Trust the Computer or the Mechanic

[1stcarinmylife]

Hi everybody,

First I would like to say that I really appreciate all of your great help. In addition to appreciating all the greatness of my explorer, I am really glad that I chose the explorer because of this friendly and helpful forum.

Now I have a question about possible misfiring cylinder and I need your help. Before I bought my car, I took it to an unknown mechanic to take a look at it. He checked it for 5 seconds with a computer tool thing and told me cylinder 3 was misfiring and said a $200 complete tune up would fix it.

After buying the car, I took it to another mechanic. I told him that I know nothing about cars and I just wanted him to fix and change anything necessary (because I care so much about my first car), and I told him I wanted him to do the complete tune up to fix the misfiring cylinder.

A few days later, I got slapped with a $400 bill, while $120 of it is to change one of the broken taillight, the rest is just for changing oil and filter and stuff. He did not do the complete tune up, because he said it wasn't misfiring at the time. Feeling a little being screwed over, I paid the bill and told myself not to easily show my ignorance in cars again.

Now, I have been feeling my car vibrating kind of strangely. However, I have no idea if it is misfiring. The question is, should I trust the computer and take it to another mechanic to fix the misfiring cylinder? or should I trust the second mechanic that it isn't misfiring at all?

 

[Pensa]

The first thing you should do is take your X to Autozone and have them read the codes. If it is # 3 cylinder that is misfiring the codes should show that. Why it is misfiring could be many things, anything from a bad fuel injector to a burnt valve.

 

[JohnJ]

It is not normal for a mechanic to give you a $400 bill for work that you haven't authorized. This is generally considered bad practice with a few exceptions depending on your existing relationship.

The vibrating really out to be fixed.

If you have a misfire, it should be fixed. A misfire causes poor fuel economy, lack of power, and damage to other parts of the truck. Replacing the plugs takes care of about 50% of misfire problems. About 60% of the other misfires come from a coil or boot. It is not possible to determine with 100% surety the cause of a misfire that cannot be reproduced. It is very rare (in Fords) to have a misfire that cannot be easily reproduced.

 

[96eb96]

Hi everybody,

First I would like to say that I really appreciate all of your great help. In addition to appreciating all the greatness of my explorer, I am really glad that I chose the explorer because of this friendly and helpful forum.

Now I have a question about possible misfiring cylinder and I need your help. Before I bought my car, I took it to an unknown mechanic to take a look at it. He checked it for 5 seconds with a computer tool thing and told me cylinder 3 was misfiring and said a $200 complete tune up would fix it.

After buying the car, I took it to another mechanic. I told him that I know nothing about cars and I just wanted him to fix and change anything necessary (because I care so much about my first car), and I told him I wanted him to do the complete tune up to fix the misfiring cylinder.

A few days later, I got slapped with a $400 bill, while $120 of it is to change one of the broken taillight, the rest is just for changing oil and filter and stuff. He did not do the complete tune up, because he said it wasn't misfiring at the time. Feeling a little being screwed over, I paid the bill and told myself not to easily show my ignorance in cars again.

Now, I have been feeling my car vibrating kind of strangely. However, I have no idea if it is misfiring. The question is, should I trust the computer and take it to another mechanic to fix the misfiring cylinder? or should I trust the second mechanic that it isn't misfiring at all?

Hard to diagnose from here exactly where the misfire is coming from. How do the wires look on the truck? If they are original its probably time for a tune up. Do they have a Year written on them?

Whatever you do, use Motorcraft plugs and wires in the tuneup. Some shops use anything to get you out of there quickly and cut corners. To save money, you can buy them from Rockauto, or goto the motorcraft.com site and find a motorcraft wholesaler in your area. The dealer will rip you off for these parts. You can also get the Motorcraft plugs locally at autozone. Also, autozone can give you the exact code that is causing your issues.

Never ever tell a mechanic you know nothing about cars. Its like a guy telling a woman he is desperate for a date. I wouldn't go back to that place either, those prices are out of line.

 

[NJMike]

I have just one quick question... Did he replace a burned out tail light bulb or was the lens assembly damaged and needed repalcing? A bulb change doesn't take more than 5 minutes and the charge shouldn't be any more than 19 or 20 dollars. If, however, the tails lens needed replacing, I can see a charge for parts in the area of 120 dollars. And you did tell him to do whatever needed to be done. BUT!!! Even if you and your family have been going to this guy for decades, you STILL should have received a phone call about any repairs you did not EXPLICITLY authorize.... The owner of the service station my son manages calls me if they find something we didn't discuss and we have a personal relationship.

Sorry for the rant, but this mechanic got my Irish up.

And PENSA is 100% right in his advice. Go to the nearest Autozone and they will pull the codes for free so you find out exactly what you're dealing with.

Mike

 

[1stcarinmylife]

Thanks for all the great responses. I took it to Autozone and it doesn't give an error code anymore. Maybe the misfire happened before I bought the car because it hasn't been driven for a while (and I was just paranoid after that). They replaced the whole tail lamp completely for $120... I guess I did tell him to fix things but he didn't fix the things I wanted. I told him to fix the leaking rear differentials and he said he did not because it was only leaking but not "dripping." He told me to go back after 3000 miles.

 

[jp450]

I told him to fix the leaking rear differentials and he said he did not because it was only leaking but not "dripping." He told me to go back after 3000 miles.

A friend of mine used to fly helicoptors in the Navy. He always checked to see if oil was leaking from the turbine... If it was NOT leaking they would not fly it... Why? If it was not leaking there was NO oil in it...

Make sure that the rear end HAS oil in it....