Nope, reread, he states every third oil change or 10,000 miles he takes it to the dealer.

I will say that if the fuel filter has never been changed, that thing is probably putting a hurt on things like the fuel pump. trying to push past all that crud.

 

Okay, what you need now is this:

Spark plugs
Fuel filter (WAY overdue)
Tranny fluid exchange (no cleaner, no conditioner, just a complete replacement with a machine)
Diff fluid change (both diffs and transfer case if 4x4)
Cooling system flush

If you have the dealer do all this, here are approximate costs:

Spark plugs: $200 on a 4.6 or V-6, $300 to $1000 on a 5.4 3V (depends on how many they break while trying to remove them).
Fuel filter: $70
Tranny service: $150
Diffs: $150 rear, $100 front, xfercase $80
Cooling system: $120

I don't believe in changing brake fluid or power steering fluid unless it becomes contaminated. Neither are on the periodic maintenance schedule.

If it makes you feel better, you can suck the PS fluid out of the reservoir with a turkey baster for a partial change and refill with fresh Mercon V ATF. If you want to do the brake fluid, it goes a LOT easier with a power bleeder. I suppose you could use the turkey baster there too for a halfass job.

 

I was allways told.. if you do not do your trans or diff fluid every 30k do not do it..

 

The only time you need to do the trans every 30k is under "severe" service like frequent towing. The only time you need to do the diff sooner than 100k is if it gets contaminated.

I recommend diffs and transfer case every 100k and tranny every 60k. That's both more often than the official factory recommendation.

Not doing it at all over the life of the vehicle is not recommended.

 

So it's better to leave the contaminated fluid and wait for parts failure?

 

As i was told.. that can be holding key companits togeather.. I would have swore in the owners it said 30k i have not once did mine.. and i tow alot..

 

Sometimes the old adage of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" makes more sense then doing some PM. I changed my trans fluid at 96K, did it the old fashion way, dropped the pan and changed the filter. I got all of 3K miles out of my transmission before it failed. Sure, some will jump in and say, it failed because I plow. That's probably a factor, but seems a bit odd that it failed so soon after changing the fluid.

Just do some reading and ask some questions before taking the plunge on this particular maintenance point. There just might be some validity to leaving it alone.

 

We have a former Ford transmission engineer here - and he says that if the tranny fails after a fluid change, it was getting ready to fail anyway. I have no reason to doubt his expertise. The thing you do NOT want to do is run "flushing fluids" through it - just get a fluid exchange.

 

Thank you for all of the suggestions, it was very helpful and I appreciate it. Here is what I had done at the dealership:

Replaced the plugs
Air/Fuel filter
Rotate tires
Total: $523.57
Tranny/Coolant looked fine.

Here is the kicker: (posted earlier)

I picked up the truck back late afternoon Friday and I'm driving on the highway and my truck starts to sputter/vibrate and the check engine light starts to flash. I pull over and wait a 5 mins then proceed on the highway and it starts to do the same thing again. I call Ford from the side of the highway and they say bring it back we'll give you a loaner. So again I pull back onto the highway and it check engine light shuts off and the vibration stops. I needed my truck badly this weekend so Ford says bring it in Monday.

The one thing that I did noticed after I got my truck back Friday before I broke down that the engine was making a ticking noise and it still made it after the whole vibration/check engine. The service manager did tell me that they broke 3 plugs when they were doing the replacement and that there could have been a piece of porcelain that was leftover from the broken plugs. Anyone have any ideas what could be going on with the noise or any other thoughts?

 

if trans fluid looks brownish, and not completley red, thats the clutches in the transmission that have broken down. the tolerances in the trans have then widened up, and if you clean the fluid and put clean red atf in there, the trans can start acting wierd.

same concept as switching from conventional 10-30 to synthetic 5-20 after 100 thousand miles of use, its thinner and will find leaks. your trans wont leak but can act wierd because the fluid is much more thin than the dirty stuff