45,000 Mile Major Service - Really Needed?

[KARNUT]

Depends on what the manual says. My last several cars transmission service were recommended at 60K at the recommendation by the dealer. That was the severe duty recommendation. The last new truck I kept passed 100K miles was an 04 Z71. It was 150K for trans and anti freeze change recommendation. I gave it to my son. At about 200K we traded it in with the same spark plugs, never had a problem with it.


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[Grumpy Bear]

If a guy drives home so drunk he can't walk for ten years without incident; does that make it a good idea? 

[Black02Silverado]

On 11/9/2015 at 9:53 PM, mrbadwrench said:

I'm ready for my 45,000 mile service. But I'm wondering if its all really needed. It will be an expensive service if everything GM suggests is performed...probably around $750.

 

The 45k service calls for:

 

-Oil change and filter.

-Cabin air filter replacement.

-Engine air filter replacement. (Looks clean to me...)

-Transmission fluid change.

-Transfer case fluid change.

-Brake fluid change.

-Evap system inspect.

How did I miss this thread? 

 

-Oil and filter change if you do them yourself keep doing it, why pay them.

-Cabins filter, it has been covered, very easy and you can get new filters for a low cost on Amazon. Around here I do mine annually, they get full fast.

-Engine air filter, they are not expensive either and I change mine out every 20k. Around here the dust clogs them up even though they look clean.  Just tap them out on a dark surface and watch what falls out.

-Transmission fluid.  To me general rule for this is every 50k.  Well worth the cost and Grumpy covers it in his post pretty well. Either do it yourself or take it in to have done.

-Transfer case, you can do this yourself as well.  Easy to accomplish.

-Brake fluid.  How important is it to you that your vehicle stops when you want it to?  I usually do brake fluid when I do my brake pad replacements. But then my 02 silverado is still on the original front pads at 183k miles.  So I have done my fluid twice before now and used ATE Super Blue, which I now see is no longer legal in the US for some reason.

-Evap system?  I can't say much on here other than a good visual will not really tell much.  You don't hear much of this system going bad.

[KARNUT]

If a guy drives home so drunk he can't walk for ten years without incident; does that make it a good idea? 

Gee wiz ( grumpy) it was an example of which I could give countless. I realize you were a blender. I was an end user and a oem of quite a few of equipment manufacturers to install my product. My family business is held in high regard in our field. Oil testing is a frequent occurrence in our field. Our Hwy is paved in dirt and mud. Our horsepower is from 150-1000, to operate our product. My example was the recommendation of GM and Hyundai among others. I wouldn’t be foolish enough to use my own testing results. I’m sure your testing is more intense than theirs.


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[Grumpy Bear]

11 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

Gee wiz ( grumpy) it was an example of which I could give countless. I realize you were a blender. I was an end user and a oem of quite a few of equipment manufacturers to install my product. My family business is held in high regard in our field. Oil testing is a frequent occurrence in our field. Our Hwy is paved in dirt and mud. Our horsepower is from 150-1000, to operate our product. My example was the recommendation of GM and Hyundai among others. I wouldn’t be foolish enough to use my own testing results. I’m sure your testing is more intense than theirs.

Got YA . Love ya like a brother Stan.  It's raining and I'm bored...and I'm never BORED. 

 

 

[beetle]

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2015 at 1:27 PM, afireinside7444 said:

I know a guy who owns a trans shop, has a 87 silverado with over 350k miles (that was back in the early 2000s) he said trans fluid at the first 30k to remove any break in friction material and 40 to 50k after. He never had to open up that trans at all. If you dont do your trans at 45k or sooner it will fail. You do so tlc it will not. I do my own driveline fluids myself in amsoil.

That schedule sounds reasonable. I plan on having my trans done every 50k, that's good enough.

[KARNUT]

Got YA . Love ya like a brother Stan. [emoji14] It's raining and I'm bored...and I'm never BORED. 
 
 

I like to poke a bear every now and then.


