Hello to all on the V10 Forum!
(Ford-Trucks.com has been a great help for any questions I've had w/ my 2001 Expedition.)

I've just purchased a 2000 GBM 29' Landau Motorhome.
It has the Ford F53 chassis w/ the V10 Triton 6.8L.
(Let me know if there's a better forum for this discussion. But, it seemed V10 was the place to be?)
Between this forum and the RV forum I've read some great things about this engine & some horror stories.

I picked it up out in Nashville w/ about 16,000 miles and drove it home to Ma. So now I've got about 17,000 miles on it.
It ran great all the way home. Seemed very powerfull.

My question for all the experts here is what I should do to this rig to prevent the horror stories?
My plan is to get it in for Oil/Filter & a Transmission Flush.
Followed by new tires and Bilstein shocks.
By next April I want this buggy in tip-top shape and ready to cruise!

Any comments/suggsestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

 

This is the place to be

Let the discussion begin!!!

 

Your 2000 Model Year 2v V10 is really from 1999 due to the way Ford produced the F53 chassis and delivers to the body builder...the Body builder is the one who puts on the year of manufacture.

What that means is you have the lower power version of the 2v V10. And I am sorry but no, there is no real good way to up grade it to the 3v V10 and the cost to get it fully 2001 or later is just too high for to small amount of HP you would gain.

The full Gale Banks kits work real good for that application. If you intend to spend a LOT of time on the road, especially in Tall Mountains...it is worth considering.

Horror story number ONE: plug blow out...it is a real phenomena and you are probably OK with 16,000~17,000 on the motor and no blow out yet... I would either do it my self or get a very trusted professional mechanic to remove the factory plugs and replace with the new nickle plated ones using the correct procedure, blow out each plug recess with compressed air, a little anti seize, and torqued to the correct spec of 160 to 168 inch pounds.

Horror story number TWO: poor idle or won't stay running... Idle Air Control (IAC) valves get gummed up and stick. Buy one and learn how to find it on the motor and get all the tools you will need to replace it out on the road. You do not need it right now but you will and Murphy says it will be at the top of a remote mountain pass when it decides to crap out. Also get a couple of the rubber "elbows" for the top of the motor vacuum lines into you "emergency kit"

Horror Story number Three: speedometer failure or ABS light blinking. Typically the speed sensor craps out, usually on the rear differential but some are on back of transmission. Inexpensive...get the part into your "kit"

Horror story number Four: Transmission problems... most likely you have the very early version of the 4R100 transmission. A damned good tranie but has problems. Rebuilt units these days do away with all the weak link internal crap parts. If you intend a LOT of time on the road like more then 10,000 miles per year seriously consider a rebuild as a preventative measure before an expensive tow and trip interruption of a week is needed. Install a real trans temp gage and watch it like a hawk when parking and backing the rig. Any temp heading above 210 F is bad and 220F or higher requires immediate replacement of all the fluid. Add in another auxiliary transmission oil cooler to the two the factory already has. Get one with a fan included.

Final Horror story: Pinion shaft seal.... on these rigs caused but sitting for extended periods. Drive the rig at least once a month up to full operating temp religiously and she will last decades... let her sit for 90 days or more and she will punish you according to the rules of Murphy.

Tip of the day.... travel with the Grey and black water holding tanks empty and only about 5 gallons in the fresh water tank.... load light.... weight is your enemy! Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon so 40 gallon tank holds 320 pounds of fuel robbing weight

 

Mr. Fredvon4,
Thank you so much! This is exactly the type of tips/info I was looking for.

This is our 1st class "A" & we love it, but want to keep it as headache free as possible.

Your right on w/ the 1999 chassis (Hope that's not a negative on the V10?)
Definetly plan on the once-a-month use of the Rig and the Genny.

I just picked-up a ScanGuage to keep track of some of the OBDII info.

This Rig will be used weekends and Vacations - Hopefully, from now until retirement in about 10 -15 years (yea right, like I won't want a new toy before then!) at least that's what I'm tellin the Wife.

Any other suggestions on Mods, Oil types, ect. Greatly appreciated!

