97 F150 with 130K engine gasket blew. This engine had a recall on engine and timing cover gaskets, and when I typed my VIN number in on the Ford site, they said I had no outstanding recalls. I asked Ford for the name of the dealer who lied and said they did the work and only got paid for it, and Ford said they had no info. I got the shaft, and it cost 5K to get engine rebuilt myself.

- Weatogue, CT, USA

Engine coolant level keeps running low.truck starting to skip or misfire on cylinder. No visible leakage on the out side of motor.

- Gantt, AL, USA

I have a 1997 F-150 4.6 V8 with approx 270, xxx miles on it. Around three years ago I replaced the original radiator at around 190, xxx miles, seemed fair that's a decent life I thought for a radiator. I took it to my local Ford dealer for replacement. Since then I am now need of my fourth radiator, the last radiator was replaced in Jan 2008. My local Ford dealer and Ford customer care folks are saying that the part is out of their 12 month/12,000 mile warranty and that there is nothing they can do. All repairs for this vehicle have been completed at this dealer for the past five or so years. My contention is that clearly these parts are suspect and the repair and failure history seems to support this.

- Troy, MO, USA

I recently noticed a loss of coolant and foamy engine oil. I found an online forum explaining this as a problem called hydrolocked.Ford has known about this problem since 1999 an has issued a tsb 99-20-7 and onp 99B29.why has Ford Motor Company not been held financially responsible for this ?

- Rochester, NH, USA

1997 Ford F150 4.2 V6 oil pressure falls to zero after warm up... with warning. I was deceptively sold this problem without warrantee just last month. My truck has only 66K miles and now I discover a big ongoing problem... just by placing this top line in any seach engine you'll reach... forums.treemedia.com/fb/showthread.php?T=224 that is 400 hits of the same problem which leads to engine failure. Even if its repaired prior to failure.

- Cape May, NJ, USA

1997 Ford 150, 144,000 miles. Engine knocks and is loosing coolant. After doing research just found out this was a common problem with the 4.2L V6 engine. I never received a recall from Ford stating a problem with the manifold gasket. I am the original owner.

- Westwego, LA, USA

Upon starting one morning, the engine made a loud banging noise. Had the engine inspected and found that an intake manifold gasket had failed. The engine had to be replaced.

- Nichols, NY, USA

Ford lower intake gasket on 1997 F150 4.2L engine causing coolant loss.

- Knoxville, TN, USA

Periodic low coolant levels with no visible leaks, progressively worse low oil pressure, trouble starting, steam in exhaust coolant leaking into cylinder caused bent rod and necessitated engine rebuild.

- Pinellas Park, FL, USA

1997 F150 4.2L V6 60K miles water in cylinder warped rod. Engine no good. Cant afford to spend 5K dollars to try to repair engine.

- Andalusia, AL, USA

Coolant leak.

- Norman, OK, USA

I own a 1997 Ford F150 with a 4.2L 6 cyl engine and I am having the same problems with coolant leaking and water pump gasket failures as tens of thousands of other owners of this make and model Ford truck. My truck has 90,000 miles and I am paying $1200 dollars to have this problem rectified. Ford has issues tsb's on this issue since 1999 and nothing is being done to reimburse or protect the consumer from this recognized failure. This should be an official recall and reimbursement made to owners who have paid to have this condition rectified.

- Billerica, MA, USA

Loss of coolant in 4.2 L. V-6 engine. Ford F-150 pick-up truck.

- Corning, NY, USA

Gasket failed on 4.2 liter Ford engine, causing a rod to break. I was never notified of the gasket recall in 1999. It's going to cost me $3000 to fix. Ford should be liable for this. There are thousands of others just like mine out there.

- Pratt, KS, USA

I had purchased a used for F-150 for the dealer it went through inspection and was working very well. However after about six months of use it started to loose coolant, but dot visibly. It would run hot, I would add coolant and continue. Then in April of 2005 the engine locked up and had to be replaced. The mechanic said that the engine had hydrolocked and would need to be rebuilt.

- Hyattsville, MD, USA

Recall on Ford truck that I did not recieve, which my have saved me from getting a new engine. Recall#99B29.

- Ft Laud, FL, USA

(1)Ford 1997 4.2 L V6, slow coolant leak/gasket leak resulting in internal terminal damage to the engine. (2) replacing lost coolant every so often is not unheard of for a common high mile engine but by doing so, the problem is gradualy getting worse until the engine locks up! (3)the fix is thousands of upset consumers spending hard earned dollars replacing a factory defective motor with another factory defective motor at the owners expense! thanks Ford! found the problem is very common after researching the web. Please help! sincerly, ex-Ford fan

- Ponca City, OK, USA

My '97 Ford F150 4.2L V6 failed in my driveway upon starting three weeks after purchasing it. After turning the ignition, I heard loud knocking and banging coming from the engine and I shut it down. I found oil pouring from under the engine. Upon inspection found that the # 2 connecting rod was shattered which took out the oil pan, the oil pick up tube, and bent the crank shaft. Removed upper intake manifold, and found coolant in the rear port of the lower intake manifold.

- Dunnellom, FL, USA

Was never notified of a recall99B29 for a timing cover/water pump gasket on my 1997 Ford F-150 [xxx]. in November 2004 I was losing coolant and took it to my local Ford dealer and he gave me an est. Of $1500. At that time I couldn't afford it. I had it repaired at a reliable repair shop for $800. I had just found out about the recall from a co-worker who also has a vehicle mentioned in the recall. I feel that should be due reburstment of the repairs for that fact I did not receive the re-call.their records will show that other recalls I have had it in for the repairs. This vehicle only has 58,000 miles on it! information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Mantua, NJ, USA

I own a 1997 Ford F150. I recently had to replace the engine. I replaced it with an engine from a 2000 model. One year later I'm haveing the same issues with the new engine. While resovling the problems I was having I learned several people had this same issue. It seems that tsb #99-20-7 was issued by Ford. It describes my problems in detail. I caught it much earlier this time and was able to replace the lower intake manifold gasket before any significant damage was done to my 2000 engine. Ford needs to take resonsibility and fix the issues related to their tsb #99-20-7. one of the biggest problems is the information regarding this issue is not wide spread. The issue is often mis-diagnosed as a blown head gasket, which is twice the cost to fix. So consumers are paying the price for Ford cover-up. A web site is setup with a plethora of information regading this issue. www.leakingfords.com.

- Buda, TX, USA