The truck was parked in a strip mall parking lot. A few minutes later someone said that there were flames coming from the hood. The car was a total in 10 minutes. Four off duty firemen were there and could not put the flames out. Near by fire station was called. Its response was with in a few minutes. Truck was totaled.
1997 Ford F Series engine problems
22 complaints (47% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 96,000.
- owner complaints
- 22
- of this car's complaints
- 47%
- typical mileage
- 96,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine6
- Engine: gasoline5
- Cooling system3
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Ford F Series engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 1997 Ford F Series engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it is possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect is very low.in view of the foregoing, it is unlikely that the federal safety agency would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.
DP05005
What 1997 Ford F Series owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
When I first bought the truck in 2001, the engine had approximately 82k miles. I was having a hard time starting and sometimes it would not start. At first the dealer thought it was the starter and they replaced it. They told me to take it to pepboys to get the starter replaced. When they started the car a mass of gray smoke come out of the tail pipe. Two days later the engine froze. Since I had a warranty agreement I took the truck to a local ford dealer, they stated it had hydrolocked and the engine needed to be replaced. The warranty company sent out a short block and ford completed the rest of the repairs. At the beginning of april, my daughter was using my truck and she drove it to my house and parked it out front. It sat for 2 weeks, when I went to start it, it would not turn over. Replace the battery and it still would not turn over. At that time the starter smoked and took the truck to a mechanic who replaced the starter. He tried to turn it over and it would not turn. He stated they tried using a torque wrench and still could not turn the motor. The mechanic recommended that the engine be replaced. I had the truck towed to my home. After reading the info about another truck hydrolocking, I decided to check to see if my truck had the same problem. When I pulled the plugs, I had coolant drain from the #3 cylinder and a small amount of coolant leak from #5 cylinder. Preparing to replace the lower and upper intake manifold gaskets.
Engine coolant level keeps running low .truck starting to skip or misfire on cylinder. No visible leakage on the out side of motor.
Went to start truck. Hydro locked. Would not start.
1997 f150 engine failure 4.2l 6 cyl motor bent or blew a rod after sound came from engine after starting it.
Faulty head gasket causing oil and coolant to mix. Eventually having to replace the engine due to bent rods.
4.2 engine problem, the 1997 ford f150 has 90,000 miles on it, as of this date the engine main bearing wore out. This vehicle has all ways been serviced, and with oil changes every three months or 3000 miles since I purchased it with 6 miles on it. And this was a one owner vehicle. I think the bearing were worn because of defective engine parts from the factor due to the leaking of lower intake gasket that ford motor company recalled these vehicles. They replaced this gasket ,but still some of these vehicle have had coolant problems . Before the engines went bad it had to be replaced , and the cost of that engine I was approximately $4,000. I took the vehicle to ford dealership ,and the engine was checked for compression, and the compression was low due to the bearings failure. Your attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated.
'97 ford f-150 4.2l v-6, lower intake gaskets failed, leading to hydrolocked engine. I have read hundreds of instances of this happening. Truck is now inoperable.
Ford lower intake gasket on 1997 f150 4.2l engine causing coolant loss.
Periodic low coolant levels with no visible leaks, progressively worse low oil pressure, trouble starting, steam in exhaust coolant leaking into cylinder caused bent rod and necessitated engine rebuild.
Questions about the 1997 Ford F Series engine
Does the 1997 Ford F Series have engine problems?
Owners have filed 22 complaints about the engine of the 1997 Ford F Series, 47% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 1997 Ford F Series engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 96,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 1997 Ford F Series engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Ford F Series have bad engine?
The Ford F Series model years with the most engine complaints are 1997 (22 complaints), 2001 (17 complaints) and 2002 (16 complaints).
Other 1997 Ford F Series problems
Electrical 7Fuel system 6Acceleration 5Suspension 3Body 2Brakes 2Steering 2Tires 2Transmission 1Visibility 1
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