Maintenance on 2016 Mustang GT with 33K miles

Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
118
Location
TX
I don't put a lot of miles on my 2016 Mustang GT, as you can tell: 33K in 6-1/2 years of ownership. I've had a Ford dealer do the oil changes at ~5K miles, but I've done no other maintenance aside from checking fluid levels, tire pressures, and changing the engine air filter.

Yes, I plan to look at the owner's manual, but which maintenance items would you folks recommend? Auto trans fluid & filter change? Coolant change? Differential lube? Brake fluid? Power steering fluid? My guess is the dealer would charge me $600 or more for those things, and I'm not sure they would do them correctly. However, I've done them all before myself, albeit on 60s-80s cars and trucks. And I can get the car up off the garage floor at all four corners.

Tires are only 4 years old, after replacing the noisy OEM tires at 12K miles. I haven't looked at the brakes, but I expect they still have at least 50% pad thickness.

Thanks.
 
If you do not trust the dealer there are mechanics now a days that will come to your house and do the work.
 
33K miles is a little early for Trans fluid, diff fluid unless it was driven really hard. Those items don't age, they just wear.
Coolant and brake fluid on the other hand is time dependent, like 5 years on both, max.
If you don't feel that you'll be able to do the trans/diff/PS fluid in 3 more years, do them now.
 
Personally, I would change out the gear lube - super easy job and the gear oil costs maybe $40 total. I would also drop the Trans pan just to get a look and make sure the fluid looks ok and then refill (I have never done this service on a newer Mustang but it SHOULD be an easy job).

Coolant, Brakes, and PS should be good for much much longer. If you have an annual state inspection they should be able to tell you what condition your brakes are in.
 
From the information you provided I'd say that the only fluid maintenance that you should do that is possibly not listed in the vehicle maintenance schedule would be to do a complete brake fluid flush. This maintenance event is based on time and not mileage and you're at six years of age so it should have been done once already.

Otherwise, do a good visual inspection of things when you change the engine oil just as you would under any other circumstances. Six years of age isn't old by any standard these days so the car should be in good shape. The brake fluid flush should address any potential corrosion that will form in the braking system so change it every few years and stick with the recommendation from the manual for everything else.
 
If you do not trust the dealer there are mechanics now a days that will come to your house and do the work.
You know, there's a family-owned shop down the road from me that gets rave reviews from locals. I've had 4 state inspections done there, and they are always courteous, and fast. And unlike some places that do inspections, they didn't try to sell me engine flushes and cabin filters!
 
The brake fluid flush should address any potential corrosion that will form in the braking system so change it every few years and stick with the recommendation from the manual for everything else.
I've never done that on an ABS system. Guess I can always do research, or let the shop down the road do it.

Turns out I need to do my 69 truck, too!
 
You know, there's a family-owned shop down the road from me that gets rave reviews from locals. I've had 4 state inspections done there, and they are always courteous, and fast. And unlike some places that do inspections, they didn't try to sell me engine flushes and cabin filters!
That sounds good. I would do a pan drop & clean and a new filter on the transmission IIWM. Watch a couple of pan drop videos at 15-30K and you'll be shocked. After that a D & F every 30K thereafter.
 
Turns out I need to do my 69 truck, too!
Have you ever opened the system on the '69 model? I suspect it has had several calipers or wheel cylinders over the years due to a lack of maintenance. If you haven't touched them in the past decade then just budget for some repairs... or life insurance. Those choices are yours.
 
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