Am I Making A Maintenance Mistake Here?!

tomseeley · April 5, 2011

I've got a 2009 Sierra 2500HD duramax, which I love and which runs like a Swiss watch. It has about 25,000 miles on it now. I pull an RV sometimes, but not in the past 6 months or so, so mostly the truck is my "get around" vehicle.

I'm old fashioned enough to remember the old advice to change my oil and do other regular maintenance every (pick an interval:) 3000 5000 6000 miles etc. But I also know that the new trucks are smarter than I am and I am supposed to trust the computer to tell me when to change the oil. So I do that.

Even so, in the 25,000 miles I've put on it, I don't think I've been told to change engine oil more than 2-3 times since I bought the truck in Oct 2009.

But a couple weeks ago, on a long trip to/from MN from home in SC, not pulling the RV, I needed to do an oil change, so I just went to a "speedy oil change" place and had it done.

What should I have done or what should I do now, to take into account the owner's manual instructions telling me all the other things that I'm supposed to have done regularly at the same time I do an oil change? I do know that for other reasons I did not need the fuel filter to be changed. I think this would have been what the manual calls a "maintenance II" change, so did I screw up not taking it to a GMC dealer for a full service maintenance session? Should I do that now?

Thx.

txab · April 5, 2011

I've got a 2009 Sierra 2500HD duramax, which I love and which runs like a Swiss watch. It has about 25,000 miles on it now. I pull an RV sometimes, but not in the past 6 months or so, so mostly the truck is my "get around" vehicle.

I'm old fashioned enough to remember the old advice to change my oil and do other regular maintenance every (pick an interval:) 3000 5000 6000 miles etc. But I also know that the new trucks are smarter than I am and I am supposed to trust the computer to tell me when to change the oil. So I do that.

Even so, in the 25,000 miles I've put on it, I don't think I've been told to change engine oil more than 2-3 times since I bought the truck in Oct 2009.

But a couple weeks ago, on a long trip to/from MN from home in SC, not pulling the RV, I needed to do an oil change, so I just went to a "speedy oil change" place and had it done.

What should I have done or what should I do now, to take into account the owner's manual instructions telling me all the other things that I'm supposed to have done regularly at the same time I do an oil change? I do know that for other reasons I did not need the fuel filter to be changed. I think this would have been what the manual calls a "maintenance II" change, so did I screw up not taking it to a GMC dealer for a full service maintenance session? Should I do that now?

Thx.

If your manual suggests other maintenance items be performed at this time, then by all means do them or have them done for you, You haven't screwed anything up. I don't have a copy of the Maintenance Schedule for the dirtymax in front of me to look at right now. I'll look at one later, or I'd bet someone else with a dirtymax will chime in soon

Killerbee · April 5, 2011

I would NEVER use a quick oil change place. You will do no harm extending your interval several thousand miles, compared to having these idiots use the wrong oil and cheap filters. You are much better off not obsessing over interval, and getting quality service.

Shaners · April 5, 2011

My '05 just turned 27k miles. I am no where near an oil change interval when I have it done but I don't like going over a year in between changes so I always have the oil changed when I have the yearly state inspection done, and the fuel filter every other year.

BlackSilver · April 6, 2011

Follow the schedule religiously, with high grade materials.

jro909 · April 6, 2011

change your own oil, or go to the dealer...period...use good quality oil and i'd be anal on service intervals because that oil is doing more then save the engine(turbos and so on)

pm26 · April 7, 2011

I would NEVER use a quick oil change place. You will do no harm extending your interval several thousand miles, compared to having these idiots use the wrong oil and cheap filters. You are much better off not obsessing over interval, and getting quality service.

Haha, how true. I would not even worry about cheap filters and oil, but some kid installing a wrong filter or not tightening the drain plug and my oil leaking out by the time I got 1 mile from that place. Things like that have happened. I would not doubt that they also managed to have a few vehicles fall off the lifts because they positioned to jack pads in the wrong place.

seabee47 · April 14, 2011

Don't always believe that the GM dealer is the best place to service your truck. I went to the dealer last month for the Maintenance II treatment. On my way home, the Check Engine light came on. I raised the hood and found that the GM-trained service technician had left the oil filler cap on the battery. I replaced the cap, but the light didn't go away. I had to return to the GM dealer for them to reset the Check Engine light. Morale - you have 'bad apples', at any service facility. Just hope that you get one of them

The service writer gave me his card for a free oil change for my trouble. Only one problem, everytime I go back to my dealer, I never see the same service writer. The salesman that sold me my truck says there is a high turnover in their service writer positions.

Westwind · June 13, 2012

Isn't a Service Writer just a clerk and the first face the customer see's, my impression is they just keep the customer posted "won't be long" before he tells you that you need to 5 things done and they will cost $$$$$$$$$. So now you know why they can't keep them, I'm sure they aren't paid that well.

MikeNH · June 13, 2012

Service writers are almost always paid commission on the work requested/sold and can make good money in a busy shop. As to who they are qualification wise, it depends. My writer when I worked in a shop was a tech till his back started giving him trouble so he knew his stuff. Some of the others, not so much.