Most likely,the lower intake gaskets have began to fail and one of the cylinders partially filled with coolant and bent a rod upon start up.It might be too late to save the motor now. If you need more information go to this website;
www.leakingfords.com

 

It sounds like a lifter noise. I havn't noticed a diferrance in the sound. Would I have been able to drive it with a bent connencting Rod over 800 miles? My mechanic has an uncle thats been driving his clacking Ford for over two years.

The trucks in good shape but it's still over eight years old. I don't know if I want to spring for a long block with only a two year warranty.

I did have the front gasket changed under a recall but I didn't get a recall for the intake manifold.

 

Yes,you can still drive with a bent connecting rod,until next time! And,that could be anytime! It sounds as if your engine did not get the full effect of the hydro-lock,this time!


And Ford will not do a recall! Get in line with the others who have bent over and taken the Ford blue oval up the ***!

 

I just fired off some e-mails to FORD. Wish me luck at trying to recoupe some of the $3749.20 I spent last week replacing my 4.2L with a broken road and hole in the oil pan. Mechanic confirmed it was due to water in the cylinder because of a bad gasket. Heck he had 2 in there the same day.

Anyway, should e-mailing fail, does anyone know if there are any class action suits for this, or do I need to file an individual suit? I'd bite the bullet if it didn't cost so much, but this will effect my income for quite a while.

Thanks!

 

I bought my truck brand new in may '97. Thursday morning after registering for classes I was going to go to the post office when my truck hydro-locked. At least from the really good info here now that I have the problem, I know what to look for but of course it is too late. I'm going to the Lawyers Office tomorrow morning at UT. It is free for students. I will need a new engine b/c I'm sure it bent or broke a rod. What a horrible sound and feeling in my stomach. 87,000 miles! This sucks donkey *****. I will sue Ford in small claims court. I'm not sure I'll win but I'm going to have my day in court with or without UT lawyers. I bet a judge would be sympathetic after reading all this info. on here. I truly wish Ford would have given me a heads up about watching for missing coolant or something....sheeeeesh! I would have replaced the damn gaskets at my expense although they know who should be held responsible. It is a defect. At the very least they should have it as a scheduled maintenance if they know it'll fail. Wish me luck. This sucks, have I mentioned that yet? My poor pristine truck. I took really damn good care of it too. What a waste of time, not to mention money I truly don't have.

p.s. Is it only the 4.2L v6 that has defective gaskets that could cause hydro lock? I have friends with F150's but the 4.6L and they are going to be asking me now.

 

The 4.6 is famous for spitting out the spark plugs.Go to the "ENGINES" forum and do a search on the subject.
BTW,good luck with your lawsuit!

 

I've had a slow coolant leak for years and yesterday upon startup, there was excessive white smoke in the exhaust. It cleared up, but I'm finally taking all the advice here and changing the intake gaskets. I had the front cover gasket recall done in 2000.

On leakingfords.com, the listed part number for the intake gasket set is as follows:
F85Z-9433-CA for engines built before 7/31/97
F65Z-9433-B for engines built after 7/30/97

My truck was built in late '96, so it is the earlier engine. My Ford dealer lists the following:
F65Z-9433-C engine build dates thru 7/97
F85Z-9433-DA build dates from 7/97

Since so many of you have already updated your gaskets, can someone tell me which is right?

Thanks,
Kent

 

My truck was built 10/96 and looking at my receipt it shows my local Ford dealer used the gasket set part number;
F65Z*9433*C
If you replace them make sure you clean the EGR ports on the lower intake. And,before you start the engine make sure you change the oil first. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Well here is the latest on my 4.2, I bought a rebuilt engine from a place in Tennesee called Grooms Engines. Since then I have put 60,000 miles on the engine with no problems at all. For an extra $150.00 you can purchase an Unlimited Lifetime warranty, so long as you still own the truck.
I bought my truck new in 11/96, the build date on my truck is 10/96. So I have had the loss of coolant problem, the heater not working properly, engine hydrolock, bent connecting rod. Thats when I took it to a shop and the owner new what it was before I could finnish telling him about it.
Anyway I have been the only owner of the truck, and at this point with all the work I have done to it and the length of time I have owned it. I would go crazy I anyone else were to have it. To make a long story longer, it really is a good truck once you take care of the factory built in defects.
Good luck to all out with these engines......Ken

 

So it looks like possibly the part numbers are swapped on leakingfords.com.

Update on my lower intake manifold gasket replacement...

The Haynes maunal instructions for manifold removal leaves out some stuff, so you can't follow it to the letter. Just use it as a guide. I spent too much time trying to figure out the anatomy of all the emmissions systems etc... just unplug/ unbolt/ disconnect everything in the way, but be sure to label everything as you go. A few digital camera shots may make things a little easier for reassembly. I'll highlight a few things that the Haynes procedure didn't.

