2003 E450 service

[westwind999]

My brother bought a 2003 E450 7.3 power stroke automatic truck. He asked me to do some service on the weekend. Here's the plan so far. New air filters (X2), 5W40 Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme (for Canadian winter) and a M1 filter, Zerex G-05 coolant change and Max Life ATF drain and fill. The transmission has a drain plug so it should be easy to drain.

Any other recommendations or changes I should make to my plan?

Thanks

 

[justinf89]

well how many miles does it have?

 

[Dualie]

forget the drain and fill on the 4R100 do a cooler line flush and do it right.

 

[silverrat]

Rear differential fluid needs replacement. Fuel filter needs replacement.

 

[Dualie]

The E-450 should have the Dana-80 which has a less than stellar reputation. A good 75-140 would be a great idea.

 

[dnewton3]

Make sure the coolant has the anti-cavitation additive in it; if not, buy some at the Ford dealer and add it into the coolant. This is an overlooked topic that can destroy the old 7.3 PDS. Over long exposure, the coolant cavitation can be so great as to actually eat pin-holes through the cylinder walls! I personally spoke to one of the product engineers at the Navistar INDY plant back in the mid-1990's, and this was his most stern warning.


The rest of the maintenance plan is just good common sense R&R of fluids and filters, etc.

 

[bullwinkle]

Thought the SCAs were only for use with conventional green? By '03, the Premium Gold/G-05 wasn't (& isn't) supposed to need them? For example, my company van ('04 6.0 PSD) has NEVER had them, has had 2 coolant changes using Premium Gold, no problems in 216K yet! My boss has an '03 E-350 7.3-over 350K with no problems.

 

[dnewton3]

To the best of my knowledge, the 6.0 and 6.4 (and presumably the 6.7) do not call for the additives.

But the 7.3L do. Perhaps there was a cut-off coolant wise, but my point is to check your owner's manual. If it calls for it, USE IT! So very many people don't even know about this topic, or ignore it.

 

[westwind999]

Thanks for the feedback.

The E450 is a recent purchase so the history is a fit foggy. The owners manual is missing too. It has a bit over 200,000km/120,000 miles. It's a delivery truck so it doesn't carry huge loads weight wise, mostly large volumes. I'll check into the additives.

Thanks

 

[Dualie]

If originally equipped with G-05 and its un molested it dose not call for SCA's and using them would be more PITA than they would ever be worth.

IF you add them you have to maintain them with test strips and all the proper due diligence.

Fuel filter would definately be a good idea.

 

[westwind999]

Update

Oil change and trans fluid went well. Didn't change the coolant, it has green in it and has a sticker with a no orange symbol on it. Haven't had a chance to stop in at the dealer yet for the additive.

Picked up a fuel filter, took a while just to find it under the hood. Ran out of time so it didn't get changed yet. It looked like it hadn't been changed in some time, any tricks to get the cap off?

 

[Dualie]

i just use a screwdriver and a hammer and light tapping to get it turning loose.