[Lgndryhr]

So I am coming up on 30,000 miles very soon. (Currently at 29,500 approx.) I am wondering what maintenance I should do. So far I plan on flushing the trans fluid, performing an alignment, rotation, and balance to the crappy LS2's, and checking my air filter. As well as the usual checks such as the antifreeze and coolant, wiper blades, battery, tires, and brakes. Are there any other things I should be concerned about or check on in the car? Such as power steering fluid and such.

Thanks in advance.

 

[chevyguy8893]

Sounds like you have it pretty well covered. I would have a top engine cleaning done to get rid of the carbon that may have built up in the 30k. The 4 cylinder Malibus have electric power steering, so no fluid to worry about.

 

[Lgndryhr]

Thanks! Just trying to stay on top of taking care of her. Is cleaning the top engine easy or should I have a place do it? Oh? Sweet. I didn't know what kind of steering they had. Used to having to worry about steering fluid.

 

[chevyguy8893]

GM has a spray can top engine cleaner that you spray into the throttle body while it is running, actually I think the instructions are on the can. It has to be bought at the dealer though, but it works a lot better than seafoam for cleaning. It cleans the carbon out of the throttle body nicely too, if any is left over just wipe it out. Also, a bottle of either GM injector cleaner or chevron techron would be good to add to the gas tank to clean the injectors some.

I love not having to worry about power steering fluid, it is one less thing that might leak.

 

[Lgndryhr]

How much does that cost? I have been using the Chevron Techron so no worries there. First bottle made a world of difference. Previous owner did not take care of it as seen by the exhaust tip covered in soot as well as other things.

 

[chevyguy8893]

I think the can of the top engine cleaner costs around $10 and you only need the one can. If a dealer or shop does it, it will run around $100 for their fuel system service most likely.

 

[Lgndryhr]

Is it just a can you spray or pour into a compartment? Also what fuel system service you talking about?

 

[chevyguy8893]

The top engine cleaner is a spray that you use while the vehicle is running. You have to take the air intake off and spray it in bursts into the throttle body while it is running.

A fuel system service involves running the vehicle on an injector cleaner only to clean the injectors and spraying a top engine cleaner into the throttle body. Also, some add a can of fuel system cleaner into the gas tank. It is a lot cheaper to do it yourself than pay someone else to do it.

 

[Lgndryhr]

The top engine cleaner is a spray that you use while the vehicle is running. You have to take the air intake off and spray it in bursts into the throttle body while it is running.

A fuel system service involves running the vehicle on an injector cleaner only to clean the injectors and spraying a top engine cleaner into the throttle body. Also, some add a can of fuel system cleaner into the gas tank. It is a lot cheaper to do it yourself than pay someone else to do it.

Hmm sounds like the top engine cleaner isn't too hard to use. I will have to get some then.

So basically they do what I already do minus the top engine cleaner since I already use Chevron Techron.

 

[chevyguy8893]

Hmm sounds like the top engine cleaner isn't too hard to use. I will have to get some then.

So basically they do what I already do minus the top engine cleaner since I already use Chevron Techron.

Yep, and then they charge a lot more to do it. One thing I will stress is DO NOT empty the whole spray can quickly or you run the risk of hydro-locking the engine. Short bursts work just fine and afterwards let the vehicle sit for 10-15 minutes while everything is reassembled. This lets the chemical work in some more and ends up running it out of the exhaust. It is really simple to do though, I just seem to make things sound complicated sometimes.

 

[Lgndryhr]

Yep, and then they charge a lot more to do it. One thing I will stress is DO NOT empty the whole spray can quickly or you run the risk of hydro-locking the engine. Short bursts work just fine and afterwards let the vehicle sit for 10-15 minutes while everything is reassembled. This lets the chemical work in some more and ends up running it out of the exhaust. It is really simple to do though, I just seem to make things sound complicated sometimes.

Wow, a bottle of Techron is like $6 lol and a can of that is probably $10 or $15 around here. That $100 charge is probably to cover labor costs. It's ridiculous. My dealership service center charges $100/hour just for labor. Glad all my work for the most part is under warranty so far. Do you use the whole can in one cleaning? Yea I wouldn't think of just streaming the can in there. Just sounds like a bad idea. Okay thanks for the advice on letting it sit there for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

[chevyguy8893]

Wow, a bottle of Techron is like $6 lol and a can of that is probably $10 or $15 around here. That $100 charge is probably to cover labor costs. It's ridiculous. My dealership service center charges $100/hour just for labor. Glad all my work for the most part is under warranty so far. Do you use the whole can in one cleaning? Yea I wouldn't think of just streaming the can in there. Just sounds like a bad idea. Okay thanks for the advice on letting it sit there for 10 to 15 minutes.

