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The "Ask a Mechanic" Thread


Springfield

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Thanks - btw, Corcaigh had an interesting theory he posted in my original thread before I was referred to this one. What's your take on this ?

http://www.extremeskins.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=5511508

Sorry, I don't have enough time right now to read the thread (I'll try to later) but that is the basic meaning when I referred to the MAF sensor.

Food's ready here, so I'll have to elaborate more later.

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Thanks for your input. Obviously, a transmission failure is not what I wanted to hear.

I called the local Ford dealership this morning to schedule an appointment to have it looked at, but the "red" team leader was tied up with another customer. He called me back and left me a voicemail and said that it would cost between $150-200 just to diagnose the problem. I'm not sure why he gave me a range instead of a specific amount. I haven't called him back yet, but I do have a few more questions before I do:

  1. That diagnostic fee seems a bit excessive. I had work done a couple of months ago on the car and they charged an $89 diagnostic fee. Anyway, if they fix the problem, will they still charge me the diagnostic fee? I don't recall if they did so last time and I can't find the receipt.
  2. The dealership told me that they only had one transmission tech on staff, which surprised me. Do you know of any tranmssion shops in the Richmond area that you would recommend other than the dealership? Or are any of the national chains ones that you would recommend?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I'm sure it's not what you wanted to hear, sorry about that. My job involves me telling a lot of people what they don't want to hear, sometimes to the point of them in tears (it makes me sad every time). It sucks that you didn't get to speak to the service writer when you dropped off your car. I always try to have some sort of communication with people. That kind of thing leads to people thinking that the shop is "too busy for you".

As far as your questions...

The diagnostic fee: Dealerships are always more expensive than private shops. I don't know what the shop's hourly rate is, but by the sound of it, I would imagine something like $100 per hour.

As far as the range of price for a diagnostic, I often do that myself. Sometimes you don't know how far the technician will have to go to diagnose a problem. A performance diagnostic would be a perfect example. Sometimes the technician will open up the hood and find something very obvious such as a disconnected or rotted vacuum line. Sometimes a technician will have to follow the diagnostic tree all the way to the bottom. For that reason, I tell the customer that there could be a range as far a price for the diagnostic. I would plan for that $200 diagnostic, but hope for the $150 one.

Will they take the diagnostic fee off of the final bill? I can't answer that question. Some shops do, some shops don't. My shop doesn't, I feel that it is just that they don't take diagnostic fees off of the final bill. The technicians at my shop work hard and diagnostic work is part of their repairs. If we charge 1/2 hour, the technician will spend a 1/2 hour to properly diagnose the car and insure what he thinks is wrong with the car is actually wrong with the car. To put it another way... Why would he want to diagnose a car (if he wasn't getting paid for it) when he could be making money fixing other cars?

Your second question: This one will be much easier. I can't really point you in the right direction of any good shops. I have lived in northern Virginia for all of my life. Good technicians and shops are much more of a local thing. I will add that I wouldn't naturally trust a national chain, especially one that focuses on transmissions (or exhaust, or brakes, or tires for that matter). The reason is because they don't rely on repeat business. If a transmission shop wants to stick it to you, they most certainly can, they don't have to rely on you coming back for other repairs or services ever again. I'd stick to dealers or private shops with a reputation if I were you.

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SpringfieldSkins -

Can you give any tips on how to locate and identity auto mechanics who have integrity, honesty, character, and trustworthiness ???

I wish I could. The only tip I really have is to talk to your friends and coworkers about the shops they bring their cars to. Finding a good technician is all about word of mouth as far as I'm concerned. You could possibly try out different shops at each oil change and see which one seems to serve you better, which one comes off as the most honest.

I'm sure there are good shops and bad shops in every area and you can't really judge them unless you have experienced their service. Ask them questions about your car, how stuff works, their opinion on auto related things. See if they seem to know what they talk about or if they are even interested in answering your questions. I know I sure like answering questions about and educating people on different automotive subjects.

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I'm sure it's not what you wanted to hear, sorry about that. My job involves me telling a lot of people what they don't want to hear, sometimes to the point of them in tears (it makes me sad every time). It sucks that you didn't get to speak to the service writer when you dropped off your car. I always try to have some sort of communication with people. That kind of thing leads to people thinking that the shop is "too busy for you".

As far as your questions...

The diagnostic fee: Dealerships are always more expensive than private shops. I don't know what the shop's hourly rate is, but by the sound of it, I would imagine something like $100 per hour.

As far as the range of price for a diagnostic, I often do that myself. Sometimes you don't know how far the technician will have to go to diagnose a problem. A performance diagnostic would be a perfect example. Sometimes the technician will open up the hood and find something very obvious such as a disconnected or rotted vacuum line. Sometimes a technician will have to follow the diagnostic tree all the way to the bottom. For that reason, I tell the customer that there could be a range as far a price for the diagnostic. I would plan for that $200 diagnostic, but hope for the $150 one.

Will they take the diagnostic fee off of the final bill? I can't answer that question. Some shops do, some shops don't. My shop doesn't, I feel that it is just that they don't take diagnostic fees off of the final bill. The technicians at my shop work hard and diagnostic work is part of their repairs. If we charge 1/2 hour, the technician will spend a 1/2 hour to properly diagnose the car and insure what he thinks is wrong with the car is actually wrong with the car. To put it another way... Why would he want to diagnose a car (if he wasn't getting paid for it) when he could be making money fixing other cars?

Your second question: This one will be much easier. I can't really point you in the right direction of any good shops. I have lived in northern Virginia for all of my life. Good technicians and shops are much more of a local thing. I will add that I wouldn't naturally trust a national chain, especially one that focuses on transmissions (or exhaust, or brakes, or tires for that matter). The reason is because they don't rely on repeat business. If a transmission shop wants to stick it to you, they most certainly can, they don't have to rely on you coming back for other repairs or services ever again. I'd stick to dealers or private shops with a reputation if I were you.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, as well as others on this board. It's nice to know that we can count on our Redskins brethren for things like this. :cheers:

By the way, great advice on the national chains. I never really thought of it that way before. I actually found a local shop just down the road this afternoon where I will be taking the car to have it looked at on Tuesday. They charge a $89 diagnostic fee that is waived if they actually perform the recommended repair work. I never dropped the car off at the dealership, just played telephone tag with the service advisor.

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  • 1 month later...

Just wanted to provide an update to my Redskins brethren, just in case they run into the same issue that I ran into.

I took my car (Ford Escape) to a local transmission shop that has been in business for years. They found that it was NOT a transmission problem, but a catalytic converter problem. This particular vehicle has 3 catalytic converters (WTF?) and one of the front converters had literally disintegrated and pieces of it lodged into the rear converter. The exhaust system was literally clogged up and the behavior exihibited was one of a transmission problem where the car was sluggish and appeared not to be able to smoothly shift into gear. To replace 2 of the 3 converters was going to cost over $2,000 parts and labor. Ouch.

But, here's the kicker: there is a federallymandated manufacturer's emissions warranty for catalytic converters (and other emissions related parts) for up to 8 years or 80,000 miles, whichever comes first. This has nothing to do with your bumper-to-bumper or drivetrain warranty. This is a warranty that covers everyone for vehicles manufactured after 1995.

My vehicle had 75,000 miles on it, which means I was covered. :jump: The local Ford dealership had to replace both bad converters free of charge. And they even covered 2 days for my car rental, which they didn't have to legally do under this warranty. So, kudos to them for that. And the way the transmission shop and the dealership explained it to me, there are SEVERE penalites (hefty fines, prison, etc.) imposed by the government if any auto shop does not disclose this warranty to a customer. The service manager at the dealership told me that they make these kinds of repairs "under duress". :rotflmao:

Side note: some of you probably know that I'm kind of a right-wing nutjob that wants to gut the Federal government. So, you must be thinking I'm a hypocrite to take "advantage" of this Federal law. Well, the way I see it, if the Federal government mandates that auto manufacturers install these emissions-related parts in their cars to abide by emission standards (which the cost of course gets passed on to consumers), then they damn well better protect the consumer from manufacturers skimping on material and installing cheap parts. I believe that's why this warranty law was passed to begin with. Anyway, that's my justification and I'm sticking to it. :silly:

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  • 4 weeks later...
Yup. Sure does. :)

(If you had room in your inbox your inbox you would be able to receive my PM I tried to send you just now)

Cool. Good friend of mine.

