Service scheduled, now what?

I just bought a new 2017 TRD OR, Auto 4x4, but after doing some reading here on the forums I got a little nervous about my transmission fluid being low and the u-joints not being greased properly. I called the dealership and set up a time next week to take the my truck in for them to verify these two items. My question, how do I verify that they actually performed the ATF check properly? How long should this take them? It sounds like this is a pretty in-depth process and I want to make sure it's done right.

When I made the service appointment, I told the scheduler I want the AFT check to be the full manual check, but still concerned about quality service.

Maybe I'm being a little paranoid, but reading some of these threads will do that to you. Much thanks in advance.

 

Step 1) Give a dealer a chance before assuming they're incompetent and shady.

You want them on your side and not thinking you're a problematic customer.

Step 2) Adjust the future service appointments accordingly.

 

So if they come back after 15 minutes and tell me all looks good I should take that at face value?

P.S. I wouldn't typically assume someone is shady without a reason, however, some of the horror stories on this forum about shady service jobs has my eyes wide open.

 

No.

But you should see if they come back in 15 minutes first before assuming that's what will happen. Your questions are good, I would just try and recommend that you give them the opportunity to fail before expecting the fail to happen.

Lot of excellent dealerships. Few bad ones. They ruin it for everybody else (like all things).

 

Follow the recommended maintenance schedule in the book, and enjoy your new truck.

G.

 

In order to check the transmission properly. Its needs to be a certain temperature. If you drive the Truck to the dealership and drop it off. It will need to cool down for awhile in order to be in the proper temperature. Allow time for this. If they come back after 15 minutes and say its done. Then I would be worried about your service.

 

assuming you live in cold country it should not take longer than 1 hour to cool down. check should take 1/2 hour after cool down.

 

Depending on how far away your drive is will also determine the wait. My drive is 1hour, and I waited 6 hours for it to cool down enough for them to check it, it was worth it as it was 2 quarts low and the tranny was acting up. It was late spring when it was checked, so if it's cold where you are, it may not take as long.

 

You take a Navy grease pen and crawl under the truck and mark any bolts you expect them to have to turn. Then you take a picture with the date.

Before you leave the dealership - crawl under an have a look, take a picture. If they match, they lied. You can decide what to do about that on your own.

 

I wrote a list on my service ticket of all the items I wanted checked including a manual transmission fluid check. The girl in service told me that I had a sealed transmission that couldnt be checked. I politely assured her that yes it could be checked. Once she asked another service person, he echoed what I said and confirmed that I was correct. That kinda irritated her I could tell. She asked the guy if he could read everything I wrote down, as if my handwriting was illegible or something...lol

Don't assume anything at the dealer. Same girl told me they checked everything as part of the 5k service, after her display of transmission knowledge I wasn't going to count on it so I wrote everything down. They turned my seat belt chime off for me which was nice of them.

 

I completely agree. I just want to be prepared in the event things go south.

 

Good idea. A list may be helpful. That way I can explicitly state "manual transmission fluid check".

Out of curiosity, what is the other, inferior, method that can be used to check ATF on these truck?

 

I havent heard any 2017s say they had problems with either of those issues. I doubt there are any problems.

But peace of mind is nice.

What dealership is it? Do some research on them. That will tell you a lot.

 

They can check for codes, but other threads have included folks that have said that they have been 3 quarts low or more but no codes are present so that doesn't appear to be an accurate way to check.

 

The inferior method of checking is using techstream, which is a computer hookup, isn't accurate for reading ATF level.

 

So is the low fluid not an issue with '17 models?

 

My 17 was one off the first shipment the dealer recieved 4-5 months ago. My transmission fluid was low and had to be topped off. No real issues but I wanted to be sure it was filled to the proper levels as I was about to go on a 2600 mi road trip.

 

anyone know what temp its supposed to be?
I'm close to the dealer and its the winter. I'm wondering if I could drive there first thing in the morning and it won't get too hot.
Or if I need to leave it overnight for them to do the test?

I'm trying to search for the temp so I can go with more knowledge than the average customer so the dealer doesn't try and fuck around on me

 

should cool down in a couple of hours....think the check temp is like 105 to 110 degrees?