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30K maintenance: Fuel Filter, 4x4 service, Air Filters

7K views 27 replies 15 participants last post by  rogermabry 
#1 ·
my 2015 EcoDiesel now as 33,500 miles on it. Despite the fact that I have RAM's MaxCare warranty, my local small-town dealership was not very interested in doing maintenance on it for some reason. Long story. I'm from the East Coast and usually the love when you walk in on a warranty, go figure....

Took it to a place in Seattle yesterday for a bunch of warranty items, sensors not working (needs a flash or body control update,etc) I also told them I knew the Air Filter(s) were dirty.
They were happy to earn the warranty business of course, but then the upsell: They said that it would be $384 for the Air Filter change, $310 for the fuel filters which were never changed with every other oil change as they should have been, and $464 for the 4 x 4 service (yes I know synthetic oil is expensive, I have been keeping up with all of my oil and oil filter changes)

OUCH. So I said no thanks I would get that stuff done through my local mechanic. They are making plenty of money off me as my park sense sensors AGAIN have broken and need to be replaced, my rear seat heater needs to be ordered and replaced, etc.

BUT ANYWAY, any idea what the maintenance on those items should cost and some of them I can probably just do myself. My local mechanic is very reasonable but I live in a rural area with lots of big trucks and heavy equipment and the mechanics just don't regularly work on these things. Any pointers or advice? I am about to call him and ask for pricing but was wondering what are reasonable costs and what I should do myself or with the help of a friend who knows more about trucks than I do.

Also any other service item I should need at this point? My front left wheel bearing has already broken and been replaced and we get so much snow here that I switch wheels/tires twice a year so nothing having to do with rotation. What else?

Thanks in Advance, sorry for long post.
 
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#2 ·
Even with very little mechanical ability you can do everything on your list. You will need to do a little internet research to find the parts you will need and to buy them. But after that if you have the ability and willingness to crawl under the vehicle you can do most any of it with simple wrenches and a little time.

The air filter shouldn't be much more than $20 and can be done in a minute or two. The fuel filter is simple as can be costs $25 for the part on amazon and you can find a youtube video that has it step by step. There may be youtube videos on the rest or not I'm not sure, but they are pretty straight forward procedures if you care to tackle them.
 
#3 ·
$384 for the air filter?! I know stealership and all but that's maybe a $30 part and 4 clips to replace, maybe a total of 15 minutes including unpacking the new air filter. I'd do that yourself for sure. For what it's worth I like the OEM filter, I haven't seen an aftermarket one that is thick as the OEM.

Fuel filter isn't bad at all to do yourself either. Get yourself a strap wrench and a new filter as well as a container (Coffee, Windshield Washer Fluid, etc) to catch the fuel. About $30 again for the filter. Unscrew, replace filter, screw on, and prime the ignition a few times. There is a ton of info on the forum and probably some YouTube videos too.

And I don't believe any differential or transfer case fluids need to be changed at 30k unless maybe you are towing 24x7.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk
 
#4 ·
Primadiva, You Tube should be your new best friend. All or most of those repairs that you listed can be found there. you can do it and save yourself lots of your hard earned cash.
 
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#5 ·
Just got off the phone with my mechanic. Eric was like, "Hey Andrea, I would be happy to charge you what they quoted you for the fuel filter service for both the AF and FF. And I'd STILL be screwing you!" We both laughed. We can't figure out why they wanted to charge me so much for those but obviously I won't be getting those done there. He said that the 4 x 4 service might be a pretty reasonable price though. Thoughts? A
 
#6 ·
So sounds like I should be doing those two myself pretty easily.
As for the 4 x 4 service, I don't tow much at all, usually just to pull the 2500 gas trucks that my AirBnb guests run into the ditch to the side of my driveway in the snow. I do spend a ton of time in the winter in 4WD due to the snow we get here in the mountains. Do they pull everything apart when they do the 4 x 4 service or just put new fluids in? Yeah clearly; I'm not a mechanic; just was curious what the "Stealership" does. THANKS y'all.
 
