I have/had a 1997 f150 reg cab xlt w/v6 & automatic.
I was having a minor coolant leak, but nothing leaking on the outside of the engine. I drove the truck in to the dealership this morning and told them I suspected a coolant leak inside the engine and left the truck to be diagnosed. I even told them that I needed to get it looked at because I was afraid that if I kept driving it, it would hydrolock. I just got off the phone with the dealership manager; he said they put pressure in the cooling system several times, but it wouldn't hold pressure. There were no external coolant leaks. So being the rocket scientists they are, they started the engine to build pressure and hydrolocked the engine.
At first they're saying it's not their fault and it'll cost me $4,500.00 for a new engine.
I don't think I should have to pay any more than the diagnostic and cost of repairing the leak because they knew I thought the coolant was leaking internally and I was afraid to keep driving it for fear it would hydrolock.
I argued on the phone with the consultant, then the manager for about 15 minutes. I'm waiting for them to call back with a better offer.
Thornhill Ford in Waxahachie, in case anyone wants to know.

 

tell them you want to talk to the area director,,there usually better to deal with...IMHO they screwed up...dont let them S`crew ya...its almost like ok we did your brakes,went for a test drive,oops we screwed up on the brakes and crashed and your truck,they would have to fix it/or replace..correct?

Good Luck

 

Yea. I already told them that I needed to talk to the next person up the food chain. They know that the customer (me) thought that there was coolant leaking into the engine & I that's why I had brought it in, before it hydrolocked on me. They pressurized the cooling system several times, but it kept loosing pressure. No coolant was leaking outside the engine. Where the heck did they think it was leaking? So they decide to start up the truck to see what would happen.
Sorry for rambling, I'm pissed....

 

I agree with you. The hospital is supposed to heal and not KILL the patient. Stand you ground, a lot of us are with you on this!

 

My truck leaks into the cylinder also. I don't think it is a head gasket, more like a manifold leaking down in the cylinder as compression is good and has never overheated. Have not tested the coolant yet.

I started smelling this during morning warm ups as it will burn off the coolant.

I have read someplace that this was a common problem with the 4.2L engines. Is this correct and does anyone know if there was a recall on this?

Does anyone know exactly where the weak point is?

Chuck

 

Would the engine even actually start after this? ( I know you weren't there, I'm just saying) I would guess they tried to start the engine after this and the starter wouldn't be able to turn the engine over. Then they probably wouldn't know enough to remove the spark plugs and crank the engine over to get the coolant out of the cylinders. Worse case scenario if the engine wouldn't start would be a bent connecting rod. I know this would still be equal to a ruined engine in todays world. BUT if the engine hydrolocked as soon as they tried cranking it, it MAY NOT have bent a connecting rod. I seen a Chevy engine hydrolocked once on gasoline(The story is too long to tell now) and it didn't hurt a thing. Not right away anyhow. Anyway Good luck and I also think the shop is at fault.

 

The weak point is the lower intake gaskets.The 97s and some of the 98s had bad timing cover gaskets.There was a recall for the 97 timing cover gasket but only a TSB on the lower intake gaskets.

 

The dealership is saying there is not a known problem with hydrolocking on the 4.2 v6 (we know that ain't true). They said they actually started the engine to build pressure in the cooling system and the engine started to knock. They felt that the main problem (other than the coolant leak) was some bent lifters, but they don't know what other damage there could be and they don't recommend trying to repair it. If I want to pay to just repair it they're saying they could help me out by trying to repair the engine for $1,740. The Ford Customer Service Center logged a complaint for me, but because the dealerships are privately owned they don't get involved in repair disputes. No one at the dealership is currently taking my calls. I've called my insurance company, since the damage occurred while the truck was in the dealership (and they haven't lied about that), that some (most) of the engine repair or replacement might be covered less my $250 deductible (I might be glad I didn't raise that). The insurance adjuster is supposed to go out to look at my truck and talk to the service people today (Nov 29). I've called my visa company to let them know that I had to keep the rental car because Thornhill Ford has disabled my vehicle and I don't have any other means of transportation. And yes I'm constantly thinking the legal option, but that is a lot of work & I want to wait until that is the only thing left for me to do.
Thanks for the support, I didn't think this would be the way I would finally start joining in the forums instead of just lurking.

