YT90SC

iteched, All great points, and truth be told, I am a bit old school in that I like my six holes in a line. (the 300 was a torque GOD and the last 'true' truck engine) The thing is that I really feel that yours is NOT an anomoly. I see hardcore work trucks with high milage all the time with the 4.2, not to mention the highway pounders with higher mileage yet. But I understand that it is hard to deny its lineage. Anyone with a 94/95 3.8 would have been turned off Essex-es permanantly. My only counterpoint is that if the base engine (any maker) was as good as the others at everything, what would drive anyone to upgrade?

I hope that is sarcasm. Don't take this wrong and I don't mean to start a flame war or be disrespectful, but this is what kills me about the 4.2 and the 'press', particularly the internet. By your own admittance, you have had one problem in 122k. But since a very vocal MINORITY have had problems, it must be crap? What qualifies as a 'truck' engine? Remeber the modular engine was originally designed as a car engine too (some say a FWD at that!)..... Short and wide to fit under low car hoods. The only real difference was the intakes and cams between 'truck' and 'non truck'. Even the v-10 is a modular. Granted, I would consider the Windsors to be heavier duty, but there have been plenty of 4.6 Romeos in F-series. So what is wrong with the 4.2 as a base truck engine? And the 97 problems were that, mostly 97MY problems.

sorry. make that the van/minivan forum....

The 4.2 is a larger displacement 3.8.

FYI: this is in the wrong forum, needs to be in the windstar/freestar forum. Anyhoo, the 94-95 3.8's were the absolute worst of the worst. Almost all FWD 3.8's headgaskets failed, almost all at low mileage. The gaskets/heads and torque sequences all changed for those years. The latest gaskets with the latest torque specs were the only fix. FYI: my personal car at the time was a 92 Taurus with the 3.8. It blew gaskets at 120k. Using the failure prone gaskets and specs (all that were available at the time) they lasted approx 20k.

there is actually a 'slip ring grease' for your problem but in a pinch, and more available, the terminal grease for trailer wiring will work.

When you say it sounds like the battery is dead, what exactly do you mean? From what I understand, I agree with stap, check the battery cables.. ESPECIALLY ground connections. They can be green on the inside yet look good on the out. Also check it for parasitic draw and alternator ripple. What is the battery voltage when the problem occurs? Around 8.5 volts will crank her all day, but is too little power to allow the pcm to be online. Does this 'good mechanic' own a VAT 40 or other VAT? Does he know how to properly run voltage drop tests? Sounds like you spent a heck of a lot of $$ on this thing. Dealer isn't lookin so expensive now?

Slow down, don't use ethanol.

What's wrong with the 5.4??? As far as the 6.0 is concerned, it is NOT difficult to diagnose or repair. The problem is few want to learn how. It really is simple. Same basic functions as the 7.3 with EGR and the VGT added. There is nothing complex or hard to fix about it at all. Too many blame driveability issues on programming, rather than fixing the truck. The biggest lesson that most DON'T learn when learning to repair them is when there are repeat repairs of the same systems, there must be some other root cause. One truck I know had 13 injectors put in it by the same dealership. 13!!!! They just kept putting in injectors that were failing, not fixing the root cause, which was a HPOP having pups slowly puking metal into the injectors and killing them. Had the owner not changed dealerships, he would have just kept taking it back, and they wouldn't have fixed it, just fixed the symptom, furthering the 'they are all junk' B.S. that is so very rampant on boards like this. Most of the problems arise from fuel issues including pump/pickup (45 psi minimum is CRITICAL), too long of oil chage intervals with wrong oil (remember oil fires the injectors), or customers using them as they weren't designed to. (tuners, lots of idling, etc) As for fuel, The EPA gave the oil co's a waiver after the hurricanes down south for how much they have to refine the fuel, and it is very noticeable. Combine that with record fuel prices that have distributors feeding anything that will burn into the mix and the increased use of biodiesel, and you have fuel that is absolute sheet. Biodiesel will not actualy damage the engine, but it will damage the tanks and lines leading to fuel supply issues. (GM and Dodge are having troubles with this too) 5% biodiesel MAX!!!!!!!!! Moreover some aftermarkets sell the fuel filters seperately. The HFCM's primary filter is more important than the engine mounted secondary, yet because people see it as harder, they rarely change it. Some complain about the lack of throttle response on the low end. You can thank the EPA for that. Since California declared particulate a carcinogen (sp?) the EPA has cracked down on that and all other diesel tailpipe emissions, leading to less fuel injected out of the hole because there is less boost available at idle. Less boost is less air. Less air must have less fuel injected to not cause higher emissions. To say that the other makers don't have troubles is hooey too. They have issues too due to the fuel and emissions standards.

It could be a million things from throttle linkage to vac leaks to speed control to ????? No matter what you MUST get it fixed. If the problems are as bad as you describe, it isn't safe for you to have that thing on the road.

Normal function in OD allows you all four gears. You can selsect non overdirve function by pushing the button on the end of the shifter knob. This will turn the "OD OFF" lamp on, allowing automatic shifting between the first three gears. For most applications, just put her in the (OD) position, and leave the button alone. However, a good rule of thumb is this: if it shifts a lot back and forth from 3rd to 4th, lock it out of OD (by pushing the button) to prevent the shifting. You can lock it in third for engine braking down steep hills too. If you are towing or loaded close to GVW, lock it out too. Otherwise, just put it in gear (OD) and go. FYI: NEVER allow it to shift up to 4th at or near wide open throttle.

The big thing that most Escape (or any other model for that matter) owners don't realize is that 55mph is the speed of 'highway' driving on the moroni. MOST Escapes I have seen will actually meet or beat that at 55. Speed up and lose mpg. At 70/75 they REALLY like the gas. Treat the throttle nice and they don't do too bad.

It is a decent engine, fairly reliable since most of the bugs were worked out early on. It is based onthe 3.8l Essex engine, so it is still somewhat more prone to problems than the 4.6. It is a good base engine, and certainly not junk, but I'd step up to the 4.6. Not much if any loss of mileage in normal driving. More power and torque. Better resale.

NEVER NEVER NEVER use a thread insert on an aluminum automotive head. They change the effective heat range of the plug (not necessarily in a predictable manner) and can lead to further engine damage, the kind where you WILL need a lower end too. They may also move the plug into or out of the combustion chamber because of the depth changes the inserts can cause. I realize that it may appear to be a cheap fix, but to do it right the head casting must be replaced. That having been said, here are a whole lot more folks who will argue that a bubblegum and bailing wire fix is in fact ok: