My Service Engine Soon light came on yesterday when the odometer rolled to 123500 miles. Is there a service due at this mileage? Truck runs great.

Thanks

 

The SEL light wont come on when service is due. You need to get the codes read. Get back to us with the codes and we can help you out. Any Autozone will read them for free.

 

at 100k you should think about a top end rebuild if you want some piece of mind and sleep at night.... or you can wait till starts going off the deep end and cry like everyone else does....

 

you can buy a cheap OBD II reader from most auto parts stores, it will tell you what caused the service light to trigger. Once you know what the codes are you can trouble shoot further from there.

 

Thanks everyone. No Autozone here so I wil take it to the repair shop I use and get the code or I will buy the odb II diagnostic tool.

 

Also, Vandev, the top end was rebuilt and the engine completely gone through when I bought the truck 3 years ago.

The truck runs great, sometimes the light will come on if the fuel cap is not put on completely, but I check that and it is on correctly.

 

just checking....you can get the codes red for free at autozone..do it yourself..

 

Sounds like you are not very familiar with your truck, when was the last time you had a major service done, also have you ever had your front drive shaft rebuilt or replaced to prevent it from failing and taking the tranny out at the same time?

 

autozone, advance, pep boys, oreileys, pretty sure most of the major chain part stores offer free scans.

how long have you owned it? do you have previous repair/maintenance info from the other owners?

if not you are overdo for a good amount of services, most can be done rather easily by yourself if you are somewhat handy, or any regular shop.

the biggest issue you want to look at now though is the check engine light, then immediatly after to the front drive shaft like DiscoMike pointed out. That is a time bomb waiting to happen, they were a poor design in that the ujoints are nonregreaseable and sit near the exhuast, over the years they are bone dry and wear to the point of failure, causing the destruction of the shaft, and seriously damaging the transfer case and transmission, both which are FAR more costly then just replacing the shaft ($200 range) with the update design. you can check by looking for a grease nipple on the ujoints on the front shaft to see if it has already been replaced, if not do youself a favor, its an absolutly manditory preventative repair in everyones book here!!

other then that, you are do for airfilter, cabin filter (really jsut a strip of filter material alone the entire rear upper engine bay under the windshield, keeps leaves and other debris from getting into and mucking up the hvac system and blower motors etc) sparkplugs, wires, belt, flushing and refill of all the major fluids (coolant, transmission (and filter), transfercase and differentials, power steering, brake fluid). Id also have a mechanic look do an inspection on your break pads and rotors, throttle cable, brake lines, vac hoses, breather hoses and ac drip lines tend to clog, look for oil leaks at the valve covers and wheels, and possible plan on replacing the o2 sensors and MAF in the near future if they are originals. a good cleaning would be in order too of the throttlebody, PCV system and id do a cleanign and touch up with rust reformer on the underbody.

ps. i forgot to mention the head gaskets are prone to fail around 90-120k miles, so check your coolant and oil levels and quality atleast 1ce a week. alot of people also do away with the factory recommended coolant type to convensional or aftermarket type... currently it uses Dexcool which has a bad tendency to cake up and wear down the water pump and clog up radiators, and does not mix well with contaminants or other coolants. you can pull off one of the hoses and check the interior to see if you have much buildup, might indicate the need to replace the thermostat and hoses to clear it all up. also, the throttlebody plate tends to leak coolant too but its very easy to detect. the plastic coolant lines that run across the front of the motor above the fan shrough also get very brittle, be carefull they are insanly easy to snap once old! annnnd the plastic screw piece on the upper radiator hose that is used for bleeding the system is also a very week point, its all plastic and degrades like the other plastic pieces in the coolant system and tends to pop out or strip with the slightest touch, please replace the entire piece if you do a coolant flush or change the thermo etc.! annnnnnnnd the ABS brake modulator swith thingy (forget what its called exactly) that sits on the underside tends to go bad from brake fluid contamination causing a "three amigos" (downhill, brake and traction control lights) on the dashboard to kick on and reduce the functionality of said systems.

haha sounds like alot, but its not all that expensive to do any of the above and can be generally tackled by 1 person in a single sitting (other then headgaskets and more complicated thigns like tranny flush) but after adressed if you keep up with oil changes and regular inspections shell last you a good while and be the most capable and comfortable quasiluxury vehicle money can buy.

 

Mr. Mike, I've heard about this drive shaft problem since I started reading this forum. I am curious if the problem is lack of grease or a defective part.

I have a 2004 Disco SE that has two grease fittings for the front and back drive shafts. Both take grease.

I just bought it and don't know service history. And just finished replacing heads, thermostat, serpentine belt, temperature engine sensor, secondary air injector pipe, etc.

Bottom line, in 5 months, its been driven 60 miles. But should I be worried about the drive shaft too?