#7 ·
While I am unsure of exactly what this service actually entails nor care with your miles. I would do nothing in the 4x4 department unless you are a constant user climbing hills in a dusty dirty environment etc. You say you're with lots of snow, that wouldn't make me worried about the service just yet. My guess the fee is just for a change of your fluids...
 
#8 ·
You need to run/drive away from that "Dealership" you went to as fast as possible. Most if all listed can be done. There are many threads on this forum that will direct you. DITTO on all above posts. Do not get taken by that dealership, IMHO.... ($384 to change an air filter, boy glad you were smart enough to say no).... Just saying

Added: The warranty item "park sensors" should still be under warranty, maybe, and get that done before 36,000 miles/3 years. See above for all else, IMHO..
 
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#9 ·
Turkeybird56, is absolutely correct. You ain't no turkey lol
 
#10 · (Edited)
WOW , the prices are unreal , 10 times the price on the 2 filters .....
this is how I figured in the late 90's , that all the money I saved over the years , wrenching on my own cars
has paid for " MY HOUSE ", yes enough savings to actually pay for my house.
..
With the internet now days , you can sit back and search with Google , and you will find
good tutorials , often videos, on how to do anything , never just read/view one way of doing things , see a few , there is always
an additional piece of info ,to save a lot of troubles , somewhere out there ,
..
And for your truck , you have found the best place , This site ,
for your fuel filter , when Rolling Under , get a big giant Ziploc bag , after loosening the filter , slide the bag around the filter
it is transparent , so you can see what you are doing , and all the fuel that is going to leak will not drip down your arm
it will drip in the Ziploc bag, that is the " trouble " part of the fuel filter change.
..
No need to get dirty in excess , working Under the truck...
 

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#12 ·
WOw I sure came to the right place



I have 4WD Auto. Of course. And every other feature that truck came with that is now starting to break...at least it's all doing it under warranty....

Really the only thing I need to decide is the 4WD service. We have snow in the winter but its very dusty/dry here in the summer and I am off road on it a lot. Not on crazy jeep like-terrain but I take the dogs onto the forest roads for hikes and such every day.

Thanks for all of the helpful advice everyone.
 
#13 ·
It's been said above but I feel the need to reinforce it. The engine air filter will cost you $30 on Amazon and takes maybe 5 minutes to swap out. The fuel filter will cost $20 on Amazon and take 15 minutes to do. I know because I do this every year. The 4x4 service is likely front and rear diff fluid replace and maybe transfer case. I don't think you need that service yet, maybe around 50k miles and by that time you can research how to do it. I've also replaced my transfer case and rear diff fluid and it's easier than the fuel filter. It sounds like your local mechanic is trustworthy so if you don't want to do anything yourself at least you know what materials will cost. Don't give the dealership any money for those things.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Air oil & fuel filters you might check out Rock Auto. A site sponsor with great prices & cheap shipping to your door. Scroll down click their purple link box check under Ram, 2016, 1500, diesel, then select air & fuel, or oil.

Hey girl. Welcome to the forum. Gotta dig a woman with her own truck. What made you buy the Ecodiesel? Good info & helpful folk around here. Sometimes even some entertainment value.

PS no worries were not going to make Earl take his shirt off and dance in a hula skirt.
 
#20 ·
I buy Mopar FF, take it to dealer for contracted oil changes, and my dealer charges me 1/2 hour labor to install FF. AFE make a really nice 'dry medium' air filter with lifetime warranty I installed of 100,000 miles ago on my '16 that still looks great...$60ish if I remember right.

Agree with others on questionable need for 4x4 unless extreme conditions. Does anyone have thoughts on rear diff service? At 135k (80%) highway non towing yet will do soon.
 
#28 ·
I finally changed my Ecodiesel fuel filter at 40574 miles... easy job, used a baggie to catch the fuel.. oil filter strap wrench. Replaced with Mopar
filter I have had since buying the truck in 2015... this is the first filter change...took less than 30 minutes and the hardest part was finding a place
to grab the filter strap to unloosen the housing with the driveshaft in the way...
 
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