Posted on 10/04/2013 10:21:16 AM PDT by Signalman
Without trying to toot my own horn, I know a lot about cars. I understand how most items on a car function and how they fail. I know the difference between a 6 ply tire and a bias-ply tire; I can talk about the pros and cons of direct injection; I can argue in favor or against anti-lock braking systems, etc.
This knowledge frequently causes frustration when I take my vehicle in for basic services like an LOF (lube, oil, and filter), tire rotations, etc. and I’m “pitched” an unnecessary service item. While I know the service being pitched is a giant waste of money, the average consumer probably doesn’t know…and that makes me angry. Service professionals who recommend unnecessary services ought to have more respect for the consumer (and better ethics).
As a general rule, fluid flushes and/or replacements are unnecessary. Here’s a list of maintenance items that involve a fluid flush/replacement and guidance on whether or not to pay for each.
Power Steering Fluid Flush – These are rarely – if ever – necessary. Power steering fluid will become dirty and smelly over time, but it will remain functional for the life of most vehicles. Unless your vehicle manufacturer recommends changing this fluid (and very few of them do), or your power steering system is giving you trouble, there’s simply no reason to bother with a power steering fluid flush.
Brake Fluid Flush – Brake fluid is hydrophillic, which means it sucks up water like a thirsty camel. Brake fluid can even pull water out of the humidity in the air. As brake fluid sucks up moisture, it loses effectiveness. If it absorbs enough water, brake fluid can even “boil over” during normal use.
In light of brake fluid’s sensitivity to water, automakers go to great lengths to ensure your brake system is completely and totally sealed. Therefore, the average vehicle never needs replacement brake fluid. Unless you’re doing a LOT of heavy braking (racing, towing a heavy trailer on a regular basis, etc.), your brake fluid will last as long as the system remains sealed. It’s almost always unnecessary to flush brake fluid.
Coolant Flush – Many vehicles use long-life engine coolant, which has a typical life expectancy of 150k miles. Some still use “conventional” coolant, which only has a 30k mile life expectancy.
To determine if your car needs coolant flushes every 30k miles or every 150k miles, check your vehicle manufacturer’s scheduled maintenance booklet. Follow the interval suggested – no more and no less.
Automatic Transmission Service/Flush – Last but not least, automatic transmission services are often completely unnecessary. Most new vehicles use synthetic transmission fluid that can last the lifetime of the vehicle – meaning that you’ll never, ever, EVER have to change it. Just check your vehicle’s maintenance booklet…if you don’t see a recommended transmission service interval, than your transmission doesn’t need service.
NOTE: Another clue that your transmission doesn’t need service? There’s no transmission fluid dipstick under the hood. Most automatic transmissions with lifetime fluid are “sealed,” meaning there’s no way to change the fluid.
When I’m told by my local shop that my transmission needs flushed, and I reply that the transmission uses a lifetime fluid, the person I’m talking to will often tell me that replacing my transmission fluid “couldn’t hurt.” This is completely and totally incorrect. Replacing the fluid on a transmission that doesn’t require fluid replacement is a delicate procedure. If it’s done incorrectly, damage is likely.
If you take nothing else from this article, remember this: Unnecessary transmission service can cause transmission failure.
Beware “Power” Flushes – For a time, “power” fluid flushes were popular. The thinking was that forcing fluid through your vehicle’s transmission, cooling system, etc. would be more beneficial than simply draining and replacing fluid.
Unfortunately, it took a while for auto service professionals to recognize that “power” flushes often do more harm than good. Power fluid flushes have caused leaks in cooling, steering, and braking systems, and they’ve ruined thousands of automatic transmissions.
If your local shop wants to “power flush” something, find another place to get your service done. Power flushing is unnecessary, and in many cases it can cause a failure.
Good advice for most situations, but not all. Up until recently I would have agreed with you completely. My wife's Buick Regal GS has the venerable Buick 3.8L V6 with a supercharger. The car has close to 220,000 miles on it with no major repairs. Quite a while back we started losing coolant. I had to replace some O-rings and plastic elbows at the water pump that had gone bad. I had to replace this assembly another time as well. I started leaking fluid again shortly after the last time.
Because of the recent trouble... I was in the habit of checking the coolant level frequently. Fortunately, I checked the oil every time I looked at the coolant. So one morning I found that a bunch of the coolant had run into the engine and frothed up her oil badly. If my wife would have driven it any distance at all... I am sure it would have destroyed the engine.
It turns out that the lower intake manifold gasket on these engines is prone to failure. When they fail they can leak coolant into the oil pan. The replacement gaskets are fairly inexpensive, but the amount of effort required to take everything off of the the engine down to the engine is significant. I did not have the time to do it. So against my better judgment I bought a good sized container of a named brand sealant with a copper additive that had very good reviews on-line.
The car hasn't leaked any coolant into the oil system since. I keep a very close eye on it because I still consider it to be only a temporary fix, but I must admit that for this type of leak it worked very well. The car has been on some longer trips since and went through some pretty hot months without overheating. So far my "temporary fix" has lasted approximately 6 months and 10,000 miles.
Oily smoke if I remember correctly. Old question: Why do the British drink warm beer? Lucas also build refrigerators.
The dealer stresses the main thing to keep up with on this engine is oil and air filters. If you neglect the oil, you put the turbo and injectors at risk as they are oil cooled. If you neglect the air filter, dirt can bypass it, 'sandblast' the turbo blades, which fail and chunk metal bits into the engine, causing cylinder wall and ring damage.
