1997 ford f150 4.2l v 6 engine. Went to start the truck and it ran very rough. Cut it off and had it towed to the local ford dealer, they said it had a bent rod and would need a rebuilt engine at a cost of $5,000. I did some research on the internet and found 100's of complaints about this engine all with the same symptoms. Now I'm stuck shopping around for a better deal on rebuilt engines than the ford dealer provided.
1997 Ford F-150 engine complaints
Page 6 of 19: complaints 131 to 160 of 544, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My 1997 ford f-150 has a loud tapping sound in the engine. It either broke a rod or a piston.
I have a 1997 ford f-150 with a 4.2l v6 engine that has failed with 82,000 miles. It is my understanding this failure is due to coolant leaking into the engine due to an engineering flaw. It is also my understanding the ford motor company is well aware of this problem but chooses to except no responsibility and leave the consumer with the burden of engine replacement for $4000 to $5000. I also understand the failures are not an isolated problem but are being experienced by thousands of ford f-150 truck owners with the 4.2l v6 engine. It seems to me that if a problem is this wide spread and the manufacturer refuses to be accountable a government agency should step up and represent as well as protect the people to something that amounts to out and out consumer fraud.
Dt*: the contact stated while stopped at an idle, the engine oil pressure decreases to zero followed by a grinding noise within the engine compartment. The vehicle was seen by an independent repair shop for inspection. The mechanic determined the engine needed to be replaced.
1997 f150 4.2l v6 60k miles water in cylinder warped rod. Engine no good. Cant afford to spend 5k dollars to try to repair engine.
Bought a 1997 f-150 used in 2001 with 62,000 miles on it. I have put less than 15,000 miles on the vehicle in the 4.5 years I have owned it and changed the oil twice. I had noticed in the past that I would have to fill up the coolant, but could not find a leak. I also had problems with the heat going in and out. Went to start the truck and it shook and came to a stop. Started it again and there is now an awful banging/knock. I believe to be a rod or other internal part. Have not had the problem diagnosed by a professional, but after reading the forums on the ford 4.2 liter engines I feel confident that I can self diagnose the problem as having to do with the coolant leak problems. I have not ran the engine and have not had the money to fix it or replace it. I can't believe the number of people that have had the some problem, symptoms, and outcome as me. They have to number in the hundreds-thousands. Ford should not be able to get away with this and have to be full aware of the problems with their 4.2 motor. There needs to be a class action suit and a recall. On behalf of all the f-150 owners who have had this problem we need help to resolve this. Thanks for your consideration and please inform me if anything happens or can be done as I have not found anything as far as a class action suit against ford. Jb
Complete engine failure on 1997 ford f150 4.2l 145k due to leaking gasket in engine, allowing engine coolant into engine, causing engine to freeze cylinder and throw a rod then engine completely stopped. I notices that engine coolant was disappearing and white smoke out of tail pipe, then check engine light went on, then soon after through a rod and engine seized up. My car now requires a new engine due to defective gasket allowing engine coolant into engine. This seems to be a recurring theme with ford engines in this year.
1997 ford f-150 intake manifold gasket failed along with a ton of other people. Had to pay a hefty repair fee. There were no events leading up to it, just saw white smoke coming from my tail pipe. Luckily I caught it real quick and it only cost the me repair of the entire gasket. A lot of times it is a whole new engine. My repair cost $500.
My truck was taken in for a brake repair the week of march 6- 10, 2006. We got the truck back drove it a 100 miles on the weekend with no problems. On monday, 3/13/06, I noticed it missing after 40 miles an hour. My husband drove it to work the next day to see what I was talking about. He had the same problem. I took my son to work on thursday and it was still missing. When on the freeway, I got it up to 65/70 MPH when it just started slowly down. I could no longer give it any gas. I was able to pull onto a large shoulder where I had it towed into a transmission shop I trusted. On inspection, the transmission was flooded with water and coolant as well as the engine due to a faulty radiator. I had replaced the radiator april 11, 2005. This was not the first radiator replaced. This was the 4th radiator. I had the truck towed to the dealership that installed the radiator and was told that my engine and transmission had failed. I'm waiting for a call back with an explanation as to why. I was told that I would have to have an engine breakdown which would cost me, to find out why it failed. We have had numerous problems with the whole cooling system in general since 1999. Ranging from changed head gaskets, heater cores, radiators, etc. It has become apparent from reading on the fight back site: [http://forums.treemedia.com/fb/showthread.php?p=836&page=2&pp=15] that this a common unresolved issue with the ford company. Apparently this is a common complaint that has yet to be taken seriously. I counted out 226 complaints on the federal safety agency site under engine and engine: cooling through e/e:c:exsys:manifold/header/muffler/tailpipe. I've always trusted the ford company as my father-in-law retired from there. We always had great service until his particular dealership closed. I am not complaining about any one dealer as I've been to many different people to service my car when they closed. This seems to be a manufacture responsibility
Own a 1997 f150 with 4.2 for about a year now. Never seen the smoke coming. Hyrdolocked on me with 150,000 kms which I have heard is kinda low kms for that to happen. Looking at getting a rebuilt but will see what happens with this.
Coolant leak.
Engine failure, ford 4.2l v6 1997 with 102,000 miles. Started engine and loud clanging noise from front of engine also large plumes of white smoke from exhaust. Brought my truck to ford dealer for service and was told best solution was to replace engine. Truck is currently at dealer. I went to on-line to research engine problems associated with this and found 21 pages of similar complaints. The symptoms were exactly the same for each one. Only the mileage varied. Some claimed a ford re-call was issued for a gasket problem to correct coolant leaking into engine causing internal failures. I did not receive this recall. Please investigate what can be done to have ford take responsibility for my (and the others) engine failure. It is very costly. Thank you.