I grew up with that kid, and his older brother, David.

I had no idea that I had so many messages.

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Just wanted to provide an update to my Redskins brethren, just in case they run into the same issue that I ran into.

I took my car (Ford Escape) to a local transmission shop that has been in business for years. They found that it was NOT a transmission problem, but a catalytic converter problem. This particular vehicle has 3 catalytic converters (WTF?) and one of the front converters had literally disintegrated and pieces of it lodged into the rear converter. The exhaust system was literally clogged up and the behavior exihibited was one of a transmission problem where the car was sluggish and appeared not to be able to smoothly shift into gear. To replace 2 of the 3 converters was going to cost over $2,000 parts and labor. Ouch.

But, here's the kicker: there is a federallymandated manufacturer's emissions warranty for catalytic converters (and other emissions related parts) for up to 8 years or 80,000 miles, whichever comes first. This has nothing to do with your bumper-to-bumper or drivetrain warranty. This is a warranty that covers everyone for vehicles manufactured after 1995.

My vehicle had 75,000 miles on it, which means I was covered. :jump: The local Ford dealership had to replace both bad converters free of charge. And they even covered 2 days for my car rental, which they didn't have to legally do under this warranty. So, kudos to them for that. And the way the transmission shop and the dealership explained it to me, there are SEVERE penalites (hefty fines, prison, etc.) imposed by the government if any auto shop does not disclose this warranty to a customer. The service manager at the dealership told me that they make these kinds of repairs "under duress". :rotflmao:

Side note: some of you probably know that I'm kind of a right-wing nutjob that wants to gut the Federal government. So, you must be thinking I'm a hypocrite to take "advantage" of this Federal law. Well, the way I see it, if the Federal government mandates that auto manufacturers install these emissions-related parts in their cars to abide by emission standards (which the cost of course gets passed on to consumers), then they damn well better protect the consumer from manufacturers skimping on material and installing cheap parts. I believe that's why this warranty law was passed to begin with. Anyway, that's my justification and I'm sticking to it. :silly:

I'm glad to hear about the update. I just noticed this in the thread and don't know how long ago you posted this or how I missed it.

Yes indeed. There is a federally mandated warranty period for emissions equipment which includes (and is usually limited to) the catalytic converter(s) and powertrain control module (main computer).

Most importantly, I'm glad that you got your car repaired conveniently and inexpensively (free).

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OK I have a general question.

Has anyone heard of "PulstarTM" spark plugs? They are supposed to have some electronics in the plug to control the spark and the company makes some pretty bold claims about horsepower, Torque and MPG improvements.

I'll be doing a tune up soon and I've got some Bosch plugs I'll be using to get a baseline (pretty cool aircraft style plugs themselves) since it's a used car and I want to get it back to it's stock peak performance. But shortly down the road I plan a few upgrades like a cold air kit and I'm wondering if I should give these things a shot. The problem is they are $24 each and I don't want to do anything that may potentially damage my engine.

http://www.pulstar.com/index.html

http://www.betrmpg.com/PulsedPowerTechnology.htm

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I have owned a Mazda Protege and two Honda Civics. Each one ended up with pulsation in the brake pedal when applied, after about 40,000. The pulsation ended up in my paying for new brake pads, rotors, and unevenly worn tires.

Finally found a mechanic who said that brake fluid needs to be flushed every 20,000 miles, especially on small cars. This is because the fluid overheats at the point where it touches the brake system, and water separates out. This causes uneven pressure. Hence, pulsation and big expense.

