Good day!

We're campers in the planning stages of a three week trip from Central New York to "out west" in July. We'll be towing a 4000 lb camper with the usual assortment of goodies for two adults. I'm good with weight calculations, distribution etc., but could use some advice on preventative maintenance tips on the truck itself.

The truck is a 2006 F-350 DRW, Crew Cab, V-10 with 38k miles.

* New tires in 2015 ($ouch)
* Annual oil changes (we've averaged less than 3k per year) since buying it used in 2012.
* Rear fuel filter, all calipers and brakes were replaced in 2013.
* Battery replacement will be done (it's failing)

At a minimum, I'm inclined to have a transmission service (flush) and coolant system service/inspection (flush) done prior to leaving.

What other items should I be inspecting/maintaining in advance of the trip to reduce the possibilities of problems on the road?

 

Make sure the spark plugs are well torqued. It won't hurt anything to go ahead and change them and inspect the COP boots. If any of the boots are flared out at the plug end or cracked, replace them all.

 

I think your over thinking this, you only have 38K on the truck so the transmission, engine coolant will be fine a long with the plugs and boots. The 3V motor doesn't have a problem blowing plugs so that's not a worry. Take a breath and stop worrying about the truck and plan your trip, with a trailer that small and that heavy of a truck it won't even break sweat.

Denny

 

Definitely get cooling system serviced if it's never been done.

Tranny service wouldn't hurt either. Simple pan drain and filter replacement.

This just happened last night with the Ranger. Spray some fluid film or even WD40 into your door lock. The key fob went dead and the door key wouldn't even budge the lock cylinder. So much so that I swore it was the wrong key. Sprayed some WD into it, wiggle the key, and it works like butter. I checked my F250 and same thing. It has the keypad but still... Keep those locks lubed in case you need to use the key.

 

The truck is 10 years old though. The rubber COP boots can crack or bell shape & leak in that time regardless of miles. And the issues with the later style long plugs aren't necessarily that they spit out but that they literally fall apart because of the 2 piece design. And the longer time they stay in the more likely they are to fall apart. Once the coils are off, you're already in there so change the plugs and don't cheap out.

Same deal with the cooling system, @ 10 years it is way past due for flushing if it has never been done. Rust never sleeps, it doesn't matter how many miles are on it. This would be a great time to also change the belt and hoses if they have never been done.

The goal is to cruise around and camp where you want, not wherever you happen to break down. Proactive preventative maintenance is a much better investment than tow truck and repair bills on the road.

 

Have you owned the vehicle since new? How has it been stored for its 10 year history?

BTW, 38k miles on a 10 year old truck?? Wow!

 

I ran my 2000 V10 for 13 years 130K miles all pulling it hard and never changed the coolant, replaced the plugs at 64K and it was a waste of time, the boots I changed at 100K. The only thing that truck did was pull our trailer all over this US, Canada and Mexico. The coolant was still clean at 13 years and it the transmission wasn't giving up I would still have it.

Denny

 

A good thing is to check your road side assistance or insurance policy. Make sure your truck and trailer are covered for towing and that they both can be towed for the same distance.


I had this issue last year. Before leaving for my trip towing my camper I checked with my insurance company to make sure I had towing on both truck and camper. I was told I was good. On my trip my block heater blew out and lost all my coolant. I called my insurance company's road side number to get towed. Told them I had my truck and camper so both would have to be towed. Was told they would get a tow company on the way. An hour later the tow company called and said they were about 15 miles out. I confirmed with them to make sure they could pull both. The tow company was never told I had a camper and refused the tow. Called road side assistance again. They asked why I never mentioned the camper which I did. Finally after being stuck for 4 hours the second tow company finally showed up. My truck could be towed up to 100 miles but the camper was only allowed 15 miles. I ended up having to pay the additional miles on the camper out of pocket. Of course this happened in Montana on a Sunday with no repair shops opened.

