Let me start by saying I have been a Chevy guy all my life and I have now come over to "the dark side" and am a proud owner of a 2004 F350 PSD.

Love the truck, and am very much looking forward to learning and making the truck run like a champ. I live in Eagle River Alaska, so cold climate driving is imminent, it is already down to 20F overnight and will continue to drop.

I bought the truck used with 135K, it has an Edge programmer which has been placed on 0 and Mileage, so I only use it for the gauges which are nice. It also has a K&N cold air intake to the turbo.

The first day I had the truck I changed the oil to Rotella T6 5W-40 syn. With motorcraft filter. I also changed the fuel filters with motorcraft filters, and cleaned the K&N air filter.

I plan on having the tranny, t-case and both diffs drained and filled with full syn, and flushing the cooling system.

Is there anything else I should do to the truck? I have been doing a lot of reading and was wondering if I should clean the EGR? Re-set/re-learn the tranny to my driving style?

Or anything else I should look for.

Any and all input is much appreciated.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Good first steps w/ your new truck. Cleaning the EGR valve is a good idea. Simply replacing it might be an even better idea if you do not know how old it is.

The tranny will re-learn on its own, no need to worry about it.

I highly recommend a fuel pressure gauge and a coolant filter.

Also, I would have the tranny flushed at a dealership OR drop the pan and change the fluid yourself. Also change the external tranny filter and if you do drop the pan, inspect the internal screen. If it is in good shape, it is re-usable (as is the tranny pan gasket).

 

Thanks for the reply Mark,

I am going to take the truck to a local shop in Anchorage, Different Strokes of Alaska to do the fluid drains and refills. That is where I purchased the filters, they use all motorcraft parts and are in bed with Ford. The owner Ron seems like a very knowledgeable and good guy.

Holly Sh**, A new EGR is $300 - 400 bucks? I think I will clean this one first and see how she does.

I have been looking into a coolant filter, and I think I will order one from Dieselsite.

I also use Power service in the fuel, I am running the diesel kleen (silver) now to clean things up, and will switch over to the supplement (white) after the clean up.

Thanks again.

 

Get ahold of partsguyed here on FTE or google Tousleyfordparts and buy the EGR valve yourself. It should be cheaper than that (I hope at least).

 

Up there you may need to go to the 0W30 in the winter. Just a suggestion. On the tranny use only mercon SP or LV and either Motorcraft or ntz filters. NTZ is the mnf. for m/c on the ext. tranny filter.

 

Thanks for the responses.

I pulled the EGR and it was as clean as a whistle, not a spec of carbon on it, I did spray it off and change the o-rings and the gasket. Being so clean does that suggest the previous owner did the EGR delete? Is there a way to verify if the delete was done?

Also there is what looks like an oil cooler filter by the front passenger side wheel, it has the ford logo and the # 431100 stamped on it, but I can’t find what filter goes in there or if it's a screw on filter in itself. Is it a stock oil cooler filter? Will the stealer/dealer have the filter.

Here is a pic of the filter in question.

 

That is your external transmission fluid filter.

A good idea is to buy your filters on-line. Dieselfiltersonline.com is a good place.

 

run a code reader on the edge, if it says lo erg flow, then it may have been deleted

 

Thanks fatcowtvx,

I ran the code reader and sure enough, p0401 lo EGR flow. Plus there was a cruise control light circuit code, so I think the bulb is out for when I hit the on button, nothing lights up but when I set it the little wheel is on.

I guess I need to take this thing in and have someone go thru it.

Is there a way to tell if the head studs were done?

I know I'm a PITA but like I said in the original post I'm a Ford newb.

It sure is cool learning new stuff and you folks are awesome.

Thanks a ton.

 

Once again bismic you are the man, I guess that explains why I could not find an oil cooler filter LOL

 

SFC-REMF LOL!!! Are you still in the military?

Easy way to check if your engine is studded is by looking at just below the valve covers, most visible on the driver side. You can see the bottom row of head bolts, if it has a regular bolt head it's not studded, if it looks like a bolt with an 12 point nut on it you have studs.

 

Congrats on your truck. Welcome to the dark side.

 

Yep still active, 24 years and counting. This is my last hitch though, the new to me F350 is my coming home from the desert present from the old lady.

Took this not so good pic, so I guess this means the previous owner had the studs done?


I know it looks very dirty, the o-rings on the glow plug harness is leaking on both sides, nothing on the ground but I need to get them changed and cleaned up. That is the oil soaked glow plug harness below the head stud.

 

One more tip, ditch the K&N and go back to the stock filter. Your truck will love you for it.

 

Yup, that's studded.

Dang, wish I got a welcome back present like that!!!!! 39 months in the desert and the only welcome back present I've gotten was DIVORCE PAPERS! LOL!!!

I've got almost 11 years in, and got pinned SFC 2 years ago, but am calling it quits. Couldn't make it to 20 if I wanted to, this crap caught up with me after the last deployment.