I am having my suspicions about the dealership that charged me 240.00 to do a Fuel System Cleaning Service on a 2008 minivan with 112,000 miles on it, concerned it wasn't actually performed. They said they cleaned the throttle body and flushed the fuel system, etc. (the Fuel System service). Is there anyone familiar with the dealership service (like a master certified Chrysler technician) that can tell me if they actually take the throttle body off to clean it (or depend on some chemical flush to do it all), and tell me more specifically a quick tell-tale sign to check under the hood if a technician actually attempted the job (i.e. small cleanish spot where certain part was handled, wet fluid trail, etc.) ? Is there any way at all I can quickly tell if the job was actually done? I could go into all the reasons that led me to my suspicion, but to save time and space I won't unless someone wants to know. I appreciate any info greatly.

 

Pull the intake tube off and peek at the inside of the TB. It should be all shiny and clean. As for the flush? No way to tell really. Honestly, I'd never pay for that service in the first place. Run a bottle of Lucas through every once in awhile and a tb can be cleaned easily enough by removing a few bolts. That's one if those "dealer recommended" things that they just sell to make money on.

 

Thanks for the advice. I pulled the intake tube and looked. Everything looked shiny and clean from that side. I didn't manipulate the throttle plate to see the other side since it is electronic controlled (not mechanical wire driven), but assume I would see at least some signs of carbon and dirt from that side if it hadn't been cleaned (going by pictures I found online). After pulling the intake tube, I also saw "a cleanish spot" on the end of a tube going into the end of the fuel rail port, suggesting that may be where a tech handled it to probably hook up the fuel system cleaner (if I had to guess).

It looks like my fears were unfounded. It appears the service was performed.

I finally decided at 112,000 miles to go ahead and have the fuel system serviced and throttle body cleaned, since going by past performance that my DGC didn't even make it to the 102,000 mile recommended interval of having the spark plugs and wires changed. Instead I had to have it towed to the dealership around 90,000ish because at least one of the plugs was fouled so bad it went into "limp" mode. I figure I would hedge my bets and have it done at least once.