 

And I will point out that since you did NOT have any spark plug issues it really was NOT a waste of time. Pretty much everywhere on this site and others, V10 users specifically recommend not leaving the early plugs in for 100,000 miles. Especially not the original plugs with the original torque spec. If you want to maintain that original torque spec I would recommend retorquing them pretty often, like I said in my original response on this thread. And if you have the boots off to torque them, go ahead and change them and don't cheap out. There was something that led you to believe you should change those plugs @ 64K...
On my 1999 it blew out #2 plug before I got it, and is the reason I came to own it because the previous owner thought it wasn't worth the cost of repair.
And it spit an original plug at...


Don't leave your spark plugs in for 100,000 miles.




I have not read the 2000 scheduled maintenance guide but my 1999 manual says "change transmission fluid @ every 30,000 miles for motorhome" which is pretty heavy use and 60,000 miles for all other duty levels. So I still maintain that a transmission fluid & filter service is not out of line on a secondhand 1 ton vehicle even at 36,000 miles. None of us know what it pulled early in its first 6 years life by the former owner(s).

Preventive maintenance is NEVER a waste of time, as the term implies it prevents things from going wrong down the road, such as premature transmission failure. If you had serviced the transmission per the maintenance schedule it would likely still be running with no issues.
Did you service that transmission at all?
A stitch in time saves 9.
Telling someone to NOT do maintenance on their truck is bad advice, in my opinion.

 

I agree with Denny. Just go and have fun.

At your next oil change (or before the trip if you want to) I would have them change the coolant, complete transmission service (to include filter and not the power flush either). Have them check the alternator diodes, which could be causing your battery drain. Lastly, they should inspect the serpentine drive belt.

I've only replaced the battery, alternator, and drive belt at this point (70K miles). I've flushed the coolant once, and had the transmission serviced once as well-to include the transfer case. I rarely put over 3,000 miles a year on the truck.

I've also switched to full synthetic oil (Mobile One Extended Performance) to allow for annual oil changes. I won't extend to annual oil change on synthetic blend oil. I can really tell a difference in the high RPM range with the synthetic oil. It doesn't seem to scream so much.

If you don't use a battery tender on the truck when you're not driving it, I would start. It really does a great job of maintaining the battery.

 

Yep all agreed on those points.

Regarding the transmission service our own Mr Mark Kovolsky authored this how to article: Changing ATF Fluid in a E4OD and 4R100 transmission - Ford-Trucks.com

It is by far superior to the usual 5 qts and a filter services we've all done seemingly forever. After done that first time it seems far easier than trying to drop the pan spill free and dealing with everything else that method causes.

Spark plugs left in for more than 50K miles seems crazy to me so that's definitely a no no for my Modular Motors.

 

Guys, guys, guys, the OP has a 3-valve V10 and the Torqshift tranny...

 

... and it still uses spark plugs and rubber COP boots.

 

ORLY?

I was talking more about the tranny recommendations to be honest, but to be clear, from what I've heard, the two-piece plugs come apart when you take them out

Sure go over the boots, if it's even necessary. If it's running right the way it is, why mess with it? Once on the journey if a misfire from a boot or COP crops up, it's easy to take care of in the field.

 

Thanks I didn't get a chance to get back to this yesterday.

If I wanted to change plugs on a 3 valve and it was still running fine I would do it after a long hard run like a trip out west. From what I understand the biggest problem with 3Valve plugs is carbon buildup on the end of the plug so a good long run would go a long way to clean the end of the plug.

The torqshift 5 speed like the 6 speed have longer service time frames over the 4 speed.

Not sure but didn't Ford go to the new longer service interval antifreeze with the 3V.

I serviced my 4 speed every 30K and it still wouldn't hold up to the way I used it.

My 2000 V10 work truck that I sold at 99600 miles to another contractor when I retired never had the plugs changed when I owned it. Last time I talked to the new owners it had 287K miles with the original plugs. I wouldn't recommend going that long but 100K is no problem. When I changed mine at 64K they looked like new so it was waist of time and money.

Denny