Hey, I have a 97 f150 4.2L 2wd 5sp, 112k on it. Bought it 3 months ago with 104k on it from the original owner, an old man that didnt change the oil often. (I got a really good deal, i think.) Have replaced: lower ball joints, tyrods, EGR valve, MAF and new exhaust. The truck is solid, minus the 4.2L engine. It consumes and leaks a quart of oil per 100 miles, more oil consuption with harder driving. I have changed the oil prolly 5 times in these 3 months. The oil gets dirty very quickly, thus the engine gets a little louder, ticks etc become apparent. Also, there is a whitish-brownish foam that builds up on the oil fill cap, and one spark plug gets oil fouled. the last oil change I put a quart of Marvel mystery oil in the crankcase, at first it smoked a lot but that stopped, and it runs much better now. And, I noticed a nice black spot on the driveway where the tail pipe usually is. One shop wants 600 bucks to re-ring it, but my buddy says if you have to do that, rebuild the entire thing, or do a swap..... Any suggestions guys?

 

I would look for a good used engine. What kind of carpet guy are you? installer? I own a carpet cleaning company. Lack of maintenance and with the problems your describing sounds like the simplest thing would be to find a totaled truck with a good running motor. Or if you plan on keeping it for along time spend the money on having it rebult. Probably cost about 2500 for that.

 

Run it till it dies, and if you still like the truck, do a swap. Maybe start saving and getting parts for a v8 swap.

 

The 97 V6's had bad intake manifold gaskets, so I'd look for a good used engine built after 1/15/98, or a rebuilt engine from a reputable rebuilder. If it uses that much oil, it's been neglected too much and I wouldn't try to rebuild it.

 

That's a hell of a lot of oil for that engine to be using.

I'd be looking for a good used engine, or a reman long block from like Jasper or Ford.

 

how does the air filter look? if its clogged up then the engine will try to pull the air from the crankcase. dought its the problem but its just a simple look.

 

Im an installer. I do wood, laminate, tile, vinyl, all that good stuff. Have never worked on a motor by myself, and cant seem to find any buddies that wanna help, even offered to pay. I did put new fuel/air filters on 3 months ago, that helped. fuel filter was original. plugs/wires were original too. It was misfiring so bad when I bought it I barely got it home. The rear diff is crappy too. It was whining pretty badly, so I took it to a lube place to have it serviced, cost a fortune. Thought fluid level would be low, but wasnt. the guy changed the fluid and it was quieter for a while, now it whines sometimes, other times, goes for a while with not much noise. I have also noticed some rear end hopping going around rough corners on dirt roads, prolly the rear shoes.

 

Sounds like you have a limited slip differential, and the clutches are chattering. Did the guy use synthetic 75W140 and a bottle of friction modifier?

Buy a case of cheap 5W30 oil (as long as it meets Ford 929 spec) and a few Motorcraft filters. Drain the oil, change the filter, and put in 5 quarts oil and one quart Dexron ATF. Repeat every 2 weeks till the sludge is all cleaned out. I'd bet your consumption and plug fouling will be considerably reduced.