Wow, $100 an hour, it may be more at yours if they offer it. Yes, the whole can is used for it. The good thing about these cars is they don't seem to build up as much carbon as cars of the past since they run more efficiently, so it won't need to be done very often.

 

[Lgndryhr]

Wow, $100 an hour, it may be more at yours if they offer it. Yes, the whole can is used for it. The good thing about these cars is they don't seem to build up as much carbon as cars of the past since they run more efficiently, so it won't need to be done very often.

Yea, its ridiculous. I only go there to get warranty work done. They also flipped when I told them I was wiring my spoiler to my chmsl and told me I didn't know what I was doing. They said all I would do is short out my BCM. Proved them wrong as seen in the pics I posted yesterday.
I was wondering how much carbon build up they might have. Especially worried how it was take care of its first 14,214 miles by the previous owner. The tail pipe is so dirty and looks like it's covered in shot/rusting(?). So I can imagine using it will only help the car a great deal. I figure do it every 30k miles?

 

[chevyguy8893]

Yea, its ridiculous. I only go there to get warranty work done. They also flipped when I told them I was wiring my spoiler to my chmsl and told me I didn't know what I was doing. They said all I would do is short out my BCM. Proved them wrong as seen in the pics I posted yesterday.
I was wondering how much carbon build up they might have. Especially worried how it was take care of its first 14,214 miles by the previous owner. The tail pipe is so dirty and looks like it's covered in shot/rusting(?). So I can imagine using it will only help the car a great deal. I figure do it every 30k miles?

Performing the top engine cleaning is fine every 30K. There shouldn't be much build up. My exhaust tip was completely black when I bought it, and there really wasn't much built up in the throttle body. The only thing that is different is my car had 48K put on in the first year so I don't think much had a chance to build up. If there is a lot of smoke after you do it, then there was a good build up. Carbon builds up more with cheap gas and short, not run up to operating temperature, drives.

You can get rid of the soot on the tailpipe with 0000 steel wool and some mothers chrome polish. Mine came out looking like new after that.

 

[Lgndryhr]

Performing the top engine cleaning is fine every 30K. There shouldn't be much build up. My exhaust tip was completely black when I bought it, and there really wasn't much built up in the throttle body. The only thing that is different is my car had 48K put on in the first year so I don't think much had a chance to build up. If there is a lot of smoke after you do it, then there was a good build up. Carbon builds up more with cheap gas and short, not run up to operating temperature, drives.

You can get rid of the soot on the tailpipe with 0000 steel wool and some mothers chrome polish. Mine came out looking like new after that.

I'll just clean the carbon when I flush the tranny. Yea, a big difference in mileage there. I generally let my car warm up and the shortest drive I make in a day is a 20 to 30 min drive. So no worries about a short drive I also switched back to Shell gas from Kroger gas recently too. Right around when I put in a bottle of Techron.

Cool. I will have to try that! Thanks!

 

[Lgndryhr]

So I checked my coolant today. It is around the same spot it's been since winter, which at the time I thought was okay level. I was wrong. It lower than that. It was last serviced at a GM dealership and they checked that and said its level was fine. Seriously....It is even lower than that. I may have to run by autozone or my chevy dealer to talk and see. I'll try to grab some of that engine top cleaner too. Air filter was surprisingly clean. It had a little dust, but not much. I cleaned it off and cleaned out the housing box it was in. My oil is still looking good and pretty full so I guess at 32k or so it might need changing. Last change was at 26k and I'm at 30k so I got about 2k or 3k more left it in.

 

[BillD64]

It seems you are going overboard on the 30K mile service. The owner's manual doesn't say you need to do all that stuff. The trans flush is definitely overkill. All you have to do is your M1 or M2 which ever is due now.

Bill

 

[Lgndryhr]

Every GM tech and a GM engineer I know that I've talked to about flushing the tranny say do it at 30k, not 50k. I check everything on my car every 15k miles. The rest of things I did are normal; check fluids, check wipers, etc. Also, I try to do a tire rotation, balance, and alignment every 15k miles because my roads by my house have a lot of potholes and such. Stupid country roads.

Also, on both M1 and M2, it lists majority of what I did. Minus checking the air filter.

 

[Lgndryhr]

You can get rid of the soot on the tailpipe with 0000 steel wool and some mothers chrome polish. Mine came out looking like new after that.

So I tried the chrome polish today on the tip. It made a world of difference. I still gotta do it a few more times to get her fully cleaned. For the most part though it all came off. I just used a cotton cloth to clean her.

 

[chevyguy8893]

So I tried the chrome polish today on the tip. It made a world of difference. I still gotta do it a few more times to get her fully cleaned. For the most part though it all came off. I just used a cotton cloth to clean her.

That's good to hear. I know mine looked like it blended in with the black bumper trim when I first got it. Still clean now, even after winter.