At what Mileage should you get or give your vehicle a tune up? My '03 Explorer has about 75,000 miles on it. Is it time for a tune up? What all is done when you get a tune up? Is it something we could do ourselves?

A COMPLETE tune-up was due at 60K. Most of it is basic maintenance, although as with anything mechanical, if you haven't done it before, you should consult with someone who HAS.
All fluids should be checked, as well as the condition of your hoses and belts.
You should, at this time, replace the fuel filter, Air filter, PCV Valve, and Spark plugs, and run a check on the charging system.
In addition to these, you should check your tire pressure,
Have your cooling system Flushed and refilled (the second time by now)
Transmission fluid changed (second time by now)
Transfer case and differential fluid changed
Brake Fluid changed (2nd time)

These are straight out of the manual. but should also be listed in your owner's manual that came with your vehicle.

I always feel like the bearer of bad news, as I know, to most people, their car is still fairly NEW at the age yours is. My wife's car is going on 9 years old and she still insists it's too new for some of the things I tell her we have needed to do to it.

Nice list. I think all of that was done to my explorer just before I purchased it (65k). It is almost time to do some of them again though 96K.

Brian_B said:

Nice list. I think all of that was done to my explorer just before I purchased it (65k). It is almost time to do some of them again though 96K.

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Things like the spark plugs, transfer case and Diff fluids are every 60K,
the other major items are every 30k,
and the minor items should be done OFTEN, IMHO

Thanks for the info.

Tell Scott his honeydoo list just grew a few feet.

mrfixit said:

Tell Scott his honeydoo list just grew a few feet.

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That was what I was thinking. Maybe this weekend????

mrfixit said:

Tell Scott his honeydoo list just grew a few feet.

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I'm thinking the site will crash for the weekend now!! Thanks TOM!!

mrfixit said:

I always feel like the bearer of bad news, as I know, to most people, their car is still fairly NEW at the age yours is.

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What they don't know is that if you do all this stuff when you should, it will stay "like-new" a lot longer.

I drive a 10 year old truck with 235k miles on it, and it looks and drives like a 5 year old vehicle with 100k. My friends make fun of the amount of time I spend working on it, but the smart ones notice that it's never really broken when I start working, just in better shape when I'm done.

I'm curious about you saying the manual recommends changing the plugs at 60k- I thought Ford had gone to the 100k tuneup interval across the board by '03. Not saying that the plugs shouldn't be changed then (I certainly would), but I didn't think you'd find that in a manual anymore.confused

Switch em to bosch plus fours and there won't be a need even THAT soon, lol..
My manuals only cover up to '03, so what you say makes sense. However, her explorer IS an 03. so the point is, shall we say, moot?

mrfixit said:

Switch em to bosch plus fours and there won't be a need even THAT soon, lol..
My manuals only cover up to '03, so what you say makes sense. However, her explorer IS an 03. so the point is, shall we say, moot?

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Actually, Bosch plugs don't run well at all with Ford's EDIS. They do, however, run great in my gas Mercedes! Stay with Motorcraft or Autolite double platinum
plugs, or the new Motorcraft "fine wire" platinums.

I just wanted to add, if you change the plugs, go ahead and change the plug wires. There is a very good chance that the plug wires will be damaged when
you pull them off the plugs.

Thanks for the info everyone.

I have put those plus fours in my wife's suby and my son's blazer and my little chrysler, and am amazed how long they have lasted. I wasn't aware of the problem with the Ford electronics, tho... thanks for the info!!!

So, how far did you get on the list, Scott???

mrfixit said:

So, how far did you get on the list, Scott???

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Uh er, he went to Sunset Ford and looked at Mustangs?

Blue Goose said:

Uh er, he went to Sunset Ford and looked at Mustangs?

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But did he SIGN for any????

mrfixit said:

But did he SIGN for any????

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DOH!!! Now I know why he had his arm in a sling!!!

mrfixit said:

So, how far did you get on the list, Scott???

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What list? That belongs to the professionals now.

Blue Goose said:

DOH!!! Now I know why he had his arm in a sling!!!

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CHROME, CHROME, CHROME, Oh, that was Goose, never mind.......