Questions about giving the truck a tune up
 

ok, so I bought the truck with 45,000 miles on it. I am not sure if it has ever had a tune up. When it is in park, it vibrates hard. Also, at a dead stop at a light or stop sign, it shudders hard before accelerating. people on here told me to change the plugs and or wires, get a new fuel filter, and clean the MAF sensor. Well, I dont know how to do anything but change the oil(which I just did). So my question is, where do I start? if i dont know anything, would it be best to just take it to a mechanic and pay for a tune up? I know it would be way more expensive, but i dont want to ruin my truck. Is there a How To on changing spark plugs? How about fuel filters? And how exactly do I clean my MAF sensor? I went to Autozone and asked then about cleaning the MAF and nobody knew what I was talking about.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Sorry, also, where is a good place to buy the fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, o2 sensors... Autozone? or a good website?

Change the plugs and wires. Motorcraft seems to be the brand most agree on as being the best. If you're going to do it yourself, invest in a shop manual. Haynes is the most common, I think. Should be one for '99-'04 Rangers. Autozone carries them. Changing plugs is pretty simple - pull the wire off, unscrew 'em with a spark plug socket and driver, hand start the new ones(DON'T cross-thread them), and tighten them with the socket and driver a little, put the wire back on. As for the wires, just ask for replacement wires for your truck at Autozone or a dealership. When swapping them out, do one at a time so you get the wires back on the right order.

And try putting a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in your gas tank the next time you fill up.

Cheers,
D.

sea foam.. pull vaccum line on break booster.. ha dont stick it all the way in the bottle and rev it up tho... when it crushes the can some suction it will scare the crap outta you haha.
fuel filter is cake! it should come with a tool to disconect the fittings... make sure you put it on the right way!
transmission flush wouldnt hurt if its never seen a tune up... change the oil.. new air filter.. if dirty.

Being that you're in MI, and there are a crapload of knowledgeable guys there, I woud suggest that you post up a meet over at your place. Those guys would probably be more then willing to come over and show you what to do.

Your pretty close to me. (I'm in Howell)

Maybe you could come over and we'll take a look at it?

PM me

Rich

hey guys, sorry it took so long to rely. thanks for the info! ive got a friend that is great with cars so hes gonna take a look for me and tell me what needs replacing. he said hed help with the tune up too and show me how to do everything so that i can do it for myself next time. im gonna get one of those manuals at autozone to do the spark plugs and stuff. i already got some MAF cleaner and fuel injector cleaner. i think it helped some. just calculated my mpg yesterday and i was getting 20 with a mix of highway/ city driving. pretty good imo.