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[mrbadwrench]

OP here to give an update!

 

Wow this thread is still alive.

 

I ended up not doing the 45k, despite warnings otherwise. Then, out of laziness, I went ahead and never did any other service intervals after that either. So now I'm at ~140k and everything still works great.

Dumping the truck soon though because its cosmetically wasted, so there probably won't be any updates after this. Sorry!

Thanks for all who commented.

[GMafioso]

I’m close to 45k ...better get ready 

[Grumpy Bear]

17 hours ago, mrbadwrench said:

OP here to give an update!

 

Wow this thread is still alive.

 

I ended up not doing the 45k, despite warnings otherwise. Then, out of laziness, I went ahead and never did any other service intervals after that either. So now I'm at ~140k and everything still works great.

Dumping the truck soon though because its cosmetically wasted, so there probably won't be any updates after this. Sorry!

Thanks for all who commented.

And we meet Mr. Joe Average living in his throw away society. Someone else's problem now, eh? Thank you for your contribution. 

 

 

[Sean Neilan]

I actually just did the trans fluid/filter, brake fluid, transfer case and front/rear diff fluids albeit at 60k miles and not 45k. My truck shifts so much smoother now. It was starting to get those hard shifts the last few months or so. I drive on the beach a lot so the fresher the fluids the better imo. Never know where sand gets into.


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[Grumpy Bear]

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2015 at 3:27 PM, afireinside7444 said:

I know a guy who owns a trans shop, has a 87 silverado with over 350k miles (that was back in the early 2000s) he said trans fluid at the first 30k to remove any break in friction material and 40 to 50k after. He never had to open up that trans at all. If you dont do your trans at 45k or sooner it will fail. You do so tlc it will not. I do my own driveline fluids myself in amsoil.

Dad's brother, my Uncle recently retired from White/Volvo. He delivered parts all over the USA in a Chevy 6.0 3500 van. When he took the job he insisted that he be allowed to do his own maintenance.  Trans at 50 and 100 K and then 100 K after that. Full Synthetic fluid. Motor after break in at 10K intervals also full synthetic. While the service department serviced trucks were running a around 200K before they choked and puked Uncles were still in service uninterrupted by motor or transmission issues for over a half million miles two consecutive vans and then 350K on the third when he retired. For what that's worth. 

[diyer2]

One factor that is not the same across the board is the way the vehicle is driven.

So many variables.

From cold starts, to jack rabbit starts.

City miles or highway miles.

Flat ground or mountains.

Driven like it was stolen or flat tracking.

Etc., etc.

 

[phabejhmoob]

Lol. Funny read, But you work in the said industry where you earn a living from it. I supposed that's from one perspective.

Heck the health industry was wrong about the four food groups, after years / decades telling kids that the four food groups is how they should eat and categorize this foods. Aren't there so called health professional or whatever they call themselves? Lol how did they go wrong there??

Of course if money wasn't an issue couldn't you change it every month? Would that cause problems too it just when it reaches too high of a milage.

Just saying.. I personally don't have an issue going to a shop and getting the fluids that I can't do done on time.

 
WOW!, Thanks!!!!! You have me convinced that I should ignore 45 years of transmission rebuilding experience, multiple articles published in transmission digest, working with multiple transmission part manufacturers to develop solutions, and running the largest transmission re-manufacturing line in the state. Thank you for your infinite wisdom...

[spizike9]

On 11/9/2015 at 9:04 PM, sprayed99 said:

these are all easily done in a home garage in a couple of hours.

 

This. I haven’t looked but I’m sure there are 15 videos on YouTube telling you exactly what you need to do. Cabin and engine filter will be $15 a piece. You’re probably $55-65 for full synthetic oil change with a top tier filter. Not sure on the cost of the other fluids. Let’s just say you’re $175 total in parts and supplies (even though I think it’ll be less) and 2 hours of labor. 

 

 

Eta just saw this was a way old thread and OPs update. Lol