Mid-Life Refit

[FlyinRyan]

Well, the truck rolled over 160 000 KM's the other month and I've decided to finish up its mid-life refit. I'll be doing quite a bit of highway driving this summer to a new job (which will hopefully turn full time once I graduate) and want to tune up the ol' 2.5L. Here's what I'm thinking:

• Spark Plugs
• Timing Belt
• Fuel Filter
• Transmission Fluid

Now, I've heard mixed things about being able to do the plugs and timing on the 2.5. Are they do-able for an everyday backyard mechanic? If so, can anyone point me in the direction of a decent tutorial. I've found a few on here, but they're mainly arguments of how long it should take...

Anyway, is there anything else I should be looking at replacing? I bought the truck 2 years ago and the PO didn't have much to give me in maintenance records, and I fear the trucks been missing out on a few regular check-ups!

Ryan

 

[killj0y]

Diff fluid, oil change, fuel system cleaner, check the brakes, ac, heater to make sure they work. Clean the maf, and icv, throttle cable mod, flush coolant, check wipers and make sure fluid squirts, dunno that's just off the top of my head, lol make sure three jack is there and works I guess check your spares pressure...

 

[killj0y]

Oh and the air filter!

 

[FlyinRyan]

Anything on the timing belt & spark plug issues?

Anyone?

Bueller?

 

[06RangerXLT]

plugs are a walk in the park on a 4 banger. as for the belt, you can do it, just dont move anything when you swap belts.

 

[--weezl--]

^^ as long as it's not one of those 8 plug engines... not sure which ones they were, but they suck to do the plugs on...

i wouldn't bother with the fuel system treatment, they are pretty hokey in my opinion... just run some seafoam through the truck.... dump about half a can into the gas tank, then pour the other half into a vac line, while the engine is running, i try to do this as quickly as i can, without stalling the truck... also, you MIGHT want to do it in an empty parking lot as there will be a pretty good smoke show... continue to let it idle till the smoke stops coming out of the exhaust

other than that, if you want to keep it RUNNING well, and efficent, then plugs, wires, cap, rotor (if equipped) air filter, pcv, clean the throttle body... get some throttle body cleaner and either soak a rag and do it by hand, or i believe you can spray it in while it's running, which won't work as well imo... this will improve throttle response, and keep the pedal from sticking closed... fuel filter is also a good idea, speaking of which i still need to do mine!

to keep the truck driving well, change all of the fluids in the driveline, tranny, tc, diffs, (if equipped with a second diff and tc) diffs and tc are super easy, if you've got an auto, go get someone to do your tranny for you... the fluid exchange requires a machine... you can do the filter yourself, but it's a little bit of work...

as for the timing belt, if you don't know what you're doing, and have to ask, honestly, don't try it... at 160k km, i wouldn't bother for a bit... most engines with BELTS, are non interference engines, which means if the belt goes, the pistons won't hit the valves, causing more damage, where as typically a chain engine IS interference, so if it snaps, you have a much larger bill