I'm looking at a 97 Ext cab XLT 4x2 4.2L 5-speed with 56,600 miles on it for $11,900. I've been reading a little bit on the board here and saw that it seems the 97's might be a problem child. What's the deal with the timing chain cover? Is there a recall out that'll take care of it? Are there recalls out on these trucks? If there are what ones are they so I can see if they've been done to the truck or not? Anything else to look out for on this truck? It looks very well taken care of from what I could see this evening. Tomorrow I'll try to look at it when the dealer is open and drive it, too. I'm needing some better gas mileage which is why I'm considering it but I'd rather have a 4.6L V8. How "lacking" is the 4.2L in power? What are the power ratings (hp and torque)? Would I be better off finding a different truck?

 

The 4.2L V-6 has 205 HP, and 252 lb/ft of torque. That is the stock HP/TRQ ratings.

 

Mines close to 250/275

 

Is that 250/275 with the juice? or just with the other mods?

 

Just the mods... no juice. I only play around with the nitrous, nothing serious.

really i'm between 245/270 - 250/275

pretty close around there.

 

MO4X4,

Ok lets see if someone can actually answer your question now....:-)

There are 3 areas that gave this engine problems in 97 and 98. Ford did a poor job of addressing them mostly. The timing cover gasket recall was the most major fix they did. But that even fell short of doing it right. In the early stages Ford discovered that the gasket fails with enough frequency to cause some concern enough to issue a TSB to inspect them. The problem got worse and they attempted to fix it with a general recall. The problem with that recall is it excluded some vehicles. The range of VINs was too narrow. Plus the initial TSB for inspection caused some that had been inspected to get "missed" on the recall.

The result was there are some vehicles that either A) never got recalled at all
B) got recalled but were pencil whipped by the Service depts because they already did the TSB.
C)Got recalled and fixed.

Some vehicles will never fail, a majority won't. But a good number did fail and will fail. Ford addressed that particular gasket in the later part of 98 and seemed to have solved it from late 98 on.

The second common problem is the lower intake manifold gasket leaking water into the cylinders. It causes a sudden hydro-lock and results in bent rods after the engine is started from sitting overnight. That was also recalled and done so a little more effectively that time.

The third problem is head gasket leakage. This engine is a carry over from the 3.8 engine for the most part. The 3.8 had a massive recall for head gasket leak problems and the 4.2 apparently has some known failures there as well. I listed these in the order of frequency of failure. None of these mean the engine is bad or that they will all fail.

It is a good engine. It isn't like millions are failing from this. It is an issue yes, it is worth being concerned over yes. When they fail it is a MAJOR failure resulting in extensive work.

Most likely Ford will tell you that your vehicle does not need to have the recall done. But it is worth calling to find out. Give them the VIN and see what they tell you. Also go to AllData and plug in your info and it will spit out a list of the recalls for your vehicle. Also here on this site there is a link to recalls and Inspections you can try. Most likely Ford will tell you your vehicle is clear of any needed recalls. That doesn't mean it won't fail. It just means that Ford is telling you that the recall doesn't cover your vehicle. As I said they did a poor job of covering all affected vehicles.

Here is what I would do personally if you like the truck. Get an extended warranty when you buy it. A GOOD extended warranty that will cover engine and drivetrain repairs. There are lots of companies that sell good warranties. Pay anywhere from $900-1100 for the insurance. Don't buy it from Ford. If it fails and Ford tries to screw you by not making good on it (a very likely scenario) you have the extended warranty to fall back on. It is an insurance policy that this time I would say is money well spent.

I just did a 4.2 on a truck that HAD been recalled for the timing cover gasket. The supposedly replaced gasket was the cause of failure this time
so I have little faith in the recall effort for this.

The problem is you don't know which engines will fail and which will not, the majority don't.

By the way the V-8 have issues also so there are really no reason to dis-qualify the V-6 over the V-8 if you think that will give you peace of mind by going to a V-8.

The 6's lack a little in the power dept stock, but that is remedied with a few hundred bucks in mods if you want. It does get better mileage. Depending on gearing you can get from 15 to low 20s out of them. Which is waaaayyy better than the first choice in V-8s. In stock form as already noted here it is only a few numbers away from equaling the 4.6 in power output.

Don't be afraid of the V-6 or the truck. These trucks are pretty hard to beat and truth be told I'm not a real Ford fan so that tells you I must like them...:-).

Where are you located?

If I can help more just ask. This is great board with plenty of knowledge.

 

Thanks for the information. The truck is in really good shape. Only 56,600 miles on it. I'm going to try to look at it and drive it today but now I'm a bit "iffy" about it. I can't afford a problem child but I'll also see what I could get in the way of a extended warranty. I'll probably just keep shopping.

I had a 96 Mustang GT and didn't really have problems with the motor untill the crap plastic intake blew up. The mustangs had their fair share of recalls back then, too. Plus those junk T45 tranny's. Lots of problems with the tranny.

