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I have a 2010 Silverado I bought new. I now have 50,000 Miles, and am bringing it in for the 50,000 mile transmission service..
I was quoted $169.99 for the Transmission service at my dealer, which is fine.
For the rear diff, front diff, and transfer case fluid, they want an additional $289 .
Is that actually worth it ? how often do these things really fail ?
I'm just thinking out loud here. That's $460 every 50,000 miles. By 200,000 miles, I will have spent more than $2,000 just servicing these parts..
Yes I understand if the rear end fails it's $1300 - $1500 , and a transmission will be around $2400 ..
But I will have spent that already servicing these, and if it still does fail around 200,000 miles, I will be spending a total of around $4,000 counting servicing it and repair...
I guess, I'm wondering does anyone purposley take the ingore it until it fails approach, strictly from a financial standpoint ?
In my experience, the oil in these components can go twice the distance and still be effective and fine, unless you are doing regular heavy duty towing. Also, especially with trucks, its very easy to simply change the fluid, but the fluid alone can be around $30-50.
One of the things that peeves me is that these oil changes are literally two bolts - drain and fill - and can be done in less time than a motor oil change, but the service fees are so high. One reason I just change it myself.
If you're worried, you can probably find a shade-tree mechanic to do all the fluids for $300 even and rest easy. Its a simple job. I never bother with a dealer service department as its pricing includes all the infrastructure support you don't need.
Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
3,259 posts, read 4,326,350 times
Reputation: 13471
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sayantsi
One of the things that peeves me is that these oil changes are literally two bolts - drain and fill - and can be done in less time than a motor oil change, but the service fees are so high. One reason I just change it myself.
Unless you know what you are doing, do NOT change it yourself.
Some rear diffs do not have a drain plug. You have to unbolt the cover for the diff, clean everything out, put new gasket sealer on there, tighten everything down, add your new special fluid, and then pray that it doesn't leak out everywhere and make you start all over.
The fluid in transfer cases can be VERY specific. I once had a Jeep GC that called for a special dealer only mix. Using ANYTHING ELSE caused it to bind, because the factory stuff has a special friction modifier. When I bought the car, I was able to negotiate quite a bit off the price, because you could hear the TC binding when turning at full lock... because they took it to some quik lube type place who didn't use the proper fluids and it was cheap.
All that being said, unless you are towing frequently, you should be able to go 100k on the stock fluids, unless the fluid capacity in your drivetrain is very small. I am unfamiliar with your exact model, but most of my cars and SUVs over the years have said to change the fluid from 90k-120k.
Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
3,259 posts, read 4,326,350 times
Reputation: 13471
Quote:
Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr
Unless you know what you are doing, do NOT change it yourself.
Some rear diffs do not have a drain plug. You have to unbolt the cover for the diff, clean everything out, put new gasket sealer on there, tighten everything down, add your new special fluid, and then pray that it doesn't leak out everywhere and make you start all over.
The fluid in transfer cases can be VERY specific. I once had a Jeep GC that called for a special dealer only mix. Using ANYTHING ELSE caused it to bind, because the factory stuff has a special friction modifier. When I bought the car, I was able to negotiate quite a bit off the price, because you could hear the TC binding when turning at full lock... because they took it to some quik lube type place who didn't use the proper fluids and it was cheap.
All that being said, unless you are towing frequently, you should be able to go 100k on the stock fluids, unless the fluid capacity in your drivetrain is very small. I am unfamiliar with your exact model, but most of my cars and SUVs over the years have said to change the fluid from 90k-120k.
This type of advice is why this is one of the worst automotive sub-forums on the Internet. Again, as Sayantsi said, it's as easy as changing oil. Yes, you need to do a little research and use the correct oil. Yes, many Jeeps through the years require 75w140 synthetic and trac-lock additive which is not an industry standard, but that would take you all of 5 minutes on Google to figure out. Removing a differential cover and reattaching can be learned from watching any number of Youtube videos.
Doesn't anyone maintain their own vehicles anymore? Man, we should rename this sub "Automotive, and how to avoid working on your own car".
Well, I would do the transmission myself, but I got under there, and there was no drain plug, But I figured I was still capable of dropping the whole pan, but then the exhaust needs to be loosened for it to clear the pan, that was when I said I would bring that in to have done.
The rear diff, I read up on for my specific vehichle, it sounds like I MIGHT be able to do it. But as to the front diff, and transfer case, I have no interest in trying that , not enough room around them for me to comfortable work and see what I'm doing.
But again, I don't here about the "front diff" going to often on Silverados. The transmission, sure, the rear end, not as much but sure. The transfer case, isn't it usually a bad ground, or a relay or something ?
I guess I'm still waiting to here from a guy that bought his truck new, never changed his fluids, and has 400,000 miles without a problem ...
Or , I'm waiting to here from a guy, who's front end went at 108,000 miles just out of the warranty, and he never changed his fluid and wishes he did.
There's no question I can SAVE money buy doing this service myself, and I may do some of it, but I was just wondering about the ignoring maintenance for a financial benefit part of the equasions.
Unless you know what you are doing, do NOT change it yourself.
Some rear diffs do not have a drain plug. You have to unbolt the cover for the diff, clean everything out, put new gasket sealer on there, tighten everything down, add your new special fluid, and then pray that it doesn't leak out everywhere and make you start all over.
The fluid in transfer cases can be VERY specific. I once had a Jeep GC that called for a special dealer only mix. Using ANYTHING ELSE caused it to bind, because the factory stuff has a special friction modifier. When I bought the car, I was able to negotiate quite a bit off the price, because you could hear the TC binding when turning at full lock... because they took it to some quik lube type place who didn't use the proper fluids and it was cheap.
All that being said, unless you are towing frequently, you should be able to go 100k on the stock fluids, unless the fluid capacity in your drivetrain is very small. I am unfamiliar with your exact model, but most of my cars and SUVs over the years have said to change the fluid from 90k-120k.
You must work for a auto shop and need to drum up some more business.
To OP, yea you better change your diff oil as your maintenance schedule dictates. It's not hard to do (even if you DO have to pull the diff cover), but even paying for overpriced dealer maintenance is cheaper than the eventual result of waiting 100K miles to do it.
One of the best things you can do is search online for a forum dedicated to your vehicle. There tend to be complete walkthroughs of all routine maintenance as well as walkthroughs of the not-so-routine on those forums. 469 might not sound bad for someone who doesn't care, but you can save majority of that by doing it yourself.
i generally try to change the rear end fluid in my vehicles once every two years. were i to have a four wheel drive vehicle, that would include the transfer case and front axle fluids as well.
to those that like to do the job yourself, and wonder why some take the vehicle to a shop for service, remember that not everyone has either the confidence, or knowledge, or ability to do the job themselves. i dont move around as well as i used to, and as such i have trouble physically doing the jobs these days, so i farm those out to places i trust.
For gearboxes, some used to recommend just topping off the oil level if needed. I would probably consider changing it if the vehicle was 20 years old though. Had a truck with a limited slip diff that would clank, clank, clank and it turned out it needed a little bottle of limited slip additive. Poured it in and it became quiet in about a block and a half. Transmission fluid, though, should be changed periodically. There is a lot more heat involved.
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