2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Surely somebody has a good maintenance program.....

[hammersley]

Does anybody have a good Dodge maintenance program, that provides clear concise info on your rig. I would think that somebody has dreamed up one that is form generated that you enter mileage, maintanence items, adjust for your own maintenance interval, and whamo - print out a neat little "thingy" that one can have with you for a reminder. It could even be on self sticky material for a door jamb or whatever.

 

[Phil Stuart]

NO JIFFY LUBE HERE!

Does sound like a good idea. Tailor it to your own driving habits.



Phil

 

[Tom G]

Really Good Idea

This is a really good idea. All that good maintenance stuff in our glove box maintenance section just sitting there :-( what a waste.



Sounds like a task for someone good at Excel could do in about an hour or six



Would be sweet though - open excel - enter mileage - wow time to change oil, filter, lube whatever, change something, check this and that ... o. k. so I like the idea

 

[hammersley]

I can't believe that we don't have this with all the

computer experts we have. . There are commercial ones but they seem to be set up for fleets. We need a TDR one - Kinda a benefit for joining, use as a memnership freebe.....

 

[illflem]

I use this one www.kjon.com . It's free for three or less rigs. I use the commercial version that you have to pay for but think the free one is the same. Works just fine keeping track of 36 vehicles and tractors. I've noticed that MS Works also has one but have never checked it out.

 

[fest3er]

I, among others, are quite fluent in Computer. Writing such a program would not be all that involved.

So, start posting with your ideas and desires. Try to be reasonably clear, though. Vague, ambiguous concepts are kind-of hard to translate into code.

To start, it sounds like what you want is quite similar to an appointment program, but based on mileage as well as time.

So, for someone who wants to change his oil every 5000 miles or 3 months, he should be able to specify the maintenance item (Oil Change) and the repeat frequency (3 months and 5000 miles). And when he enters the oil change info after he's performed it, the program should automatically adjust the repeat schedule.

Also, the program should emit a warning 7 days or 250 miles in advance of the scheduled maintenance. "But," you ask, "how do it know how many miles have elapsed?" It doesn't. It can only extrapolate from the mileage previously entered and making a best-guess as to when the mileage will catch up.

Ideally, this should be on a Palm organizer. Even more ideally, the vehicle should have an infra-red interface that ltransmits (beams) the current mileage to the owner's Palm when that Palm asks for it.

Hmmm..... A Palm program that has, among others, a "Re-fuel" button that gets the mileage from the truck, gets the gallons and dollars from the user, then sends a 'reset trip odo' message to the PCM/instrument panel.

Anyway. What are your thoughts and ideas?

Fest3er

 

[illflem]

Neil, check out the www.kjon.com software first, it does most of what you speak of plus it's already done and free. One feature about it that's cool when dealing with many rigs is you can just enter a picture of the rig and click on it to see it's info, don't even have to confirm it's a Ford.

 

[jweir]

Fest3er,



I like your idea of writing custom software for maintenance. My suggestions would include making a PC version (not into the "Palm" world yet), having the interface be user-friendly and intuitive, and having easy to use query's. For example, find the mileage of the last oil change. It would also be nice to have customizeable reports. And how about GPS interface for mileage and trip records?



Just some thoughts, hope they are not too vague



Jim



PS... I will put some thought into the "user friendly interface" and give you some ideas...

 

[hammersley]

illflem - looks great BUT

I looked at the program, and while it looks like it has everything but sliced bread, it appears to have WAY to much data for what I want. All I wanted was a way to keep track of the maintenance/repairs I did - and when it's due again. I have a crude spreadsheet that I put in the miles and it tells me how many miles till the next service is due - based on the interval I put in. It isn't very pretty nor does it have a great little simple sheet for putting in glovebox to let you look at...

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by illflem

I use this one www.kjon.com . It's free for three or less rigs. I use the commercial version that you have to pay for but think the free one is the same. Works just fine keeping track of 36 vehicles and tractors. I've noticed that MS Works also has one but have never checked it out.

Nice program but over kill for my two vehicles, thanks anyway

 

[Fuzz]

Kjon

I use the KJon,Vehicle Record System,like ILLFLEM. I bought it when you had to pay no matter how many vehicles... I like it,you only have to use the info you want... ie,setup your maintenance schedule,and enter fuel purchases and it will remind you using the mileage from that. I use all the modules. Have the travel expense one set up with the 5th wheel to keep track of the mileage on the trailer... I suppose a simple spreadsheet would work as well. . but I kinda like all the whistles and bells. FWIW

 

[illflem]

Originally posted by Pit Bull

Nice program but over kill for my two vehicles, thanks anyway

It's an overkill for 36 vehicles also. I just fill in the service schedule for each rig, it reminds me when it's time, then I fill in the service performed part. Also use the section to store part numbers. That's it. The rest of the program goes unused. A piece of paper can do the same thing but if you ever have warranty issues and they want records the printout that it produces is very professional looking, hard for anyone to dispute. I looked around before going with the kjon system, the only thing that came close for the number of rigs I needed was way over $1000.

As with any computer program it's only as good as the data you enter into it.

 

[BFaoro]

Yep

I use the Kjon one also. I like it, I only use the stuff that I want and it works well. Try it you might even like it !!Oo.

 

[Wiredawg]

It's not automated, but...

For the last 25 or so years, I keep a small spiral notebook I use as a vehical log. I log every tank of fuel and every maintenance action in that book. I calculate fuel mileage every tank and average every page. I keep a three-ring binder under the seat where I keep all my acessories information and sales receipts, including oil, filters etc... My wife keeps log on her truck as well.



This info helps me see if there's a mileage drop or gain when there's no noticeble performance loss (not uncommon in computer controlled vehicles) . It's also earned me a couple of thousand $$ more on the sale of a vehicle by having all this documentation.



I'm savvy in EXCEL and started to load info in it, but stopped as it was uneccesary duplication of work.



Finally: How I keep up with longer interval maint? The most frequent maint I perform is oil changes (every 5K miles). I check factory manual at that time. This is my second Cummins Dodge, so I'm pretty familiar with recurring maint.



Anywy, just my . 02 cents worth



Wiredawg

 

[rbattelle]

I would think that somebody has dreamed up one that is form generated that you enter mileage, maintanence items, adjust for your own maintenance interval, and whamo - print out a neat little "thingy" that one can have with you for a reminder. It could even be on self sticky material for a door jamb or whatever.

Well, it took 5 years but I finally wrote one. I'm trying to see whether it's something people might buy. Honestly, I'm not convinced it's good enough that people will pay money for it. I wrote it originally for my own purposes, but decided to generalize it to see if others might like it.

Here's a link to the thread about it over in product development.

Ryan