Wasn’t there a recent thread on this? Bottom line, red flags are flying all over that. Go elsewhere.

 

Sometimes dealers (of all brands) will propose services additional to what the manufacturers recommend. Injector cleaning, intake cleaning, etc. are typical. These are super high margin for them. Of course you're free to refuse or go elsewhere.

 

Hi, all,

I have a 2020 Promaster 2500 that's due for its 30,000 mile service. I was shocked when our local dealer quoted us $1600 for the service! Well, OK, only $1300, but they failed to add in the brake fluid change, which we do need. But they did recommend transmission fluid change, which isn't recommended until 60K in the manual. There's also a bunch of stuff that just sounds like adding a can of this or that to the gas, but nothing that would justify this estimate.

I've called 2 other dealers (several hours away) that both said basically $300 for brake fluid and $400 for cleaning the fuel lines. Both discouraged changing the transmission fluid this early.

We've had zero issues with our Promaster, but our local service manager gave us a story about doing what's optimal to keep our van running, that Ram only cares about keeping it on the road 3-5 years, bla, bla, bla. I called Ram but the person I talked to just said I need to do what I'm comfortable with. Hmm...I'm not the doctor here!

I'm wondering what your experience has been with your 30K service? How much did you do and did you go to a dealer? I'm thinking about dumping our local dealer completely, but that may involve a long drive over a mountain range. What to do?

Thank you!

Of course, change the trans fluid. Lets not change the whole transmission later.

 

@MsNomer this is probably the thread you are referring to, and I totally agree, red flags at this dealer, go elsewhere. Unfortunately most dealers are very expensive and do a lot of upselling without a focus on fixing actual problems effectively, so I would strongly recommend you find a good local independent shop for most things.

As far as the brake fluid, if you're a little handy you can check it with these two products: Brake Fluid+Coolant test strips and a brake fluid moisture meter. There's a good chance you won't have to do anything at all there, see this post.

Welcome to the forum @margeleept - just FYI you have to make an intro post in the New Member Introductions section, that's a forum rule to reduce spam I think.

 

@MsNomer this is probably the thread you are referring to, and I totally agree, red flags at this dealer, go elsewhere. Unfortunately most dealers are very expensive and do a lot of upselling without a focus on fixing actual problems effectively, so I would strongly recommend you find a good local independent shop for most things.

As far as the brake fluid, if you're a little handy you can check it with these two products: Brake Fluid+Coolant test strips and a brake fluid moisture meter. There's a good chance you won't have to do anything at all there, see this post.

Welcome to the forum @margeleept - just FYI you have to make an intro post in the New Member Introductions section, that's a forum rule to reduce spam I think.

Thanks for the leads and the tip about the intro post. I wasn't aware of that requirement but it makes sense.

 

Here is the owner's manual. Pages 151-152 show the maintenance schedule.

At 30,000 miles it calls for:

• Replace the engine air filter (obviously a very simple DIY)

Keep in mind you also need to look at the yearly interval. The only thing that may add is the brake fluid change that you mentioned (if it was last done 2+ years ago). There are some really basic inspections in there also. I'm not sure why you'd clean the fuel lines?

I'm doing my oil every 5k miles and my transmission service every 30k miles in the hope this extends the life of the van (using only OEM parts).

If you're handy, the Speedi-Bleed makes brake fluid changes very simple.

I'd steer clear from this dealer. Pushing those other products is putting sales over customers and appears unscrupulous. Find a local guy that specializes in Chrysler/Dodge as the Pentastar 3.6 and the 62TE are very common. There are a lot of great techs that can work on these things blindfolded.

 

I did my transmission at 38,000 and just did it again at 77,000. To me 60,000 to long of a time. I put a pan on with a drain plug to make it easier. Dealer wants 400.00 for this transmission fluid service. I did the brake fluid at 2 years at a cost of 145.00. Lots of you tubes show different ways to make it easy. I do my own maintenance so kind of have to laugh at the dealer cost. Look for a private shop. They are out there. Good luck. Travato John

 

John .., where did you get the oil pan from ?.. TIA !!

