Tune up time: Which items to change / use? Please give opinions!
Hey. I have a 95 5.0 that I just got a few months ago and I think its time for a tune up on it. I was driving to Walmart this morning and it seemed bogged down, then the check engine light came on.. so I got to Walmart and the light went off.. then I got some stuff, came back out and just popped hood real quick to make sure everything was still there. I had some coolant leaking out from where the thermostat is @. So I will be changing that gasket and the thermostat on tuesday. While i'm doing this.. I wanna just go ahead and change out the rest of the crap thats on there. My car is still completely stock.
1. Spark plugs: Which brand (Bosch-Platinum, Champion, Ac Delco, Splitfire, etc) should I get? How much are they?
2. Distributor wires: Which brand (Ford, Bosch, MSD) / kind? How much are they?
3. Distributor cap/rotor: Which brand? Should I just get some Wells one?
4. Should I change the PCV valve? The EGR?
5. I am planning to get a cool air intake later, so I will just blow out the air filter in there now - will this be ok for the time being?
6. Since the coolant has been leaking, I will need a new serp. belt since some coolant dropped down on this one & it squeaks like crazy now. This one also has wear. Any special brands?
7. Should I go ahead and change the timing chain also? (I'm approaching 95k miles)
8. Oil filter: Any particular ones to consider?
9. Fuel filter: Should I leave it or change it? (I might as well pay the few extra bucks to change it, no?)
10. Oil: I already have some Mobil 1 laying around in the garage, should I use this or get some amsoil, etc?
11. As far as my check engine light coming on, this is probly the 3rd time it has happened in the past few months and it only stays on for 1-2 minutes. Should I go ahead and do this tune-up then see what happens, and then if it persists, maybe get a diagnostic?
Alright, sorry for the super long post, any opinions will be greatly appreciated, thanks guys.
1. Autolite 25's if the heads are still stock and you are not using any nitrous.
2. Depends on how much you want to spend and how much stuff is done to yur motor already. For a good set, get some MSD's, for a great set, get some Taylor's.
3. Cap and rotor from MSD or if you just want the basic replacement stuff, tet at a local parts store.
4. PCV valve for sure, EGR only if that's what is causing the light.
5. Get a cheap paper replacement for now, blowing it off with compressed air can cause small holes in the paper...not worth it.
6. No special brands that i know of.
7. Not sure on this one.
8. Motorcraft.
9. Change it for sure as well. Use some goggles, and releave the pressure at the rail.
10. Your choice, some say no synthetics after 50K miles; loosens sludge and causes leaks--BS? I don't know.
11. Hold off until the other stuff is done, then if the light still comes on, then use the tech side of this site to check the codes on your own.
12. Good luck and hope this helps.
Use autolite or motorcraft copper plugs, gap at .054.
You can use synthetic oil, no problem, but for best results first change the oil once using the cheapest thing you can buy, use the car for a couple of days and then change again to synthetic. Get a motorcraft or purolator oil filter.
Change the fuel filter and have the injectors cleaned professionaly.
No need to use an MSD box, a coil change will do to recover some lost power from the old unit, MSD coil is ok.
Change your coolant temperature sensor, the stock one will most probably not be accurate after so many miles.
Run some TB spray cleaner through your intake, this is to remove oil and gunk deposits on the TB and intake. Also helps clean the valves a bit.
1. So these autolite plugs are pretty good I guess? I was thinking of those bosch platinum 4's.. are they worth it?
2. Should I go ahead and jus get an MSD coil? how hard are these to install and how much do they run? (Estimate)
3. How hard is it to change the coolant sensor and how much do they run? (Estimate)
4. And then the wires.. Should I look into those ford racing ones and go ahead and get those? Or should I get some MSD ones?
Thanks guys, this really helps me out a lot, as I will be going and buyin all this stuff within this week and installing it next week, hopefully I will have recovered much of the lost power.
So to summarize, I will probly be getting msd cap & rotor, then replacing pcv valve, probably getting the autolite plugs or bosch, motorcraft oil filter, some cheap fram air filter, and some fuel filter. Also, possibly changing the coolant sensor and coil to an MSD one.. right?
Your summary is nearly spot on, but don't get the Bosch platinum plugs. Too many stories of problems with them. The standard for 5.0's is autolite's 25's, 24's with nitrous, or blower. Don't be shocked at how cheap they are, just trust that they do a great job of things.
The MSD coil is about $45.00 and the coolant sensor is around $25.00. They are both really simple to change. Coil is a bolt on deal with the battery disconnect being the only hint, and the sensor only requires that the car be cool and you have a towel to wipe up the little bit of coolant that will drip out.
The wires are your choice. Some folks don't like the Ford wires, saying that there is too much resistance with them, and some don't like the MSD ones saying that they are sometimes a bit too short. I've not had either, just stockers, autolite's (yuck), a great set that I got from autozone (their brand) with a lifetime warranty, and the Taylor's on my '95 now. The Taylor's are simply awesome, but the only hitch with them is that they cost $100 (Summit)!
Dugan Racing sells a 'tune up kit' comes w/ Motorsport 9mm wires, Autolites, fuel filter, oil filter, cap and rotor. I'm sure there are other places that offer kits like this.
I've used them[tune up kit] for a couple of years and have never had any complaints.
Also, I've started something new in my routine for tune up. That is getting a can of 'Cee foam' from Carquest. Running it through my intake via a vaccum line, while the vehicle is running. Great trick with obvious results.
Clean you K&N filter...assuming you have one, if not, get one.
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'95 Gt (sapphire blue)
full saleen body upgrade
typical bolt-ons
wish I had a money tree.
Tune up time: Which items to change / use? Please give opinions! 
thx for the input guys.
