Fuel Injection Clean - Is It Worth It?

[selector]

Just taken my RX350 for its 80k service and was offered the fuel injection clean option ($250). The service advisor said it should be done once every 100k, I went for it on the basis I typically fill up with Sams Club "cheap" gas. Is it worth it or a rip off? Anyone had and noticed a difference?

[1990LS400]

You've been scammed and the service writer got a cut of your $250. Their job is to sell, sell, sell service.

I've had dealer service writers try to sell me needless and sometimes ridiculous services many times. Some have even told me that these services are required by the car maker. Showing them the car's maintenance schedule usually shuts them up.

The most common scam I've seen is early brake jobs - which is why I measure the remaining pad thickness myself each time I rotate the tires which is every 5,000 miles.

[selector]

Thanks 1990LS400 - good to know.

I wish there was a way I could check the brakes without having to take the wheels off.

[1990LS400]

Thanks 1990LS400 - good to know.

I wish there was a way I could check the brakes without having to take the wheels off.

You might be able to view the pad thickness through your wheels. One trick is to break off the end from a wire coat hanger to use as a measuring tool. My fancy coat hanger wire measuring tool is 2mm thick. Does your RX have brake wear sensors that trigger a message in the instrument cluster display when the pads are worn to the recommended replacement thickness? The recommended replacement thickness on my LS is only 1mm - so thin it looks scary to the uninformed. Dealers will often try to get people to do a brake job when pads aren't even half worn.

If your RX has brake wear sensors you might consider letting the pads wear down to the minimum. It can be cheaper to replace a $50-$60 brake wear sensor and make the pads last as long as possible.

I recently had the "last" brake job done on my LS. I had the first front brake job done at about 73,000 miles. The rear brake pads were replaced for the first time at a bit over 120,000 miles. The front brake pads were replaced a second time a little before 150,000 miles. The car is nearing 165,000 miles and I will likely part with it long before the front brake pads need replacing again.

[rx350guy]

Fuel injection, or as it's sometimes called, induction service is a pure money grab and a rip-off. Stick to the factory recommended service in your owner's manual, nothing else and your car should run fine for a long, long time. As was mentioned, the service writer's job is to 'up-sell' service and repairs that are not necessarily needed because thay receive commissions on what they sell.

That's why we almost always get that dreaded call back from the service advisor when our car is in the shop telling us that our car 'needs' X amount of additional work done for a lot more money than you planned to spend after taking it in for a routine LOF service.

[selector]

Thanks1990LS400 and rx350guy!

I'm concerned about the "upselling" of brake jobs! My RX350 is 2008 model so don't believe it has a brake wear sensors. Can you provide more details on how you use your wire coat hanger to measure the pads?

[1990LS400]

Thanks1990LS400 and rx350guy!

I'm concerned about the "upselling" of brake jobs! My RX350 is 2008 model so don't believe it has a brake wear sensors. Can you provide more details on how you use your wire coat hanger to measure the pads?

Page 115 of your owners manual ( http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM48761U/pdf/sec_02-01.pdf ) indicates that your RX has friction type brake wear sensors instead of electronic ones that trigger a warning in the instrument cluster. Just keep your ear out for a "squealing or scraping noise" - hard to ignore! - and you will have plenty of time to get your pads replaced. Replacing the friction sensors doesn't cost much. Google "2008 RX350 brake wear sensors" and you'll get plenty of photos and prices.

There's not much to my coat hanger brake pad measuring technique. Just break off a piece of a wire coat hanger (maybe six inches), straighten it with pliers, maybe make one end into a small loop to make it easy to hold, measure its thickness with measuring calipers, slip the straight end of the coat hanger into the space between the brake rotor and the backing plate to which the wearable part of the brake pad is attached. If you can barely slip the coat hanger piece in that space then your brake pads are getting down to the thickness of the coat hanger wire - my coat hanger wire "tool" is right at 1.5mm thick.

Or just wait for a brake wear sensor to squeal. You won't have to replace all the brake pads at once - just the fronts or the backs since rear brake pads usually last far longer than the front ones.

[buckmeister2]

And....there is nothing wrong with the fuel you are using. Whether it is Sam's Club, ARCO, Chevron, there is virtually no diff at all between quality of fuels, though there is a diff in the octane, which is stated on the pump. The only real quality issue for fuel is if you fill up at a station well out of the beaten path, and the fuel is very aged, or at the bottom of the tank being sucked through a poor filtering system.

There is a gas station in the middle of highway 95 here in NV that I have never once seen a customer gassing up at...I would hesitate to put that in my car.

Jim

[Band]

Put a bottle of Techron in your next full tank if you are worried.

[Band]

Another comment: Spending a a few pennies more for a top tier gas with extra proprietary additives is a good investment IMO.

A scam: Had my Subaru in for service and a service writer showed me a piece of blotter paper with oil on it and said it was my power steering fluid and I needed a flush. I asked to see what fresh fluid looked like on the blotter, and can you believe it looked exactly the same? I told him nice try, and he apologized. I felt that this stuff was coming from the top, and would love to be a fly on the wall at one of their meetings where they are instructed to push bogus services.

[sam2004]

I have done 311,000 km on my RX330 (2004) without any additives or Injector cleaning. Even the spark plugs were not replaced. It is still running like brand new.