December 3, 2020...my husband drove the truck over to a friends house. After being there for approximately 2 hours his friend walked in the building where he was and said, 'hey man, your truck is on fire!' everyone rushed outside to see the truck was in fact on fire. They called the fire department who came and finished extinguishing the fire. It appears the fire started on the drivers side near the tire, or behind the dash. I did not even think to check for a recall, but a friend told me to check because he was aware there was a recall. Sure enough, there is a recall and it describes what happened to my truck exactly. NHTSA recall number: 05V017000 date: Jan 27, 2005 Ford recall number: 05528

- Laurens, SC, USA

Started the vehicle in a parking lot. The spark plug blew out of the head on the passenger rear of the motor. Tried the appropriate helicoil repair kit but there were no threads to tap into.

- Hazel Crest, IL, USA

My Ford F150 somehow got water in the cylinder and bent a connecting rod AT111000 miles.

- Elma, WA, USA

The contact owned a 1997 Ford F-150. While parked, the vehicle suddenly burst into flames. The fire department extinguished the fire. A fire report was filed and no injuries were sustained. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 132,000. Updated 02/02/16

- Mount Airy, NC, USA

While driving home from vacation, with about 150 miles to go, the #2 spark plug blew out of the engine. With about 30 miles left the #3 spark plug blew out. Curse of the Ford Triton engine

- Henrico, VA, USA

Driving at normal speed (45 mph), no abnormal noises or vibrations present. Loud bang noise came from within engine bay, and truck began to sputter and stumble very badly. Check engine light came on and preceded to flash, put truck into neutral and rolled to the side of the road where truck was shut off. Excessive fuel was found on top of the engine at the third cylinder from the front on the passenger side (4.6L V8 engine). Spark plug was separated from the wire and lying on top of engine. Spark plug boot was melted and smoking suggesting it was previously burning. Spark plug was %100 covered by burnt sooty material.

- Blacksburg, SC, USA

I have been having problems with engine overheating, heater temperature working intermittently inside, misfire on one cylinder. I have replaced thermostat, spark plugs and wires, and coils. Diagnotic code still reads misfire on one cylinder. Misfire is not constant. After researching I found others stating there is a recall... "recall # 99B20". I can not find a recall 99B20. I did notice there have been 545 other complaints concerning engine cooling and manifold O rings, blown head gaskets etc due to faulty components. I am adding my complaint as well for further investigative action, as I feel there should be a real recall to fix this problem/complaints.

- Cleveland, TN, USA

While starting from a red light, the engine blew a spark plug! I have the 5.4 V-8 engine. Fortunately the engine was not damaged or anything else. I immediately pulled off road and had truck towed to the local Ford dealership. Repairs were $600.

- Temple, TX, USA

The contact owns a 1997 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, it caught fire. The contact stated that there were flames coming from the engine compartment. The contact did not disclose if a police report was filed or not and who extinguished the fire. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was not available.

- Corning, CA, USA

I came home from work on 12/13 2014 and noticed I had a water puddle under my truck so on 12/14/2014 I pulled in the garage and did some searching only to find the outlet tube in the manifold was leaking I assumed it was the rubber hose and when I went to replace it the outlet tube broke off at the base of the intake manifold. Upon doing some research I found that the only way to replace it is to buy a new intake manifold so at this point my truck is stuck in the garage. I checked the outlet tube and found 2 pinholes in it.this is a crate motor replaced by Ford at 88000 miles I can't afford the $500 that a new one will costs so I'm out a vehicle at this time.

- Louisville , KY, USA

I was driving down the road. The engine got caught on fire. When I have the mechanic looked at it he said that it looked like the rocker arm in the engine came off and he said the that the valves got destroyed from the rockers.

- Windom, MN, USA

The truck was parked in a strip mall parking lot. A few minutes later someone said that there were flames coming from the hood. The car was a total in 10 minutes. Four off duty firemen were there and could not put the flames out. Near by fire station was called. Its response was with in a few minutes. Truck was totaled.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

My truck was loosing water to the oil pan and caused the engine to need replacing in 2004. Ford charged me $5200 to replace the engine and said the warranty would not cover it. Now the replacement engine is doing the same thing. Why will Ford not admit the problem with the 97 4.2 and not try to cover it up.? I do not have alot of money and can't afford to let them keep fixing their problem.

- Sealy, TX, USA

The contact owns a 1997 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the oil pressure warning gauge illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic stated that the oil pressure sensor needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the failure was repaired three times. The vehicle was taken to a fourth dealer for diagnostic testing however, the technician advised that there were no failures. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 103,000 and the current mileage was 107,600.

- Aukaganil , IL, USA

The contact owns a 1997 Ford F150. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the engine failed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine blew a rod through the oil pan. As a result, the motor crate needed to be replaced. After the repairs the contact heard a loud noise coming from the engine after starting the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturerer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The failure mileage was 82,000.

- Canton, OH, USA

4.2L F150 had a slow loss of coolant and not being notified that this could be a potential problem which could lead to engine destruction, I would simply add more coolant. This condition resulted in complete hydro lock and destroying #5 rod bearing. While I can well understand problems associated with vehicles of 1997 vintage I can not understand at all Ford not advising consumers of potential problems with their vehicles before they spend 4K$ in rebuilding and installing this long block and finding out they had squandered their money on trying to resurrect a dead horse with 86069 miles on the odometer.

- Houston, TX, USA