"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/18/2019 at 10:57 • Filed to: None | 2 | 14 |
Mrs. Grind’s awd boostless Flex is in for an oil change+rotation. 30k miles. Right away I’m recommended the brake system flush and fill and a fuel injection system clean. Of course I’m shown before and after pictures of something with probably 200k miles on 64 octane gas.
I declined both. It’s a 2018 model living in dry climate.
This does bring up a good question for my fellow oppogaragistas, how often do YOU change out your brake fluid? I Target 5 yearsor sooner based on color change. Injectors and fuel system? I run a bottle through every other month.
Theres manual recommendation, then there’s dealer “wallet flush” upcharges.
I haven’t dealered at Ford since ‘11, and I’m discovering again what they’re about. I hear some that theyre trying to teslafy service if they can, denying covered fixes if you haven’t done their recommendations. I guess I’ll learn as I go. At least I picked a reliable model year .
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 11:03 | 0 |
Just do what the owners manual recommends. Most of the flush and clean is BS unless you happen to have a car with a specific issue with carbon build up or plugging injectors. I changed the spark plugs in my 2.0 Mazda 3 (basically a ford/mazda motor) at 70k and they were not even that worn, or dirty indicating all things fuel/air were in top shape.
Future next gen S2000 owner
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 11:10 | 0 |
I follow the owner’s manual for all maintenance. Try to at least. The dealer can do stuff themselves. The manufacturer is smarter then the service advisors at the dealership.
Sammyno55
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 11:12 | 1 |
I follow the recommendation on the owner’s manual. The dealership recommendations are usually pocket cleaners.
When I buy a used car, I tend to do all the things because I have no personal record of maintenance.
I’ve never been one to run FI cleaner but I'm not sure how the new DI engines keep the intake runners clean with all the EGR and whatnot.
ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 11:35 | 1 |
As brake fluid is hydroscopic, which will reduce boiling point along with degrade internal components , there’s some good reason to replace it every few years. BMW and Honda both used to specify something like every 2-3 years regardless of mileage. On my racecar, brake fluid is flushed entirely after every race weekend. On the rest of my vehicles, I usually settle with flushing it with every brake service (front or rear). That get’s it changed every few years, and you’ve got the brake system open anyway at the time. It would be foolish to retract a caliper piston without opening the bleeder first on any modern car a nyway, so I’ll happily add a few more minutes to the bleed job and flush the system entirely.
Pickup_man
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 11:37 | 1 |
Honestly not until something fails/breaks like a bad line or a stuck caliper/leaky wheel cylinder and I have to bleed the whole system . I know this is probably bad, but it hasn’t been a problem yet and I’m being better about it, switching the fluid in the bikes out every couple of years, and I’ll probably flush the truck when it hits 100k.
I used to buy bottles of that fuel system cleaner all the time thinking it actually did something, and maybe it does, but I never noticed any sort of difference with or without it. I’ve got 215k on the fuel system in my old truck (very likely including the original fuel filter) without a single issue. It runs smooth and gets the same crappy mileage it has it’s entire life.
Svend
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 11:47 | 0 |
I let the dealer do all that stuff.
I keep an eye on the oil level, wind screen wash and water.
The cars go through quarterly health checks, summer check, pre-winter check, etc... the dealer doesn’t charge for most/majority of them.
TysMagic
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 12:00 | 0 |
I took the MX-5 in for an oil change and recall this morning. They text you a video walk around of the car. My favorite is the mechanic essentially saying, you don’t need an alignment but the book says we should do it anyway.
Yeah man, that’s a pass I appreciate
the hard sell there.
VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely
> Pickup_man
09/18/2019 at 12:50 | 0 |
IMO, that fuel system cleaner only seems to help if your car’s injectors are so fouled any little bit will do. Otherwise, it seems to me about the same as pumping gas with the Top Tier additives for a year or so into a port injected setup.
It’s getting harder and harder to do so but I just typically go figure out what the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule is for extreme weather (AZ counts cause it’s a stupid hot dumb fucking desert with dust but no rust) and then figure out what a acceptable compromise seems.
These days I work from home and my oil changes are getting less and less frequent simply because I’m not putting miles on them, which is usually when I consider other things to do. Brake fluid seems to be about every 3 years or so as a result.
Grindintosecond
> Sammyno55
09/18/2019 at 13:19 | 0 |
That’s what I do with used cars. Even if the oil is clean I try to hit an even mile mark and then hit the oil and whatever fluid it should have had done by then. Gotta have a record somewhere to start with. I lucked out with my Taco purchase a few years back. came with 125k of all records since new, so I’m good with that.
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 14:08 | 0 |
Breaker fluid should absolutely be done every 2-3 years, or 20-30k miles, whatever the manual says. It absolutely absorbs moisture and can cause issues down the line if not flushed out regularly.
Fuel system cleaning with a tool at a shop is much more effective than a bottle in the tank. However it is an “above and beyond” maintenance item. They are NOT useless snake oil. I have personally fixed plenty of misfire and poor timing conditions using them, as well as bore-scoped cylinders before and after a cleaning. There is usually, not always mind you, a clear reduction in carbon deposits. Plenty of engines made in the last decade have carbon issues. Mercedes typically don’t, at least in my region/experience, but they can and it can lead to burnt valves and valve seats which is very expensive to fix. Doing a fuel system cleaning as a general maintenance item every so often goes a long way to preventing these issues from ever happening. I usually recommend them about every 50-60k miles. The companies that make the cleaners usually recommend 30k, because of course they do.
LJ909
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 14:25 | 0 |
I tend to not do dealer recommended service as its mostly an overpriced inspection and not service at all. Yea you’ll get an oil change, but its mostly for them to either tell you whats wrong so they can then charge you more, or for them to create things that are wrong to get you to spend more.
Longtime Lurker
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 14:33 | 0 |
I did my Ranger brake flush ad fuel filter at 8yr/30k, that was too long for the brakes as I had noticed the previous winter the ABS/Stability system was taking longer to stop pumping AFTER the truck came to a stop. I’ll probably flush the trans next summer. Have no plans for injection cleaning.
On the BMW I did it 10yrs after buying it so who knows how long that had been in there, which was also too long of time as the driver front caliper had debris inside of it.
merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
> Grindintosecond
09/18/2019 at 16:19 | 0 |
Brakes I flush when I change pads. As for fuel cleaner, well that’s a whole other thing. I run cleaners through the tank, but I’ve had to do an induction cleaning due to carbon buildup so bad I was getting misfires. But that’s just the norm for my engine . DI engine. The tank fuel cleaner only takes care of the injectors, but the intake has to come off, or the induction cleaning to get the intake valves clean.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Grindintosecond
09/19/2019 at 05:09 | 0 |
Audi/Skoda here in Oz say every 2.5 years
Holden say every 2 years