maintenance services?

[Falcon_LS]

Ever since I started working on cars, I've always been questioning this "lifetime fill" [censored]. What is a lifetime, a year? two? 100,000 miles? Not only is there no specific definition, but nothing is "lifetime". This has been my maintenance schedule on all my cars.

3,000 miles:
- Tire rotation
- Lubricate locks and hinges
- Top up washer fluid
- Check tire pressues
- Check brake pads/hoses
- Blow dust out of brake pads/discs with air gun
- Check lights

6,250 miles (or by OLM):
- Engine oil
- Engine oil filer
- Air filter
- Clean MAF
- Fuel filter (just started doing this considering the gas tanks at stations are not properly maintained)

25,000 miles:
- ATF and filter
- PSF
- Brake fluid
- Coolant/thermostat/radiator cap
- Differential/transfer case lubes
- Clean throttle body

50,000 miles:
- Radiator/heater core/throttle body hoses
- Spark plugs (fuel quality related)
- Coil boots and springs/ignition wires/distributor cap
- Serpentine belt

62,000 miles:
- Timing belt
- Cam/crank seals
- Coolant pump

Brake fluid also gets flushed each and every time the pads/rotors are replaced. My vehicles have been good to me because I've been good to them.

They key is to be proactive, not reactive. It's a lot cheaper in the long run to hold onto the car for as long as possible, and maintain it properly, instead of neglecting it and replacing the car every couple of years.

 

[berninicaco3]

I agree about being proactive-- but it seems that many of the expensive jobs couldn't have been prevented by being proactive.
I'm only highly proactive on my own car, because, it's cheap (I do it myself), and it can be fun. I rebuilt my engine and transmission because I wanted to learn how they ticked, but by no means can I recommend that to anyone else looking to get the most miles and years per dollar.

It seems to me that
regular oil changes,
and a timing belt on an interference engine,
and trans fluid in an automatic, depending on usage (towing, for example!),
and tire air pressure,
are the only proactive services that really make sense.
and probably a tuneup at 100,000.

Otherwise just taking care of things as they go wrong.
But the most responsible owner in the world will still end up with a bad window motor.

Let me rephrase it this way...
If you take a car and drive it for 10 years and 150,000 miles, owner (A) doing all the scheduled maintenance by the book or even sooner, and owner (B) just doing oil changes...

Even tire rotations, I don't notice a millimeter of tread difference before 15,000 miles have passed.

Will owner (B)...
--have a statistically significant higher and documented probability of needing a water pump, radiator, or heater core, because corrosion destroyed them?

--have a statistically significant higher and documented probability of needing a master cylinder, calipers, or ABS module because old and contaminated brake fluid caused seals to leak or pistons to seize?

--have a statistically significant higher and documented probability of needing a rack or power steering pump because old and contaminated steering fluid caused pump seals to fail or debris to grind the rack?

--have a statistically significant higher and documented probability of needing a new transmission because old fluid failed to lubricate clutches and/or dirt clogged passages?

--have a statistically significant higher and documented probability of needing a differential, because old differential fluid ran low and/or overheated, causing overheating of the gears and shearing of their teeth?


I'm not sure if the dealership charging my older sister $500 for a brake and coolant flush at only 40,000 miles on her (then-new) nissan, was wisely spent-- or if she should have banked it towards broken sway bar links or a bad radio or dead window motor that will fail when they want to, with not a bit of prevention possible.

 

[HM12460]

I generally change these fluids when I buy the vehicle (used) within a month or so, just because I like clean fluids. A true BITOG'ER hates dirty fluids.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: HM12460
I generally change these fluids when I buy the vehicle (used) within a month or so, just because I like clean fluids. A true BITOG'ER hates dirty fluids.
+1