Transmission Service?

Some manufactures well at least mind did have a different schedule for normal and severe duty (define severe duty). I do trans, coolent, both diffs, xfer case every two years wheather it needs it or not. In two years I get aprox 16,000 miles of towing and about 10,000 not towing

JALLEN4 wrote:

drsteve wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
So again, since the manufacturer of the car is either clueless or has an ulterior motive depending on who you ask, how do you come up with the intervals?

If you are still changing your engine oil on the old 3000 mile schedule, don't forget, that was the MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDED interval. So now you're a hypocrite, or something has changed in the intentions/behaviors of car manufacturers.

This forum is full of people who are convinced that the manufacturers who design these things either know nothing about them, or they are liars who want you to wear out your equipment early and/or spend extra cash on unneeded service.

I don't think anybody is saying the engineers who design the product don't know anything about the product.

Then you don't read enough posts here.

Some of them are unbelievably talented and extremely knowledgeable. Those of us though that know how the business operates understand that compromises are made in the process.

Engineers, left to their own devices, can easily design a 500,000 mile life expectancy vehicle. The reality is that it would not sell in quantity because of affordability. This is where the accounting and marketing people have their input and today's product Is built to a price point with a specific market In mind. They also must meet the competition and their pricing models. This is not suggesting a nefarious plot by the manufacturer to "kill" the car early but simply the reality of manufacturing any modern day product.

When it comes to designing a maintenance schedule for the product, there are again compromises. Most automotive engineers I have ever spoken to advocate a far more aggressive schedule than the one found in the typical new vehicle owner's manual. That schedule is designed for best case scenario and is adequate for the product. It will not be focused on extending product life at any cost. Those of us who have aviation experience will easily recognize the difference between adequate maintenance and maintenance designed for a machine at 20,000 feet when the engine stops.

One can choose to decide that the dealer has only a profit motive and lies to convince the customer to spend more money on maintenance than necessary so he can make an extra twenty bucks now and then. I can though assure you that the dealer also knows more about the daily maintenance of the product in real life than the engineer who designed it and moved on to the next big thing. Being in the position of watching literally hundreds of cars being serviced daily it took very little to recognize a pattern. Those cars that were babied, oil changed twice as often, and recommended schedules exceeded...last longer with more miles and have far fewer problems long term.

Making a $50,000 plus investment in a new truck is commonplace today. Caring for it would seem to be a no brainer. The old adage is you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink!

I'm very familiar with the auto industry, and what you say is true. But again, this place is full of folks who fervently believe otherwise.

Just drive it one more year and trade it in.

drsteve wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
So again, since the manufacturer of the car is either clueless or has an ulterior motive depending on who you ask, how do you come up with the intervals?

If you are still changing your engine oil on the old 3000 mile schedule, don't forget, that was the MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDED interval. So now you're a hypocrite, or something has changed in the intentions/behaviors of car manufacturers.

This forum is full of people who are convinced that the manufacturers who design these things either know nothing about them, or they are liars who want you to wear out your equipment early and/or spend extra cash on unneeded service.

I don't think anybody is saying the engineers who design the product don't know anything about the product. Some of them are unbelievably talented and extremely knowledgeable. Those of us though that know how the business operates understand that compromises are made in the process.

Engineers, left to their own devices, can easily design a 500,000 mile life expectancy vehicle. The reality is that it would not sell in quantity because of affordability. This is where the accounting and marketing people have their input and today's product Is built to a price point with a specific market In mind. They also must meet the competition and their pricing models. This is not suggesting a nefarious plot by the manufacturer to "kill" the car early but simply the reality of manufacturing any modern day product.

When it comes to designing a maintenance schedule for the product, there are again compromises. Most automotive engineers I have ever spoken to advocate a far more aggressive schedule than the one found in the typical new vehicle owner's manual. That schedule is designed for best case scenario and is adequate for the product. It will not be focused on extending product life at any cost. Those of us who have aviation experience will easily recognize the difference between adequate maintenance and maintenance designed for a machine at 20,000 feet when the engine stops.

