1998 Ford F-150: won't start

Filed Oct 17, 2014 · Body · 120,000 miles · HI

In 2012, I replaced my gas tank because severe corrosion had eaten numerous small holes into the top of the tank so it could not be filled over 3/4th without leaking. Flakes of rust were falling onto the top of the tank from the frame x-member causing these holes. The frame x-member was not addressed and the new gas tank began to leak within a year and a half of replacement. The engine was just recently tuned up by a ford dealer because it was intermittently vibrating. Within 6 months of this tune up, the engine lost full power with finding of grossly contaminated fuel. The 2 year old tank was pulled and the top of the tank was revealed to be metallic swiss cheese equivalent, this time with numerous very large holes that rain was easily penetrating into the tank via the cab-bed space opening. The x-member frame support was corroded in half. The dealer could not fix it and I paid for a second new tank and fuel pump($350 with shipping to hi), por 15 coated the top of the new tank myself, and paid a local body shop$1042.00 to pull the x-member and replace it with a used part as ford no longer stocks (likely rusted to bits in their warehouse). The new tank and used x-member are now installed and awaiting an engine mechanic to address why the engine won't start up despite new tank/fresh fuel/pump/filter. Likely another $500 to clean fuel injection/engine bringing 2 year total for rotted x-member and two gas tanks to well over $3000. Perusing your data base, the frame rust issue seems to be a recurring theme particularly for the 1997 year model. My assessment is there was something very rotten in 1998 f150 frame components and or corrosion protections used. Lessons learned: don't fix the tank until you fix the x-member problem first and ford f150 frames/corrosion protections circa 1998 are getting a bad reputation which is likely deserved.

Filed May 22, 2009 · Engine · 151,571 miles · CA

Blown head gaskets, drove truck in town and parked in driveway, then would not turn over next day, radiator coolant in cylinders, no warning lights came on, engine oil ok, coolant level ok. Truck was running fine then this happened.

Filed Sep 29, 2008 · Transmission · 118,000 miles · PA

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford f150. The vehicle would not start and the contact had to manually place it into neutral, and then into park. The independent mechanic stated that the parking linkage and the automatic transmission shift cable failed. The VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 97v171000 (power train:automatic transmission:gear position indication (prndl)), although the failures were identical. The failure mileage was 118,000 and current mileages was 130,000.

Filed Oct 27, 2007 · Engine · NV

I purchased a used 1998 ford f150 from car max in las vegas. I also purchased car max's extended warranty. I took the truck to jiffy lube for an oil change and drove it home, a distance of about 1 mile. Jiffy lube did not note any problems when they serviced the truck. The truck would not start the next time I went to use it. Jumping it did no good, the battery was not low. I had the truck towed to car max it was towed on a flat bed trailer, so the wheels never touched the ground. I called car max the next day and they said they had it scheduled to look at the following day. They called me that following day and asked if the truck was smoking when I last drove it. I told them it was not and that it drove fine. Then they told me the engine was blown and continued to act as though I had caused it. On my next day off, I rode my bicycle to car max and checked the truck's odometer against the mileage jiffy lube wrote on my receipt. There were 28 miles put on my truck since the oil change. Car max will not take responsibility, even though they blew the motor in my truck, but deny it. My son had done most of the oil changes on the truck, so I have no proof oil changes were done, so car max denied the extended warranty. I called ford and I was told there is no such issue on the truck, even though ford changed the head starting with later 1998 models, due to a faulty design. Their customer service agent was very frustrated with my asking how they can deny an issue, when they put out information to their dealers on steps to take when servicing the f150. She asked what I wanted them to do. I told her I was not asking ford to replace the motor because I am paying for an extended warranty. But I would like them to contact car max and tell them that the motor blowing up was not my fault, so car max would cover it, as they should anyway. She told me no, because there is no issue with the 1997 and 1998 ford f150's. Please help.

Filed Oct 16, 2007 · Acceleration · 176,000 miles · GA · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford f-150. The vehicle began smoking underneath the hood while parked. The contact lifted the hood and noticed that flames were present. He attempted to extinguish the fire with a hose. When the police and fire departments arrived, they finished extinguishing the fire. The fire department stated that the cruise control caused the failure. A fire and police report was filed. The contact called the local dealer and they asked for the VIN. The dealer then confirmed that the vehicle was included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 05v388000 (vehicle speed control). The vehicle would not start and was towed to the dealer for repair. The contact never received a recall notice. The dealer does not want to repair the vehicle for free due to the recall; however, they offered to deactivate the cruise control switch. The dealer stated that they sent notifications, but the contact never responded. The fire damaged the front end of the vehicle near the cruise control and fuse boxes. There was also property damage to the driveway, where the vehicle was parked at the time. The current and failure mileages were 176,000.

