I read the manual saying that the fuilds such as the cooling only needs to be changed every 5 years or 150,000 miles, my car is now 5 years and I was thinking about doing the full tune-up replacing all fluids from transmission, axle, cooling etc, but should I take it to a chevy dealer or does a grease monkey or regular oil change shops know how to do it, do they know which fluid to add in the 5 year cooling etc?

Where do you guys take your LS1?

 

If you can't/don't want to do something yourself, try to find a good independent shop in your area and take it there.

I have luckily found one in my area and if there ever is something I can't/don't want to do, I'll take it there.

No need with the Z so far, though. I've taken my wife's previous vehicles there before and they do an awesome job.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you want to be ripped a new one each time you say "Hello!" , take your car to a dealer , otherwise do as I suggested.

Did that help any...? Probably not...

TS

 

I wouldn't wait 5 yrs or 150 k miles to change my dexcool. You dump it out and you'll see why.

 

I'm just worried that I take it to a shop and they end up putting regular anti-freeze in the colling system and regular transmission fluid when it actually requires special fluids on these cars. Can anyone recommend me a shop, name etc that are intelligent enough to know which fluids are recommended by the manuals?

If I could do it myself I would, but I don't know how. I want to replace every fluid, from transmission to axle to oil etc.

 

Anyone else?

 

The best bet is not to have all that work done under one roof, it will cost you more money (dealership) and I doubt there's a shop that specializes in everything you want done.

For the coolant change, call up radiator shops and find one that has a powerflushing system. This system thoroughly cleans out your radiator. Go to Wal-Mart and buy 2 gallons of Dex-Cool approved Prestone, it's in a silver bottle with an orange cap. This is what I did, I told them to fill my car with this stuff and it made my bill a little cheaper.

Take your car to a good transmission shop for the trans. and diff. fluid change. If you don't know how to do it, this is something you don't want to mess with.

Also, try to schedule your appointment first thing in the morning and watch everything they do to your car. It's always best to wait on it in case they need to ask you a question and to make sure no one takes your car out for a joyride.

 

As far as regular maintenance goes:

do myself:
oil and filter changes
plugs and wires
diff. fluid change
radiator flush and fill

Things I don't do:
Tire rotate and balance (because of the balance - I don't really want to invest in one of those machines )

Auto trans fliud change (mines a standard but I own an auto truck) - take it to a shop. If you do DIY you can only change the fluid in the pan. There is still a lot of fluid in there (lines etc.) and I mean a lot. A good shop will have the machine that connects in line and pulls all the old fluid out while puting new fluid in. IMO this is the most important thing to do to keep an auto running and extend the life. And trust me you don't want to pay for a rebuild on that 4L60E. I had it done in my truck (bought it used) but luckily it was under warranty. It would have run me $1,800.

 

Thanks.