Help with Preventative maintnace for Pickup?

[andy j]

I don't have access to my dad doing maintnace to my truck anymore. What do you all recommend getting seviced to keep my truck running good. It seems everytime I go to get a oil change they reccomend some preventative maintnace. Which is nessessary and what is not? I do think that my truck 98 Ford F150 4.6 V8, 96,000 miles, seems a little doggy at times, especially when pulling the boat, engines pinging noise. Would a fuel injection cleaner that I put into my gas help with this? I know a lot of you guys know your stuff. Thanks Andy

[bucketmouth64]

Make sure you are up to date with all your fluid changes. Radiator, transmission, transfer case (4wd/awd). Might be ready for a tuneup if it has not had one, fuel/air filter, tire rotations. Check owners manual for other routine maintenance items. I've heard of putting sea foam in gas to help clean fuel system.

[Whoaru99]

As mentioned, the Owner's manual is a good source of info on maintenance items and intervals.

If you have that pinging noise just every now and then under heavy load, probably not too big of a deal. But, if it is happening more often than not, you probably should have a reputable shop check it out because it can cause engine damage.

[delmuts]

using seafoam may help. with the miles you have on it, your injectors could be gumming up. many places have a unit that is hooked up to that will flush and clean your injectors.( here in iowa/small town) they charge a little over a 100 to do this. talk to people and try to find a garage/service center) that you can trust.then talk to them.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Andy, you are do for a set of plugs. They should be platinums and have a life expectancy of around 100,000 miles. I don't remeber if they are a coil over plug or not if they are it can get pricy for a tune-up.

Ping is nothing more than the pre-ingnition of fuel in the cylinders. Things like carbon deposits, poor fuel quailty, and mechanical issues can cause ping If it pings every once and a while its not going to hurt anything. If it pings all the time you have a problem. The easiest thing to try is filling up with a tank of the next octane up (if you use 87 try 89) and see if it goes away. These engines as well as several other ford engines have problems with the EGR ports clogging up with carbon. This can also cause ping but will usually turn on the check engine light with a code for low EGR flow.

As far as preventive maint. Most manufacturers rec. things like coolant flushes and trans services every 30k to 40k. Driveline services every 40k to 50k. Air/fuel/cabin filters every 30k. Brake/power steering flush every 40k to 60k. Remeber these are preventive maint. items and don't nessessarily have be done right away, But having them done doesn't hurt either.

[ChuckN]

Airjer is right. I will add that the 4.6L is not the coil over plugs, the 5.4L had the coil plug design. That's nicer for you.

New plugs might help with the pinging issues and performance.