 

That’s dealers for you. My local independent Subaru shop wanted $550 to do the spark plugs on my Outback, I can do it myself without much fuss for $80 (the cost of 4 OEM spark plugs). It pays to learn some basic maintenance skills, although I do appreciate that there are those with no interest in tinkering who are happy to pay for someone else to do the work. To each, their own.

 

I change my oil every 9k miles or so when the computer says to, changed trans fluid @ 30k (put aftermarket drain plug in $10) brake fluid? I’m almost 81 years old and I’ve never replaced brake fluid in any of the high mileage vehicles I’ve owned, fwiw.😏

 

I’ve seen a number of engine tear downs on YouTube that are fixing excessive oil consumption issues and engine damage due to longer interval oil changes causing excessive wear, there’s no way I’d go out to 9,000 miles. I’m very much in the 5,000 mile interval camp. There’s lots of great examples on there, The Car Care Nut being of them.

 

A persons choice of oil change intervals can be many reasons. Blind faith,OCD, to scientific. Often dictated on how long a person plans on keeping the vehicle too. I like 3k to 5k.
ATF change 2x at 10K. Drain and fill every 10k thereafter.

 

Had to laugh at the $400 fuel line cleaning.
Bet all they would do is install a new filter and pour a bottle Mopar fuel additive in the fuel tank.

 

Pretty sure they also drain and replace the fluid, but it still seems outrageous.

 

Just get a hold of “AJ” ;

 

These foul practices should really be reported to @RamCares.

 

I did call Ram and was told that I had to "go with my gut" about what to believe. They said that sometimes dealers "see things" that the non-mechanics at Ram don't know about. They tried really hard not to say that our dealer was over-recommending. Is @RamCares something different?

 

No way they're cleaning the injectors; they're fairly in there and you can be sure they'd bill you a good chunk of change to do that, not to mention it would be a very weird bit of maintenance to do on a 30k mile 2020 van. I'm positive what they're doing is throwing some "cleaning" additive into the fuel tank, which costs $4 or so and is completely worthless especially as a one off (if you want to throw something into your fuel tank and want it to work, you almost always have to do it long term, and even then the effect is not massive.)

No, the only thing they're cleaning out is your wallet. Stay away from that place. If you have a specific concern about your van then post it here or ask a legitimate indie mechanic, otherwise I would stick to the scheduled maintenance.

 

Thank you! The fuel injector cleaning (or whatever they do) isn't even recommended anywhere on the maintenance schedule in the manual, but 3 of 4 dealers I spoke to said we should do it and all said it was $400. We are going to take it to an independent mechanic.

 

Yep, $400 means they're not taking the injectors out (unless you have some incredibly cheap labor) - you're looking at probably 3+ hours of shop time just to get in and out of there with your typical rusty intake manifold bolts, plus whatever they're charging to clean them. I'd hope that they're not charging $400 to just dump injector cleaner into your tank, so that's probably $400 to kill the fuel pump and hook a pressurized mini-tank of injector cleaner directly into your fuel line. Sure, it gets them somewhat cleaner, but not totally clean... and they shouldn't be all that dirty on a 30k mile PM anyway. My philosophy - if they need to be cleaned, take them out and clean them the right way; if they don't, leave them be, like 99.9% of other Promasters.

Good choice to go to an independent mechanic!

 

A number of us here have vans approaching 10 years old that run just fine without that snake oil they are selling. Ours actually is 10 years old, 237,000 miles. We just follow the maintenance guide in the manual, change the oil early if we are headed out on a long trip so that MrNomer can do it at home instead of having it done on the road.

 

Ram dealerships are independent business and that's how Ram treats them, Ram doesn't tell the dealer how to run their business.

If someone get's their fuel lines cleaned or any other scam at a dealership the next dealer service writer will see that as an opportunity to rip you off.

 

One way to reduce your fuel injector cleaning requirement is to purchase the right gasoline.

My brother used to be in the refining business and said that union 76 has the best additive blend for this.

 

I have purchased the last expensive fuel available for at least the last 25 years. Multiple vehicle's with 200,000 plus miles and never had a fuel injector clog.
I have dumped some Seafoam or Techron into my gas in occasion just because it made me feel good.

