FunguyI

Hey, everybody, I am a little bit new to working on vehicles, so I need some feedback. I have a 2004 F150 XLT 4.6L V8 with +170000 miles on it, and I need some recommended preventative maintenance suggestions from you guys if you have any.

I've already changed my SAE 5W-20 oil with Pennzoil brand, a Mobil1 oil filter, put a new air filter in, and two 16oz cans of sea foam in my gas tank.

I want to avoid the stress of serious maintenance from a lack of proper care, so any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Funguy

DrewPiroli

Do you have service history for the life of the truck?

You should look into your fuel filter, spark plugs and serpentine belt. Supposedly the timing on these motors is good until around 200,000.

One thing you should do is get under your truck with a flashlight and just look around. Check all the lines that you can see, make sure that the metal ones aren't rusted away and that the rubber ones aren't dry rotted. When I bought my '05 a few months ago I noticed all my high pressure power steering lines were rotted and ready to blow out, it's better to find these problems in your driveway rather than when your going 80mph down the highway.

Check the frame to make sure it's not damaged, and check both your coil springs in the front and leafs in the back for cracks.

Check your oil every week or so for a while until you know how much it burns (at 170,000mi you're burning at least some oil) keep a few quarts of oil around so you can top up if you need to. Very important here: just because you have good oil pressure on your dash gauge doesn't mean you aren't low on oil.

If you have a check engine light you should find out why, your local auto parts store should let you borrow a scan tool to find out what engine codes you have so you can fix them.

That's all I got off the top of my head, maybe I'll think of something else though.

Edit: Check tires for uneven or weird wear patterns(google this for examples if you need to, but if it doesn't look right, then it's not right) if there is uneven wear or you have drifting issues when your driving you may need an alignment (can't really do this yourself, but depending on how bad it is probably not urgent). If you have service history look at how long it's been since the tranny has been serviced (technically you can do this yourself, but you probably don't want to)

FunguyI

Thanks DrewPiroli, I will look at this as soon as I get some time!

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Others things to check/replace

Fuel filter
Plugs/boots/springs
Flush and replace coolant
Change gear oil in front and rear diffs / t-case
Service tranny
Flush brake fluid