it has the 5 speed. I was wondering what transmissino this is? also how realiable are these motors

 

your asking now...?

regardless they're are some vin decoders out there that will let you know. search.
also.. 97-98 early production motors are known for hydro locking issues... also search

 

you will need to make sureyour head gaskets are the new ones or it will be hydro locked~

the transmission is?? E40D?? not sure exactly

 

The 5 speed manual is the Mazda M5OD-R2. The 97 engines had bad lower manifold gaskets which results in hydrolocked engines.

 

The timing cover gaskets were a bit of an issue in the 4.2. They would leak coolant into the oil at the bottom of the cover. I haven't seen a whole lot of intake and head gaskets on these engines; and I have been with Ford for just over 10 years.

 

truck was just too good of a deal to pass up at the the time but thanks for the info guys.. whats the best way to actually tell if there are new gaskets

 

ask the dealer you got it from if its head gaskets were changed.

 

The head gaskets are not an issue....it's the lower intake gaskets and the timing cover gasket.Read this;
http://forums.treemedia.com/fb/showthread.php?t=224

 

guy told me all the gaskets are new. truck also has a 140k miles on it and runs good. the only problem i notice is when i turn on the ac the truck wants to vibrate a bit. is this normal? or what could be causing it

 

My apologizies BlueOval. I was unaware of the gasket problems for the '97. I was just responding to earlier mentions in the thread to whether the head gasket was new or not. Thanks for the link though, actually learned something today.

 

Yeah, mine vibrates a bit with the A/C on at idle. It smooths out when you get the rpm's up. A 90 degree V-6 is not naturally balanced like a V-8 or a 60 degree V-6.

 

different flywheel help this any?

 

No no, its natural, mine does that too. It should idle @ 800 rpm, but 750 with A/C on full blast. Like glc said, the 90-deg V6 is imbalanced at low RPMs. Up high shes clean as a whistle!

The 5-speed is the Mazda M5OD trannie, mines got the 3.55 non-LS

 

thanks really appreciate it. unfortunatley i have no tachometer in the truck.. guess i dont really need it though

 

*IF* you have 3.55 gears and 255-70/16 tires, your max reasonable speeds in each gear are:

1st - 30
2nd - 55
3rd - 80
4th will hit the speed limiter (96) before it's wound out.