100K tuneup/is it real?

stevek · July 1998

Anyone had any experience or oppinions on the 100k
tuneup and cooling fluid/transmission fluid
service?

cobra98 · July 1998

I don't buy into it. I believe it's a ploy to make the vehicle's annual maintenance costs look cheaper. I believe in the "pay a little now, not a lot later", and therefore will continue to replace plugs/wires/antifreeze as often as I used to. If I'm wrong, the worst case is that I lose a few bucks, if their wrong, I would've lost much more.

stanford · July 1998

Nah. It's real.

Think about a tuneup. What happens? They replace the spark plugs (not necessary with todays platinum tips), inspect the cap (what cap?), set your points (haven't had those in a while) and modify your idle and air/fuel settings (all done by computer).

As long as you're checking your air filter and changing your oil, you're pretty much okay. If your spark plug wires need replacing, you should probably get better wires. :-)

cobra98 · July 1998

you may have a few good points. Admittedly, I haven't played around under the hood of newer vehicles too much. My Mach1 and F150 still have distributor caps and carburetors.

But my Jeep GCL and Cobra have all the new gadgets. So, I guess I'll have to look at the owners manual again and see exactly what they consider "normal vs. 100K" maintenance items. Any ideas???

stanford · July 1998

Basically, change the oil regularly, flush the coolant every so often, occasionally change your transmission fluid. That should pretty much cover it -- besides keeping brake/ps fluids topped up, tires inflated, etc.

daveperc · July 1998

Basically they changed the definition of a tune up. To me, a tuneup was plugs, cap, rotor, and points (n/a now), air filter and PCV. Ussually the fuel filter was longer. Oil changes where separate. Now the have longer lasting ignition components. But look at your service manuals and the air filter is still like 30k. Not sure about the PCV. They took the air filter out of the definition of a tune up so they could advertize the 100k. It is all marketing. Service is still needed at 30k, but only the filter and maybe the PCV. Like stanford was saying, with no more cap and rotor, less things need to be serviced.

A tuneup to me is service necessary to restore peak performance. Changing the air filter and PCV is a must to do this. The makers are telling buyers that spark plug changes are tuneups. I think they are full of !@#$.

My take on 100K tuneups,
Dave

KCRam · July 1998

The main thing about that "100K tuneup" is this. You have to drive a very specified way in order for the manufacturer to accept you not doing any maintenance to your engine outside of filters and fluids. Whether you have a "100K" vehicle or not right now, read your owner's manual and note the definitions and interval differences between regular driving and heavy duty driving. I'll bet most of the people here in Town Hall would fall under the HD schedule. Thus, you're right back at the 30K tuneup interval, where you should be anyway.

To me, the 100K tuneup is like the 15K oil change. Maybe your engine can pull it off, but why bother, when getting the job done more regularly insures your car/truck runs right all the time?

stanford · July 1998

About the only thing left to do at 100K (or whenever) these days is to replace the spark plugs. I consider air filters as routine maintenance, personally. A 'tune up' was more than replacing parts -- it was 'tuning' the car or truck so that it operated correctly. Unless your computer is shot, there is nothing to tune.

With the newer gas engines (vettes, mustangs, chevy trucks) they've even removed the spark plug wires.

Just what are you planning to 'tune' every 30K miles, "other than filters and fluids"?

stevek · July 1998

Since I staretd this, see a lot of responses, I guess I should of asked if the plugs/wires/red antifreeze will realy last 100k.
I installed a K&N air filter (that will last for ever) and changed the fuel filter and the EGR valve at 30K. Also did a tranny tuneup at 40K. Change the oil at every 3K (more often when towing). I think it would be prudent to change the plugs and wires after 50-60K. Wonder if it is worth it to put tha same platinum dipped plugs in again?