Do you counsel your clients to flush their brake systems? Why don't the manuals recommend this? It would save alot of money for unsuspecting folks.

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$25 bucks for a spark plug.:wtf:

Like my great daddy would say" if it sounds to good to be true it is."

Sounds like a bunch of crap to me.I do know that Nascar mainly use Champion,AC, and Autolite plugs.

For my self I always had good luck with AC.

Yeah, I'm a sceptic about things like this myself but there does seem to be some evidence that they work. As for NASCAR, I know they have regulations for all kinds of things to keep an even playing field. Not sure if plugs are one of them.

I figured I would go with the Bosch for now since they are the recommended plugs. Mine look like this...

closeplug.jpg

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What's better for a car. A transmission service or transmission flush? The dealership tells me flush but most private shops tell me service because the flush can do more harm than good and a service basically gets the job done. I don't want my warranty to be voided(doubtful) by my dealership but I believe the private shops are right since they could do a flush do but recommend me to get a transmission service instead as long as I get them when I hit certain overall miles.

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The check battery light on my '99 Mazda Protege comes on every time now from a cold start. The indicator goes off after about 10-15 minutes of driving. I have had the battery and alternator checked and they tested out ok. I took the battery cables off and made sure the connection wasn't being blocked by any build-up, and also tightened the hell of the cables.

Any ideas on what the problem might be?

Edited by The Evil Genius
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OK I have a general question.

Has anyone heard of "PulstarTM" spark plugs? They are supposed to have some electronics in the plug to control the spark and the company makes some pretty bold claims about horsepower, Torque and MPG improvements.

I'll be doing a tune up soon and I've got some Bosch plugs I'll be using to get a baseline (pretty cool aircraft style plugs themselves) since it's a used car and I want to get it back to it's stock peak performance. But shortly down the road I plan a few upgrades like a cold air kit and I'm wondering if I should give these things a shot. The problem is they are $24 each and I don't want to do anything that may potentially damage my engine.

http://www.pulstar.com/index.html

http://www.betrmpg.com/PulsedPowerTechnology.htm

I've heard of them. I haven't really seen any "real world" justification that they are any better than the plugs that came in your car originally. The way that they are "supposed" to work is to store energy in the plug to provide a higher spark output. This will then, in theory, provide more complete combustion and thus lower emissions and higher power.

The problem I see here is this... If the ignition system on your vehicle (or a large majority of vehicles out there today) is working properly, then there is already complete combustion and peak power is already realized.

I would hazard to guess that 90% of the vehicles out there would not benefit (or benefit marginally) from these types of spark plugs.

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I have owned a Mazda Protege and two Honda Civics. Each one ended up with pulsation in the brake pedal when applied, after about 40,000. The pulsation ended up in my paying for new brake pads, rotors, and unevenly worn tires.

Finally found a mechanic who said that brake fluid needs to be flushed every 20,000 miles, especially on small cars. This is because the fluid overheats at the point where it touches the brake system, and water separates out. This causes uneven pressure. Hence, pulsation and big expense.

Do you counsel your clients to flush their brake systems? Why don't the manuals recommend this? It would save alot of money for unsuspecting folks.

Well I had a long drawn out response to your question but somehow it got lost.

Two things:

Brake pulsation... It's caused by several factors but all of them have to do with the brake rotors becoming overheted. Lug nuts torqued unevenly, riding the brakes, emergency braking, sticking brake calipers and rotors that are to thin could all be factors. Brake fluid will not alone cause a brake pulsation.

Brake fluid... Should it be flushed? Yes. Should it be done every 20K? Possibly but likely not. Brake fluid attracts water and water will cause hydraulic failures including a "soft" brake pedal. Brake fluid should be flushed "as needed". There is a "strip test" which basically looks like a litmus test to test for failed brake fluid.

Yes I do counsel my customers on failed brake fluid and yes it is in the owner's manual. It is there in the form of "inspect" or flush after a certain time period.

