I had my oil changed this evening at the dealership(and before i get blasted, i am completely capable of doing it myself, but it was part of the deal when i bought it, so why not). They recommended i get my coolant flushed as well as my power steering. I have flushed vehicles before: drain radiator, refill with water, run until thermostat opens, drain, refill and repeat, then refill with 50/50 water/coolant. Is there anything i missed? As far as the power steering, how would i go about flushing and filling that?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to keep records of scheduled maintenance for resale purposes but can't see paying someone else for something that i am capable of!

 

Pull out your maintenance guide.

Ask the dealer to show you where the power steering flush and fill is required. (I had my 97 for 13 years and over 197k and NEVER flushed and filled the power steering.)

While you're at it, check the mileage for the coolant flush and fill.

 

On a 2010, the coolant flush should be six years or 100K miles. The PS is pure crap unless there is a failure int he system and they find foreign objects in the fluid.

The dealer is mining for gold. And there is nothing wrong with having the dealer change your oil. But your dealer is likely telling you that you need 3000 mile oil changes. Next he'll tell you to have your transmission flushed and it has a 150K mile service point on it, same as your rear axle.

 

I was thinking about power steering flushes the other day; I know, I'm weird. Admitting it is the first step. Anyhow, a lot of the Super Duty guys do a PS flush and install a magnafine filter at the same time. You'd be surprised what the magnet in the filter finds, even without having a failure in the system. I would've done it to mine, but I ended up trading instead. The other thing that's big with Powerstroke guys is coolant filters, which I was also thinking about the other day. I guess I'm just rambling at this point, but I've kicked around the idea of PS flushes as good practice after a couple years of service; recommended in the manual or not.

 

You could take a turkey baster and suck out the old PS fluid and refill. You wont get it all but should refresh the fluid. maybe repeat after a few hundred miles.
When I flush/bleed the brake fluid I always use a turkey baster to suck out the old brake fluid and refill with new prior to bleeding the system.

 

I was surprised when i took it in the first time for oil and they put 5,000 miles down for my next one.

 

Hello,
I am the tech manager at Prestone Coolants. I looked up the factory change interval for your truck. It is 105,000 miles in the severe service maintenance schedule or 150k miles in the normal service schedule OR every five years, whatever comes up first. So, unless you already have 105k miles on that 2010 truck, it doesnt need serive yet. I can email you complete factory cooling system service instructions if you need them

 

not even close to 100,000, just about to hit 35,000. I would love to have them for future references when the time comes.

 

I'd take a copy of that myself.

 

I have done this myself. Glad to see I'm not alone Same with the drop-n-drain trans fluid in the 'Stroker 5R110, as flushing seems to stir up issues with some.

 

Just did both on PSD and use magnafine filter on tranny and PS. These trucks. Use extended life coolant. The PS flush is for the obsessive compulsive guys
Would not bother with it until you have more miles on it. Later this year my plan was a magnafine filter for PS and RMI25 for the coolant.

What i gleaned from your post is that the dealer has just breach any level of trust you had and i would run forrest run ......

 

i think i may call them and see if there was any reason for it being done so early, and if they say that the coolant is contaminated i will investigate myself and take it to a much smaller repair facility that i know a few people trust and see if they say the same thing or not.

 

Don't let this dealer get into your head. They're mining for your $$$.

 

We had a tool in my motor pool for testing coolant and it was not the floating ball type. Rather it was placing a few drops on a glass closing the lid and looking into a light source for the meter reading much like a reticule system.

I'm very puzzled why the dealer suspects such a new engine is contaminated based on what? If he cannot explain WHY he suspects the coolant is contaminated but mumbles a lame story then still the same run....run...run...

In fact IF there is another dealer near by I would get a second opinion w/o telling him about the first experience and see what the results are. Unless the coolant has obvious floaties the eye cannot detect contamination this dealer sounds like the one we've had here, which is one of many reason we do not have one .....