There's a few vacuum lines on the way back passenger side of the intake plenum.

You will need a special "quick-disconnect" tool to separate the fuel lines from the fuel delivery manifold. I picked up a set of four sizes at Autozone for $10. I used the 3/8" and the 1/2" sizes.

There's a couple manifold bolts hidden way in the back that are difficult to access. The one on the passenger side is do-able with a small 1/4" drive 8mm socket, but for the drivers side I had to remove the IRMC or whatever the little actuator is called that moves the butterflys in the secondary intake runners.
I recommend spending some time cleaning the area near the edge of the manifold gaskets BEFORE removing the manifold to reduce the amount of debris falling in the valley.

When I finally lifted the manifold off, some coolant dripped into the valley of the block ("lifter valley"). I'll try to mop it up as much as possible, but this is why you MUST change the oil before starting the engine after doing this job.

I couldn't be sure that I had a bad gasket. It got torn up quite a bit when I separated the manifold.

Others have recommended cleaning the EGR ports while the manifold is out. I'm not sure which area is the "ports", but it probably involves a new EGR valve gasket... so order that when you order your manifold gasket set.

So far I have about 5hrs into the project. Everything is apart now, but needs to be cleaned still before starting reassembly. My local Ford dealer quoted ~$500 to do the job, including the gaskets, labor, oil change and replacement coolant. The gaskets were $85 or so, not including the EGR valve gasket.

 

Can someone please tell me how to find the build date. The Longhorn lawyer said probably my best chance of getting anything out of Ford is if my truck was built before 12/31/96 as stated on the TSB. Since I never rec'd a letter from Ford about the problem, he said I can hold them liable for that. I have the Vin of course and the numbers off the white tag on the valve cover but I don't know how to tell when my truck was manufactured. I don't see how it really matters since I bought it 5/25/97 and it had all the symptoms but he says that's really the only thing I can "hang my hat on". Thanks for y'alls help. I don't suppose there's a UT Ford dealer "Red McCombs" out there who browses these boards and would take pity on a currently poor UT student huh? ........... I didn't think so.

 

Hey Black, the build date is on the drivers side door post. Good luck with the lawyer, keep us informed..........Ken

 

Well, was there ever really any doubt I was going to be ****ed! I'm going to see the lawyer today but I'm pretty sure he'll say I'm ****ed. Does anyone know what the cheapest long block is out there? A friend found a rebuilder in Houston that has a rblt long for $1400 which sounds relatively reasonable. Guess what I'm going to be doing this weekend instead of studying? 87,300 miles and to think I was using Mobil 1 so my engine would last longer! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I have to laugh at my dumb ***. I knew when they got rid of the "At Ford quality is job one" slogan in '97 or so, it was going to be bad news. I remember getting a sinking feeling in my stomach when I first read about the slogan's demise. It couldn't have been a year after I bought my Truck. But I thought, it's an F150.......solid as a rock! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, what a dumb ***. This will be the last Ford or American car I own! Thanks for all who contributed to the great research and information. I hope others out there will hear about it before they suffer a catastrophic engine failure. Funny, all my previous vehicles were used and still ran, badly, but never had a catastrophic engine failure with a hell of a lot more miles on them. Very sad.

p.s. I realize foreign makers build here in the U.S. too. It's not the American worker, just the pinheads in management.

 

Black,i'm sorry to hear about your truck.But you gotta realize other auto manufactureers have problems with there vehicles too.Like Dodge; there transmissions are known to go bad within a few months after leaving the dealer.And GM,some of there models have lower intake gasket problems.Toyota is known for there differentials to chew up gears.
As you see,all vehicle makes have problems.Its sad that quality has gone south along with cutting corners just to make a dollar!
I was not happy to replace my lower intake gaskets back in 2002,but I knew if I did it would fix my engine and save me $3500.00 in the future.
Anyway,all i'm saying is whatever vehicle make you choose,there are gonna be skeletons in the manufacturers closet!

 

I'm ****ed. The lawyer said there's nothing I can do. Blue, I could live with a chewed up differential. I can't live with a ****ed up engine at 87000. I won't be buying AMERICAN EVER AGAIN! Except for maybe classics, other than Ford, like a 68 Firebird or 73 Charger. At least there I know about the engine quality. I usually refrain from saying "ever" but unfortunately I do mean it. It's never a good time for something like this to happen but right now is just about the absolute worst time for this to have happened. So it goes! Sing it with me, "At Ford, Quality is job NONE!" I'm not bitter though. Haaaaaaa! Hook 'em Horns! Thanks again y'all.