What all should I service with this thing, I just got it with 170k miles on it....how hard is a transmission flush and filter change? What causes hard shifts if I romp on the throttle....like wind it up to 4500 rpms before shifts....i thought it was just too much throttle cause it doesnt do it if i stay out of the throttle.....can you guys tell me the following:

Oil Type I plan to use: 10w30???
Tranny Fluid??: Mercon V?
Spark Plug: ?????? ---idk im a diesel guy, they aint got these lol
Boots???: You mean wires???

Any other general service items that should require my attention, the tranny fluid doesnt smell burnt or anything, but it definitly is not red, its like a reddish clear kinda color, but still smells fine.

 

dont go hollering diesel in here they might throw you to the wolves.....

plugs...go with oem
there are no wires just the COP's...coil on plug....its my advice that once one starts to go then change them all unless you like an easter egg hunt everytime the truck starts to miss....
synthetic trans fluid is great and for oil just run whatever you normally like to run....other then that make sure your transfer case and diff's are up to par....

 

I would use Motocraft or Autolite plugs and I use boots from NAPA. You don't have to flush the transmission in a 2000 just remove the inspection plate and turn the converter over until you see a small plug, remove it and the converter will drain and then drain the pan. Be sure to remove the pan to clean it and change the filter, there are two kinds of filter one is just a screen and the other one is a large fiber filter (that's what mine has). The only fluid that will remain is whats in the lines to the cooler and the cooler itself, if your fluid isn't burnt just leave it. It should take about 15 quarts of Mercon/Dextron III, they didn't start using Mercon V until 05. I use 5W-30 Mobil I but any good oil will work, 5W-30 is whats recommended for the 2000 V10 I think it was 02 when the changed to 5W-20.

Denny

 

So anywho...AUto tranny sounds complicated...ima have it done by someone XD! I know manuals inside and out...

 

Sounds like those hard shifts might actually be a shift kit or a tune was already installed.

 

its been tuned??? How can I tell?

 

Slightly confused. For some reason, I've been under the assumption when changing the spark plugs, it's a good idea to just go ahead and replace all the COP's since they are pretty cheap and your already messing with them anyways. Tonight, I'm sitting at work playing online and reading some posts, planning to change my spark plugs on my next day off. On the Napa Auto Parts site, I see the COP's are $46 for the cheapest of the 3 versions. Thats $460 for 10 of them which brings up my confusion. Did I misread previous posts and they were meaning to change the COP boots which I believe were only $4 each and would make more sense with the "pretty cheap" wording?

 

Randallman changing COP's is not a regular maintenance item since the OEM's last a long time in most cases. When one (or more) most often you'll throw a CEL code which can be used to identify a potential bad COP. In that case you'd inspect the plug, boot and COP and replace them as needed.

I'm using a set of Granatelli's that have been problematic beginning just about the time the warranty ran out. They'll be replaced with the original's I saved on advice from a friend---smart man as it turns out! Never again will I use anything but OEM or MotorCraft COP's.

There are many many stories on the different aftermarket brands of COP's here and in the V8 forums as well---almost conclusively MotorCraft have been the best brand. $50 or less per COP is about right, especially online and $8 each or less for the boots is also correct. Don't change plugs without inspecting and replacing these if there's even a slight question. Cracked or too old of boots have shown to be a problem many many times on the modular motors.

 

So I bought spark plugs and the boot things today...cost me 111 dollars for all 20 items, 10 motorcraft plugs and 10 boot things from Oreilly....where does this dumb little spring go?

 

It goes between the coil and plug inside the boot.

Denny

 

huh? Why couldnt they keep it with just wires...ive had a modular engine before(99 Ranger 4.0l, 2001 4.0 SOHC) but they had real wires...what prompted the boots?

 

It would seem the COP's (with the boots and contact springs) is a more efficient way to deliver the high voltage spark plugs require. With a distributor, common coil and wires leading to each plug there are too many paths for the voltage to "leak out" and create problems. Additionally having an ECM control so many of the engine functions including spark timing instead of vacuum or centrifugal advance the COP's just make a lot of sense.

Maintenance wise for the most part the COP's seem far less problematic than I ever remember experiencing with distributor-style ignition systems. I do NOT agree plugs can go 100K miles but even so the modular motor's are still lower in maintenance requirements, ignition system-wise anyway.

 

ok now it makes more sense....