leaking coolant
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Ft. Mill, SC
leaking coolant
I have been suspecting that I am leaking coolant into the engine and have confirmed today. I have the '97 F150 4.2 L. I had a pressure test donw on the coolant system to see where the leak was and appearently there are several. The Ford dealership wanted $2200.00 to replace the front cover gasket, head gasket and rear main seal due to oil leak. I wanted to check around first and ask some questions before I went ahead and fixed anything. I figure that it would be a smarter decision to put a new motor in since I do have 107,000 miles on the motor. What I want to know at this point is should I just run it until failure and replace or try to dump $1000 into it to replace gaskets and still have over 100k on the motor? I also want to know if there is a good product out there to dump into my coolant to give me some type of protection against further leaking? It is very minimal now with nothing more that a rough cold startup for only a few seconds.
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Joined: Sep 2000
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From: Mpls, MN
Before you do anything, I think you should look into this diagnosis a little further.
Most serious is the head gasket, because the cost is so high and the diagnosis is questionable. These engines do have very weak lower intake gaskets and most 1997 engines were also assembled with a faulty engine front cover gasket, but I have searched and not found any evidence that the head gaskets are inherently flawed. If they just pressure tested the cooling system, I don't know how they could determine all 3 failed.
You are really looking at major labor on these repairs.
Rear Main Seal = 8.0 hours labor
Head Gasket = 8.1 hours labor for both
Front Cover = 7.6 hours labor
Lower intake = including in head gasket repair
This adds upto almost 24 hours labor
Ford recommends just 4 hours more to completely rebuild the engine!!!
I'd like to know when your truck was built. If it was prior to 12/31/96, it was including the 99B29 campaign to replace the faulty front cover gasket. The trouble is that it looks like Ford actually used this same faulty gasket on all 4.2L engines built through 5/1/97. What this means is that if your truck was built from 1/1/97 through at least 5/1/1997, you have the same bad gasket but Ford didn't replace it.
Check the build date on the driver's side valve cover. If it's prior to 5/1/97, it very well may have failed. If it's after 5/1/1997, I'm sure the front cover gasket is fine. I haven't found a single case of revised front cover gasket failure.
As for the lower intake... It sounds like that one is definitely gone. The rough starts are a pretty good sign and your engine was certainly built with the weak gaskets.
I would question the service manager about how they determined definitively that all 3 of these gaskets failed (head, intake, front cover) . A pressure test of the cooling system is not going to tell them one-by-one what is leaking. A visual inspection with a scope as well as a cylinder compression test would be necessary. The inspection time is around 3-4 hours labor in my experience on this. Did they charge you 3+ hours labor for the diagnosis???
If there is enough coolant in the cylinders that the engine is running rough, I don't think you're going to get more than a few thousand miles more out of it.
$2200.00 - current quote
$4000.00 - $5000.00 FQR engine (Remanufactured engine. Most dealers do not rebuild engines. Usually comes with a 36,000-50,000 mile warranty)
$2500.00 - $3500.00 Used engine, installed
$300.00? - parts to do the work yourself
As long as the coolant hasn't damaged the engine, replacing these gaskets shoud get you beyond another 100,000 miles. I'd look into that diagnosis first. I don't see how they could have determined all of these gasket failures with just a cooling system pressure test.
Your best option, if cost is major factor, is probably a used engine from a wreck. If you have the money though, a FQR is a sound investment.
I'd still look into that diagnosis though. Remove the cost of the head gaskets and the front cover and this is a $1000.00 repair. The real main seal is a sticker though.... I think the engine needs to come out to replace this one.
You can use a stop leak but it won't last very long. They're not designed to seal the plastic material of the gaskets that are leaking.
When was the engine built???
Most serious is the head gasket, because the cost is so high and the diagnosis is questionable. These engines do have very weak lower intake gaskets and most 1997 engines were also assembled with a faulty engine front cover gasket, but I have searched and not found any evidence that the head gaskets are inherently flawed. If they just pressure tested the cooling system, I don't know how they could determine all 3 failed.
You are really looking at major labor on these repairs.
Rear Main Seal = 8.0 hours labor
Head Gasket = 8.1 hours labor for both
Front Cover = 7.6 hours labor
Lower intake = including in head gasket repair
This adds upto almost 24 hours labor
Ford recommends just 4 hours more to completely rebuild the engine!!! I'd like to know when your truck was built. If it was prior to 12/31/96, it was including the 99B29 campaign to replace the faulty front cover gasket. The trouble is that it looks like Ford actually used this same faulty gasket on all 4.2L engines built through 5/1/97. What this means is that if your truck was built from 1/1/97 through at least 5/1/1997, you have the same bad gasket but Ford didn't replace it.
