Coil on plug and other maint. advice

As my car sits for the winter, I'm getting a list of things I'll need to do a regular maintenance routine on it. Please note, I'm not the most mechanically inclined when it comes to cars, but I've got several friends that are mechanics.

Item 1: Are COPs something that should be replaced? The car is a 99 with 18000 miles on it. Do COPs wear out like spark plugs, belts/etc? How much work's involved with this? I plan on changing the plugs anyway, so I pretty much have to remove the COPs anyway. Just need to know if there's a benefit to replacing them.

Item 2: Transmission fluid. It's a m/t, is this something that should be done as well? If so, how difficult is it?

Item 3: Bushings/bearings. I can only assume it'd be beneficial to change the various bushings on the suspension/etc, especially after 10 years. My question is, what's a good replacement (I'm assuming urethane) and what's an approximate cost (cost applies to the COPs as well, if needed)?

Item 4: Fuel filter. How difficult is this to change?


Other normal yearly stuff includes, air filter, oil/filter change. I'll probably flush the radiator, and if recommended, the intercooler (is this necessary?).

Any advice on the above would be appreciated.

GettinThere, yes, it's 18,000.


Thanks for the advice, it'll save me time and money. I had my suspicions on the COPs (replacing them that is). The car ran fine before it got put away. I treated a full tank with Sta-Bil (didn't last year, there wasn't a problem).

That said. After this tank is drained (I'll go ahead and say it will be in 150 miles ), I'll change the fuel filter, as I'm sure it's still original. I also change the oil when I take it out of hibernation. I've put 2200 miles on it the last two summers. So an oil change every spring should suffice.

I ordered a Haynes manual Monday, so it should be here anytime.

As for the other bits:

Battery was new in '08
Serpentine belt still looks good (got another one from the previous owner he got as a spare from Saleen, still in the plastic bag).
Wipers, pretty sure they're fine. It's only been in the rain 10 times in it's life.


The reason I asked about the MT fluid. Sometimes it doesn't shift into 3rd easily (sometimes, really, really difficult) depending on how spirited it is being driven. I've heard everything from changing the fluid to it being a bent fork, which I really hope it's not.

The suspension is fine. When we had it up on the lift to adjust the midpipe, we noticed a couple of the boots were cracked. No doubt due to them being 10-11 years old. Suspension wise (ride) it's fine. Nothing rattles/bangs/etc.

The previous owner had to replace a strut/control arm on the front after the first year (turns out it was 1 month out of the 1 year warranty from Saleen on the Racecraft stuff), but aside from that, it's all original/fine.


I've got a friend that used to be an ASE mechanic for the local Ford dealership whose specialty is 4.6L Mustangs. So I'm good to go there. I'm sure he'd do things really reasonable. If not, I'll let him beat me on the golf course.