced engine failure. Ford is not wiling to take any responsibility for the problem although they recalled the engine for this problem.
While driving, the consumer heard knocking noise coming from the engine. The engine then seized up.
Ford has engine problems and will not take responsibility for the gasket problem. I have documentation that proves of this existing problem with 1997 f-150 series truck. My truck has been at norris ford for 3 months, the bill is 4600.00 to date.
While driving at any speed consumer heard a noise coming from the engine. Also, engine steamed a white mist. Dealer had not been notified.
I purchased a 1997 ford f-150 june 11, 2001 from two rivers cheverolet on 2/04/02 a hole was patched in the radiator of the vehicle. On 9/02/02 the radiator had another hole in it and this time had to be replaced. On 9/27/02 the heater core began leaking and had to be replaced. At that time I had taken the vehical back to the radiator specialist and he sugguested that the vehical might have electryolisis, said take the vehicale to the ford . I did they replaced the heater core and I had suggested to the service technian that it could have electroylisis. The service tech. Said that, that was not very possible. On 12/03/02 I took the vehicle back to the same ford garage for leaking of antifreeze, they said that they could not find any leaks and sent me on my way. On 3/10/03 I was on the other side of the country and the heater core went again I took it to a local ford garage in the area that I was in and they replace the heater core again. On 5/21/03 the heater core went again at this time I was in a different part of the country and at every ford garage I went to I told the story to the service advisor. The heater core was replaced. On 10/29/03 the heater core again failed and I took it back the same ford garage that I last had it at. Again they replaced the heater core and this time told me that there was electryolisis in the vehicale. They replace heater core. On7/12/04 the heater core went again I took the vehicle back to the same ford garage and they said that they could replace the heater core and this time the radiator had a hole in it again. They also said that the problem would proably not go away and there was nothing else that they could do for me. I took it to a radiator specialist and they told me if they had had the vehicale when the problem first started that they would have been able to fix it. But now its been going on took long and there was a slim chance that they would be able to fix problem. Now with no help from the (ford).
I own a 97 ford f-150 with a 4.2l, v6. On july 16, 2004, the engine began making a knocking sound. Took the vehicle to 2 mechanics and both confirmed that the head gasket had failed, which allowed coolant to leak into the cylinder. At cold start, the coolant in the cylinder caused the piston rod to bend. Mechanics stated that new engine would cost $3,000 - 3,500 to replace.
Vehicle engine exploded as consumer turned the key in the ignition. *mr a professional explained to consumer that the lower intake manifold failed.
Vehicle's engine has severe motor damage.*mr while driving, the engine began to make a ticking sound which developed into a loud knocking noise. The gauges showed a rapid lost of oil and a rising temperature, but not to a critical level. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic where it was determined that the damage was caused by a broken piston rod that had exited the motor through the oil pan.
When attempting to clean the positive battery terminal engine started.
When trying to start the vehicle the consumer heard a loud banging noise in the engine. The consumer drained the oil pan and found a half a cup of water before the oil came out. The consumer found on a web sight that this vehicle had a problem with two gaskets on the engine. The dealer is not claiming responsibility for the problem.
Location of exhaust pipe is affecting brake equipment. *mr due to the exhaust pipe being placed in front of the rear tire, the heat deteriorates the rear brake backing panel affecting the brakes and shattering the center wheel hub. The dealer advised the consumer of having the muffler tail pipe re-routed to the rear of the tire as subsequent models of the vehicle. *sc
After starting the vehicle, the engine blew out. *ak the dealer replaced the engine. Ford would not pay restitution for the engine. The consumer had been driving the vehicle and the parked it. When the vehicle was started later on, it exploded. The manifold was defective. *sc
While at ford dealer having state inspection done, the speed control deactivation switch causght on fire.
I own a 1997 ford f-150 with a v6 4.2 liter motor. Last week to my surprise my truck started knocking. I found the reason for this problem was a faulty head gasket design by ford. I had checked for recalls on my truck many times before, and as early as january, 2000 (when I still had my warranty) I checked for a possible recall, but I was never informed of this problem like many other 1997-1998 4.2 liter owners. Today this leaves me with a useless truck that needs and $4000 engine replacement. I just feel that I should of been notified of this design flaw before it happened, and my truck should not have a problem like this with under 100,000 miles. Thank you for your help.
