Hi! I've been lurking around here a bit... what an amazing resource.

I have a 2004 FX4 Level II w/ the 4.0L SOHC V6 that is about to turn 100,000 km. I've owned it since March 09 when it had 73,000 km, and I've done basic maintenance to it, but not a lot else. According to the Ford manual I found online here (I only have the owner's manual, not the maintenance guide), the only major items I need to look at is the trans and assorted filters. I was thinking that there should be more things I should look at and do to this truck, especially since I don't know what has been done in it's history. The previous owner was a ridiculously rich software engineer, and only owned it for one winter for use when he couldn't ride his motorcycle. He only put 800 km on it. What the owner before him did with it, I have absolutely no idea.

This is what I've done in the 2 years I've owned it:
Oil Changes every 7000km with Mobil 1 Synthetic and Motorcraft filters.
Air filter - Fall 2010
Napa Gold Fuel Filter (apparently same as Wix?)- Summer 2010
Brakes all around, except front rotors. - Spring 2010

The maintenance schedule (60,000 miles) recommends changing the trans fluid, an oil change and air filter. I'm thinking I should be changing the transfer case fluid as well, and maybe the coolant?

The other thing I was thinking about doing is the spark plug and wires. I don't know if this thing has the iridium plugs that are supposed to last forever and a day, or if it's still got the standard platinum that are good for 60k miles. I also wonder, if they are iridium, how difficult it would be to pull the plugs out after they've been in there for 160,000 km.

I should add that the truck runs as if it were brand new, with no issues at all. The thing that bothers me is that there are a few little things that make me wonder about the truck's past. For example, the speedometer is out by about 8%, even though I'm running what is supposedly the stock tire size. (It reads fast)

SO, I guess I'm asking a few little questions.
1. What do you guys think I should be doing maintenance wise, given the unknown factor I have with this thing?
2. What year did Ford start using the Iridium plugs in these engines, and if I wait for the Ford maintenance interval, will I have difficulty doing the job?
3. Is there an easy way to fix the speedometer so that it's accurate? I can live with the error, but it would be nice to have it read correctly.

Thanks!

 

Hello

if you have the regular green coolant and not any kind of extended mileage kind, i believe that is supposed to be changed every 2 years or 20k.

spark plugs and wires i always heard to use motorcraft/autolight brand, with double platinum for the plugs since the last longer. i was not aware that ford switched to iridium though.

i would definately recommend replaing the trans fluid and filter at this mileage.

the diff i believe is supposed to be lubed for life but I changed it before finding this out, and others like to change it anyway. not sure about the TC, i drive a 2wd.

if you are looking for suggestion, does the timing belt look ok? tires wearing evenly? battery terminals corroded? shocks? u joints?

regarding the speedo, mine also runs a little fast with the stock tire size, about 3-5mph depending on speed. maybe this is common? good luck

 

How accurate is the odometer? You can check it by driving 10 miles on an Interstate hiway, making note of both your odometer reading and a hiway mile marker. At the end of the 10 mile run, record the odometer reading. From that information you can determine the miles traveled error, of any. If the odometer reading is accurate, there really isn't much you can do to change the speedometer error. If the speedometer has the same amount of error, you may be able to replace the transmission drive gear to correct the error. Your Ford dealer can help you on that.

If I want an accurate speed reading, I use my GPS.

You mentioned that you have the Owner's Manual. Doesn't it have a chart that shows maintenance intervals for your truck? If not, your Ford dealer should have that information available for you.

 

The odometer seems to be accurate when compared with my GPS. The speedometer is not a huge deal, I was just wondering if there was a simple way to fix it. The 3-5 MPH sounds about right... I really notice it when I'm on the freeway, where it indicates I'm doing 110 and I'm actually more like 102 km/h.

I am going to be changing out the manual trans and the transfer case fluid, and I'm thinking it will be time for a coolant flush too (although I have the gold - I think it's motorcraft - coolant in there currently, I just don't know how old it is).

As far as I can see, the owner's manual doesn't have a maintenance schedule, only says to follow the extreme service schedule if the vehicle is used as a police vehicle etc.

For replacing the trans and transfer case fluids, what do you guys recommend? I was thinking I should probably use synthetic... but some are obviously better than others.

 

didn't realize it was a manual trans. i changed mine with mobil1 synthetic and you could tell right away the shifter felt slicker. whether that was because i replaced with synthetic or just any new fluid, though, i'm not sure. i had to drain it 20k later to change the clutch and it still looked almost new.