I have a 2008 Honda Odyssey with 60,000 miles on it. It is well-maintained (has been serviced every 5,000 miles @ dealership). It was just taken to the dealership for a 60,000mi service. I was told there is “some carbon buildup on the throttle body and we suggest a Fuel Induction Service (cost=$230)”. They said it doesn’t need to be done today, but should be done soon. I am having no problems with the car.
Is this a necessary service or is this just another way for the dealership to make money?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
There is a fine line between preventive maintainence which will avoid huge repair bills in the future,
and ‘busy work’ that can be sold as such but is mostly profit.
I think, in this case, if you’re not have any problems that this would fix…Tell them no thanks, maybe at 100k
Fuel Induction Service, also known as Induction System Cleaning, is one of the new useless revenue generators that dealerships are using to stay in business. As long as your vehicle is operating properly you don’t need it.
In short, it’s a scam. Skip it.
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Skip it. While I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a scam, it is often sold to people who don’t need it.
If some day you notice a lack of power, you might try pouring a bottle of fuel injector cleaner into the gas tank. If that doesn’t work, you might consider purchasing the fuel induction service.
My Honda has 207,000 miles on the odometer, and I’ve never had this service done on my car. Every once in a while, for peace of mind, I buy a bottle of fuel system cleaner and pour it into the fuel tank, but even that probably isn’t necessary.
Many shops try to sell this induction service to every customer who walks in the door. They don’t even inspect the car. That should tell you all you need to know.
A overly dirty throttle body will typically cause inconsistent idle speed.
It does no harm to wait until the symptom appears.
I cleaned the throttle body on my '88 Accord at about 180,000 miles.
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Thanks everyone! Your good advice just saved me a bunch of money…again!
I will wait to have the service done until there are a lot more miles on the car &/or if I start having problems.
I appreciate your expertice. Have a great day!
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I suggest that you find someone else to maintain your Honda. This dealer seems to prefer selling unneeded services to you than providing proper maintenance. Ask your friends, neighbors, co-workers and nearby relatives who they use to maintain their cars. Eventually, you will find a few shops mentioned several times. Those are good places to start.
I agree with jtsanders. This dealership seems to be selling you things not listed on the maintenance schedule for your car, and that isn’t the kind of thing that builds trust between you and your service provider. These are obviously shady people you are dealing with, and the longer you give them your business, the more they will try to generate extra profit at your expense. It probably won’t end with recommended services. If you take the vehicle to them with a problem, they might tell you a part needs to be replaced that doesn’t need to be replaced, and that is something we might not be able to help you with over the internet.
You should take the time to find someone trustworthy to do the maintenance on your Odyssey. It might be another Honda dealership, or a national chain, or an independently owned and operated shop, but the important thing is that you should be able to trust the person who maintains your car and recommends particular services.
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I have a Honda Odyssey with 140k miles and never imagined doing that. I have a newer BMW though with a direct injection engine and needed to do that.
If your engine is direct injection you will most likely need to perform an induction service or walnut blast because carbon deposits in the intake manifolds cannot be burned off. Typical signs are lumpy idle on cold starts and your lacks the vigor it used to have, and declining fuel economy. Some BMW owners do this every 20k-40k miles.
So while it’s probably unnecessary for cars with typical fuel injection system, it may be a smart maintenance item if you have direct injection.
I have a 2010 Sonata and the dealer is saying I need the fuel induction service. my car is hesitating now. I have almost 90,000 miles on it. They are replacing the map sensor which is covered under my extended warranty.
What do you think about the fuel induction service?
. they are charging $129.00.
A fuel induction service clears out the carbon deposits and other buildup that forms inside your engine’s parts. It can cause hesitation and reduce your gas mileage. Is it a guarantee that it will fix your problem? No, but it can only benefit.
Glad to know! I’ve heard of this and was wondering the same. Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks so much. Going to let them perform the service. I appreciate it.
@cdaquila Carolyn, me thinks Common sensor is posting spam.
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I have just bought a 40k miles cherokee 2015 and got the same recommendation from the dealer (170$), together with fuel induction(180$). I asked the dealer to pick one of each, he told me to go with the fuel induction. I asked him to take before snd and after photos, here they are. My sense is that o wasted my money.
What do you think
@Mec_Mec1 Why would you reply to someone who posted 7 years ago ?
When I clean the throttle body on my Corolla I remove it first, and clean both the front side (which you show), and the back side. The back side is usually much more gunked up than the front. Is that what they call a “fuel induction” service? I’d call that an air induction service. If there’s an air flow meter, I’d say they should clean that too as part of an air induction servicing. The gunk on the throttle valve might cause it to stick a little, or not be open or closed enough at idle. A gunked up air flow meter could affect the fuel trim and air/fuel mixture and cause poor drivability & performance.
What I think is that it never hurts to have clean throttle body assembly, but you paid a lot to fix something that wasn’t broken. If spending $180 makes you feel good, who am I to question whether it was a waste of money?
So my car has been having bad misfire problems and I think my intake valves are probably completely covered in carbon buildup (I’m at ~120k miles in a 2009 VW GTI). My main mobile mechanic tried some cheap cleaner canisters they sell at NAPA but when they didn’t fix the issue he said we have to take apart the intake manifold and clean each valve individually with a brush on a drill and some kind of chemical cleaner. This induction service sounds waaaay better and a lot cheaper (mobile mechanic said it would take 4 hours so probably $300 I’m guessing). Should I do this instead? Will it really clean my valves?