KCRam · July 1998

stanford,

if you know how to treat an engine (in terms of driving skill), then you can probably pull it off. But too many unskilled drivers are out there. They don't know what carbon buildup is. They don't understand the concept of "filters and fluids". They don't know that a bad shade-tree repair can kill the timing. They don't realize a fan belt can go at any time for no other reason than rubber failure. They think, "if the manufacturer says 100K miles, then I'm not touching it until then." Their fuel economy starts to drop. The engine doesn't start crisply. The acceleration power is reduced. But dammit, they're gonna hold out for 100K because that's what the manufacturer says!

If you look around at service ads (places like Goodyear or Firestoine service centers, or regional chains in your area), they no longer say Tune-Up or even Maintenance Tune-Up. The action must now be listed as Spark Plug Change, because that's all they do for $49.99 ($69.99 for 6 cyl, $89.99 for V8). If you really want your engine checked properly, you have to know your engine, know what you want done, and most important, know to open your mouth and ASK for it, because now, they just won't do it. I usually had Firestone work on my F150s (302 V8), and they knew I didn't want just a plug change. I wanted the computer hooked up, I wanted caps and rotors, I wanted the timing checked, etc. Basically what amounted to the "old" tune-up, less the things that no longer exist (like points).

Bottom line - "tune" your engine when YOUR driving habits dictate. If you regularly beat the crap out of a car or truck, you will NEVER go 100K between plugs.

cdean · July 1998

i agree with more with Stanford.

there isn't anything to tune up anymore. fan belts are 100,000 miles now (of course they should be checked regularly). coolant fluid is 100,000 miles or 5 years. these 2 things don't know if your engine is being driven hard or not. the ultimate parts that determine performance are no longer under the stress determined by harder driving (computers, injectors, long life durable plugs). If there's anything wrong that plugging in a computer would catch, the "check engine" light is *supposed* to come on.

some of the things people mention are things i categorize as regular maintenance: hoses, filters, fluids...
my definition of a tuneup is work that puts performance back to what it was on day one.
there is nothing to wear, and nothing to lose its edge on todays brand new motors that would cause decrease in performance, or harder starts. thank computers and injection engineering for that. (the first generation of injectors did need cleaning every 30,000, but todays new ones don't).

stevek · July 1998

The carbon build up in the previous post reminded me of something: my mechanic did an upper engine treatment at @100K. When this was done it felt like a new engine. He also hooked up a cleaning bottle to the fuel line to clean the injectors. Now I have over 180K on that 89 S10 blazer and it still going strong. He said it should be done @80-100K on all vehicles.
Also my ignition madule failed at 175K, and when that was changed it gave me even more power and smoother idle. I think it should also be changed before failure.

KCRam · July 1998

cdean,

I agree with you and stanford in principle that thanks to advancement, an engine is a lot better than it used to be, and should make it to 100K when (key point--->) EVERYTHING ELSE IS TAKEN CARE OF, as we have mentioned, fluids, filters, belts, etc.

We're probably arguing semantics here, simply because in the bad old days, all of that was done at once because the engine required all that work pretty simultaneously. Thus I am referring to it all as a "real" tune up, as opposed to a spark plug change.

As stevek mentioned, there are a lot of things that should probably be replaced or at least attended to before they fail. Unless you get under the hood and really check things out, you won't know that your gradual power loss is due to a slowly wearing part that can be swapped, and not just age-related power drop. As a guy who works with computers all day every day, believe me, they fail a lot more often than one wants to believe

cdean · July 1998

totally agree with you, kcram!

Pulpfictionado · September 1998

but I'd get it tuned up sooner

stanford · September 1998

But what would you do in your 'tune up'?

stevek · September 1998

In the coming spring I (will have 55-60K miles on it) am planning to replace the plugs and wires. The truck will be 3 years old and I figure waiting for 100K is asking for trouble. Will put platinum splitfire plugs in with splitfire wires. Also going to put the hard wire protectrors on all the spark plug wires to protect them from heat.

fredwood · September 1998

I just checked my platinum tipped spark plugs that have 55,000 miles on them...major carbon build up. I figured I could wire wheel them clean but I went ahead and replaced them anyway.

