Hey You (Truck) Motorheads Out There....

[horseshoer]

Have a 98 Ford F150 w/4.2 6 cyl. 114,000 mi. I am presently having a new engine put in but wanted to see what feedback this would bring.
It ran fine, normal when shut off one night the next day turned the key and
she gave a weak 1/2 crank twice then nothing. Bought trk used 3-1/2 yrs ago same battery as came in it so figured that was it. Put new one in and it gave 2 more weak cranks then fired right up but with a terrible mechanical
knocking. Runs smooth but very metallic, rythemical knocking. Someone said maybe solenoid is out starter gear clattering against flywheel, made sense so put new starter in-same thing.(Battery & starter both tested bad incidently)
Ford mechanic came out listened to it said it was hydra-locked and place that is putting engine in verified that when they tested the eng when they got it there. Can anyone explain how this came to be in the course of shutting it off and then starting it next day? I haven't got a satisfactory one yet-just the mechanics of how coolant gets into a cyl, wont compress like gas/air mixture and consequently piston cannot raise all the way, rod bends, and rod knocks against cyl wall. Just curious. Last Ford was F150 w 302 and had 287,000 m on it when I sold it to neighbor and original eng, NEVER so much as saw a mechanic. I know thats a tough act to follow but I thought 114,000 m is a little premature. Old trk has 361,000 and old neighbor still driving it.LOL What a mistake in hindsight. Sorry about the long post.
Jeff

[J White]

Just some thoughts, every time a block warms up and cools down, lots
of expansion/contraction. Cast iron has been known to crack - a crack in
either the cylinder head or block could flow coolant into the cylinder.
Or a headgasket could have just finally picked that time to give up the
ghost? Have heard of some engines being damaged that way from a
cylinder full of fuel too - '98, fuel injected, right? An injector stuck open
could flow a lot of fuel, possibly empty the fuel rail into that cylinder on
shut-down? Just some guessing,

[crap-king]

my 97 F150 is a 4.6 8 cylinder - has 290,000 thousand - I use to have to burn hightest all the time because it knocked so bad - it is in need of many repairs but it still is clicking along and now it runs as good on regular as hightest - not bad for 290,000 miles - I think if I put a new torque converter in it will last another 100,000

[Pooch]

I recently had an intake manifold gasket give up and it allowed coolant to pour into the block. Just another consideration.---Pooch

[fishman247]

had one "vapor lock " on me .....sounds the same thing as described........i just pulled the pluggs and rolled it over to push the liquid out....put pluggs back in and 50,000 miles later,still going(reminds me i need to change my pluggs)

[mudwitch]

I would say that the head gaskets were going bad for a while.Did you ever smell anti freeze sometimes than not.The 3.8 ford could take a head gas leak, fix it and away you go. These newer v6 are not as forgiving. Most don,t do as yours did but i have seen 2 that did exactly as yours did. we run a fleet at work and have 40 98-2005 e250.Go to NHSA for recall updates or pending recalls. You can also make a complaint. I would because the two which i saw do it were 98 models, with well over 100,000 miles,.Ask the nhsa man about how many complaints are currently on the books. Keep your receiets. ask them for the other Gov agency in which to make a complaint.I say to complain because Ford Refunded the cost of the two motors. The only thing which could make a noise like that would be a cracked piston,bent rod or a broke crank i would think. LOL PS IF YOU CALL IN A COMPLAINT, HAVE YOUR vEHICLE VIN # HANDY.

[horseshoer]

Well I appreciate your feedback. I stumbled onto a site that I can't believe I missed before that is literally hundreds & thousands of disgruntled 4.2 liter 6 cyl. owners that have the same version of suddenly knocking/white smoke/eng failure. Mostly 97-98s. Ford put a intake manifold recall out but very few owners were informed. Invariably it is the culprit with coolant leaking into #2 cyl and causing a bent rod. Ford is not cooperating or even acknowledging any fault. I was adding a gal or so of coolant a year and never could figure where it went-no leaks, not overflowing from overflow reservoir, closed coolant system. No wonder I always thought my exhaust smelled funky.
Well hope maybe this will find a reader or 2 with the same eng and save some
poor soul some grief. Maybe I should just head a new thread "Ford F150 4.2 6 cyl. Warning"?????
Jeff
Thanks again .

[Cane Pole]

Best truck I ever owned was a 1973 ford with 390. Worst was a 1987 Dodge 4x4. Bad transmissions. Second worse was a 1998 Jeep Wrangler, again transmissions. Have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 now. I like it thus far. I ain't gentle with it. They supposed to pull, and I gonna find out or wear the dealers out. Me neighbor has a truck just like yours. He swears by it, not at it. It looks new. He is gentle with it.

[horseshoer]

Best truck I ever owned was a 1973 ford with 390. Worst was a 1987 Dodge 4x4. Bad transmissions. Second worse was a 1998 Jeep Wrangler, again transmissions. Have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 now. I like it thus far. I ain't gentle with it. They supposed to pull, and I gonna find out or wear the dealers out. Me neighbor has a truck just like yours. He swears by it, not at it. It looks new. He is gentle with it.

Yeah, my best a 89 F150 w/302 and several others none with untimely or major problems. See my other thread and you will further see what the problem is. I went to your site the other night incidently and found it very
interesting and entertaining, nice job.
Jeff