mmarshall

Today's cars cost enough to buy, operate, insure, service, and, in some cases, even pay personal-property taxes on, so that, usually, the last thing anyone needs is for an unscrupulous mechanic or repair shop to try and sell a so-called "Tune-Up". Yet, this happens a lot more than a lot of people realize, because some car owners think that today's vehicles still need that type of conventional service under the hood, when, in fact, they usually don't.

Let's take a brief look at how that came about. For decades, up until the early-to-mid 1970s (slightly later for some models), the typical gas-powered car, domestic or foreign, had an ignition system operated by a distributor with a rotor that spun with a bevel-gear off the engine's crankshaft, or, in some cases, the camshaft. The tip of the rotor contained a breaker-point that, upon contact with other breaker-points in the distributor, sent a high-voltage charge from the ignition coil (which stepped up the 12-volt battery voltage) out the distributor and through the spark plug wires to each of the plugs to fire at the proper moment in the cylinder's compression and power cycles. The spark-plug timing/firing in degrees (relative to the piston's top-dead-center position), was controlled by slowly rotating the distributor cap while observing the marks a pulsating strobe-light (called a timing light) would make on a set of engraved numbers in the engine block. Sometimes a condenser, a device that is basically a capacitor that stores an electric charge, was also part of the system. Most powerplants, back then, also had carburators to deliver the fuel, though, of course, some used primitive manual fuel-injection, and diesel engines used both fuel injection and compression/ignition in the cylinders instead of a distributor.

So, back then, because carburators would tend to need periodic re-adjustment and ignition parts would wear away or fail, the typical gas-powered vehicle would need a "Tune-Up" every 5000-10,000 miles or so (among American-badged cars, GM tended to have the most reliable ignition systems, and Chrysler the least). A tune-up, for most drivers, was done once or twice a year (sometimes with a chassis-lube and oil-change), and usually included new spark plugs, a plug-gap check, wires, a new distributor cap, new rotor, new breaker-points, a new condender if needed, a timing check/adjustment, and adjustments to the carburator idle-speed and mixture-screws to factory-specs. You could usually tell when a car had just been tuned by the nice shiny new plastic distributor cap and the glistening clean spark-plug wires.

Then, in 1972, Chrysler became the first American manufacturer to offer factory-equipped electronic/transistorized distributors that eliminated the breaker points and condensor, thereby getting rid of two often-replaced components. Timing was also controlled electronically, eliminting the manual hand-held timing light and cap-rotation. New long-life, hot-burning spark plugs were expected to last for 30,000 miles. In 1975, GM followed suit (along with the catalytic-converter ad unleaded-gas requirement that year), and, soon after that, the conventional tune-up became a thing of the past, except for spark-plug changes at 30,000 mile intervals. Yet some unscrupulous repair/service shops continued to take advantage of uninformed or naive car-owners and charge, at least on paper, for work that no longer needed to be done....yes, some still do today.

Today, even the 30,000-mile spark plug and plug-wire change is sometimes not needed anymore, as new platinum-tipped spark plugs can last for 100,000 miles or more. However, even if the plugs themselves will last for 100,000 miles and not burn out, it's probably a good idea to change them before that anyway, as the accumulated engine heat, over time, can burn the plug-threads into the engine block. That can make the plugs VERY difficult for a mechanic/technician to remove them, especially if the factory didn't use good anti-sieze compound when installing them. Sometimes siezed plugs have to actually be drilled out of the engine and the holes re-threaded. So, if your car has 50,000 miles on it, and the technician suggests replacing the original plugs even if they could last for 100,000 miles or more, it might be a good idea to go ahead and let him or her do it anyway, just to make sure that the original plugs don't get siezed into their holes. And, of course, make sure he or she applies anti-seize compound on the threads. That will make sure that they will be able to come out easily again if or when needed.

As for the rest of today's engine/electrical/ignition systems, they are pretty much controlled by a master computer and electronic sensors that usually never need any service unless they fail and need to be replaced. Carburators, of course, were generally replaced by computer-controlled electronic fuel-injection systems in the 1980s, so the traditional carburator adjustments/service/replacements are no longer needed, either.