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What's better for a car. A transmission service or transmission flush? The dealership tells me flush but most private shops tell me service because the flush can do more harm than good and a service basically gets the job done. I don't want my warranty to be voided(doubtful) by my dealership but I believe the private shops are right since they could do a flush do but recommend me to get a transmission service instead as long as I get them when I hit certain overall miles.

I'm sure I've answered this question in this thread at some point in time. I'm at a private shop and I am all for the transmission flush.

Here is my reasoning...

First a little lesson on transmission fluid. Transmission fluid, among all of its other purposes is a detergent. Transmission fluid (ATF) is designed to keep the inside of the transmission as clean as possible. Over time that ATF will break down because of heat and moisture. It will build up sulfuic acid which will eat up seal conditioners, friction modifiers and other additives that keep the inside of the transmission clean and the ATF doing it's job properly.

So, say you have 30K on your car and the ATF is dark. The color of the fluid is an indicator that the fluid has been contaminated with sulfuric acid which is breaking down the ATF. Going unserviced, there is a likely chance that your transmission will fail in the future. I can't say how long your transmission will last (probably no more than 100K) but it will certainly fail sooner with failed fluid in the transmission.

Your options...

You could drain the transmission, replace the filter and fill with new ATF. The problem that I see here is that you will only drain about 30% of the fluid out of the transmission. The new ATF will go in to the transmission and start cleaning all of that old ATF that still remains in the transmission. The transmission fluid will be dark within a few thousand miles after this drain and refill service.

You could flush the transmission. Most flush machines, and the one we use at our shop flush out all of the ATF. This is done by disconnecting the cooler line that goes from the transmission to the radiator and connecting the flush machine in between. If done properly, the transmission fluid will be nice and pink afterwords and will remain that way until it is worn out like normal (probably another 30K).

So in summary, I favor the flush 100%. Hope that sums it up for you a little bit.

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The check battery light on my '99 Mazda Protege comes on every time now from a cold start. The indicator goes off after about 10-15 minutes of driving. I have had the battery and alternator checked and they tested out ok. I took the battery cables off and made sure the connection wasn't being blocked by any build-up, and also tightened the hell of the cables.

Any ideas on what the problem might be?

I'd bet that your alternator is starting to fail, especially when cold. Did you test the alternator when it was cold and the light was on?

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I have a 2005 Saturn Relay.

As I drive down the road all of my lights (interior & exterior) flicker. Where should I start looking for a problem?

Thanks.

I'd look for a poor connection or corrosion around the battery cable ends. That would be my first thought. It's certainly possible that your alternator is starting to fail but it sounds to me more like a battery or a battery connection problem.

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My POS Trailblazer, at it again.

Whenever I fill up my gas tank, gas gauge goes to empty. Doesn't go back to full until after I've burned a few gallons. Also, hard to start with a full tank.

Sir your are going to need a fuel sending unit. Comes with the fuel pump, level sensor and all the goodies. Very common problem with those typical symptoms. They aren't too cheap either. Sorry about your news.

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Sir your are going to need a fuel sending unit. Comes with the fuel pump, level sensor and all the goodies. Very common problem with those typical symptoms. They aren't too cheap either. Sorry about your news.

It's past due to turn in- oh well, it will be someone elses problem :D

Will it effect performance/reliability in any way if I ignore?

Thanks :cheers:

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It's past due to turn in- oh well, it will be someone elses problem :D

Will it effect performance/reliability in any way if I ignore?

Thanks :cheers:

Usually the first sign is the fuel gauge. After that the truck will either become hard to start (cranks won't start) or die while driving due to a lack of fuel. Impossible to say how long it will be before you start encountering more serious problems.

We've had customers that we've noticed their fuel gauges weren't working years before the vehicle started to exhibit any performance problems.

It sounds to me based on your original post that you are already starting to have problems getting fuel pressure when you start with a full tank. Good luck to ya!:cheers:

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