1997 Ford F-150: won't start

Filed Apr 17, 2012 · Engine · 102,000 miles · PA

Truck has a 4.2 liter, v-6 engine. A week prior to incident the truck was driven then parked in a my garage. On the incident day I tried to start the truck but heard only a loud, hard knock when the starter engaged. The engine would not turn over. The battery voltage checked out ok. I had the truck towed to a local repair shop. The starter was removed and checked out ok electrically. The mechanic manually rotated the engine backward 1-1/2 turns (he could not rotate it forward) then tried to start it but the engine again made a loud, hard knock sound. The mechanic though the timing chain failed or a push rod was bent. However, since the truck ran fine the last time it was used I felt the problem developed during its last use and last cooldown. I concluded a gasket failed (or a head cracked) allowing coolant to leak into one or more cylinders during its last cooldown. I had the truck towed back to my garage. I removed all spark plugs and found coolant draining from the passenger side front cylinder which was causing hydrolock. I rotated the engine backward 4-1/2 turns then forward 9 turns. The engine now turned freely. A total of 4 to 6 ounces of coolant came out of the cylinder. I spoke with a mechanic who checked the ford alert system and found a posting for the 1997 4.2l v-6 engines that indicated they are prone to intake manifold o-ring failures. I found many reports of similar failures for this year and engine type. I intend to check in with the local ford dealership to get their take on this problem and find out why I wasn't notified about a "recall".

Filed Mar 14, 2008 · Engine · 95,843 miles · TN

Tl*the contact owns a 1997 ford f-150. The contact attempted to start the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. The engine turned over twice, but did not start. The contact looked under the vehicle and found a piece of metal on the ground along with an oil leak. The contact spoke with a mechanic and they stated that the motor needed to be replaced. The current and failure mileages were 95,843. Updated 04/29/08. *lj the consumer stated the engine was replaced due to a fualty head gasket. Updated

Filed Feb 12, 2008 · Electrical, Engine · 100,478 miles · WA

I have a 1997 ford f150 with a 4.2 l engine that just turned 100,000 miles. I bought it second hand from a ford dealership june 1999 with about 45,000 miles on it. This truck was meticulously cared for over the years. After noticing that the coolant level was down after a a recent refill I refilled it again. I didn't drive the vehicle for about ten days but when I went to start it the engine made a clunk and wouldn't crank. I suspected the battery after a charge yielded the same results. The battery was replaced but still the same result and also after refinishing lead terminals and starter replacement. I checked the oil filler cap and there was a thick light brown substance I had never seen before on it and all the way down around the inside wall of the filler tube. I suspected a leak in the head gasket or elsewhere and went to the internet sites for clarification. After some research I realized I was far from being the only one with this problem. As I suspected the coolant leaks via the loose seal of the head gasket into one or more of the cylinders. It appears that this was a known defect and recall that ford never conveyed to all the owners of this model.

Filed Aug 6, 2007 · Acceleration, Electrical · 110,487 miles · KS · fire

Vehicle was parked in driveway with doors locked and ignition in the off position. No one was near or in the vehicle. Looked out window and noticed what looked like mist from a water sprinkler from the front side of truck. Looking closer, I realized it was smoke and then saw flames from the tire well and under the hood by the windshield wipers. Called 911. The fire department arrived very quickly, putting the fire out. Their assessment was it was an electrical short which had caused the fire. The fire caused the hood hydraulic lift to explode like a rocket, hitting the windshield, cracking it and then shooting off into the yard. The frames inside the engine housing by the drivers tire burnt the housing completely away. The wiring has been completely burned and melted away inside the engine compartment. All the plastic fluid containers melted, the entire engine housing, engine and all electrical components under the hood were burned up or damaged in some way by this fire. The truck will not start or run. None of the lights work, radio, heat, air or power functions work. The truck is totally inoperable. I contacted the insurance company and they directed me to this site to look for fire related defects and to file a complaint. The truck has not been repaired as it is beyond repair since all the wiring and most of the insides under the hood have burned up or melted.

Filed Jul 23, 2007 · Transmission · 112,500 miles · AZ

After stopping in driveway my 1997 f150, 4.6 l would not shift into park and the gear shift seemed to be looser than normal. As I tried several times to shift into park a 1 inch, brass, star head machined screw fell out from under the steering column. Also, the gear shift indicator came to rest between park and reverse. The engine would not start in this position, but did start in neutral. I had a difficult time finding reverse and drive, but once in gear the transmission sounds and runs normally. The safety implication of this problem is the unintended movement of the truck if the emergency brake is not set or defective. My research of the problem disclosed two related recalls of 1997 ford vehicles; campaign number 97v147000, september 9, 1997 and campaign number 97v171000, october 7, 1997. Both these recalls involved some facet of the transmission linkage between the steering column and the trasmission housing, just as mine did. On my truck there are two bolts securing the transmission selector lever arm and support to the steering column tube. The shift cable is attached to this arm. The top bolt came loose and fell out, while the second bolt was very loose, in fact, the whole arm was ready to fall out. This was the cause of my problem. The solution was to realign the selector lever arm and support to the shift tube and reinsert the two screws, after using a "loctite" compound.

