Hi All: I have a 97 F150 Supercab 4.2l v6 automatic trans. that I bought in Aug. of 96. I'm trying to replace the engine with a newer one, and would like to know what is the latest year engine that I can use ? I believe I will have to go down to the heads and block and install the parts from my 97. Are all the blocks and heads the same? Thanks.

 

Short block wise I think you can go all the way up to 08. The 04-08 trucks have drive-by-wire so you would have to interchange that for your cable-driven throttle. Other than that, a longblock change can be had up to 2003.

Is your truck currently hydrolocked?

 

Hi Raptor: Long story short when I bought the truck new I got a ~ lemon- lime! Recalls , engine replaced in Sept, 99 under warranty , a rear and a lot of other things. Two years ago I did the upper end just to find out the crank censer only had one bolt and was lodged in the crank sprocket. This time I took the motor apart because it had a loud knock and leaked oil. So I want to get a newer engine and start from there. Thanks for your help.

 

I believe there were some substantial changes (for the better) in 99 - so I'd recommend you look for a complete 99-03 engine. The only problem with my 03 is the plastic intake - I had to replace the plenum gaskets and isolator bolts at 120k. Stay away from the 97 and 98 engines with build date before 1/16/98, those had bad gaskets and were the ones that hydrolocked.

 

Hi Guys: I just wanted to let you guys know that I brought an 08 v6 with 11k miles to install in my 97 F150. The engine was from a manual shift truck so I have to change the fly wheel. We will see what else we will need to do, as the job moves along. We hope to start on it on Wednesday Sept. 19th. If any one has any advice for us please give us your input. Thanks very much.

 

Hi All: Alex can the 97 F150 be converted to drive by wire using the parts from the donner truck? What parts will I need from the donner truck? Thanks.

 

No, it cannot.

 

Hi glc. Thanks for you help. I just didn't want to change the intake. It seams like Ford would be able to run a motor outside of a vehicle for test and if one had the fuel pedal control val and the computer. That one would be able to install this in any vehicle. Thanks! This is why I asked, so what do I know?

 

Between this thread and your other thread, you are trying to make this whole swap a lot more complicated than it is.

 

Hi glc: Thanks for all of your feed backs! I'm trying to understand . Do you feel
that the ecu from the 97 if wired correctly it would be able to run the 08 engine? Fuel injector, coil,ect.? Are the injectors psi the same? Thanks again for all of your help., ahmad

 

Hi All: I just wanted to thank you all for your advice! We have the 08 engine installed in the 97 F150 and it runs nice so far. We had to make our own wire harness from the OEM 97 harness and an old water damaged 08 ECU. We cut the socket and unsolder it from the circuit board and soldered it to the 97 's harness. we installed a 4.6 v8 torque converter rear seal and front pump seal on the transmission with a new mount. We had to use a pressure regulator with a return and a pressure gauge. we were able to use push connector fuel lines.
We had to make a bracket to hold the gas cable bracket. There were a few other things that we had to do. We now need to change the throttle body to one that the IAC val can mount to like a BBK or one from a 94 Lincoln if the mounting holes are the same. This job can be done with out making any changes to the 08 engine, other than using a throttle body that is not drive by wire. Thanks again! ahmad.