4.2l v6

I know this isn't a bullnose. I know some of you have newer ford's though. I am bidding on a F150 that the local water dept is selling. Has 112k on it, full service records etc. Has the 4.2l under the hood. Anyone have any experience with this engine.

Introduced in 1983 IIRC as a 3.8 liter. They had some problems in the early years, and again when it was converted to FWD applications. By '97, when it was put in the F150, it was a decent engine. It's nothing to brag about for power, but economy and reliability are good.

myrl883 wrote

Introduced in 1983 IIRC as a 3.8 liter. They had some problems in the early years, and again when it was converted to FWD applications. By '97, when it was put in the F150, it was a decent engine. It's nothing to brag about for power, but economy and reliability are good.

They sold a lot of F150's with that engine up here in Canada (The Miserly Canucks like their cheap trucks...lol). The first bunch of them in the 1997 trucks had terrible issues with intake manifold seals leaking coolant into the cylinders. I had to change the intake in one for a friend almost 20 years ago now, and it was a well known problem at the time.

Edit: Maybe it was only on the Canadian models, so disregard for USA...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Essex_V6_engine_(Canadian)

Ford experienced problems with this engine for the 1997 and 1998 model years. These included issuing all 1997-1998 engines made at the Essex Canadian plant with a bad front cover gasket. The lower-intake manifold had a bad reputation for cracking at relatively low miles. Ford resolved this problem by using a thicker gasket for 1999 model year, and 5 years later in 2004, it was modified again with a redesigned gasket that later became "industrial" certified as ESG-642 for Ford Power Products. It also served as a new and improved base engine for 2005+ F-150 regular-cab.

Rembrant wrote

myrl883 wrote

Introduced in 1983 IIRC as a 3.8 liter. They had some problems in the early years, and again when it was converted to FWD applications. By '97, when it was put in the F150, it was a decent engine. It's nothing to brag about for power, but economy and reliability are good.

They sold a lot of F150's with that engine up here in Canada (The Miserly Canucks like their cheap trucks...lol). The first bunch of them in the 1997 trucks had terrible issues with intake manifold seals leaking coolant into the cylinders. I had to change the intake in one for a friend almost 20 years ago now, and it was a well known problem at the time.

Edit: Maybe it was only on the Canadian models, so disregard for USA...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Essex_V6_engine_(Canadian)

Ford experienced problems with this engine for the 1997 and 1998 model years. These included issuing all 1997-1998 engines made at the Essex Canadian plant with a bad front cover gasket. The lower-intake manifold had a bad reputation for cracking at relatively low miles. Ford resolved this problem by using a thicker gasket for 1999 model year, and 5 years later in 2004, it was modified again with a redesigned gasket that later became "industrial" certified as ESG-642 for Ford Power Products. It also served as a new and improved base engine for 2005+ F-150 regular-cab.

Looks like they worked all that out by 2007.

TheScatch wrote

Looks like they worked all that out by 2007.

As far as I ever knew, it was a decent engine outside of those initial issues in '97-'98, and there were a lot of trucks sold up here with them.