Thinking about buying
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Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2004
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Thinking about buying
Hello gang,
well, i am a ford man. i have had mustangs,aerostars,rangers,explorers etc but now i am looking at entering the f150 line.
i got my eyes on a 97 f150 supercab 4x4 with the 4.6 v8.
it has 153,000 kms on the truck
i am wondering what is the mileage i should expect with these trucks. is the v6 models better ?
How big is the fuel tank ?
Any problems that i should know of ?
What to look for when i am checking the truck out ?
what can you tell me about these machines.all info is welcome.
thanks
darryl
well, i am a ford man. i have had mustangs,aerostars,rangers,explorers etc but now i am looking at entering the f150 line.
i got my eyes on a 97 f150 supercab 4x4 with the 4.6 v8.
it has 153,000 kms on the truck
i am wondering what is the mileage i should expect with these trucks. is the v6 models better ?
How big is the fuel tank ?
Any problems that i should know of ?
What to look for when i am checking the truck out ?
what can you tell me about these machines.all info is welcome.
thanks
darryl
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,867
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From: NH
Welcome to F150online... 
Very important STAY AWAY from 97 V6’s. The had some major problems with them. I might be wrong but it was something to do with the water pump gasket’s failing and then allowing the coolant to leak into the motor and then ruining bearings, MAJOR overhaul…
Very important STAY AWAY from 97 V6’s. The had some major problems with them. I might be wrong but it was something to do with the water pump gasket’s failing and then allowing the coolant to leak into the motor and then ruining bearings, MAJOR overhaul…
Banned For Violation of Terms of Service
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 25
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From: Dracut, MA
Don't know how much help I can be, but I just bought a 2001 Lariat, and LOVE the thing!
For whatever it's worth, on the test drive, make sure you "hammer" it (pedal to the floor, making it downshift) to make sure there are no noises under "heavy load". A lot of people don't do this when test driving vechicles. Plus, drive it in a straight line and lay on the brakes in order to see if there is any vibration or minute alignment issues...
Hope this helps
For whatever it's worth, on the test drive, make sure you "hammer" it (pedal to the floor, making it downshift) to make sure there are no noises under "heavy load". A lot of people don't do this when test driving vechicles. Plus, drive it in a straight line and lay on the brakes in order to see if there is any vibration or minute alignment issues...
Hope this helps
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 323
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From: HELL
I too am a die hard ford fan.
Owned:
96 TBird
96 Mustang GT
97 Expedition
98 F150
00 Mustang V6
In that order
Now lets get to the questions. I dont know what you should expect in terms of mileage but a lot of these trucks on ebay have over 150k miles so ford is doing something right. I have over 135k miles on my 97 Expedition and over 70k miles on my 98 F150 V6 now. I believe the fuel tank is 26 gallons, it will get you where you need to go. 
The 4.6 is a great engine and has had 0 problems in my truck. The v6 has not been troublesome at all. These are amazing trucks and also look great. I really prefer the 1997-2003 style over the new ones. I would try to look for a V8 model though because with the cars that I have had I found the V8 cars to have less problems. If you do find a good deal on a V6 F150, I would consider it too. The 4.2 in the V6 model is basically a stroker v6 mustang engine. There are many v6 mustangs with lots of mileage running around so dont worry. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Owned:
96 TBird
96 Mustang GT
97 Expedition
98 F150
00 Mustang V6
In that order
Now lets get to the questions. I dont know what you should expect in terms of mileage but a lot of these trucks on ebay have over 150k miles so ford is doing something right. I have over 135k miles on my 97 Expedition and over 70k miles on my 98 F150 V6 now. I believe the fuel tank is 26 gallons, it will get you where you need to go. The 4.6 is a great engine and has had 0 problems in my truck. The v6 has not been troublesome at all. These are amazing trucks and also look great. I really prefer the 1997-2003 style over the new ones. I would try to look for a V8 model though because with the cars that I have had I found the V8 cars to have less problems. If you do find a good deal on a V6 F150, I would consider it too. The 4.2 in the V6 model is basically a stroker v6 mustang engine. There are many v6 mustangs with lots of mileage running around so dont worry. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 255
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From: northeast usa
i would look around the base of the valve covers for any oil film on the motor, and down below maybe on the tranny housing for an oil film coating.
there are problems with the heads leaking oil on some of these vehicles. on my truck (99, 4.6, 5-speed) they had to pull the motor to replace the gaskets.
i again have the oil film on my tranny, its not enough to spot the driveway like it did the first time, but it is something to look for.
my truck is a 99, i am not sure if the 97's had the same problem, but doing a search in the engine forum should give you a bunch of great info regarding this and other info. this site is awesome, and silly as it might sound, i would buy another f150 when my time comes due, and part of that decision is based on the availability of this webpage.
there are problems with the heads leaking oil on some of these vehicles. on my truck (99, 4.6, 5-speed) they had to pull the motor to replace the gaskets.
i again have the oil film on my tranny, its not enough to spot the driveway like it did the first time, but it is something to look for.
my truck is a 99, i am not sure if the 97's had the same problem, but doing a search in the engine forum should give you a bunch of great info regarding this and other info. this site is awesome, and silly as it might sound, i would buy another f150 when my time comes due, and part of that decision is based on the availability of this webpage.