 

The 99 powerplant is -25hp and -10 ft/lb torque. Not a real big handicap.
Mine has been near flawless

 

A Tad expensive ...check with Camping World or your favorite local RV dealer for the Full Gale Banks intake and exhaust system upgrades... I tell all the truck owners to forget about it.... but for the heavy RV with lower ratio rear gears the system makes a significant difference... again it is a pricey system

Stick with the factory lubes and service schedule of 3000, or every 90 days.. The Motor Craft 5W30 or 5W20 is real inexpensive and the FL820S filter by MC is in the $2.75~$3.59 range most places... your motor was originally speced for 5W30 and Ford made a change in early 2000s to 5W20...either one works equally well in that motor

If you intend to tow a car behind make damned sure it is a very little one...and you spend the big bucks for the correct hitch and aux braking system for the dinghy

Used suziki samari 4x4 are excellent tow behind... little, light weight, and fun in the wilderness or going into "town" for beer...er...ah... I mean "supplies" grin

 

I'm no mechanic beyond tinkering around, oil change, etc.
So here's a dumb question:
If I change out the plugs w/ the nickle plated ones, what is the anti-seize for?

Also, Who makes these nickle-plated? Do they come from Ford or can you get them at a parts store?

 

The anti-sieze is insurance against the aluminum corroding.

If you go to the auto parts store (or a Ford dealer) and ask for plugs for your truck, they will give you the nickel-plated ones.

Look up the old number in Motorcraft, and it crosses over to the new one, nickel-plated.

 

Thanks so much guys!
I'll plan on doing the plug switch-out & oil change.

Fredvon4 - I have read some very positive comments on the Banks, but as you say PRICE!, so this wasn't really on my list.
I am hoping to tow a Jeep Wrangler or a Ski Nautique (Both are in the 3000 lb range).
I'm looking at a tow bar with a brake system over the winter.

Any thoughts/recommendations on what I should do for a transmission service on this beast?

 

I have a 2001 HR Vacationer 35 footer w/ V10. I thought I had the 1999 version 2v motor also, however after taking a lookie at the heads, they say "PI" on them same as my 2001 truck. Mine's got 85k on it, just did the plugs myself about 2 months ago, also changed the oil/filter using 10W40 Syntec. Going to get the trans. flushed in a couple weeks. I did the cheap cold air intake mod. by cutting away the plastic going around the airfilter, and installed a K&N. It runs gooooooooood!!!

 

expyboat01

While 16~17 thousand on the transmission is not much, but is has a lot of years sitting. I think your plan on a trans flush and re-lube is a wise idea. If you can, always set up to pull through parking slots you will lengthen the life of the 4R100... backing, especially up hill is very hard on the trany internals and fluid.

Relating to the spark plugs and the anti seize compound that I recommend...

Less is better then more. I use a very cheap acid swabbing brush (like 100 for a dollar) I cut most of the bristles off with scissors so it gets stiff and dab a little anti seize on the plug threads and the cone mating face. The brush gets the compound down int the threads with out loading each thread all the way full with the stuff. Less is infinitely better!

I do each plug one at a time because of the sand and dirt in all my plug recesses from off road use. I Don't want to blow the crap out of one area to have it drop into an open cylinder. I always blow first, loosen the plug about on turn, and blow out again to get rid of all the crap the was stuck to the side of the plug.

I gap the new nickle plated plugs on the wide side because I replace them long before they are worn out. The gap is 0.052~0.056 and if you plan on leaving them alone or a long time use the smaller gap.

The anti seize does three things, two good and one not so good...

One good think is preventing any galling during the torque of the plug. Galling is where the softer aluminum metal tends to attach itself to the steel threads and peel or roll up shearing off itself... this can happen even at low torque values just from the friction of the interference fit. The anti seize acts as a lubricant reducing this friction.

The second good thing is the coating slows down electrolysis or dissimilar metal corrosion a LOT. Part of this prevention is chemical and part is from filling in all the open air gaps and preventing any moisture from penetrating down the threads.

The not so good thing, relates to the lubricity of the compound and the inaccuracy of the torque reading. Oily or greasy fasteners will turn further into a bore for a given torque then the same completely dry fastener (Plug).. Once a bolt of plug is mated flat on the shoulder and it is further turned it is pulling the soft aluminum threads up toward it... they will only give so much before they crack and shear off.

