What's your preventative maintenance routine ?

[chefwong]

I do change the oil with the seasons (turkey day and also in March) which is the same time I swap winter/summer tars. Also do the usual coolant topping off as the X tends to just drink a bit too much.

I have another 3K before I hit the 30K mile mark. I'm thinking about doing a coolant, differential and ps flush. Coolant seems to be just fine though as on my last oil change, when I sent it in for a UOA, I also sent a little the coolant in for a UOA and the report came back just fine.

So what fluids have ya'll done ?

[hayaku]

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles.php?...ticle&artid=82

thats a great guide on fluids and maintenance.

personally, i do more or less depending on how i use the vehicle. heavily used vehicles get more attention (ie: my track cars gets an oil change every 2-4 weeks, tranny/diff oil change every 4-6 months, spark plugs once a 6-12 months, etc and my street cars are much much less) my old x5 got its oil changed every 6 months, brake fluid flushed once a year, tranny/diff would have been every 2 years, plugs every 2 years, etc) - this is overkill for most people... just peace of mind for me and i don't mind the cost of that.

[chefwong]

Currently browsing JIE for the correct tranny fluid....

Decided to do it all while it's at the shop, transfer case, tranny, differentials, & coolant.

So other than OEM across the board, any of ya'll stepped outside the box and use RL, RP, M1, Amsoil on your fluid changes.

[chefwong]

Well, this is my fluid list. Am I missing anything or does anyone see something that is off.


Esso LT 71141 ATF; initial fill is 4.2 quarts, total fill is 10.0 quarts. People have reported that they’ve only been able to remove 3 quarts with a pan drop.

The Standard Front/Rear Differentials take Castrol SAF-XO, which is a 75w-90 Gear Lube. Thus, any 75w-90 Gear Lube will do the job.

The controlled slip front and rear differentials both take Castrol SAF-XJ, which is a 75w-140 Gear Lube. Thus, any 75w-140 Gear Lube will do the job.

Regardless of which type of Front/Rear Differential you have, the Front Differential takes 1.3 pints and the Rear Differential takes 2.5 pints.

As far as the transfer case goes, it simply takes Dexron-III and it holds 1.1 pints.

[Thunder22]

Mine is very simple, I wait for the lights to go out on the dash, i call my dealer, make appt to bring X in, drive X to dealer, take shuttle bus to train station, go to work, return to dealer, pick up X, drive home.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by gresch

Mine is very simple, I wait for the lights to go out on the dash, i call my dealer, make appt to bring X in, drive X to dealer, take shuttle bus to train station, go to work, return to dealer, pick up X, drive home.

Exactly. Except I also check for whether it has been 12-14 months, since I have low annual mileage on each vehicle. Also, we don't have trains, so I use the courtesy 3 series.

Apart from that, I check fluids regularly, but have not found any great need to top up any of the fluids over three years (added a total of 2 litres of oil in three vehicles since purchase dates, no coolant, lots of ww fluid).