Vehicle was parked in garage for about 3 hours when a fire started in the engine compartment
Consumer stated the battery seemed to be dead. The next day the driver attempted to start vehicle again. The driver could hear a loud banging noise coming from the engine. The mechanic stated water had seeped down into the cylinders.
My 1997 ford f-150, which has been primarily driven on the highway, and has been well-maintained throughout it's lifespan, just threw a rod at 107,000 miles. This is ridiculous that this should have happened at this low mileage. I would like to find out if there are any complaints on record regarding this and the best way to handle it with ford.
Failed lower intake manifold gaskets in ford 4.2 liter engines. I think enough of these have failed to require ford motor company to issue a recall to repair or reimburse those of us who have already had the repair completed or had to replace our engines due to the failure.
I have a ford f150 truck with the 4.2l engine. Vin # ftdx1725vka71538 my left lower intake manifold side gasket failed. This allowed coolant to leak into a cylinder and damage the engine. The damage is described in ford's tsb article # 99-20-7.
I am sending in a full letter to explain the "failures". It centers around tsb 99b29 and lack of owner notification of a bad front cover design that can lead to engine failure, which occurred in this case. Additionally, I had a tie rod failure that was not addressed under warranty, but later broke while driving. Also, my crank shaft pulley / dampener assembly fell off while highway driving (70 MPH). There are other issues including door lock / key sticking.*ak campaign id number : 03v196000 component: steering:gear box:shaft sector. The engine cover gasket failed. *tc the serpentine failed, the transmission had an akward shift, the wipers operated periodically by themselves on high speed, there was little heat coming from the vents through the floor.
I own a 1997 ford f150. I recently had to replace the engine. I replaced it with an engine from a 2000 model. One year later I'm haveing the same issues with the new engine. While resovling the problems I was having I learned several people had this same issue. It seems that tsb #99-20-7 was issued by ford. It describes my problems in detail. I caught it much earlier this time and was able to replace the lower intake manifold gasket before any significant damage was done to my 2000 engine. Ford needs to take resonsibility and fix the issues related to their tsb #99-20-7. One of the biggest problems is the information regarding this issue is not wide spread. The issue is often mis-diagnosed as a blown head gasket, which is twice the cost to fix. So consumers are paying the price for fords cover-up. A web site is setup with a plethora of information regading this issue. Www.leakingfords.com.
Ford f-150 complaint on 4.2l /v6 engine. Engine had total failure at 69k due to engine coolant leak into motor. I never received any recall notices for gasket problem noted in owner notification bulletins and technical service bulletins issued by ford. This is a major problem due to poorly engineered faulty parts used by ford in this motor. This is a major problem and all v6 f-150 owners should be compensated for damages by ford. I need to pay four thousand dollars to replace the engine.
Upon leaving the vehicle consumer smelled a strong coolant odor. Consumer examined the vehicle to trace from where the odor was coming. Consumer, who was a mechanic, determined that engine head gasket blew out. Dealer was notified, but refused to repair vehicle without a recall or payment.
Under hood fire after vehicle parked for 6.5 hours. Cruise control stopped working on 11/27/03 and was not repaired.
I have a 1997 ford f150 with 55000 miles. On the highway going 60 MPH I heard a load pop the truck then began popping and making alot of noise. Lost power imediately was able to get to side of the road. Had the truck towed to dealer which found the sparkplug blown out and replaced the cyl head and numerous other parts to the tune of $4000.oo. After searching the forums on the internet I found this is not an isolated insident this has happened to many different vehicles with the 5.4 engine. I called ford to see if they are planning to do anything about this obvious engine defect and they were uninterested in my problem. I have owned a few vehicles and most I have kept till well past 100,000 miles and have never had a sparkplug blow out of the cylinder head.
Notice engine coolant extremly low added 1+gallons noticed still loosing coolant. Took 1997 ford f150 with 4.2l v6 and only 75,700 miles on engine to ford dealer ford dealer stated "no external leak found and can not find any possable internal leak. But need to replace intake set part#f652-9433-c, egr gasket part#f6az-90476-b, timming gasket part#yf2z-6020-aa, f. Crank seal part#f18z-6701-a, w/p gasket part#f65z-8507-ba, intake bolts part#n606526.5100 and n605894.5309, t-body gasket f75z-9e936-aa, and imrc bushingf5rz-9f955-ab" aparently ford has and has had a gasket problem that needs to be delt with.
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