baddad71

My son's 1999 F150 XLT 4R70W 270K miles, daily driver, water pump 3 months old.
Runs pretty strong, no smoke, mysterious consumption of coolant with no visible leaks.
Dark milkshake starting to form on inside of radiator cap.
Has had cracked exhaust manifold for a year. Just got new manifold and haven't installed it yet.
Don't know if head gasket/head bolt recall was done on this motor.
Don't know if it is early 99 or late 99 production date.
I wonder about the intake gasket because I just did this one in a 2000 Astro 4.3with 245K miles and it ran the same, strong, but not 100% right and it also had a mysterious consumption of coolant with no leaks.

Thanks for any help.
Dave2000 Astro 4.3 W bad intake gasket

bisjoe

Small amounts of foam on the inside of the oil cap are fairly normal from condensation, but if on the radiator cap it is likely that you have an issue, but that is oil in the coolant, which would increase the volume of the coolant, not reduce it. If you see your oil on the dipstick looking lighter brown and/or foamy, then it could be either gasket, a crack in the head or block, or even corrosion eroding passages with aluminum heads on cast block.

baddad71

Got into it today and found out the best news. There was no milkshake on the dipstick. Brian needed to do his valve cover gaskets and exhaust manifold anyway and had the parts. The inside of the valve covers and the intake looked good for an old daily driver beater truck. NO MILKSHAKE!!! YAY!! the only place we saw milkshake was on the inside of the oil cap itself and was probably condensation that was mentioned above.
There has been some kind of vacuum leak for a long time. Found it today: the rubber PCV elbow hose was rotten and split open right by the upper intake. It's getting a new PCV hose, new upper and lower intake gaskets and new valve cover gaskets this weekend.
Should be back up to speed by Sunday.
I have done much reading and think I have some of this straight, please correct my information if I am wrong:
97-99 F150 4.2 has a 4R70W trans
4.6's used 4R70W's right?
Car parts catalogs show 4.6 and 4.2 the same year in F150.

Wouldn't that make a 97-99 4.2 to any 97-99 F150/Expedition/Mustang/Thunderbird/Mark VIII 4.6 swap pretty straight bolt-in? Like: change motor mounts, motor harness, ECM?
I know the cams were different from the Mark VIII to the F150, but that would be a performance issue, not a fitment issue, right?

How/why would a 97-99 Explorer/Mountaineer 5.0 be any better or easier than an F-150 4.6 that was an option that year?
A pie-in-the-sky question: Anyone successfully put a T-Bird SC 3.8 supercharger on a 4.2? or is there a basic motor difference like Chevy 4.3 and 2.8 with no interchangeable parts?

I ask because I build.

I am in the middle of building a 70 Maverick Grand Touring car with my dad. Here's the short list of what I have for it and some plans:
99 Explorer 5.0 bored .030, new bearings, crank polished, cam polished, GT40P heads fresh from machine shop, new beehive valve springs, Edelbrock Performer intake, DUI distributor, Edelbrock 1403, Hedman GT40P headers,
Test fit of 99 Explorer 5.0 in Maverick

Added A/C, P/S/, power brakes, front switched to discs, all new brake lines, new cowl patches, 13" steel wheels with 195/73-13 tires switched to 06 Mustang GT 17" alloy with 225/55 front and 235's on the back, new driver floor this past week.


I'm looking for a bargain Thunderbird/Cougar/ Mark VIII parts car for rear suspension and power seats for my Maverick project. I've seen a few with running 5.0 and 4.6 motors and bad transmissions for under $600, that's why I asked about motor swaps in the F150, I don't need a running V-8, but it might be a nice upgrade for my son.

baddad71

Good tip, the foam was just on the oil cap. The oil on the dipstick was still in good condition but the coolant wasn't available for questioning. It is disappearing slowly, but not into the coolant jacket, YAY!

baddad71

Parts came in!! Yay RockAuto! Screw the local parts stores. I got the same Victor-Reinz intake gasket set for $28 that 3 local parts stores wanted over $90 for, NAPA wanted over $100.
Brian pulled the lower intake today and it looked great for a motor with almost 200K miles.


No sludge, no milkshake. Nothing like his brother's Astro shown above.


Some parts of the gasket around the coolant passages look like they could be seeping.
We'll start cleaning and putting it back together tomorrow.

baddad71

Slight correction, I was informed today It has 185K miles.

Squidley

To answer your question about a 4.6 swap, no you could not do it with your existing transmission. The 4.2 is a Windsor bold pattern same as the 302/351. 4.6s and 5.4s use the modular bolt pattern. You would need the entire engine and trans from a 4.6 to do the swap. The other option is dropping a 302 from a explorer or marauder, but you will likely run in to emissions problems there as that year did not come with a 302 option.

baddad71

Squidley, the Ford 4.2 kind of reminds me of the GM 3.8. Not a 90 degree v6, but uses the sbc bell bolt pattern like the Iron Duke 2.5-four, 4.3V6 and the 5.0 and 5.7 V8 90 degree motors, not the 60 degree 2.8 bolt pattern.
I ask because I have both transmissions laying around and I am looking for parts cars and don't need a motor. That's the one thing that is done!



I have done much research into a plan for my own custom transmission for my Maverick project. But I was not looking for info for my son's F150 then. It combines an AOD and a 4R70W.
I have both transmissions purchased and ready to go to the transmission guy I trust along with a Trans-Go AOD HP shift kit.

The first one is my AOD next to the old C4 that was in my Maverick when I bought it, the second one is my Lincoln 4R70W




My transmission guy told me he would build it for me for $500 with a year warranty if I bring him 2 good transmissions, that was 2 years ago, it may be a little more now, my project is slow going around college work.

I don't want any electronics. I am using a DUI distributor (1-12V wire to ign switch, that's all!) in my motor and removed all of the fuel injection and put on an intake and a carb. I want a "dumb" transmission also.
I will use the 91 Mustang AOD case that is the Windsor SBF bolt pattern to bolt to my 99 Explorer 5.0 I will use the 93 Mark VIII 4R70w gearset ( with heavier-duty casting for trucks and lower geared 1st and 2nd gears) I will use the 4R steel drum instead of the cast iron AOD drum, I will use the 4R wider bands. I will use the AOD .67 overdrive, not the 4R .73 o.d. It will be controlled by a Lokar TV cable like an early 90's Mustang AOD.