After removing the skid plate, I was greeted by years of accumulated oil and dirt coating nearly everything underneath the engine. My first thought was that I'd discovered a major leak. My second thought was that I was about to spend the rest of the weekend chasing it. After a thorough inspection, though, I couldn't find any evidence of fresh oil. There were no drips in the driveway, no wet spots, and no obvious source. Once I removed the drain plug and oil filter, the answer became pretty obvious.

Previous oil changes had likely been performed without removing the skid plate, allowing draining oil to coat everything underneath. With that realization, I grabbed some degreaser and a wire brush and went to work cleaning the skid plate, steering rack, crossmember, and anything else covered in years of oily grime. Unfortunately, most of that grime eventually relocated itself to my driveway. Future me would deal with that problem.

Next up was the transmission. After removing the drain plug, I let the pan drain completely while I moved on to other tasks. The fluid wasn't terrible, but it had definitely lost the bright red color you'd like to see. Another confirmation that the drain-and-fill plan was probably the right move.

While waiting, I decided to clean the mass air flow sensor. The airbox came out, the sensor was removed, and a few sprays of MAF cleaner restored everything back to proper condition. With the airbox out of the way, I suddenly had excellent access to the power steering reservoir. That seemed like a sign. The power steering fluid looked significantly worse than the transmission fluid. After extracting as much old fluid as possible from the reservoir with my handy shampoo bottle pump, I disconnected the return line and routed it into a drain pan. A finger from a disposable glove, a zip tie, and some questionable engineering served as a temporary plug while I added fresh fluid and cycled the steering wheel.

The process worked surprisingly well. Little by little, the old fluid was pushed out and replaced with fresh fluid until everything looked clean again. By the end of the day, the engine oil was changed, the transmission had received fresh fluid, the MAF sensor was cleaned, and the power steering system was full of new fluid. More importantly, I had a much better understanding of the truck.

Tomorrow's plan involved pressure washing the driveway, installing a trailer wiring harness, and replacing the taillight bulbs with LEDs