My ford f-150 4.2 l engine threw a rod on march 8 2006, with less than 61k miles on the motor. The failure was due too water seeping into the cylinders from a defective gasket . I have maintained this vehicle per ford's printed manual and have the records to prove it. The result of the problem has cost me over 3,000 dollars for an engine replacement. I expect ford motor co. To reimburse me for my damages financially. I spoke with a service manager at a local ford dealership and he said he has never known of ford to reimburse a customer in this type of situation. Therefore I decided to file this complaint. My truck is now being repaired by an independent service garage.
Spark plug blew out while running. I have only had the plugs changed once by the ford dealer. I have read on the ford f150 forums that this is very common on the 5.4 engine as they have very few threads holding the plug in. I am told ford fixed the problem in 2002 but has not recalled the earlier trucks.
I have a 1997 ford f-150 with 60,800 miles on it and the motor started knocking. I took it to the dealership and they told me I needed a new engine. The cost was more than the truck was worth. I had the truck in the shop 3 years ago for a water leak that was coming from the front of the motor. The truck had 36,000 miles on it and the dealership ask me if the mileage was right on the truck. I told them when I bought the truck and the couldn't believe I was having this problem.
97 ford f-150 4.2, blew a rod and they tell me that is gone cost me about $4000 to replace the engine.
1997 ford f150 4.2l v 6 engine. Engine hydrolocked. #4 cylinder full of coolant bending connecting rod and other catastrophic failure. Poor gasket design by manufacturer allowing coolant to leech into combustion chambers. Information readily available on the internet regarding multiple failures of the same type for the same engine type. Manufacturer will not remedy problem. $4000 repair cost to an engine that has less than 75k miles on it.
1. Loss of engine coolant 2.engine damage knocking coolant in combustion chambers, engine knocking loss of oil pressure from defective gaskets, 3 .ford will not fix problem.
Bent or broken connecting rod, due to coolant leak.
I own a 1997 ford f150 with a 4.2l 6 cyl engine and I am having the same problems with coolant leaking and water pump gasket failures as tens of thousands of other owners of this make and model ford truck. My truck has 90,000 miles and I am paying $1200 dollars to have this problem rectified. Ford has issues tsb's on this issue since 1999 and nothing is being done to reimburse or protect the consumer from this recognized failure. This should be an official recall and reimbursement made to owners who have paid to have this condition rectified.
Engine failure bad gaskets leaked colant into engine threw a rod.
I own a 1997 ford f-150 purchased in 2000 from a ford dealership. I never received the onp recall about a failure in the front cover gasket and now I am facing costly repairs. Furthermore the repairs were never conducted on my vehicle prior to my purchase despite knowledge of the recall.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving up to 40 MPH the engine leaks coolant into the cylinders causing the engine to smoke. The dealership was alerted. However, no repairs have been made. The consumer has since paid for the repairs at his expense. A faulty intake manifold caused water to enter the combustion chamber and produce steam. Updated 03/09/06.
I own a 1997 ford f150 with the 4.2 v-6 motor. The truck had 70, 126 miles when it suffered hydrolock. I drove the truck on a wednesday, and it was running fine. Friday evening when I tried to start it, I thought the battery had gone dead. I pulled the battery out and had it tested, and it was ok. Installed the battery and again attempted to start the truck, when I heard an unusual "kick back." I was able to get the truck started, but there was white smoke coming from the exhaust and the smoke had a sweet coolant smell. I performed some internet research and found the information about the hydrolock problems. I pulled the intake manifold and found a crack in the gasket. I then pulled the left side head and found the number 4 connecting rod was bent. I pull the motor and performed a complete rebuild.
1997 ford f150 4.2l v-6 when first starting engine cold it would miss bad for up to 30 second and then would clear up and run fine. Started loosing antifreeze with no external leakage, eventually engine steamed from exhaust. The next morning I started truck and the engine made a loud knocking noise and I found that the coolant reservoir was empty. I turned the truck off immediately and I was never able to get the engine to turn over again. Upon removing the engine and checking the connecting rods I found that the number 1 rod was bent and the bottom of the piston was broken off from it hitting the crank shaft. I am in the process of replacing the engine.
Blown head gasket in 1997 ford 4.2l v6.
Loss of coolant in 4.2 l. V-6 engine. Ford f-150 pick-up truck.
This concerns a 1997 f-150 ford pickup with a 4.2 l 6 cylinder motor. I've had to add coolant to it for several months and couldn't find a leak or any in the oil. Five days ago while trying to start it the motor gave a loud bang and white smoke boiled out. Now it knocks like a bent or broken rod and blows white smoke out of the tail pipe. I found a website on the internet where dozens of people with trucks having the same motor are all having the same problem between 76000-110000 miles. Mine has 109,000 miles and from the reports, ford is trying to put all of this on the dealers and the dealers are just wanting to fix the motors @ $600 -$4000 dollars. The people with the problem say that it is a faulty head gasket and that they were recalled, but I never received that recall. I don't have the money to fix a motor that was faulty when I bought the thing.
#3 spakplug blewout of my 1997 ford f-150 with 5.4 liter engine. I have yet to repair this problem .
No known event leading up to failure. Engine made a loud exploding noise and started popping after explosion. The dealership explained that it was a blown spark plug and that the head had to be replaced. Cost $1600.
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