tellor1998

Hello all,

I got a 97 F150 XL 4.6L V8, I was driving my truck to work and I was climbing a hill. While climbing up hill my cool level shot up, low oil light turn on, and I couldn't increase my speed. I do got a oil and coolant leak but they're slow and I filled them up 4 days ago and before filling it wasn't low.

I pulled over my truck, turn it off, and turn it back on and everything acted normal. I think I notice a late shift when climbing up hill (heading back home theres 2 hills) I might got paranoid but I don't know what went on. I switch out vehicle so I can let it sit over night and try to drive it again tomorrow.

Any thoughts what might happen, I'm feeling like this might be a warning sign that the transmission might be ending it I didn't notice any RPM going up but I don't have an RPM gauge to tell so it's by sound.

BareBonesXL

Does "cool level shot up" mean guage temperature increased? It got hot?

Sounds like it overheated and fail-safe mode kicked in. Not sure if 97 has that. Should be described in the Owners Manual.

tellor1998

Yeah I meant temperature gauge. Not sure if it does have it, I'll take a look when I get off from work. Do you know anyway to prevent it, I'm hoping to keep the truck till next year.

JCR 56

Hope not but it could be a head gasket. Not saying your's is but when mine acted like that , that's what it was. Check the coolant for exhaust gases.

tellor1998

When I took it to the shop to check where the leaks are coming from he said I was having a oil and coolant leak and mentioned it could be a head gasket or I forgot what else. The what else part was going to cost $500-$700 and head gasket he said he doesn't work on them

tellor1998

So I looked at owners manual and there's a fail safe in the truck

BareBonesXL

That explains the power loss. You're overheating, you just need to figure out why. somebody recently found that his radiator was covered in bugs, possibly blocking air flow. Never heard back as to whether he fixed his problem. Water pumps on the Fords seem to lose their impeller blades, especially if straight water is used instead of antifreeze and water.

Here's one of the combustion gas checkers to see if your HG is blown. A bit spendy but if you don't find any gases, it can save you money.

https://www.harborfreight.com/combus...tor-64814.html

The link seems broken. Just search "combustion leak detector".