Filed Sep 13, 2007 · Electrical · 180,000 miles · WI

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 ford f-150. The contact attempted to start the vehicle, but it would not start. The vehicle was then towed to a ford dealer and they stated that a wire in the ignition switch failed. The dealer repaired the switch, but the contact still had to make several attempts before the vehicle would start. The dealer finally disconnected the switch, but it continues to take four or more attempts to start the vehicle. The contact has paid $200 in repairs. The failure occurs in both cold and hot weather and the contact believes that the disconnected wire was the cause of failure. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was 229,000 and failure mileage was 180,000.

Filed Jun 13, 2007 · Engine · 79,222 miles · WV

I have a 1998 ford f 150 white smoke came from exhaust , no warning truck wouldn't start finally started, but it was knocking you could smell anti freeze, called tow truck and the engine was gone, only had 79,000 miles.

Filed Feb 12, 2007 · Engine · 76,000 miles · TX

Tl*- the contact stated that the 1998 for f-150 engine seized. The contact stated that in the morning of 02/09/07 he had no indication that there was a problem with the engine. After a day of driving he tried to start the vehicle and it wouldn't start. The contact had the vehicle towed to westerly tire, and they informed the contact that the engine seized. The current and failure mileage were 76000.

Filed Jan 26, 2006 · Engine · 134,000 miles · MO

(1) car would not start one morning like a dead battery. I jumped the car and heard a loud clattering sound from engine. (2) leaking front cover and intake manifold gaskets in a 4.2 l v-6 engines caused the engine to seize. (3) currently replacing engine.

Filed Jan 21, 2006 · Engine · 102,000 miles · VA

Ford f150 1998 4wd 4.2l engine 102,0000 miles - when starting truck engine it would run rough then smooth out. Today I heard a loud pop sound. Now it doesn't start at all. After checking several web sites I realized my trouble is not unique. Looked around the internet but never found a recall notice from ford relating to this issue. Further research seems to imply a major defect that ford knew about from close to the beginning of manufacturing which they never have done anything about. According to a couple of web forum sites, ford put out two technical bulletins to their service people but not to the end users/buyers (tsb #99-20-7) (follow up tsb #99b209) that pretty much admitted there was a fault with a gasket and could result in engine failure, as mine seems to have done. The resolution is for the engine to be replaced. Ford should be made to stand behind their faulty manufacturing & fix their errors.

Filed Nov 5, 2005 · Engine · 97,000 miles · TX

About two weeks ago, I noticed that my 1998 ford f-150 had steamy white exhaust upon start and it would last until sufficient warm-up. At that point, I did not think about it much. At any rate, I went out of town for two weeks and upon my return from my trip, I got in my truck and tried to start it and the engine would not turn over. Initially, I thought it was the battery so, I tried to jump start it to no avail. Next, I tried push starting it and initially the wheels locked up but eventually it started. From that point it was fine however, it wasn't until friday that I tried to start it and again it was hard to start. When it did it started rattling indicating a possible bent push rod. Upon calling an engine mechanic, he informed me that there had been a rise in 4.2 liter v-6 engine failures because of a known defect. It was at that time that I started doing internet research and came across tsb 99-20-7 and onp 99b29. At this point, my truck is in the shop being diagnosed and I'm sure the mechanic is going to tell me I need a new engine.

Filed Oct 4, 2005 · Engine · 117,100 miles · NJ

To whom it may concern: I am the owner of a 1998 ford f-150 4.2l xlt. A few weeks ago I noticed a slight hesitation upon starting my engine. Once the engine started, it struggled a little and then smoothed out once I began to drive. The truck continued to run fine, once started, but continued with the slight hesitation when starting the engine for about a week. On september 1, 2005, I attempted to start my truck and found that it would not turn over right away. I let the truck rest a moment then again attempted to start the engine. The truck started up, then I heard the slight hesitation and all of sudden I heard a loud bang followed by a loud noise coming from the engine. I had the truck towed to my mechanic whereupon I was informed that it was a rod knock, which shot down through the oil pan. He found coolant on the plugs and water intrusion through the intake manifold into the block. He informed me that my engine had hydro-locked. Through research I was able to determine that this is an apparently widespread problem. I found that ford motor company issued a recall on the intake manifold gasket in 1999. I never received such notification, although I have, in fact received information for other recalls. I was never sent anything in the mail and had no idea of this problem. In addition, I am informed that ford motor company is not doing anything to rectify this matter with customers. I currently have 117,000 miles on my truck and had to pay over $4,000.00 to replace the long block. I had to pay to repair a problem that ford obviously knew existed. Since ford was aware of the potential danger of damaging the engine and did little, if nothing, to inform its customers of this potential danger, I feel that ford motor company should be held, at least in part, liable for the damage incurred to my truck and to many of those, like myself, who have had the same problem. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter.