Guys,
I am very pissed off at Ford. What is this "Built Ford Tough" crap. I bought a 97 ford f150 with 30,000 miles last January without knowing everyone else in the world was having problems. Here I am almost two years later with a knocking noise. I do all my maintainance regularly and this is unacceptable. My truck now has 61,000 and Covert Ford in Austin Texas says that I need a new engine. The main bearings are going out and since it is out of warranty there is nothing I can do. I called the 800# for ford complaints and the answer that Kathy gave me is "I have searched our databases and there is nothing that we can do for you". I had a 94 Ford f150 inline 6 with 140,000 miles on it before I got this P.O.S. I never had a problem with that truck. I see this stupid commercial everday with Ford junior on it talking about dependability and reliability. That is the biggest crock of sh*$ I have ever heard of when it comes to this engine. My father inlaw has a 3.8l mustang and I have already warned him what happens with this engine. His is a 98 with 70,000 miles. Same noise... Go figure. Ford really needs to pull their heads out and see how many loyal customers they are gonna lose. I am going to look for a Toyota tonight.... Never want a ford again. Good luck to all of you. I just needed to vent.

 

Argh

 

shoulda bought a v8

 

Sorry to hear about your problem. I thought ford knew about this problem and they were fixing this???? Well any way....sorry you hate ford. I love my 4.2

 

First of all, you bought a USED truck with 30,000 miles. Who knows what was done to the truck before you baought. It may have had one oil change....

Second...unfortunately, with American vehicles, you have to do some research before you buy a product.

Also, I have owned 3 FORDs. 2 F150s. An I6 and now the 4.2. I have had 0 problems. My straight 6 had 235,000 miles on it when I sold it to a friend...and it still runs great...Never a single problem besiades normal wear and tear. My 4.2...same thing except less miles...it responds nicely to mods as well.

Plus my friend had a 97 F150 4.2 and I believe he had about 90,000 on it with no probs when he traded it in, now he has an 02 4.2.

Just because you had a bad experience doesn't mean the engine sucks. That's why I DON'T buy used!!!

 

I agree with a poster above. The damage probably occured in the 30,000 miles prior to the poster's purchase. My son's 4.2 standard is running like a top after 43,000 miles. We change the oil between 2500 and 3000 miles with Exxon Superflow and a new motor craft filter.

 

XLT-Sport, nice truck


i had a 97 4.2 and then got a 99 4.2

as a 19 year old i can attest to the fact that these engines are tough as nails.

the only problem i have had is that people think that my old truck is a v8 since it has flows.

 

I agree something happened b-4 you bought, no complaints here I have a 97 4x2, V6 with 126000 and stiiil going strong

 

By the way i just joined this site and I have to say this site is the best trouble shooting guide for the F150 and for improvement mods

 

It's: shoulda had a v8

Jeez, those of you that think he is wrong really need to do a little reasearch and try to understand where he's coming from.

Ford redesigned the engine front cover gasket and lower intake manifold gaskets on the 4.2L engine because they saw the failure rate was unacceptably high. If you have an engine built after early 1998, it received the revised gaskets that don't have such a high propensity for failure.

Ford TSB #99-20-7 provides very specific details about which engines "REQUIRE" updated gaskets.

I suppose you think that the 1995 3.8L engine didn't have gasket problems either, huh???

He's not saying that Ford vehicles suck either. The problem is that Ford Motor Co is telling him that they don't care that his engine only lasted 61,000 miles (How would you feel in the same situation with your truck?) . I've personally been in contact with literally hundreds of other 1997 4.2L F-150 owners in a similar situation. It's not just that these gaskets failure prematurely. The real problem seems to be Ford's response. They don't care

I really don't think this has to do with maintenance either. I've owned my truck since new and have receipts to show I've never gone more than 3,000 miles between oil changes. I've also had the cooling system flushed at Ford's recommended intervals. I needed the Engine Front Cover Gasket and Lower Intake Manifold Gaskets replaced with less than 80,000 miles on the engine. In the words of the Ford Service Manager: "It's obvious this truck has been well cared for." "Even the engine is spotless inside and out."

This is not about the Ford 4.2L engine in general. This is specifically about the 4.2L engines built from 09/25/95 through 01/15/98. Look at the facts of the situation. The Post 1998 engines are not commonly delevoping these particular gasket problems. Yet, those built prior to 01/15/98 seem to be failing more and more every day. I have been in contact with over 200 other 1997 4.2L F-150 owners and they all have a similar problem with these specific gaskets, listed in the TSB. If this were about an owner's lack of maintenace, we would be seeing these problems with all engines. The fact is that these particular gasket failures are much more common on the 1997 4.2L engine for a reason and that reason has less to do with the owner than it does with the design of the gaskets. Ford would not have "REVISED" these gaskets if they did not believe there was a problem.

Not all of the engines will suffer these gasket failures but if you look around, you'll see that the 1997 4.2L engine failures are much more common than anyone would reasonably expect.

 

Had a problem with a Ford and will never buy another one? Going to buy a toyota tonight?

To each his own, but just because you get one lemon doesent mean they are all bad. I have driven mostly Fords for all of my life (I am 62) and I have no complaints. My wife and I both have F150s. I intend on keeping mine but my wife will probably trade hers at 2 - 3 years and you can bet it will be another Ford.

The original poster was saying that Fords Suck, to which I disagree strongly!

 

The problems with these engines are real and well documented. and Ford's disregard for their customers is absolute ***** in this situation. Please don't blame the guy for being angry. He got burned just like myself and others that I know.

Engine destroying, critical gasket failure is not new territory for the "Essex" V-6, it's been going on for many years prior to 1997. It's hard to forgive and forget when the cure for Ford's faulty design costs the average owner over $3000. Plese don't tell us to buy a V-8, durability and reliability should come built into both the V-6 and V-8s. There are many extremely durable V-6 engine designs on the road-this is not one of them. Ford has known this for a long time and obviously isn't interested in improving it. If head, intake, or timing chain cover gasket life expectancy is only 36,000 on a Ford engine, I just bought my last also.

 

I really do wish that those of you who think he's overreacting would put yourself and your own truck in the same situation, for a moment.

Every auto maker does have design problems from time to time. I think what makes this so awful is that Ford knows there is a design flaw, yet they are telling affected owners to **** off. The TSB is a veritable indication that the design of these specific gaskets fell short of durabilty expectations.

Ford has made a conscious decision to lose customers over this. If just a few of these vehicles experienced these gasket failures, this wouldn't be an issue. It could simply be chalked up to bad luck. What's happening instead though, is owners with these problems get on the internet, find that many, many other owners have the same problems and see that it's not just bad luck. It makes us believe very strongly that Ford let us down. From past experience with Ford vehicles, most of us expected these engines to go at least 200,000 miles. When you find that you and many other owners need a new engine at just 80,000-100,000 and Ford doesn't care, it's very upsetting.

I think anyone experiencing this problem has a very legitimate gripe with the Ford Motor Company and has every right to be upset. We didn't get what we expected.

Some people say that we are whining. That the vehicle has 3yr/36,000 mile warranty and once it's done, it's our problem. This 3yr/36,000 mile warranty is an express/written warranty and covers the entire vehicle. In reality, all of our vehicles are also covered by implied warranties that protect individual parts of our vehicles for the average expected life. We expected more. We deserve more. Ford let us down.

Ford Motor Company could have kept me as a customer for another 50 years if they had spend just $700.00 to make my engine as durable as post 1998 engines. They chose not to and they have lost my entire family as customers. It's not that we don't like Ford's. It's that we have all been blown off when problems like this develop. It's simpy not pleasant and if we have a choice, why should we continue to support a company that really, truely doesn't care if they make us happy???

I can't give Ford Motor Company any more of my money until they once again live upto their moto.

Maybe some of you true believers should head over to the V-8 forum and tell all the whiners over there to shut about their Piston Slap & Blown Spark Plugs.

 

AjRagno,

I agree with you. I would be mad too if this was my truck.

I just have a bad tendancy to be defensive for Ford. In the past week I've gotten into several arguments with Chevy owners about whose truck is better. Sorry to allow my Chevy-Hating-Wrath to spill onto my FORD bros

Later,

Ben

 

Ben,

I know you're very opinionated. That's alright with me

It's just that in this patricular situiation, those of us with these gasket failures think there is a very clear indication that Ford knew there was a problem for years. Beyond that, Ford also decided that they would just let out engines destroy themselves and then ignore our complaints.

I personally plan on buying another F-150, in the spring. I just can't buy a new one from Ford Motor Company because I'd feel like a complete moron to give them anymore money after the way they've responded to this situation as well as the problems with our '99 4.0L SOHV Explorer.

I really wish that Ford would be more responsive to the current problems.