One can choose to decide that the dealer has only a profit motive and lies to convince the customer to spend more money on maintenance than necessary so he can make an extra twenty bucks now and then. I can though assure you that the dealer also knows more about the daily maintenance of the product in real life than the engineer who designed it and moved on to the next big thing. Being in the position of watching literally hundreds of cars being serviced daily it took very little to recognize a pattern. Those cars that were babied, oil changed twice as often, and recommended schedules exceeded...last longer with more miles and have far fewer problems long term.

Making a $50,000 plus investment in a new truck is commonplace today. Caring for it would seem to be a no brainer. The old adage is you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink!

dodge guy wrote:
And then there are those of us that maintain their vehicles better than what the manuf. intended.

Hey I changed out my radiator fluid Sunday at 137k miles. Replaced with DI water and Motorcraft Orange coolant.

I do have to resist the urge to change the oil early though. :B

And then there are those of us that maintain their vehicles better than what the manuf. intended.

mkirsch wrote:
So again, since the manufacturer of the car is either clueless or has an ulterior motive depending on who you ask, how do you come up with the intervals?

If you are still changing your engine oil on the old 3000 mile schedule, don't forget, that was the MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDED interval. So now you're a hypocrite, or something has changed in the intentions/behaviors of car manufacturers.

This forum is full of people who are convinced that the manufacturers who design these things either know nothing about them, or they are liars who want you to wear out your equipment early and/or spend extra cash on unneeded service.

Nother thread down the drain. Nuuked!

So again, since the manufacturer of the car is either clueless or has an ulterior motive depending on who you ask, how do you come up with the intervals?

If you are still changing your engine oil on the old 3000 mile schedule, don't forget, that was the MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDED interval. So now you're a hypocrite, or something has changed in the intentions/behaviors of car manufacturers.

DavidP wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:

FWIW, it's interesting that the majority of mfg either don't list, or have a very long interval between brake fluid flush. IMHO a very bad idea. brake fluid absorbs water easily, leads to brake fade and other issues. That's one area where I go with every 2 years and use DOT4+ fluids rather than the commonly recomended DOT3.

Agreed. I flush my fluid annual. I installed Speed Bleeders, makes it real easy. Brake "feel" stays like new. Amazing how brake feel degrades over time with old oxidized fluid. No doubt water retention in the fluid causes a soft pedal.

Service intervals are getting longer and longer. Car manufactures have geared intervals to cost of ownership. The lower they can make the cost of ownership number the more appealing the vehicle is to many prospective buyers. The winners are the MFG’s and those who unload vehicles early. Losers are everyone else.

YOU COULD NOT BE MORE RIGHT!!!

People who don't understand that the owners manual may just be written with an ulterior motive in mind are either really cheap or just plain stupid. A great example would be when Toyota decided oil only needed changed around 20,000 miles, installed a light to tell the consumer when to do it, and advertised low maintenance cost. Couple of years later they started popping engines at 50,000 miles like popcorn. Go look at a current Toyota owner's manual and check when an oil change is called for. Something good dealers were telling folks all along.

Of course the Service Advisor is paid to make recommendations. Last I looked, most people who show up at their jobs on a regular basis get paid. Who better than the dealer to make maintenance recommendations? They see the cars daily, fix the problems that happen, and generally know how the vehicle was maintained. The engineers who set the guidelines for maintenance at the factory, design the systems and move on to a new problem. Only when their suppositions prove wrong do they then revisit the maintenance schedule.

As someone who spent a career paying people to make service recommendations, I loved it when dumb people ignored what we were telling them. Many systems failures can only be done by the dealer and many of these folks found their way back to me when the problems started. They either paid me to fix their problem or traded for a new vehicle. This way, I made much more money than if they had listened to begin with. So, for all the naysayers who know better...go for it... keep on keeping dealer's business good!