So, in a nutshell, for almost any newer car built after the late 1980s or so, if an unscrupulous mechanic/technician or service-advisor tries to sell you a "Tune-Up", especially a traditional one replacing the old outdated parts, my advice is to kindly tell them to have a nice day, take your money/buisness elsehwere, then go home and report that shop to the BBB or your local consumer-protection agency so they can't keep screwing others.

Oh, and by the way, folks....don't fall for the chassis-lube scam, either (lubes used to be done routinely with oil changes). Today's cars have their underbody ball-joints, universal/CV joints, drive-shafts, suspension components, etc...sealed and lubed-for-life at the factory. There is no more need to periodically apply grease from a grease-gun to those components, as the manual-lubrication points for them no longer exist. However, DO check the seals on them periodically to make sure that they haven't cracked/broken and let the grease leak out.

MM

Jewcano

iTrader: (4)

^Though good points, perhaps asking for the 'breakdown' of a modern tuneup would be in order? Perhaps they're going to suggest minor things be done that are applicable to modern cars such as checking/filling fluids or various other small stuff.

mmarshall

True, but checking fluids is not part of either a conventional tune up or today's 100,000 mile plug-change. And, as a convenience to the customer, good shops often check and fill underhood fluids during an oil-change anyway.

tex2670

They shouldn't be charging for "checking fluids" anyway.

mmarshall

Even though, on modern cars, the age of underhood shade-tree mechanics is pretty much over, a responsible car owner should still, if at all possible, keep an occasional eye on things himself or herself under the hood....quick checks of fluids if nothing else. That is why, when I do a car-review, I usually comment on how much the hood weighs, how solid it feels, if it has a gas strut/spring or manual prop-rod to hold it up, and/or, in general, how easy or difficult it would be for an older person with weak arms/shoulders/hands to raise or lower it. I also comment on the ease of dipstick/filler-cap/fluid-reservoir access and design. Many of you know, of course, that, for several reasons (though my arms are still reasonably strong), I am not a fan of manual prop-rods.

Of course, in their 80s and 90s, a car owner is usually not expected to do what they did in their 20s and 30s. That's why I said "If at all possible" when it comes to basic underhood checks.

Fizzboy7

I've monitored dealer service practices in the West Coast for decades, and ads for getting a tune-up are history. Tune-ups are long gone, as are most cars and engines that require them. What is erroneously promoted today are premature oil and filter changes. These are mostly done by independent shops and not by dealers. Dealers focus on scheduled maintenance and "inspections', which in many cases can be another scam altogether.

jimbosr1

i remember setting the dual points on my 69 dodge charger rt.todays cars are worlds ahead.

mmarshall

Tune-ups are long gone at HONEST shops.

Though not all independent shops are unscrupulous by any means, new-car dealer shops, in general, tend to be more honest than Smiling Sam's Auto Repair down the street. A new-car dealership is closely monitored by the auto manufacturer (s) it represents, and, if it p***es off enough customers, can lose its franchise.

A growing number of cars today have engine computers that monitor the last oil-change date, number of cold starts/warm-ups, average engine temperature, number of starts/stops, trip lengths, driving style, and other factors that determine the long-term breakdown of the oil, and display either a SERVICE-SOON/OIL-CHANGE REQUIRED message when needed or the remaining percentage of oil-life remaining (sometimes both).

With traditional petroleum-based oil, I was a firm believer (and still am) in fixed-interval oil-changes (usually 3-5 months or 3000-5000 miles). But, with a partial-synthetic (like what GM requires for my Verano) or a full-synthetic like used in many turbos/high-performance cars, one can usually trust the computer because the oil viscosity usually will not break down as quickly (though the additives in the oil also break down over time). Still, if I was a hard driver, I'd change even the full-synthetics at a reasonable fixed-interval.

mmarshall

For some reason (I don't fully know why) breaker-points like the ones in your Charger and other 60s-vintage, pre-electronic-ignition Chrysler products didn't seem to last as long, requiring more frequent replacement than in many competing GM cars of the period. An important exception (and, again, I don't know fully why) was the famous Chrysler Slant Six engine, which was easily one of the most durable and reliable engines of the period. Slant Six engines seemed to go on virtually forever with only minimal maintenance.......one reason for their strong popularity in taxicabs.