Dealer says I need throttle body and fuel injectors cleaned

[swimman]

Brought my '09 in for some warranty service and the airbag recall. They looked the car over and recommended the throttle body and fuel injectors be cleaned as they noticed carbon deposits. Dealer stated this should be done once a year. Cost is $60 for throttle body and $130 for injectors. Not familiar with this service but is this common?

[laserred]

Common that they try and upsell you shit you don't need. Prices are in line, but ha! Needing it every year? LOL subtle they are! Buy a can of SeaFoam spray stuff, take the intake tube off and spray the TB. Done for $11. Now, take a can of SeaFoam and pour it in the tank. Done for $10, vs. $190. Save your money, keep your air filter clean and change your oil on time. Buy name brand gas, and save the $190 "every year".

Give em credit for trying though....

FWIW at least my Subaru service manager is honest... I just bought a 2001 Forester, and they have solid lifter adjusters. I asked about how much it cost to do a valve adjustment. His reply? "I'd love to take your money from you for my guys servicing your vehicle, but I'm not gonna steal it from you by selling you shit you don't need. Do your recommended maintenance by the book, and these cars will damn near last forever." There's a reason I've bought and service three cars with them....

[swimman]

Common that they try and upsell you shit you don't need. Prices are in line, but ha! Needing it every year? LOL subtle they are! Buy a can of SeaFoam spray stuff, take the intake tube off and spray the TB. Done for $11. Now, take a can of SeaFoam and pour it in the tank. Done for $10, vs. $190. Save your money, keep your air filter clean and change your oil on time. Buy name brand gas, and save the $190 "every year".

Give em credit for trying though....

FWIW at least my Subaru service manager is honest... I just bought a 2001 Forester, and they have solid lifter adjusters. I asked about how much it cost to do a valve adjustment. His reply? "I'd love to take your money from you for my guys servicing your vehicle, but I'm not gonna steal it from you by selling you shit you don't need. Do your recommended maintenance by the book, and these cars will damn near last forever." There's a reason I've bought and service three cars with them....

That's kind of what I was thinking but the car has 23,500 on it (almost 3 years old) and I've never cleaned the TB or injectors. I think for this go around, I'll have them do it and then use the Sea Foam once or twice a year.

My mileage better hit the high 30's now!!!

[laserred]

23,500 is nothing.... but since you're so convinced, might as well ask them to kiss you since they're ....... you.

Good luck on the high 30s, no offense but it seems like you're taking hits from the dealer's pipe... of course this is just MHO. It is your car after all. You just won't see that kind of mileage out of a 4000lb car. No magic that goes through a small rubber tube can make something perform better than when it was new.

[johnbell2]

I have more mileage than you and have never had this done. Stay away from cheap gas and run some Techron through it once a year, done and done.

[swimman]

Obviously (well maybe not to some!), the high 30's facetious. I'd be lucky to get 20 combined with my foot.

[MR_JIZZ_G8]

i have more mileage than you and have never had this done. Stay away from cheap gas and run some techron through it once a year, done and done.

+1 yeah buddy, i work at a dealer and i do not recommend seafoam at all but yea like john said don't use cheap gas and use techron. You can buy throttle body cleaner and do it yourself.

[laserred]

I was thinking maybe you had a v6. I also have/use Techron, but was simply using seafoam for reference. If you have a Subaru dealer nearby, they have "labeled" throttle body/intake cleaner for less than $4. Might give your exhaust a "farty" sound though.... Lol

[I12XLR8]

If you have carbon you're not driving it hard enough! Yearly is a standard recommendation but is usually a little excessive. I'd stay away from the seafoam and do the proper cleaning every 30K miles or so.

Just my two cents...

[-Ray-]

Keep the catch can empty and most of the problem is solved for you. You can remove the intake fairly easy and stand it on it's end. The oil will drain out. Takes maybe 30 minutes to remove it. Don't do it though. You don't need too.
Buy good gas like the others have said. If the tune is on and the timing is correct, then the spark knock is an indication that there are carbon deposits. This is something you want to know.

[AVIDMOTION]

Use top-tier fuel, keep airfilter clean, change yer oil, and the TECHTRON(in the black bottle by Shell I think)-ADVANCED auto has TECHTRON 20 oz buy one get one free, I use the techtron evey change of season nce I got 30,000 on the car(I also change trans fluid for the 2nd time by now too)

[gr8lover]

Not needed.... dealer trying to make money or stupid enough to believe it.... sometimes I wonder.... maybe they thinks its necessary.... and then maybe they believe in Santa claus..... (sorry kids if your on this forum....)

[edfiero]

Tell the dealer you have a bridge and a swamp to sell him. You'll do an even trade for the Injector cleaning.

[rjones916]

Yea, like said above injector cleaning isn't needed, that's what the additives are for in the gas. It is necessary to clean the throttle body every couple years, depending on driving style though. I personally usually recommend it every 2 years or 20,000 on direct injection motors or 25,000 on port injection customer's cars that are usually Buicks that get grandma driven and all that I work on. I just checked mine out when I was putting in my lifters and there was no carbon at 45,000 miles, but i've seen Tahoes and Trailblazers have stalling issues by that mileage from the throttle body sticking at idle.

Long story short, its easy to check and clean, but if uncomfortable doing it yourself, not a huge overcharge having them do it for that.

[texn884]

Never hurts to clean the TB yourself and I have used 44K by BG Products. You can find a shop on their web site http://www.bgfindashop.com
A can is like $25.00. Use good gas and open her up every so often to blow the cobwebs out.

[Crazy Paul]

Dealer says I need throttle body and fuel injectors cleaned
Translation: Dealer needs to fund Christmas presents for his kids.

[swimman]

Job is done and I know someone will be getting a nice gift this holiday season. Bad news is I put a 1.5" screw in my left rear tire today. Luckily, I was just leaving my development as my wife was coming home and took her car. Good news is I plugged the hole when I came home. Bad news, I still have a creaking noise in the right rear even though the sway links were replaced. I don't think the noise is suspension related so I need to visit the dealership once again. That's definitely bad news!

[AVIDMOTION]

You guys are killing me, how about, who was it that said it was it Henry Ford? "A sucker is born every minute"

[swimman]

You guys are killing me, how about, who was it that said it was it Henry Ford? "A sucker is born every minute"

Not even close. It was PT Barnum.

[AVIDMOTION]

Ha! Even funnier!

[jcmGT]

well ... it's likely it was not Barnum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_sucker_born_every_minute)

[LDM]

"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it's difficult to discern whether or not they are genuine." - Abraham Lincoln

[laserred]

Wow. And here I thought ol' Abe was ahead of his time talking about slavery, but now I find out he was really working on the interwebz? Deep.