As far as belts go, I replaced my serpentine belt at 60,000 miles due to cracking. Now at 120,000 miles that belt is also showing cracks in the rubber. I guess now I have two spare belts. The salesman who sold me my truck told me how that belt will go 100,000 miles...Ha!

I have yet to replace wires. I do go through a lot of caps and rotors though..about every 10,000 miles my mileage drops 2-3 miles per gallon and goes right back up after a new cap and rotor..

stanford · September 1998

My '93 diesel went through belts in the first 500 miles until we correctly reshimed the alternator. When I traded it in at 98K the belt still looked fine. Spark plugs weren't an issue.

As an aside, the new Ford Triton engines (at least the V10s) no longer have caps, rotors, or spark plug wires. One coil per cylinder. Very nice...

cdean · October 1998

It might be the brand of serpentine belt you buy, Fredwood. I replaced mine after 30,000 because of cracking, but the one I've replace it with has 50,000 on it now, and looks like the day I bought it. I think it will last forever!

stanford · October 1998

If you're going through caps (and rotors) every 10,000 miles then you have a serious problem! If these are bad then your timing is shot to hell and you'll have the problems you're talking about.

In newer vehicles, remember, there is no distributor. Heck, there are no spark plug wires. This problem fades somewhat.

To all: I still repeat my earlier question. No matter what the interval (30K, 100K, whatever) what on earth are you going to 'tune' on a new engine?

stevek · October 1998

There is tune in a tuneup, just replacement of the right parts at the appropriate intervals.

fredwood · October 1998

To Stanford;
My truck runs fine with the old cap and rotor,its just that when I replace them every 10,000 miles my mileage jumps up 2-3 mpg. I think the reason that this happens is that the amperage is too high for the metal contacts in the cap. My truck is an 89 Chevy C1500 4.3 V6 with 120,000 miles and still runs great.

To Cdean:
Yeah your probably right about quality brand name parts. I typically would buy what ever Chief, Trak or Autoparts club has in stock. You would think that the OEM stuff would be the best, but that has not typically been the case with me.

cdean · October 1998

fredwood
some major parts, like mufflers, alternators, a/cs-- i have seen OEM stuff with much better quality than aftermarket. But with little stuff like belts and hoses, i almost never use OEM.

fredwood · October 1998

A couple of months ago was going to put a new clutch in my truck. I priced out chevy OEM, autoparts club, pepboys,kragen...when with pepboys because it was cheapest for the whole kit. I never heard of the brand before but it looked good. Anyway, after I dropped the trans and pressure plate out I looked at the manufacturer and it was the same as the cheapo that I got from pepboys. Moral of the story...paid $157 for the whole kit which was OEM. Chevy wanted nearly $400 for just the pressure plate and clutch disk. BTW, the pressure plate and disk looked good after 115,000 miles. The pilot bearing and release bearing on the other hand were toast!

hawkpilot · October 1998

I put bosch platinum plugs in my 86.5 nissan v6 at the first tune up. Now with 87k miles, they still look great (I pull 'em and check 'em on my six-month services). So I think on my new Triton engine with no cap, rotor, wires, etc., will definitely make 100k without a "tune up" which to me means ignition system parts.

I still plan to inspect/replace the air & fuel filters twice a year and oil filter/oil 4x/3k miles, and checking hoses, belt, etc each time.

As for oem versus "part store" parts, I have replaced the dist cap & rotor with aftermarket parts twice, from two different sources, five years apart, and had failures inside of a year. Both were the distributor cap. Now I only buy oem cap/rotor from the dealer. costs more initially, less in the long run.

Except:
When it was time for a new distributor (the pickup module failed at 85k) I called the dealer who wanted $400 for a rebuilt unit (he did not sell new ones) and so I bought a rebuilt from the local parts shop for $250. I figured there was no difference in this case.

So, I guess the moral is that some aftermarket parts are good (Bosch plugs) and some ain't (generic distributor caps) and some are the same as you get from a dealer.

HP

100K tuneup/is it real?

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