What maintenance procedures are "feel good" but of dubious usefulness?

I pray that the new F-350 Super Duty with the Power Stroke Diesel I just bought two weeks ago doesn't suffer from similar engineering oversights. Yes, I still have my Taco.

 

I had a mechanic buddy that works at a Ford dealership... should be a problem free truck. The issues I have with Fords after the 2003 M.Y. were "how" the repairs were performed. When I found out that the cab has to come off the frame to do major motor repairs I said pass on Ford for my next HD truck. I have been a Ford guy my whole life and this was the deal breaker. I buy new and keep for a lifetime so long term maintenance is a major issue with me. My buddy says that there are still emmissions issues with the diesels but that work is 2 bays down from him.

 

at what age would you recommend it be done, the timing belt and all that
i have the years but not the mileage on mine currently

 

When it's been proven that the WS fluid that toyota uses is shit and should be replaced. Some people just wanna be set

 

There's a lot that are pointless at best. Short oil changes tops the list. The 3k m change was brought out by the oil companies. I surprised they didnt propose a 300 mile change. Oil doesn't go bad from age. It's pretty common to see a 5k recommended car go to 15k, send in an analysis and get told they can go another 5-10k. Send it in again and get told the same. I remember 1 porsche owner that bragged he did an oil change after every fill up or else the car didn't "feel right". I guess if I went through 1 tank of gas a year I'd do the same.

Seafoam is dubious. I've used it on 2 or 3 different vehicles, no change. My current ride had a sticky injector and I went through 2 bottles. It still has a sticky injector. The smoke vids that people use as proof that it's working are a joke. All that proves is it creates smoke. The internal pics I've see show similar results to water injection.

Radiators are not a maintenance item. Some people change them regularly and have never had one fail, which is their proof. I wear white socks, also never had a radiator fail. So proof that the replacees also wear white socks... coincidence and causation aren't the same.

Lbj will wear over time and need replaced but they wear slowly and give lots of advanced notice when it's time.

Rubber and plastic will fail eventually so belts and hoses are a wear item

 

thank you
many on TW would disagree, but i don't necessarily know what type of advanced warning i would get?, mine are still original 22 years old at 131k
and they seem perfectly fine, but i really don't know much about that front suspension stuff

 

proven by whom?

 

Some scientific testing they did in Europe. Basically it was fluid that was created so that companies didnt have to pay excessive fees or taxes or something by having vehicles that required less maintenance. So instead of like 60k miles. The said it was lifetime of the transmission which in turn was a loop hole for paying less on something. I wanna say emissions. Been a few years since I saw it.

Another member on here actually had a whole write up on it

Edit: basically the WS fluid would heat up quick and couldn't Hold Veracity well. Idk. I'd have to look up the info

 

Noise increases, alignment wanders, tire wear changes... generally people notice odd tire wear and clunks, then take it in for an alignment and find they need to replace Lbj before they align. It's rare to have a perfectly fine joint and have it fail catastrophically.

 

I flush/change all my fluids @ 30,000 miles,,, change the oil @3,000, dino oil,,, suffering through the PO not doing this because it uses a qt about every 1000 miles, engine wear. If I had a auto, I'd do the total flush with the BG flush between 30 & 50 for a PM.

truck passed inspection on the tread mill this time,, the only thing I did different was use the

$24 BG 44k Fuel System Cleaner Power Enhancer 11oz.

BG 44k to help clean up the convertor that'd just barely fail just about everytime. I'll still put a after market on it later on, probably before next inspection is due.

 

Cleaning the MAF sensor at every oil change is a required one for me. As dirt builds up it causes the engine to be less responsive off of idle. I let it go on one of my Tacomas for a while (life got busy) and after cleaning it I was surprised how much better it drove. I've also just straight up replaced it with OEM(great deal on eBay for them right now) as even after cleaning something wasn't right on the truck and I got a very occasional too lean code. I've diagnosed several coworkers rigs that they were getting bad mileage, bad drivability, etc with to a dirty sensor.

 

Maybe we should turn the thread into best "practice maintenance items" that are not commonly known.

Over the years, I've seen a lot of problems appear on cars from neglect of uncommonly known maintenance items. The owners thought they were providing exceptional maintenance by changing the oil and filter every 3,000 miles. It take a lot more than that to keep your vehicle running like its still new well after it crosses the 200,000 mile mark.

 

I'd prefer this too, just feels better..... (I'm being funny, before everyone wants to tear me up)

 

Oh I know.. Maybe we don't think a vehicle should feel like it is "broken in" good until after it has 200,000+ miles. Before that, its just a baby.

 

sounds good to me!

 

Saw a ford diesel truck stuck at home depot yesterday.... he was fiddling under the hood and going back and forth I guess trying to start it. Cold yesterday and the wind chill was the killer part.

 

Sayin.

 

LINKS to any of this info? smoking gun post #202 >>https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...transmission-now.331521/page-11#post-12286244

 

10 yrs. seems pretty safe no matter the mileage. Unless we're talking about someone like the million milers of Tundra fame who drive 24/7 from new. Had someone done that with a 3.4 I would bet they could have done 250K changes but that's why I was asking if ANYONE ever heard of a belt breaking under 10 yrs. old.

Did you know Honda J45's (their 3.5 V6 used in everything) have a slight (or maybe not so slight, it pops up on their forums pretty often) reputation for factory tensioners going bad no matter the mileage? I had a Sienna (3.0 engine) tensioner, bagged as factory, fail at 20K but i really think it was a well labled counterfeit from China.

 

It was easy to remember what to search for laughs. Seems pretty legit. I'm one of those that believes in aftermarket fluids before this though. I know everyone wants to make a profit but factories just have to make warranty periods.


https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-get-it-out-of-your-transmission-now.331521/