Do I Need A Tune- Up?

On to the next scam the good old tune up. In the mid 90’s the tune up service started to change due to technology changes in the automotive industry.

This is one case were the manufacturer has taken your side as opposed to what was good for the repair shop.

In the seventy’s and eighty’s tune up items like fuel filters and spark plugs required changing every 30,000 miles. With the frequency and profit margins so high once again we saw whole businesses built around just this repair.

On modern vehicles from the mid 90’s on up we saw the common deployment of platinum tipped spark plugs and canister type fuel filters.

The manufacture did not do this for your benefit but instead to meet increasingly tougher fuel economy and emission standards. This did as a side effect help the consumer.

Platinum spark plugs can go up to 100,000 miles before replacement is required. Canister type fuel filters can go as long as 60,000 miles before changing them is needed.

This doubles the life span of theses tune up items. Check your owner’s manual to see when tune up parts are recommended to be replaced.

The repair centers always considered maintenance tune-ups as a gravy job. This term means easy to completed and high profit margins to be had.

With the advent of fuel injection and increasingly reliable computer control systems the shop finds it harder to make profits in the tune up business.

But the repair centers have came up with other slick services to sell you to replace the less needed tune up.

The most popular up sell service is the fuel injection cleaning service. The service is rarely required and not recommended by the manufacturer in most cases.

The reason is that the improvement of the fuel filter system efficiency has reduced the amount of dirt and debris that will be distributed through the fuel system.

Also believe it or not gas companies have improved the quality of their product. In the instant of plus and super grade fuels system cleaners are included in the gas. Does this mean you never have to clean the fuel system?

Well yes and no. If the vehicle develops a rough running condition coupled with turning on the service engine soon lamp there may be a fuel system malfunction.

Fuel injectors by and large are very dependable but I have seen just a few cases were injectors have failed.

Again this is not common but can happen. The fuel injection service should not be performed if there is no drivability condition present in the vehicle.

The best way to protect your fuel system is never run your vehicle below a quarter of a tank.

The bottom of the tank contains almost all the dirt and sediment. When you hit a quarter tank go ahead and fill up, this can eliminate fuel system troubles.

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