I was getting my regular vehicle 3000 mile oil change this afternoon. Eventually the Grease Monkey service guy comes out and tells me I need to have my 2003 GMC Yukon Denali 's fuel injectors cleaned for $ 50 or so, because my vehicle is at 18,000 miles and the latest regs call for cleaning the injectors every 15,000 miles.
“15,000 miles!?” I ask. "Didn’t it used to be 30,000 miles (or more). “Well yes” the service person says, “but because a lot of modern fuel has sulphur the SAE now recommends injector cleaning every 15,000 miles.”
SDMB Car Gods, am I being given the straight dope on this, or greased by the Grease Monkey?
A $50 “fuel injector cleaning” on a year-old vehicle with only 18k miles?
And again every 15k miles?
BOHICA, courtesy of the oil change shop.
If it’s a gas engine:
I wouldn’t mess with the fuel injectors unless they were leaking fuel or unless your “Check Engine” light comes on with a misfire code stored. My 97 Silverado (gas) has 140k miles on it and runs like a top - and the injectors have never been touched. Most gasolines have additives that keep fuel injectors clean. I change the fuel filter religiously every 50k miles ($10 and 10 minutes).
BTW, you might want to check your owner’s manual, but you can go as far as 7,500 miles on most GM engines before an oil change is necessary. Even further with synthetic oil. To do so sooner is a waste of oil and money.
Hmmm. I don’t know for an absolute fact that what you were told is untrue, but…
I’ve been an auto repair professional for over 30 years. I read several trade journals. I regularly go to training seminars on various topics. I keep up with an internet network of auto repair pros. I haven’t heard of this before.
Regular injector cleaning was a big thing in the 80’s, and was usually helpful. But two things have changed since then – better injector design, and better/more detergent in gasoline. The trend has been toward needing this kind of service less often, not more often.
Sulfur in fuel has been around for a long time. It is a concern in terms of emissions, but as far as I know not in terms of deposits. See here, in section 4.12: http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/AUTO/F_Gasoline3.html .
I’ve never heard of the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) recommending anything in this way.
My conclusion: ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT.
I do believe it’s a splendid example of chain/franchise auto service companies training their people to sell rather than training them to understand what they’re doing and to develop sound mechanical judgment. These places use entry level personnel. Chances are the flunky believes what he’s telling people, because that’s the line of horsecrap he’s been taught.
Thanks GaryT. I was searching SAE’s website and couldn’t find anything supporting that claim, but didn’t want to go out on a limb and proclaim it to be hooey without proof.
Thanks for the heads up! I also tried to access Grease Monkey’s website and they have a kinda-sorta minimalist site here. It has pretty minimal content about service. The main site contact focus seems to be for prospective investors wanting information about buying a Grease Monkey franchise opportunity.
Probably. I’ve had to get into the habit to steel myself to telling the Chain Shop guys no, thanks, all I want is exactly what I told you when I drove in here. (Why use the Chain Shop guys at all? Because I like being able to just show up unnanounced in the middle of the day and be out a half hour and $30 later with fresh oil and filter and full fluids.)