Good advice needed about maintenance/driveability, please
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2003
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Good advice needed about maintenance/driveability, please
I bought my 1988 F150 302/AOD/3.55 Limited slip axle extended cab truck with 65,000 miles last summer. With the insurance inspection at a Ford dealer, I re-did axle seals and brakes all round as the rear axle seals were leaking, changed oil, air filter, flushed/filled the cooling system, and recently replaced the starter motor and had the differential rebuilt. The mechanic also pulled a spark plug, and said it looked good.
The previous owner had the codes checked and TPS sensor replaced at 55,000 miles, and the tranny fluid flushed/replaced.
The truck is running well (with maybe a slight pinging between gear shifts if I listen carefully), gas mileage seems normal to others on this site and there are no engine codes.
I need to do a fair bit of longer distance driving this summer, and want the truck to be reliable, but I don't want to spend money unnecessarily. Is there any other maintenance that anyone would recommend to avoid a breakdown? The mechanic took it for a test drive, and indicated that everything sounds good--however, it is a 1988 truck without about 75,000 miles on it at this point.
I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks.
Frank.
The previous owner had the codes checked and TPS sensor replaced at 55,000 miles, and the tranny fluid flushed/replaced.
The truck is running well (with maybe a slight pinging between gear shifts if I listen carefully), gas mileage seems normal to others on this site and there are no engine codes.
I need to do a fair bit of longer distance driving this summer, and want the truck to be reliable, but I don't want to spend money unnecessarily. Is there any other maintenance that anyone would recommend to avoid a breakdown? The mechanic took it for a test drive, and indicated that everything sounds good--however, it is a 1988 truck without about 75,000 miles on it at this point.
I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks.
Frank.
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Senior User
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Thanks for your reply. I did change the fan belt (but forgot to mention it in my earlier post). The rad hoses look good, and the mechanic thought they looked o.k. I don't feel any bulges or soft spots, and the system was pressure tested when I did the rad flush about 8K ago. I am not aware of the fuel filter being changed, but the truck runs really well; I put gas/fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank about once every two months to try to keep fuel injectors clean. Should I be doing a full tune up--sparks, wires, fuel filter, etc., even though it seems to run fine?
Thanks again for your reply.
Frank.
Thanks again for your reply.
Frank.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 255
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From: Spokane
Put a jack under the front end and get the tire off the ground. Do one at a time. Jack it up so the axle still has weight on it. Check steering, ball joints, wheel bearings, brake job, all with just a little prying on the wheel.
A tire balance is always good if you can get one free.
A tire balance is always good if you can get one free.
