19th Aug 2011, 19:31
Add another '97 350 to the infamous intake gasket list. I am the third owner, at 123k miles. I too had the mysterious slow leak, then on the way to work it blew. AFAIK, this is the only non-normal repair on this truck other than body damage from a deer. (SE Kansas, very common LOL).
Occasionally I will notice a hard shift between first and second (auto trans.) Suppose it is time to change the fluid and filter to see if that helps, it's about that time anyway.
I also have the wiper problem... hah.
16th May 2011, 18:38
I'm not sure about the other trouble. But my 97 had the hard shifting in lower gears. I took it to a transmission shop to be looked at. He installed a cheap "shift kit" and an external transmission cooler.
That was well over five years ago and 200,000 miles. No problems since.
Hope it helps.