Other than that, since I pull a trailer, I change the transmission fluid per Ford's recommendation (the auto trans holds up better than the manual - Ford dropped the manual in 2004 I think).
I am sitting at 255k+ miles now...no problems and still running very strong; no smoke, doesn't burn oil, etc. The dealer I use has multiple customers with 500k+ miles on this version of the super duty.
ATE Super Blue is no longer distributed in the US because the blue dye violates federal regulations. I am series.
I’ve gone to Castrol SRF. I know about how much fluid my system holds and don’t really need the blue color to let me know I’ve bled the old fluid.
Not all of them; some of them are Smoke, Smolder and Burn.
Well damn. I still have a couple cans in the garage, the feds will just have to come for me. :-)
“Other than that, since I pull a trailer, I change the transmission fluid per Ford’s recommendation (the auto trans holds up better than the manual - Ford dropped the manual in 2004 I think).”
My dad bought his F250 new in 2004, and the manual transmission was still available then. He went for the automatic in his.
And amazingly, he’s had no problems with the 6.0L Powerstroke in his truck. The guys who put his engine together must have really been on their game that day!
Lucas also used to build a vacuum cleaner. It’s the only product they’ve ever manufactured that didn’t suck.
On a related topic, when it comes to monitoring the dipsticks in D.C., regular “power flushing” is recommended, if not mandatory ....
That engine was so bad it cost Ford almost half it's commercial business, which is a third of Ford's total business. Ford sued International and specified getting to drop their exclusive contract for diesel engines as remedy for the damages. All they wanted was to get out of the contract so they could design their own engine.
There is a lot I like about the new Ford internal design, but not for the $60k price tag to replace mine. I also refuse to buy one with the Diesel Exhaust Fluid crap.
The Super Blue issue came up a couple of months or so ago. iirc, the manufacturer “voluntarily” withdrew Super Blue from the market due to this federal rule (which, i indrrstand, has actually been in place for a loooong time). The rationale for the rule is supposedly to prevent meemaw from confusing brake fluid with, idk, windshield wiper fluid, and adding windshield wiper fluid to her brake fluid reserve.
I noticed recently that one of my preferred online parts dealer lists Super Blue as “no longer available” on their website. But undoubtedly plenty of customers like you (and retailers) didn’t get the memo. On the other hand, a trackside vendor hawking racing gear at a road course the past couple of weekends had some cans of Super Blue for sale on a shelf.
FWIW, if you do a LOT of threshold braking (I do), I highly recommend Castol SRF. Good stuff. Minimal fade. Seems to last me awhile.
Waste of good money. There is plenty more smoke in those wires. Just replace the fuses with ones that carry double the amps, and you'll see.
Make sure the mechanic checks the tension on the hydrophramic sprocket and tops off the blinker fluid. A must!
Changing the fluid and flushing the transmission are two different things.
Changing the fluid is still a good idea. Don’t let them sell you the power flush service for $200, when a drain and fill should be under $60 and maybe less.
1. If you have a new car and plan on keeping it for about 125,000 miles, you are wasting money on synthetic oil because of the cost of synthetic oil.
1. If you plan on keeping it "until the wheels fall off," synthetic oil will ensure that the engine runs indefinitely (my 2000 Malibu has 225,000 miles and does not burn any appreciable amount of oil and I change the oil and filter every 6,000 miles and do not need to add oil between oil changes).
3. If you buy a used vehicle with less than 50,000 and is less than 5 years old, you can change to synthetic with no issues (but check the oil every 500 miles just to see if you are burning any oil).
4. If you have a car that is older than 5 years and has more than 50,000 miles, you will probably start to burn/leak oil, because the engine has begun to wear and synthetic oil will find those wear points.
5. If you convert to synthetic oil from regular oil and you start to burn oil, you are still getting the protection from synthetic oil, you just need to add oil between oil changes. For instance, in 1992, I bought a 1987 chevy caprice (307 olds engine) with 87,000 miles. It was burning about 1/2 a quart of oil per 1,000 miles. When I switched to synthetic, it started burning about a quart per 1,000 miles. I got rid of the car in 2005 and it had 260,000 miles and still only burned a quart per 1,000 miles. I got rid of it, because it was rusting from the inside out; which cannot be corrected. When it had about 210,000 miles I had to replace the intake manifold gasket; which allowed me to look inside parts of the engine. The inside of the engine was spotless- it looked it had been steam cleaned and coated with oil.
6. If you convert and older car to synthetic there is a risk that when the synthetic will cause a piece of sludge to clog up an oil return hole; which can cause engine failure. My 55 year old mechanic has only seen this happen once in his 30 year career.
By the first sentence, I can see he is not as smart as he thinks. Bias ply are different than radial tires. Either can be 2 ply, 4 ply, 6 ply, 8 ply, 10 ply, etc. Bias refers to the design, not the number of plies.
That used to be the joke pulled on every new mechanic - sending him to all the parts houses in town to find a muffler bearing. Every one was in on the joke and had "just sold" the last one.
Pure BS. The cap on the brake fluid reservoir has a breather hole (hint: brake pads wear down over time). Any competent shop can do a 'boiling point' test on the brake fluid in no time flat and tell you when it's time to change it. And you should (~2 year interval). Moisture in the brake fluid will also in time corrode the brake cylinders - $$$.
I usually do it the first few days of summer and again the first few days of winter. :-)
If you're using your transmission to slow down instead of the brakes you'll save money on brake jobs but at the expense of accelerated clutch wear.
Brakes are always easier and cheaper to replace than a clutch.
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