Filed May 13, 2006 · Engine · 137,000 miles · OH

I noticed my ford 4.2l v-6 was losing coolant. But, there was no leaks externally. I went out to start it the other morning, and it would not turn over. I searched the internet, and found info on hydrolocking and bad gaskets. I removed all the spark plugs, and cranked the engine. Lots of coolant came out of cylinder 1. Now, I'm looking at best all new gaskets, or possibly a new engine if the timing cover gaskets weren't replaced under the recall.

Filed May 8, 2006 · Engine · 145,000 miles · NC

My 1997 4.2l v6 f150 would not start, replaced starter motor, pulled plugs found coolant in #1 cylinder. I'm currently digging into the engine to replace the head gasket.

Filed Apr 29, 2006 · Engine · 129,600 miles · CA

11/16/2005 ~ go in for a routine oil and lube. Attendant gives me details, I have air filter replaced and coolant added because it was low. 2/23/2006 ~ go in for my routine oil and lube. I ask the attendant to look at the coolant, I tell him that it keeps getting low. Sure enough he comes back and lets me know its very low, did I want to put coolant in it. 4/28/2006 ~ I go to my 97 f-150 to head out to an interview, shirt and tie, cup of coffee and paperwork in hand. Put the key in the ignition and it wont turn over. It isn't the "battery is dead" won't turn over, its a "I want turn over but I can't" over and I call my mechanic. He arrives and gets out his jumpers to see if it is a dead battery. We look at the starter, electrical everything and can't seem to figure it out. He says to me, "you don't have very low or little coolant, put some in the resevoir" he asks me if I noticed anything odd, any hesitation the previous day, I tell him no, I literally drove 3 miles to go to the market and that was it for driving that day. He asks me to put it in reverse and we try and push it backwards to turn the motor over. It won't budge, at this point he says there has to be something in the cylinder(s), gas, water, oil, something and we'll pull the plugs and see what comes out. We pulled the plugs and coolant came pouring out of cylinder #2. I have pictures etc of the coolant and plugs. I found there are many people having issues identical to this within the same timbering of mileage and even the same cylinder. Http://forums.treemedia.com/fb/showthread.php?t=224 http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=473230 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ford_essex_v6_engine_(canadian)#4.2 my mechanic is now pricing a complete gasket kit and will need to take the motor apart to fix the problem. The motor sounds as if it is ok and we are going to try to remedy the gasket situation and see if we can't get it to run normally.

Filed Jan 1, 2006 · Engine · 129,738 miles · TN

My 1997 ford f150 with a 4.2l v-6 engine began giving me problems a few months ago. It began having an erratic starting problem. It then began to blow out white smoke out of the exhaust. I checked the coolant system with pressure gauges, and everything showed to be fine. I did this several times, because white smoke continued to come out of the exhaust. Then I went to start it the other morning and it turned over and fired once. Then it made a real loud banging noise, and would not crank again. I continued to work with it, and finally got it to crank again, and it was knocking. The knocking sound was coming from the oil pan. I pulled the engine out, and took it apart. The rod in the #4 cylinder is bent due to coolant in the cylinder. I have heard this happening to many people, and think that ford should step up and take responsibility!

Filed Dec 30, 2005 · Engine · 129,000 miles · NV

Leaking coolant internally due to known manufacturer defect in gaskets. There was no external leaks, just disappearing coolant levels and car overheating. After the coolant was topped off, I tried starting the car the next morning, the car wouldn't start due to hydrolock. When it did finally start, the engine produced a loud pinging sound (such as a rod knock). I am in the process of going further into the engine to assess damage. This is a know defect to the manufacturer as they have released a tsb to address the problem. Of course this is only shared with the public after damage is done. Please help!

Filed Oct 4, 2005 · Engine · 68,253 miles · AZ

Vehicle started rough and ran poorly. Parked overnight, next morning engine was locked up. Would not turn over and felt like it was jammed. Finally got it to start, running poorly and white smoke poured out of the exhaust. Had vehicle taken to mechanic, who found out that the head gasket was the problem when he found the plugs were gunked up and white like vanilla pudding. Engine had to be sent out and rebuilt.

Filed Aug 16, 2005 · Acceleration · 118,000 miles · GA

While watching cnn news august 16 2005, a report was on what should have been a recall of ford vehicles that have a faulty cruise control switch. I was parked and had been sitting for approximately thirty minutes when I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. At that point, I opened the hood and saw where the smoke was coming from, then grabbed the wiring way above the heat source and started pulling the wires until they broke loose. The wiring was attached to a switch at the end of my brake cylinder, it was the cruise control for the vehicle. The vehicle would not crank and I could not remove it from park, I had to call for help. A day or so later, I saw a report on cnn news about the problem for this switch and ford was not doing anything about it. It would have been good ,if ford would have notified me of this problem. I had driven my mom to visit someone in a nursing home, otherwise my truck would have been on my carport. Is there more hidden problems that ford is hiding that could, or would, have destroyed my house by fire if I had not been in the vehicle at the time? Is it safe to park in my garage now? I asked cherokee ford in wookstock, georgia if they knew of a recall on this since it was on the news, and they said some vehicles were, but not mine, and to keep watching the news and if, (big word)ford did have a recall, come back and they could reimburse for the part only, since my repairs were complete.