On these plugs, the design torque is 14 Foot pounds or 168 inch pounds and is, relatively speaking, fairly low. To tell the truth, if the engineers had allowed for a full 20+ threads you would have a very hard time stripping any threads in this diameter hole... but that is not the case here... The designed it this way because of heat transfer, and galling / corrosion problems with deep plug threads. Here they opted to go with the minimum of 4 to 8 threads. Mechanically this works and can cause fewer "old motor" problems but at the price of being very sensitive to under or over torque.

With coated threads on my plugs I torque in two stages...first to 10 ft pounds / 120 inch pounds and then I do the next plug in line. Once all the plugs are in, (takes about an hour to do all of them) I go back and do the "final torque" up to 168inch pounds in new truck and 160 inch pounds on older motors.

This delay allows the anti seize compound and threads to set and relax and squish the excess out of the way and reduces the amount of lubricity error of the final torque reading. There is still some, but it is less then 3% so not too big an issue. (I taught "Torque Technique" at the Fort Eustis Aviation Maintenance school house for a few years) Army Maintenance shool houses used to teach the "why" a lot more then they do now.

 

Fredvon4,
You are da man!
Thanks so much for all this info.

On the tranny service -
Is there anything special that I should ask for on the 4r100 or is it just flush & refill?
I hope to have a local truck place do the work.
Probably Tranny, AC Recharge & alignement in the spring (after new tires and shocks).

On the plugs -
If I replace them now (Approx. 17000 miles) when would the next recommended replacement be?
There probaly won't be an excessive amount of miles per year put on the rig.
From your description above, it would seem the less these go in/out the better? Maybe better to just check the torque every so often (Beginning/end of season)?

Thanks again!

 

Normal trans shops and dealers do a good enough job at drain and fill of the trans... I personally don't subscribe to the power flush hype of BG or other services unless we know for a fact the internals are going south and the fluid was cooked. In the 4R100 there is a good argument for the higher rated thermal loads full synthetics provide... because the stuff may be in there a lot longer then motor oil this is an area where I think the extra expense is worth it. I stay away from amsoil over hyped and over priced crap is my only caution...there is nothing wrong with the crap it is just marketed wrong and priced too high and in the INDEPENDENT test it is not all that much better in industry standard tests

You can ignore your plugs for a long time if you have confidence that they are not already corroded or loose... if it was mine I would do the replacement now, and every 30,00 to 50,000 there after.... or in your case, about every 3 years because you should not see that much mileage out of weekend and twice a year week long trips.

Not too sure where on the motor home they stuck the radiator overflow reservoir. The ones on top of motors or sometimes just the coolant lines on top of the motors will pee a little coolant on top...for some reason this crap is pretty corrosive on the aluminum and steel plugs and up inside the plug boots...If you see or suspect coolant in these areas flush the crap out with low..I am serious LOW pressure water.

Oh yea, before I forget, replace each plug boot as long as you are doing the plugs..not expensive parts and damned good insurance.

 

Here is some food for thought. I have a 98 Itasca Suncruiser (35 foot) on a 99 F53 w/V10. Purchased new. I have not had any real problems. Change oil every 3000 or when I start a long trip. Castrol Synthetic 5-30, Lube etc. I now have 40+k and have just put on new tires, (goodyear 670RV), had all the belts and hoses replaced. had trans serviced at 20K and new fuel filter. I live in VA and have traveled to the southwest, west coast, Alaska, Maine to Florida a number of times. Your MH is six+years old and not a lot of miles. Check tires, belt, hoses. replace if can because of age. Fuel filter and trans should be changed and serviced. Replace air filter. Drive with Gray and black tanks empty and 1/2 tank of water. Use a gas additive to clean gas lines etc.when you fill up to start trip. A little maintance goes a long way. I grew up in Lowell and Chelmsford. I tow a Jeep GC with lots of toys. We take our grandkids with us 8-10 at a time. Lots of bikes, Kayaks, etc. Keep in touch and we can exchange ideas.

Keep it between the white lines and enjoy.

Mac

 

Hey csm mac,
Thanks for the info.
Before Spring I was planning on: New Tires (Goodyear or Toyo), Bilsteins, Alignement, Oil, Plugs, & Tranny Service.
I guess I'll add Fuel Filter, Hoses, Belts & Brakes to the list.
Also hoping to get set-up to tow my Wrangler & Ski Boat.
Hope Winter is only just long enough to get the upgardes done!