Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Checking the car's fluids is not really rocket science, and you should be able to do this yourself once someone (a friend, relative, or mechanic) gives you a brief orientation to what is under the hood.
If you are paying someone to check the level of your fluids, I don't think that anything more than a few bucks should be necessary for something that takes all of about 3 minutes.
However, no matter who is checking under your hood, I hope you realize that the dipstick for the motor oil needs to be checked far more often than every 3k miles. I would suggest checking the oil level at least once a month if you have a car that burns/leaks little or no oil, and every week if it is already consuming oil.
Or...are you referring to changing these fluids?
Did you mean to say "checking", or did you mean to say "changing"?
Changing is an entirely different matter in terms of how often for each type of fluid, how long it takes to do the job, and how much it should cost.
Please clarify this for us!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,576 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57813
Many dealers will check everything free of charge along with the oil change, for as little as $29.95 or as much as $50.
Most manufacturers now have extended the normal service oil change interval to 5,000 miles, as oil and engine technology is
much advanced. The age and miles on a car determine how often they should be checked. Once a vehicle starts to burn oil,
which may be at 70,000 or as late as 170,000 miles it needs to be checked more frequently, at least every time you get gas.
It would be a waste of money to pay for this, as Retriever said it's easy and part of driver training classes. Those of us old enough can remember when the gas station attendant would do it for you along with washing the windshield and air for the tires was free.
Location: C.E.O. of the international men of leisure
401 posts, read 641,479 times
Reputation: 777
Quote:
Originally Posted by CornFields
maintenance service where they check the car oil, antifreeze, transmission, everything. would they do this every week or only every 3,000 miles?
not trying to be a douche, but why would you pay to have these things done? it takes what............10 minutes of your time and requires no special skills.
maintenance service where they check the car oil, antifreeze, transmission, everything. would they do this every week or only every 3,000 miles?
Is this a joke thread? Sounds like one but just in case it's real ... if you have the owner's manual, there's probably a chart that tells what to do and when to do it. If you don't have an owner's manual, you can search that info online. Heck, you can even order an older owner's manual, if you bought the car used and it didn't come with the car. As for simple checking fluids, I agree with the last poster. It doesn't take long to do it and the most that will happen is you'll get your hands a little dirty.
It doesn't take long to do it and the most that will happen is you'll get your hands a little dirty.
You don't even need to get your hands dirty.
I keep a box of nitrile exam gloves around for when I am going dirty work and also for working with pesticides. I have noticed that a lot of mechanics are using the same type of gloves nowadays.
After putting on the gloves, I first check the pressure in all 4 tires (and occasionally in the spare). The gloves keep the brake dust and road grime off of my hands. If the tires are low, I air them up with a tire inflation pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter.
After finishing with the tires, I lift the hood, and take care of checking the fluids. Even with some oily residue present, the gloves keep my hands clean.
Even if I have to add some pressure to the tires, the entire process of giving my car a good going-over takes only a few minutes. And, of course, I then discard the exam gloves, along with the paper towels that I used to wipe the trans dipstick and the oil dipstick.
But...to return to my earlier comments, I would like the OP to clarify whether he/she is referring to simply checking fluids, or to changing them. The responses would be very different if we were talking about fluid changes.
Checking the car's fluids is not really rocket science, and you should be able to do this yourself once someone (a friend, relative, or mechanic) gives you a brief orientation to what is under the hood.
If you are paying someone to check the level of your fluids, I don't think that anything more than a few bucks should be necessary for something that takes all of about 3 minutes.
However, no matter who is checking under your hood, I hope you realize that the dipstick for the motor oil needs to be checked far more often than every 3k miles. I would suggest checking the oil level at least once a month if you have a car that burns/leaks little or no oil, and every week if it is already consuming oil.
Or...are you referring to changing these fluids?
Did you mean to say "checking", or did you mean to say "changing"?
Changing is an entirely different matter in terms of how often for each type of fluid, how long it takes to do the job, and how much it should cost.
Please clarify this for us!
Luckily the folks in NJ can still find a service station pump jockey who will check your oil and under hood fluids for you. Especially if you are a regular gas customer.
Those of us in pump your own states you have to do it yourself. No problem for me and other gear heads but for some other folks you have to find somebody.
Luckily the folks in NJ can still find a service station pump jockey who will check your oil and under hood fluids for you. Especially if you are a regular gas customer.
Those of us in pump your own states you have to do it yourself. No problem for me and other gear heads but for some other folks you have to find somebody.
Not necessarily.
Yes, we do have gas jockeys in NJ, although I do not allow them to even do very much regarding filling my tank.
Anyway...I'm not sure that I would trust too many of them to know how to do anything beyond checking the oil dipstick. A great many of them are foreign-born, speak very little English, and are mostly untrained for anything beyond putting the nozzle in the filler neck and swiping your credit card through the card reader.
And, business policies can differ from one station to another. For instance, back in my days of working in a gas station on the NJ Turnpike, the manager ended the practice of checking people's coolant levels after a couple of serious incidents. It seems that people would be aware that their car was overheating, and would simply ask to have the radiator checked, without mentioning that the engine was already overheating!
After two employees were very badly scalded by escaping steam, and one was hit in the head with a flying radiator cap, the manager posted a sign saying NO RADIATOR CHECKS DONE AT THIS STATION. We still checked oil and washed windshields, and upon request we would also check trans fluid and battery water levels plus tire pressure, but we had to stop checking cooling systems because of some of the inconsiderate slobs who endangered us.
Not necessarily.
Yes, we do have gas jockeys in NJ, although I do not allow them to even do very much regarding filling my tank.
Anyway...I'm not sure that I would trust too many of them to know how to do anything beyond checking the oil dipstick. A great many of them are foreign-born, speak very little English, and are mostly untrained for anything beyond putting the nozzle in the filler neck and swiping your credit card through the card reader.
And, business policies can differ from one station to another. For instance, back in my days of working in a gas station on the NJ Turnpike, the manager ended the practice of checking people's coolant levels after a couple of serious incidents. It seems that people would be aware that their car was overheating, and would simply ask to have the radiator checked, without mentioning that the engine was already overheating!
After two employees were very badly scalded by escaping steam, and one was hit in the head with a flying radiator cap, the manager posted a sign saying NO RADIATOR CHECKS DONE AT THIS STATION. We still checked oil and washed windshields, and upon request we would also check trans fluid and battery water levels plus tire pressure, but we had to stop checking cooling systems because of some of the inconsiderate slobs who endangered us.
The gas station attendant duties have certainly changed over the years. Back in the day, 50-60's gas pumping was something you did when you were not working/helping out in the garage.
So many places today are just gas stations and not service stations with gas pumps so you don't have knowledgeable people pumping like we had years ago.
I guess if you need under hood service you have to rely on the "experts" at Pep Boys, Sears, Jiffy Lube etc,etc.
I guess that the OP is not going to return to answer my question.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
