We had a Chevy truck with the 4.3 Six. It went belly up very early. We also discovered that MANY of them did because you couldn't find a used motor; or if you did the price was exorbitant. It is one of the most often rebuilt motors on the market.

And I really like my 4.2L Ford.

 

My 98 4.2 is awesome. It has lasted over 118k so far and is still running strong! i have the lightest model (i think) the manual flareside regular cab, so it has plenty of speed... I race every once and a while, and i usally beat a lot of v8 trucks and suv's, these things are surprisingly quick for v6 trucks.

i was at a meet once, and i raced 4 times... people kept acusing me of having the 5.4l v8, i had to pop open my hood to proove them wrong... that was pretty funny.

 

my 89 Chev had the 4.3 and 400,000+ km when I sold. I was going through 2 quarts of oil per tank... but at 400,000 who cares? That truck is still on the road 6 years after I sold it, 15 years and hundreds of thousands kilometres after it was built. Sorry, but THAT is a damn good truck. Im sorry I got rid of it.


The 98 4.2 I have now is at 220,000 km with only tie rod/ball joint work.

The only thing that scares me is that mine was built during that time. I have the old style gasket. I suppose I could have it changed, but the reg cab is being traded in for a SuperCrew (have a family now) and I just cant justify spending the money on something that may not ever happen.

I would have to say that both engines have been workhorses for me with little aggrivation/repair

 

I have a 2003 F150 XL reg cab Sport its an automatic.. anyway.. I love it and it does everything i need it for. I have had some problems with it though. We bought it in april 2003 brand new, the problems i encountered were body parts, no engine trouble at all but i did have some body problems.. I had a waterleak coming in when i washed my truck or when it rained and that took about 3 days to fix - the whole interior had to be pulled out (seats and dash) and they fixed it and all but what upsets me now is i have a rattle that i hear when the A/C. is on and im in drive but stopped like at a light or something. the other problem that i had was my heat shield for the exhaust came loose and it rattled really loud. another problem i had was the weather stripping on my back window, somehow it shrank and split in middle at the bottom section below the glass. well i think thats all tehl problems ive had.. im at 19,000 miles now and no engine troubles at all and i get GREAT gas mileage. Driving like a sane person ive gotten about 20-21 maybe more (highway) and in city driving well tahts not all that great i stomp on the gas pretty hard so i get about 13-15.. well thats it.. Ive taken care of all the problems ive had so as of now i dont have any problems and i love my truck!

 

My only complaint is no grease fittings in the front end (yes I know there are two on the idler arm), and the slave cylinder for the clutch being INSIDE the bell housing. (poor design). I had excellent luck with my 98 4.2, and told the Ford dealer that if they put this motor in a Ranger with a standard tranny and 411 gears that I would be back in 2 seconds to buy one. Overall, an excellent truck.

 

I bought my 2000 4.2 manual 4x4 used and it now has 51,000 miles on it and I'm pretty impressed so far. I have no doubt this truck will give me quite a few years of dependable use.

 

I was stoped at a red light when I saw my old white 97-f-150 pass in front of my eye's, this truck had a 4.2 5sp and was a long box 4x4.

I had bought this truck used at 100,00 Km, when I traded it off it 2 years ago, truck had 215,000 km , 115, 000 KM in four years....

This truck never broke, never failed me, or left me stranded.

Thier was some mechcanical work needed to be done when I traded it off, But this was not a fault of the truck, nor neglect on my part......

Any how, this young guy driving it seemed so pround, Hope all work's out for him....

 

i'm very happy with my 4.2 v6 5speed. although it's a 2003 model with over 23,000 miles it has served me well. i think this truck has a very good engine and runs like it still has more power to give. i'm very glad that i brought this ford and not another frontier. i would recommend the 4.2 to anybody. when i see other f150's on the road i automatically know that they are not 4.2 5spds. then i think to myself they don't know what they are missing.

 

yep, the 4.2 does absolutely everything i need to do. no other motor is necessary unless you REGULARLY tow trailers in excess of 3,000 pounds. i love my 4.2.

 

My '97 4.2 is at 210,000 miles with very few problems. I have had the gaskets replaced but I had that done before they were able to cause any problems. Truck has been rock solid.....very little has been done to it besides the gaskets. I did replace two oxygen sensors and an idler pulley but other than that, it's pretty much just needed regular maint. stuff. I was going to drive it until it quit but I test drove a couple of the new '04s and don't know if I can wait that long. Kind of interested to see how far it will go now. Still very reliable and the paint is still very shiny. May keep it another year just out of curiosity. VERY GOOD TRUCK and one of the most reliable cars I have ever seen. If it weren't for the gasket issues, this truck would have been nearly perfect. Would post pictures but not sure if anyone would even want to see a plain old stock F-150.

 

I had to trade in my 2001 4.2L 5 speed when my daughter was born. I didn't want to do it, but family comes first. My wife gave me a birthday present on Friday though. I bought a 2004 F-150 Heritage with the 4.2 and a 5 speed. I am in love with the truck all over again!!! I had a '97 with the 4.6 and automatic, and the 4.2 was quicker everytime!!!

Cheers
Bill

 

I bought my '99 used in September of 2002 with 14,400 miles on it. I could not be happier and would not trade my truck for anything. It's done everything I have asked it to do without problem. I agree with a few other posts I have seen on here, I don't give a rat's tail if "it's not fast enough" or "it doesn't have enough power."

I don't run mine in the Craftsman Truck Series. And it's got more than enough power for what I need, which is getting my butt to work and home, and hauling a ton of firewood each spring.

Great truck, great motor!

 

So far so good for me. I've got 101,000 on mine and its a 98' model XL std cab fleetside. Today is the first I've ever heard of the gasket issues, but I have not seen any signs of problems. Can anyone tell me what to look for?

 

43,000 miles and still going strong. Never had a problem.

 

I just bought a 2002 XL Sport(reg. cab, short bed) with the 4.2L
5 speed manual trans. yesterday, so I don't have but a couple miles of experience with it. I think it has plenty "get up and go".

I will be retiring my '95 with the 4.9L Straight 6(best engine Ford has made) 5 speed as soon as I can get her cleaned up to sell. After 170K, I was ready to get a newer F-150 and lose the extended cab.

I sure hope Ford never gets rid of a manual trans. for the F-150s.