Who services your truck?

[CPittman]

The maintenance schedule booklet that came with my truck has the Schedule 'A' and 'B' service guidelines - is the dealer required to do the maintenance at each interval or can someone else do it without voiding my warranty?



My dealer is fairly large and they sell a lot of heavy pickups - should I trust their service department with my Cummins?



What do most of the TDR members do for regular service and / or for major mechanicals?

 

[klenger]

The dealer does not have to do the service to keep the warranty. You can do it yourself or a 3rd party service facility. Keep good records and use the recommended fluids.

 

[Crunch]

Originally posted by CPittman

The maintenance schedule booklet that came with my truck has the Schedule 'A' and 'B' service guidelines - is the dealer required to do the maintenance at each interval or can someone else do it without voiding my warranty?

You can have anyone you wnat do the scheduled maintenance, but you have to be able to prove two things: A) that it really was done in the first place, and B) that whoever did it really knows what they are doing. If you do it yourself (your grandmother could do it with one arm tied behind her back) keep every receipt and maintain a logbook for scheduled maintenance. I keep an "Event Log" that details anything I determine is an "event", including when I screwed up and scratched all my glass while cleaning it.



I do all the oil and filter changes myself, i. e. scheduled maintenance, but any and all repair service goes to the dealer as long as the vehicle is under warranty. So far I've had the passenger side rear door realigned, and at some point I need to get my thermometer on the console fixed so that it doesn't read a constant 130*. Other than that I have not had any problems or quirks to speak of.



Heed the words of the old geezers you laughed at when you were a kid: If you keep the fluids and filters changed the engine will run almost forever.

 

[Grayhackle]

I am going to the dealer this week for the first oil change. The highs are barely reaching 20 degrees and tools are in an unheated storage shed. So I am going to chicken out and have the dealer do it. Truth is I don't want to tackle that first filter change. My luck to have a gorilla put it on. I had my last truck to the dealer once for an oil change in 12 years, all the other changes were by me, every 3000 miles. The dealer put 10/20 Quaker state in my old 1990 and after :-{} he changed it to 15/40

No, I amplanning to do my own changes after this one. I already have the kit from Geno's. If it would go up to 40 degrees, I might change it myself.

 

[nwcatman]

just got back from wheelin on the beach at south padre island and was in the high 70's, had shorts and sleeveless shirt on. whats "go up to 40 degrees mean"? hehehehe

 

[Badunit]

I service my own. I haven't been religous about keeping receipts (other than the email receipts for the filters from Genos) but I think I'll do so in the future. I do log all maintenance as well as most "events".



This week or next will be the first time the dealer will do a repair on my truck (replace leaking injection pump and put on the revised steering hose). Lord I hope they know what they're doing when it comes to messing with the '03 fuel system.

 

[Jengle]

One trick for cold weather work, is to put a cheap heating pad on your work tray, or next to where you are working. Lay the tools you will need on this. Makes a big difference having nice warm tools. Another is a creeper makes a big difference when you are under the truck.

 

[rbattelle]

I do all my "upgrades" during the warm months (May-Sep). I do my own PMs year-round, but that's because I happen to have the benefit of a large heated garage with lifts. If not for that, I'd probably have the dealer perform my oil changes in the winter, and schedule larger PMs for the warm weather, where possible.

 

[bmoeller]

Originally posted by nwcatman

just got back from wheelin on the beach at south padre island and was in the high 70's, had shorts and sleeveless shirt on. whats "go up to 40 degrees mean"? hehehehe

OH SURE,,, rub it in! My brother was here over Christmas, came up from Texas. When it was -3 here, he had a smile on his face when outside. Misses having four (real) seasons instaed of hot, warm, and/or muggy and also misses snow.

 

[gonzo2]

I alternate servicing between the dealer and myself. I find tire rotations to be a PITA and usually have the dealer do the service with the rotation and any other issues then do the alternate service with the fuel filter by myself.

I find the dealer rates for the fuel filter to be too high (for both the part and installation) but for some reason don't mind spending 20 bucks to get the tires switched around.

I also like to have another set of eyes go over the truck once in a while.

I move a lot so I always check out the service department and get somewhat of a feel for where I want to get the work done. There does seem to be a correlation between the number of the diesels on the lot and the quality of diesel service. Some of the bigger dealers, though, seem to prefer to hire buffoons as service "advisers" and it's hard to deal with people who know less about our truck than the average TDR member! It sure would be nice if you could just talk to the mechanic instead.

Sorry for the long post.

Craig

 

[XcumminsX]

UPGRADES = Attitude performance. HIGHLY RECOMENDED www.attitudeperformance.com



REGULAR WORK = Villa auto. My dad is good friends with the owner, so he does all of the oil changes, transmission fluid changes, fuel filters, etc.