Tune up on 97 Mark

[Kraze]

Ok, not too long ago I bought a 97 base Mark VIII with a little over 100k miles on it. I now plan on doing a little basic maintenance things for it. Here is what I was planning so far: change fuel filter, oil filter, and air filter. Change oil and flush transmission fluid and replace with Mercon V, change spark plugs, and do the Seafoam and Techron treatment. I had a couple questions about some of these things though.

1. What spark plugs should I use? It seems like people are saying good things about the Autolite 764's? Are spark plugs all I need to change for the ignition system?

2. Would using synthetic motor oil be beneficial enough to justify the extra cost? And what weight? I live in the desert, where in the summer it gets up into the 100's, and in the winter it gets down into the 30's and high 20's. Right now it's actually pretty warm though.

3. Seafoam. I was planning on the half a can in the PCV valve, but after that's done should I change the PCV valve? Where can you get the valve and how hard is it to change, or can you change it at all? And also, what size hose attaches to the fitting I want to use?

4. Since the oil will be changed shortly, should I also put some Seafoam into the oil? If so, how much and how would I go about doing this?

5. Should I put a full 12 oz. bottle of Techron in on a full tank, or should I do it on half a tank, or what?

6. Did I miss anything else that should be done?

Sorry for all the questions, but any and all help is appreciated!

Thank you.

 

[mespock]

Go with synthetic oil and the 764's...

I don't think the sea foam in the oil is a good thing. Gas tank or PVC but not the oil.

 

[Kraze]

Ok then no seafoam for the oil. Should I just use seafoam for both the PVC and gas tank, or should I go with what was originally planned and use Techron for the gas?

 

[Frogman]

If you want something in the oil, put some ATF in there. But don't run it more than 100 miles.

Ideally you should drain a qt of oil, and add a qt of atf.

 

[98LSC32V]

Auto-RX is the best stuff you can put in your engine... you need two treatments I believe but it will clean out your engine real good. It is an Ester based product

 

[Kraze]

Ok so just a couple more questions. What size hose should I use to connect to the PCV valve? And should I do 2 treatments? Start out small on the first one then do more on the second? Or should I just do half a can the first time and leave it at that?

 

[98LSC32V]

The more treatments the better with Seafoam. I use half the can. Remember to rev above 3000rpm that's when the IMRC's open, do it in neutral with the parking brake on.

 

[MediumD]

I personally wouldn't bother with seafoam, Techron, or synthetic oil. If it ain't broke... adding 'fix in a can' isn't going to do anything.

If you want to change the PCV valve just for the fun of it, go ahead. I'd change it before using the seafoam if you plan to use it, no sense having the seafoam "clean" the old PCV valve if you're going to change it right afterwards...