Went to start my 1997 ford ranger one day, only to find it would not even turn over. had it towed to the dealer. dealer stated that it needed a new engine, because it had a cracked head. dealer stated that even though this truck had high miles, this cracked head was probably cracked when the truck was new. the dealer stated that ford was aware that a high number of 1997 rangers with the 4.0 V-6 had cracked heads, when the engines were assembled. ford kept this hush hush, but when the dealers started reporting cracked heads on new 1997 rangers, soon after they were sold, and even some before they were sold, ford played dumb, and never acknowledged the problem. If this is a fact, Ford should be ashamed of themselves! As i have only what i have been told by long time Ford workers, i have no solid proof that this happened. I had my Ranger for over five great years, and count myself lucky that if it did have a cracked head from the get go, that it lasted as long as it did. I could not afford to get it fixed, so i scrapped it for $200.00 to a junk yard that replaced the engine, and sold it for over $5000.00 with a junk title. so long RED.