High mileage FiST--What to be concerned about?

[CrumpledFedora]

Question: What things are likely to break or need replacing? What costs am I looking at to keep this thing 'til 200K? Is that even a practical idea?

Context:
+ Do I try to make it another year or two so as not to buy something new at a hefty chip-shortage-premium in 2022?
+ Or is it time to sell or trade out of the FiST?
+ Or, hybrid: Buy something new and turn the FiST into a track toy (now we're talking)?

Background:
+ 2017 (black, recaros) with >111,000 miles (read: "eleventy-one thousands o' miles").
+ Obviously a daily driver, and > 85% highway.
+ Original owner.
+ KC, MO area. They do like salt here.
+ Mods: RMM, muffler delete, wheels/tires, shift knob. That's it. No tune ever, running pure stock ECU firmware.
+ Care: Oil change every ~4K for first 50K-ish miles by Ford dealer using the recommended semi-synthetic. Switched to Royal Purple after that, change it myself every ~10K. No other mechanical service has been performed.
+ Feeding and habits: 91 octane only. I wait 5m or drive really nice for 5m on cold startups. Sometimes I drive it like I'm mad at it and rev it out, but since it's mostly highway mileage, the average is pretty sedate.
+ Trouble: Some kind of evap vac bluh bluh that cause the engine to nearly stall after fill-ups, cost me about $400 to have Ford dealer fix that--that was like at 60K iirc. Otherwise, zero issues. Except that blend door actuator click nonsense that everyone has. Still have a new one in the bag to install, maybe someday...

Thank you in advance, Interweb-peoples, for your collective wisdom and advice!

 

[SteveS]

No reason why the car won't continue with proper maintenance. If you've never changed it, the air filter is past due. If you've never done brakes, you might expect them to need replacement and change the brake fluid. Someday the clutch slave cylinder will possibly go bad and need replacement; at this point, if anything with the clutch goes bad, replace the clutch and slave cylinder together.

Some day you may notice enough deterioration in ride and handling that replacement of shocks may be in order.

The evap canister problem is a known thing that can be avoided by never topping off the tank when fueling.

 

[Sam4]

I've owned it since new, and ask those same questions every day...

 

[CrumpledFedora]

Thank you for the response @SteveS . Based on your feedback and a lot of reading old threads I think this is my master list of things I expect to deal with at one point or another between current 112K and, say, 225K, along with what might be some desirable upgrades along the way. I have decided to keep the FiST until 2024 (possibly beyond?) and not buy a replacement in this present, chip-starved market.

Thought I'd codify this in case anyone has additional items, and for those who may search for this information in the future.

DoubleThoseSmiles! maintenance items that will happen at some point in 2022-3:

• Timing belt
• Serpentine belt
• Spark plugs?
• Cabin air filter
• Coolant hoses
• Clutch and slave cylinder
• Battery
• Brakes: Front have been replaced already, likely time for rear or F+R soon. Probably fronts will be replaced twice before 225K.
• Shocks.

Periodic maintenance:

• Air filter
• Oil and filter
• Tires
• Wiper blades
• Soap and water, paint maintenance

Possible "lemme replace this before it goes anyway" upgrades:

• Radiator, OEM is undersized and sometimes gets pretty edgy in 100F stop-and-go which is rare in KC...but I have had windows down/heater on and prayed a couple times in the past.
• Intercooler, could open the way to a tune if desired...do these ever fail?
• Shocks. Maybe finally lowering springs at the same time, like Whiteline springs + B8's?
• Paint. Big conundrum here, the hood has been micro-pierced by ten thousand meteorites, and of course there are various accumulated scuffs and such on other panels, this car has been used and dailied on the highway. If I really want to keep the FiST I might want to just spring for a full-body respray at some point (ouch), guessing that would be like $2000 or more. Or go really crazy and change the color--black is great except when it's not, lol.

Anyone have other items they would add to this list, for the sake of those who will inevitably be searching the forums and trying to keep these cars alive through the 2020's?

Also, should I be concerned about DI-induced carbon buildup? I assume that has already begun to manifest in reduced performance by now (111K), but at what point does it have to be dealt with--and what does that look like, i.e., what must be done, and what kind of costs are involved for someone who needs to pay a mechanic for that level of work?

 

[SteveS]

Valve cleaning at the dealer can be several hundred dollars. However, there are reports of other ways to do it. Here's one which is particularly inexpensive. Reminds me of the old carburetor days.

View: https://youtu.be/ljQlugKM9P0


Cabin air filter is every 24000 miles IIRC

For things like belt replacement, plugs, coils, etc. there is a maintenance schedule in the owners manual.

We haven't experienced any overheating or near overheating (live in the Ozarks), but radiators are popular among the tuner crowd. Tuning will obviously generate more heat.

Your battery, if original, is 5 years old. On average, it will fail in a year or so, maybe sooner. I'd replace it with the same thing it has--the OEM. People try lighter batteries, etc., but this is a daily driver.

I personally wouldn't do the clutch and slave cylinder as a maintenance item. I'd replace the clutch when it starts slipping. But do the slave cylinder at the same time since it's inside.

Coolant hoses I'd leave until you replace the radiator. If you're going for longevity, I'd stay OEM.

You might want to consider keeping the car "forever". The powers that be are making it so that in a few years there won't be any more cars available like this.