- Oct 10, 1999
- 9,286
- 15
- 81
ANOTHER LEAKING/BROKEN FORD F150 4.2L v6 ENGINE
11/16/2005 ~ Go in for a routine oil and lube. Attendant gives me details, I have air filter replaced and coolant added because it was low.
2/23/2006 ~ Go in for my routine oil and lube. I ask the attendant to look at the coolant, I tell him that it keeps getting low. Sure enough he comes back and lets me know its very low, did I want to put coolant in it.
4/28/2006 ~ I go to my 97 F-150 to head out to an interview, shirt and tie, cup of coffee and paperwork in hand. Put the key in the ignition and it wont turn over. It isn't the "battery is dead" won't turn over, its a "I wanna turn over but I can't" ttunr over and I call my mechanic. He arrives and gets out his jumpers to see if it is a dead battery.
We look at the starter, electrical everything and can't seem to figure it out. He says to me, "you dont have very low or little coolent, put some in the resevior" He asks me if I noticed anything odd, any hesitation the previous day, I tell him no, I lterally drove 3 miles to go to the market and that was it for driving that day.
He asks me to put it in reverese and we try and push it backwards to turn the motor over. It won't budge, at this point he says there has to be something in the cylinder(s), gas, water, oil, something and we'll pull the plugs and see what comes out tomorrow (4/29/2006).
I can not beleive that my motor has seized with no real warning, no noticable heat issue. Sure it has 129,600 miles on it, but I care for it well enough. So late at night realizing that I am likely going to have some big mechanical work done I "google "Rebuilt Motor for 97 F-150"" and see 4th item listed "I have a '97 F-150 4.2L leaking coolant." This grabs my attention as it had become almost routine and I find this thread. Then I find this thread and this notice!
I will find out how bad the damage is later today, I will post again what comes out of the plugs, I am pretty sure it will be coolant and if so I will file with the NHTSA. ~ http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/home.cfm
If you have a 4.2 L V6 and you are noticing coolant loss or hard starts then please have your front and intake gaskets looked at, it can save your truck! Mine is a maybe at this point. Also, if you had a 4.2 L V6 that locked or threw a rod and you had issues with coolant then please sign the compliant form here - http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/home.cfm
SHUX
11/16/2005 ~ Go in for a routine oil and lube. Attendant gives me details, I have air filter replaced and coolant added because it was low.
2/23/2006 ~ Go in for my routine oil and lube. I ask the attendant to look at the coolant, I tell him that it keeps getting low. Sure enough he comes back and lets me know its very low, did I want to put coolant in it.
4/28/2006 ~ I go to my 97 F-150 to head out to an interview, shirt and tie, cup of coffee and paperwork in hand. Put the key in the ignition and it wont turn over. It isn't the "battery is dead" won't turn over, its a "I wanna turn over but I can't" ttunr over and I call my mechanic. He arrives and gets out his jumpers to see if it is a dead battery.
We look at the starter, electrical everything and can't seem to figure it out. He says to me, "you dont have very low or little coolent, put some in the resevior" He asks me if I noticed anything odd, any hesitation the previous day, I tell him no, I lterally drove 3 miles to go to the market and that was it for driving that day.
He asks me to put it in reverese and we try and push it backwards to turn the motor over. It won't budge, at this point he says there has to be something in the cylinder(s), gas, water, oil, something and we'll pull the plugs and see what comes out tomorrow (4/29/2006).
I can not beleive that my motor has seized with no real warning, no noticable heat issue. Sure it has 129,600 miles on it, but I care for it well enough. So late at night realizing that I am likely going to have some big mechanical work done I "google "Rebuilt Motor for 97 F-150"" and see 4th item listed "I have a '97 F-150 4.2L leaking coolant." This grabs my attention as it had become almost routine and I find this thread. Then I find this thread and this notice!
I will find out how bad the damage is later today, I will post again what comes out of the plugs, I am pretty sure it will be coolant and if so I will file with the NHTSA. ~ http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/home.cfm
If you have a 4.2 L V6 and you are noticing coolant loss or hard starts then please have your front and intake gaskets looked at, it can save your truck! Mine is a maybe at this point. Also, if you had a 4.2 L V6 that locked or threw a rod and you had issues with coolant then please sign the compliant form here - http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/home.cfm
SHUX
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