 

The insurance adjuster finally called me back @6:30 Thurs. night. The cost of replacing the engine was right at the point where they would total the vehicle- 85% of the appraisal value. He let me decide if I wanted to repair it or total it out. I decided to go ahead and let them total it out. I'll get around $4,700 after the deductible. The dealership made me pay a $40.00 diagnostic fee (ransom) to release the truck to be towed to the salvage yard (that's on my visa & I'll contest it as soon as I've verified that the insurance company has picked up their truck). Fortunately I had started calling around & had a 2007 mazda 3i touring picked out and got the price down to $1,700.00 under list over the phone. I picked it up today. Since the insurance is picking up most of the loss, I'm only going to be out around $700.00 and you can't justify hiring a lawyer for that amount. I was considering small claims court, but by the time you pay the filing fee, take a vacation day to do that, prepare for the case & take a vacation day for the court day; it's not quite worth it to me. Although I'm pretty sure I would win the case, it's a lot of hassle & time (plus paying the court costs if I do lose). Yea, I know satisfaction is worth something- but sometimes you need to cut your losses and avoid the aggravation & stress. This is a great website, and even if I never own a 'real' ford or pickup again I'll still come back to see how everyone else is doing with their F150's. I just got the new Mazda3 back home about 45 minutes ago, boy it's been a long week.
Update: I just added everything up, looks like after I contest the $40.00 ransom, the actual costs are about $125 for the car rental & $250 deductible; all I'll be out is about $375. If I had sold the truck myself I probably would have gotten that much less for it. Time to just walk away.

 

Sorry about your luck man... just read your thread today. If you're looking for that attorney style vengence without the price tag then write a letter to the editor of a major newspaper locally and tell them about your experience. Stick with the facts and tell them how it only put you out so much but how some days life just isn't fair and it sucks that the lil' people always get sat on by the corporations... Justice comes in more flavors than Baskin & Robbins.

 

That Would Super to the fifth power m yfriend srry to hear that

 

Well the good news keeps on coming. I had an appointment this morning to take in the title and spare key to turn my truck over to the insurance company and get the check for totaling out the truck (@$4,850). I found out when I got their that GEICO had decided they would not pay for the damage caused by Thornhill Ford (in Waxahachie) because mechanical incompentence is not covered under my policy, but should be under Thornhill Fords liability insurance. I'm having the truck towed to Service King to see if the damage is just in the head (push rods, valves. etc) and they can repair it. If not I'll probably have them put in a remanufactored engine which is about $2,400.00 plus parts and labor- probably around $3,300-3,600.00 total. I wish the insurance company would have made up their minds last week before I bought the new Mazda. I'm going to wait until this is all over before I contact a lawyer. I'm thinking it was probably the lower intake manifold gasket that was causing the leak & Ford should have known about it. When I asked the Ford service manager about it he said that none of the ford engines have ever had a gasket problem that lets coolant leak into the engine. BTW the new Mazda 3 gets awsome gas mileage, it seems to have about the same mile range per tank but with a gas tank that's only half as big as my truck. It's looking like I'll be going back to two vehicles again.

 

First,you need to tell that Ford service mgr. what a big liar he is! Then,go to this website and tell him to go there too;
http://forums.treemedia.com/fb/showthread.php?t=224

 

I searched down through the TSB's on this site & looked through the thread above, but I did not see a specific TSB that referenced this particular problem. There were a quite a few that addressed the cooling system, including at least two addressing coolant leaking into the engine oil. Unless I just missed it, there isn't a TSB from April 2000 addressing the lower intake manifold gasket replacement procedure. The one 'tsb' I did find was actually from Jasper engines.
Does anyone know what this is:
Consumer Ford Certificate (CFC) ONP 00M009 #00062DB6001
That was listed as something to reference when talking with ford.
Also I registered on the 'fight back' web site and posted my story there along with the hundreds of others (at least I think I got it posted).
The general feeling I'm getting is that everyone that has this problem is on their own.

 

There is a TSB on the lower intake gaskets.It is what the Ford techs have to follow when they replace the lower intake gaskets.I'll find it then post it.

The timing cover gasket was a recall back in 1999/2000.I think it was 99-B-29.