Check the build date on the driver's side valve cover. If it's prior to 5/1/97, it very well may have failed. If it's after 5/1/1997, I'm sure the front cover gasket is fine. I haven't found a single case of revised front cover gasket failure.
As for the lower intake... It sounds like that one is definitely gone. The rough starts are a pretty good sign and your engine was certainly built with the weak gaskets.
I would question the service manager about how they determined definitively that all 3 of these gaskets failed (head, intake, front cover) . A pressure test of the cooling system is not going to tell them one-by-one what is leaking. A visual inspection with a scope as well as a cylinder compression test would be necessary. The inspection time is around 3-4 hours labor in my experience on this. Did they charge you 3+ hours labor for the diagnosis???
If there is enough coolant in the cylinders that the engine is running rough, I don't think you're going to get more than a few thousand miles more out of it.
$2200.00 - current quote
$4000.00 - $5000.00 FQR engine (Remanufactured engine. Most dealers do not rebuild engines. Usually comes with a 36,000-50,000 mile warranty)
$2500.00 - $3500.00 Used engine, installed
$300.00? - parts to do the work yourself
As long as the coolant hasn't damaged the engine, replacing these gaskets shoud get you beyond another 100,000 miles. I'd look into that diagnosis first. I don't see how they could have determined all of these gasket failures with just a cooling system pressure test.
Your best option, if cost is major factor, is probably a used engine from a wreck. If you have the money though, a FQR is a sound investment.
I'd still look into that diagnosis though. Remove the cost of the head gaskets and the front cover and this is a $1000.00 repair. The real main seal is a sticker though.... I think the engine needs to come out to replace this one.
You can use a stop leak but it won't last very long. They're not designed to seal the plastic material of the gaskets that are leaking.
When was the engine built???
Last edited by AjRagno; Mar 6, 2003 at 01:44 AM.
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Ft. Mill, SC
Thanks for your response. I had them check at the dealership and it's build date was May of '96 and that is what worries me.
This Ford dealership quoted me $4200 to put a new engine in with a 3/36,000 warranty. I would hope that I could find a Ford dealership that will do it for less but maybe not. I am concerned about the money and I don't wan't to have a lot of work done by replacing gaskets and chance something else failing causing more money down the road. I have taken the truck back and forth between here and Maryland twice and am doing it again tomorrow and it runs great but I know that I am taking a chance. I will not sell it for someone else to have to fix it down the road. My plan right now is to wait for some more signs.
This Ford dealership quoted me $4200 to put a new engine in with a 3/36,000 warranty. I would hope that I could find a Ford dealership that will do it for less but maybe not. I am concerned about the money and I don't wan't to have a lot of work done by replacing gaskets and chance something else failing causing more money down the road. I have taken the truck back and forth between here and Maryland twice and am doing it again tomorrow and it runs great but I know that I am taking a chance. I will not sell it for someone else to have to fix it down the road. My plan right now is to wait for some more signs.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,605
Likes: 6
From: USA
Heres one possible sign you will get; you turn the motor off,the cylinders fill with coolant,you start it up,"BAM"!!!!!!!!!! Its going to sound like a jackhammer giving your motor holy hell!!!!!!! I witnessed one do it and the guy gave me the short block with the hole in the oil pan where #4 rod went thru it.If it were me,and I had the money ide look around for another rebuilt motor besides from Ford.Good luck!
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5
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From: GA
I have a '97 F150 and I had to have my motor replaced also due to a faulty gasket. my main bearings were knockin like crazy. i got lucky and found a used motor that came out of a wrecked 2000 model w/ 20,000 miles on it. i paid $1500 for the motor and $300 for a shadetree to swap it out. truck has been fine ever since.
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Ft. Mill, SC
Well on April fool's day it happened to me. I drove home for lunch and went to start it to get back to work and it hardly turned over. I cranked it again and it started barely and then I shut it off and now nothing. I didn't hear any noises so I am thinking that I can still salvage the motor and have it rebuilt. Does anyone know of anyone good near the Charlotte, NC area? Help me.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,605
Likes: 6
From: USA
Van,is there coolant in the oil?Go to www.fordtruckworld.com and try the N.C and S.C forums about information on a place to replace/rebuild your 4.2.Good luck!
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Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,226
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From: So. Texas
In addition to the TSB 99B29 that AjRagno gave you there is also TSB 02-1-4 concerning head gasket replacement. It was issued January 2002. Two great resources for looking up any problem with your truck are www.alldata.com and www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ both should give you more info than you probably want.
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Ft. Mill, SC
I decided to take the easy way out and get Ford to replace my engine and get a 3/36k warranty as well. I found a service dept that I felt would do me right. They were also about $400 cheaper than the service dept right next to my house and only 10 miles away. Thank you all for your help and I will hang on to all receipts in case there is a major lawsuit or something to that nature. Bottom line is that I really like the truck.