hey yall. i just got a 93 f150 (i'm 15 its my first truck). it has 130k on it and the current owner uses it as a daily driver. It'll be a while till we get plates/insurance for it (probably sometime over the summer when I can drive by myself) so I'm wondering if I should do anything special to keep it in good shape? Since its cold, I'll start it every few days and drive it around the neighborhood every so often but what else can I do? The oil was just changed to 5w 30 Valvoline maxlife partial synthetic. I would like to change the spark plugs, but should I do that before or after it's been sitting? And would one of those battery tender things be worth it? Anything else? thanks.

 

do you know how long ago the last tuneup on the truck was done? if its never been tuned up. just change all the fluids and filters, dist cap and rotor, wires and plugs. does it have 1 or 2 fuel tanks? maybe put an injector cleaner the tank(s). since it was a daily driver until now then i dont think there will be any real problems and if you drive it around then i think it will be good. good luck with it

 

Congratulations on your first truck! Since the truck is a daily driver and it's going to be sitting a lot now, I'd suggest the following. I would suggest buying one bottle of Auto-Rx. I'd put 6oz in the transmission and the rest in the engine oil. The advantages are that the seals will not be getting brittle due to lack of use. The seals are old and somewhat brittle just due to age and mileage. The materials used in making the seals uses the fats in the oil to keep them supple. Auto-Rx is a lanolin ester and will soften the seals and eliminate any future leaks. It is not a cure all so if it leaks a lot now, don't expect anything from it. But if the engine/transmission has small leaks, the Auto-Rx will probably eliminate them and buy you more miles from the current seals. Auto-Rx also is a super cleaner. It works slowly and will not strip the lubrication like a solvent based flush. When you start to drive this summer, have the transmission fluid changed and the oil changed using a normal OTC dino motor oil for the rinse cycle. You cannot use a synthetic for the rinse cycle. Synthetic oils will buy you nothing anyway but a lot of folks like to spend money on their trucks. Use a popular brand 5w-30 oil and be happy with your truck. If you drive it for 20 minutes a month, that should keep the battery up and not require any other charging. My 91 Bronco only sees about 20 minutes a month and it's not an issue with the battery. I'd wait until the weather gets warm before doing any maintenance work.
I know you want to get under the hood of your new baby but I'd wait at least until the weather gets decent before trying to do any work on it. Take your time and learn to work on it correctly. There's a wealth of resources right here so if you have any questions, bring 'em here and there should be somebody around to help.

I have no affiliation with Auto-Rx:
http://www.auto-rx.com/

 

don't know if I said this but right now he's using a partial synthetic. will I have to keep using that or can I go to non synthetic?

 

The Maxlife is a GP III dino synthetic oil blended with conventional dino base oils. It's good oil for an OTC oil but it doesn't really do anything a normal dino won't. You can switch back and forth all you want. The comments about using a normal oil only is in regards to the rinse cycle if you intend to use the Auto-Rx. If you don't intend to use it, use whatever oil that meets Ford specs 929. It will be on the back of the bottle. Pick a brand and stay with it. Maxlife, yellow bottle Pennzoil, and Havoline have been turning the lowest wear metals lately. If you just want to run a synthetic and intend on regular oil changes, take a good look at Pennzoil Platinum. You get the best of all of the base oils and a great add pack too.

 

I had to park my '05 for about 18 months when I was out of the country. I changed the oil and filter, added fuel stabilizer, and kept the battery on a float charger. I left it on jack stands so the tires weren't supporting the weight and that was it. I've been back for a little over a year now and have put about 15k on it since and don't notice any ill affects.

 

Labnerd,

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying that the Ford Motorcraft synthetic oil that I'm currently using is not really necessary and that a regular oil like Castrol GTX is as good? I'm asking this because I used Castrol for many years and never had a problem, but the vast majority of the threads here on oil issues say use the Ford blend and nothing else. Thanks.

Bob