Is there any way at all to tell if those problems are occuring or do they "just happen" all of a sudden? I reckon the tranny would be fine as long as ya shift the sucker correctly. I had problems with the synchros in the mustang, too, but then again I played with it at the track . This truck is no toy. Just a daily driver. Unfortunately I have to get rid of the L . It just takes too much gas for me right now. 119K on it and not one problem. But 12 mpg w/91 octane minimum hurts the pocket book. BTW, I'm in the Carthage/Springfield Missouri area. Carthage is my home town.

 

The headgasket and timing cover can be seen most easily by a loss of coolant.

Unfortunately the lower inatke gasket failure is pretty much an all of a sudden like overnight type thing usually. Sometimes they have been known to partially fail and give similar symptoms to a headgasket leak but mostly they simply blow one day and the next day your engine is hydro-locked and can't be turned over or if it can, it will bend rods trying to run with no compressable space in the cylinder.

 

Tall Tom G- I have a '97 V-6 with 154K on it and had the timing chain cover gasget replaced at 80,000 before any damage resulted. I have had no other problems, lost no coolant, and the truck runs just fine. My question is wheter it would be a good idea to replace the intake manifold gaskets as preventative maint. or should I leave well enough alone and hope the gaskets hold. Mine was manufactured 5/97. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

TSD98,

You are a good example of a good V-6 with lots of troublefree miles.

Now the question you ask is a good one. A tough one to answer though. At 150K miles if it hasn't failed I would think it probably won't. But as soon as I say that it will fail and everyone would be mad at me for telling them it wouldn't.

So let me say that if I liked the truck, planned on keeping it I would fix it myself as a preventative thing yes. But that is myself doing the work. The gasket(s) you have to replace 2 to replace the lower since the upper manifold is removed to get to the lower aren't that expensive like $25 but it is not an hour job to do the replacement. It will be a fair amount of work like a weekend and THAT is if you are a competent mechanic. There is a fair of dis-aasembly to do just to get to the manilfolds and you need to sort of know your way around to do the job relatively quickly. It can readily be done by a firsttime patient mechanic, but it won't be without some nerves getting rattled.

Now if you tell me you don't do your own work I'd then say you are looking at probably $250+ or so in labor depending on shop rates in your area.

That could be money well spent to you if you like the truck and plan on keeping it for a while, but for a truck with 150K miles on it I'd probably choose to NOT spend that as a preventative thing for the gasket. My feeling is would have probably failed by now based on the patterns I seem to be seeing when I ask around and do research.

But please realize that I only have experience with failures in the 54-80K mile range so far. I am NOT an authority on any of this and certainly can't say I know that they won't ever fail past that.

Tough question for me to answer because I feel like you want to do the right thing and I can't say I know what the "right" thing is at this point. It is a subjective thing if you aren't the owner of the vehicle. A shop would say yeah replace it, they want the work of course.

 

I just bought a '97 4.2 4x4 with 113,000 miles. The price was right and it seems to be clean and run good, but I purchased a good extended warranty just in case.

But, this morning on the way to work, she started to overheat. I pulled into a service station and put over a gallon of water into the cooling system! I'm obviously losing coolant from somewhere. Maybe the timing chain cover gasket? I wonder if I can get this fixed under the recall?

Other than that, the old girl runs great!

 

mashie banks,

When was the last time you checked the coolant level???

 

I actually had topped it up about 3 weeks ago.

 

The quick and easy checks to explore would be:

Check the oil on the dipstick. If you are taking on that much coolant it will easily show in the oil. The dipstick will look like it has chocolate milk on it when you check the oil. If it does it is probably the timing chain cover leaking. Possibly head gaskets but I'd expect it to be running rough if its taking on that much down into the crankcase.

Next would be the steam out the tailpipe test. If its steaming like a steam cleaner then you are leaking at the headgaskets.

Next would be signs of a leak externally on the block. The headgaskets can leak to the outside and be seen as coolant on the block under the heads. There are also some heater and bypass hoses that can be lieaking pretty good and you don't really see it because it burns off when the engine is hot. Particulalry one under the upper intake. Its a B$%^h to see and get to and a good possible leaker.

If you have oil in the crankcase, that is the worst possible outcome at this point. All the others are less expensive to fix. The heater hoses being the best hope at a fix.

The lower intake gasket could also thoeretically leak water into the crankcase. But that would not really be relevant. If you have water in the oil, the engine is coming apart anyway. That would be changed as a matter of procedure.

If it hasn't been recalled by Ford by now, I doubt they will at this point. It has way too many mils for them to feel obligated now.

 

Thanks guys. I just changed the oil 2 weeks ago and didn't see any evidence of coolant in the old oil at all. The dipstick and filler cap are looking good now, too.

I'm going to do a thorough check to see if coolant is getting out some other way.

If it is the timing chain cover gasket, why can't I just get a Chilton's manual and replace it myself? Shouldn't be too big a job. I have lots of tools and am pretty mechanically inclined. I guess that worry is that the bearings have already been affected.

If the motor blows up, I just have to hope that the extended warranty that I bought will fix/replace it!!