i recently bought this 97 4.2 4wd short bed with 118000 miles off a family friend who decided to update to a newer f150 when the truck broke down an he had it towed to a repair shop an he paid to replace both cats because they were plugged an one o2 censor an it was still undrivabe. well this is were i came in. i had it towed to my house an was hoping to fix it myself if i can figure out what is really wrong. the truck will not start at all now. I saw it run before it was towed it was very rough almost like a miss an black smoke was noticable. the previous owner thought injectors i am leaning more to a fuel/air issue maf sensor maybe anyone who has more knowledge please help! i wil replace plugs/wires when i do whatever else. I know the truck was worth what i paid an im sorry if I did not give the right info but this is all i have..thank you all for any help...sean

 

Do you know if the upper intake manifold gaskets were changed?

 

i bought the truck the way it is now an the preowner only put 5000miles on it since they got it in 02

 

Read out the OBD2 for codes.

 

i have the trk at home an i dont have a scanner. if i cant get any ideas here i may just send it to a mec. was hoping to save a buck

 

You can go to Wal*Mart and get a scanner for roughly $50.

 

Does the engine turn over? If not i would pull your spark plugs out and then try turning the engine over again. If it turns over chances are you blew coolent out of the cylenders. Aka intake manifold gaskits are bad. Lets us know.

 

yep had the same problem a few years back when i had my 97 4.2, there was a recall on the gasket and it was never taken in. few thousand miles later i bought the truck drove till 85000 miles then the cylinders filled with water, i then started the truck and snapped some rods and drove for another hundred miles or so with horrible knocking till i got a new motor put in.... ran like a champ even if it only had 2 or 3 working cylinders

 

Still looking for answers to my truck problem I read where a bad camshaft sensor could do this. Never tried it myself.