 

One way to reduce your fuel injector cleaning requirement is to purchase the right gasoline.

My brother used to be in the refining business and said that union 76 has the best additive blend for this.

I have purchased the last expensive fuel available for at least the last 25 years. Multiple vehicle's with 200,000 plus miles and never had a fuel injector clog.
I have dumped some Seafoam or Techron into my gas in occasion just because it made me feel good.

9mm or .45? Ford or Chevy? Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen? Po-TAY-toe Po-TAH-toe, To-MAY-toe To-MAH-toe? Expensive dino juice or cheap a$$ gas? Oh, the anguishing mysteries of modern life.
I've never had an injector clog either but, oh boy, back in the day when you could actually see what was going on I saw some absolutely filthy carburetors. I put the cheapest Top Tier gas I can find in my rig (TOP TIER - High-quality Fuel Performance Standard - TOP TIER™) and also otherwise avoid being impoverished by unscrupulous RAM dealers.

(P.S., A quick calculation shows that at my annual rate of mileage over the past 5 years of PM ownership it will take me another 21 years reach 200K. So actuarially I have little chance of adding any data to @MtBiker 's cheap a$$ gas hypothesis.)

 

A little of the main topic but relates to fuel.
I have purchased a lot of fuel in Baja over the last 20th years, about half of it went into dirtbikes. Lots of it came out of 55 gallon drums and gas cans on some remote road or beach.
1500 miles Ensenada to Cabo 6 times.
Never once have I gotten bad fuel or had any fuel related problem.
Just throwing that out there as I know that is one of the things people why about traveling outside the US.

 

A little of the main topic but relates to fuel.
I have purchased a lot of fuel in Baja over the last 20th years, about half of it went into dirtbikes. Lots of it came out of 55 gallon drums and gas cans on some remote road or beach.
1500 miles Ensenada to Cabo 6 times.
Never once have I gotten bad fuel or had any fuel related problem.
Just throwing that out there as I know that is one of the things people why about traveling outside the US.

Viva Mexico!

 

Sometimes the gasoline sold in those locations is more stable than what we can purchase in California.

The very high refinement levels required, along with the oxygenates leads to unstable fuel and that is what we have here.

The very tight specs leads to a very small improvement in emissions levels but dramatically increases the cost of equipment to do the job. Typical CA.

____

I have unfortunately fought this issue in my honda lawn mower for a long time. Tried every possible brand of fuel stabilizer, all for naught.

What finally worked ? Exactly what the lawn mower shop told me to do the first time and I ignored. Gasoline sold in a steel can for small engines.

The stuff sold at gas stations - no matter which ones, was not stable in a honda fuel system. Within months they gum up.

You are welcome to purchase whatever you like.

 

Recently on Vancouver Island we are suffering from Ethanol in High Test from “The Man”;

https://www.promasterforum.com/threads/velit-heater.102653/post-851338

My Honda power washer started up right away after sitting 2 years IIRC. I don’t believe I even placed it into “storage” properly ( carburetor & running the carb dry ). The old gasonline that was in it was ethanol free, but we can’t buy that on Vancouver Island anymore.

To @margeleept

I guess these days we have to navigate thru the mechanical BS that is presented. The warranty required maintenance schedule is a minimum guideline, however if “Ram” does not note the maintenance n their documentation I would be highly suspicious.

When presented with non Ram listed “maintenance items”, ask for a very detailed written description of the process ,,, & the manufacturers written documentation around such “suspicious” recommendations ,,, in writing ,,, along with any warranty requirements & / or warranty extensions that will be provided.

Promasters ( & other vehicles ), have issues right outta the gate, that are kinda kicked down the road while under warranty ( the dealer / manufacturer systems out there ). Seemingly, some dealers attempt to scare owners into maintenance that isn’t required or the cost / benefit is low return.

Maintenance is a factor of “time & mileage” on most mechanical items. A vehicle with low miles but has sat around for months on end can have issues. Promasters can be & IMO should be weekly drivers, and the ethanol gasoline should be filled more often than every 6 months. That isn’t to say a $400 “cleaning” of non-description would help your situation ( highly suspicious ).

