I purchased a very high mileage superduty V10. While it drove very nicely and ran strong, I followed FTE's advice and did these three things:

• Cleaned the MAF sensor
• Changed the fuel filter
• Swapped in Bilstein shocks

Wow! What a difference! A huge difference in power and ride/handling. Cheap too... Less than $260 bucks for everything. Shocks, fuel filter, filter removal tools, electronic parts cleaner. I found the best deal for Bilsteins on eBay, the rest of the stuff from my local chain auto parts store.

As a p.s., wear safety glasses when changing the fuel filter. I bled the pressure from the fuel system, but the filter bracket was holding a ton of dirt that liked to drop in your face while you are lying underneath it (assuming you don't happen to have a lift in your driveway).

 

now all you have to do is change the oil from now on...! good luck with the BSEG!!

 

Another thing to try, the 100K mile plugs are more like 50K plugs. At 65K my gaps were between 0.060-0.072. I haven't run it much sence the tune up, but it certainly feels different.

 

Is regular electronic cleaner ok for the mass flow sensor? Or do you need special cleaner? Did you just spray out the sensor or did you use a Q-tip?


Thanks

Budman

 

Electronic parts cleaner. CRC makes one that is available at auto parts stores, otherwise visit radio shack or another electronic parts store.

DO NOT touch the wire sensor with anything! Spray only.

The hardest part of the job is detaching and reattaching the sensor wire, which plugs in to the sensor inside of the big plastic air tube.

Next time I'll separate the air intake before and after the sensor, but leave the sensor wired up and clean it under the hood of the truck.

 

Make sure your electrical contact cleaner is a non-residue. Some contact cleaners leave a waxy film to protect the newly cleaned part, but the wax/oil stops the sensor from reading correctly.

 

I use brake cleaner for the MAF - no residue... It doesn't harm the plastic part of the MAF.

That was a GREAT post! Thanks!

 

Thanks for the info. I have a K&N air filter and tiny particals of oil collect on the sensor wires so I will try the brake cleaner.


Budman

 

Anyone else scared to change the plugs on their SD?

I have 63K on mine and it would be a good time to do it probably, but im afraid to touch them or have anyone else do it.

 

O.K., I'm adding a fourth thing. cost = $0.

My 350 was super-stiff. What you would expect out of a 1 ton, but uncomfortable anyway on potholed streets, longer trips, etc.

The tire shop put the pressures at Front 70 Rear 75. I dropped them to Front 57 Rear 54 and now I can ride through potholes without a kidney belt...

Of course I'll pump 'em up a little for heavy loads, but most of my hauling is utility hauling, using nowhere near the weight capacity of the truck.

 

great tips! is there a step by step how to clean the MAF sensor and/or change the fuel filter thread on here?

 

Just a side note on changing your own plugs: I did mine (5.4L F250). And apparently botched it. Long story short, a plug shot out of the cylinder head taking the threads with it. I tried the rethread kits and it was too damaged. So $3700 later, (and a lot of aggravation) I have a new cylinder head.
Let a shop do it. Then they are liable if anything goes wrong.

 

I doubt you botched it. I've heard that happening way too many times. The threads were probably screwed up to begin with.

 

Actually, no, the plugs were probably original, the aluminum and iron rotted together and the threads came out with the plug.

The plugs have to be maintained. Either every 2-3 years or 60K miles they need to be removed, cleaned, possibly replaced with the zinc-plated ones if you're still on the orginals, anti-siezed, and torqued down the right way.

 

Mine went 5 years/64K before replacing. Man what a difference it made.