 

@HarryN agreed, CA gas is a worse product and of course more expensive as well.

In terms of additives, for small engines or otherwise - Back years ago when I had fuel issues I did way too much research and stumbled upon PRI products (PRI-G for gas and PRI-D for diesel.) As it turns out, this is the only serious product in terms of gas stabilization, and is used widely in industry. There is a reason why PRI products are mainly sold in 55-gallon drums, and Sta-Bil is sold in tiny bottles to end users only. (PRI now sells PRI-D and PRI-G in smaller bottles, as small as 256-gal treatments!) I have since treated both gas and diesel - years old and in very poor quality - with PRI-G and PRI-D respectively and had zero issues. It is entirely different in composition and effect to anything such as Sta-Bil or its various similar competitors. I would highly recommend it.

 

Thanks - that is really interesting. I completely agree with you that the stabilizers sold at the auto stores were not in any way effective. Will look into the PRI as well.

 

I suggest following the manual and dumping the dealer service center. call around and ask friends for a good mechanic near you that can perform the scheduled maintenance.

 

Hi, all,

I have a 2020 Promaster 2500 that's due for its 30,000 mile service. I was shocked when our local dealer quoted us $1600 for the service! Well, OK, only $1300, but they failed to add in the brake fluid change, which we do need. But they did recommend transmission fluid change, which isn't recommended until 60K in the manual. There's also a bunch of stuff that just sounds like adding a can of this or that to the gas, but nothing that would justify this estimate.

I've called 2 other dealers (several hours away) that both said basically $300 for brake fluid and $400 for cleaning the fuel lines. Both discouraged changing the transmission fluid this early.

We've had zero issues with our Promaster, but our local service manager gave us a story about doing what's optimal to keep our van running, that Ram only cares about keeping it on the road 3-5 years, bla, bla, bla. I called Ram but the person I talked to just said I need to do what I'm comfortable with. Hmm...I'm not the doctor here!

I'm wondering what your experience has been with your 30K service? How much did you do and did you go to a dealer? I'm thinking about dumping our local dealer completely, but that may involve a long drive over a mountain range. What to do?

Thank you!

Basically a 30-k service is a oil change,Trans service, brake fluid, power stearing flushing they add a fuel injection service to the tank and spry injection spray in the intake. If you got a valvoline oil service place they do it and you stay in the vechicle way cheaper less than an hour to do. This will not void your warranty that they did that service. Plus they can rotate yor tires too. Check it out good luck

 

Basically a 30-k service is a oil change,Trans service, brake fluid, power stearing flushing they add a fuel injection service to the tank and spry injection spray in the intake.

Not according to the Maintenance Schedule, at least for my 2017

 

it’s very simple. Look in your manual and see what is required. Don’t ask the dealer for a 30,000 mile service. Just ask him to perform the required items. If they suggest anything else, ignore it. This is what dealers do.

Hi, all,

I have a 2020 Promaster 2500 that's due for its 30,000 mile service. I was shocked when our local dealer quoted us $1600 for the service! Well, OK, only $1300, but they failed to add in the brake fluid change, which we do need. But they did recommend transmission fluid change, which isn't recommended until 60K in the manual. There's also a bunch of stuff that just sounds like adding a can of this or that to the gas, but nothing that would justify this estimate.

I've called 2 other dealers (several hours away) that both said basically $300 for brake fluid and $400 for cleaning the fuel lines. Both discouraged changing the transmission fluid this early.

We've had zero issues with our Promaster, but our local service manager gave us a story about doing what's optimal to keep our van running, that Ram only cares about keeping it on the road 3-5 years, bla, bla, bla. I called Ram but the person I talked to just said I need to do what I'm comfortable with. Hmm...I'm not the doctor here!

I'm wondering what your experience has been with your 30K service? How much did you do and did you go to a dealer? I'm thinking about dumping our local dealer completely, but that may involve a long drive over a mountain range. What to do?

Thank you!

 

I'm going to be in the same position this guy is in a few years. Hit with this BS because I am not experienced. Not saying this guy is not. That's on me though.

I should just say here's $$2Gs I've been saving cover and fix anything so I can cross country and back. Good for another x amount of miles.