(12-30-2013 04:12 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:10 PM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:06 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:04 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:01 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  Yes, no difference in the way it ran.

Sometimes the O2 sensor will wear. I'd bet its downstream from the engine where the problem is at.

What are the repercussions for just ignoring it?

Different smelling exhaust and perhaps some rough idling...

I'm thinking it may just be that distributor problem.

Easy fix for the mechanically inclined... Just make sure you number your plug wires.

(12-30-2013 04:16 PM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:12 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:10 PM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:06 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:04 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Sometimes the O2 sensor will wear. I'd bet its downstream from the engine where the problem is at.

What are the repercussions for just ignoring it?

Different smelling exhaust and perhaps some rough idling...

I'm thinking it may just be that distributor problem.

Easy fix for the mechanically inclined... Just make sure you number your plug wires.

I think I am going to save that for the mechanic. I am not interested in doing the timing. I will probably fix the steering pump hoses and pull the radiator myself.

I've got a small oil leak as well. Just put new tires on that bad boy though. That cost me.

I don't trust mechanics to touch my car. I've heard too many horror stories.

(12-30-2013 04:20 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  I don't trust mechanics to touch my car.

I don't trust the dealerships. This mechanic has been working on my car and my dad's cars for 20 years. The know us and have never treated us wrong.

(12-30-2013 04:21 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:20 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  I don't trust mechanics to touch my car.

I don't trust the dealerships. This mechanic has been working on my car and my dad's cars for 20 years. The know us and have never treated us wrong.

How do you go about finding a trustworthy mechanic?

Dealerships these days don't even really have mechanics all the time. A lot of the work is done by idiots with flow charts.

Maintenance is a fine dance for me because a lot of mechanics don't know crap about Jags etc but the dealership in Birmingham just kind of sucks. Luckily, I haven't had any real problems so that's good.

(12-30-2013 04:22 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:21 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:20 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  I don't trust mechanics to touch my car.

I don't trust the dealerships. This mechanic has been working on my car and my dad's cars for 20 years. The know us and have never treated us wrong.

How do you go about finding a trustworthy mechanic?

If you live in a big city, go to a suburb town. Read reviews and check them out with the better business bureau. Remember, mechanics want to stay in business. Ripping people off is a good way to lose business. Those that do are usually low rent, fly by night operations. Find one that looks established and has some money invested into the company. Finally, learn to be a good judge of character. If they are fast talking or sound vague, you might want to look elsewhere.

(12-30-2013 04:22 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:21 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:20 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  I don't trust mechanics to touch my car.

I don't trust the dealerships. This mechanic has been working on my car and my dad's cars for 20 years. The know us and have never treated us wrong.

How do you go about finding a trustworthy mechanic?

Trial and error.

(12-30-2013 04:24 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Dealerships these days don't even really have mechanics all the time. A lot of the work is done by idiots with flow charts.

Maintenance is a fine dance for me because a lot of mechanics don't know crap about Jags etc but the dealership in Birmingham just kind of sucks. Luckily, I haven't had any real problems so that's good.

I have never found an honest dealership when it comes to servicing you car.

(12-30-2013 04:30 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:24 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Dealerships these days don't even really have mechanics all the time. A lot of the work is done by idiots with flow charts.

Maintenance is a fine dance for me because a lot of mechanics don't know crap about Jags etc but the dealership in Birmingham just kind of sucks. Luckily, I haven't had any real problems so that's good.

I have never found an honest dealership when it comes to servicing you car.

With the free maintenance programs you have these days it's less and less of an issue. I'm cool with them ripping JLR off instead of me.

(12-30-2013 04:30 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:24 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Dealerships these days don't even really have mechanics all the time. A lot of the work is done by idiots with flow charts.

Maintenance is a fine dance for me because a lot of mechanics don't know crap about Jags etc but the dealership in Birmingham just kind of sucks. Luckily, I haven't had any real problems so that's good.

I have never found an honest dealership when it comes to servicing you car.

Me neither. Had a dealership try to tell me I need a new transmission. Took truck by a mechanic and he fixed the knocking with a simple transmission flush. $100 versus $3,000. I'll never go to a dealership for service issues ever again.

(12-30-2013 12:26 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  I have a '97 Acura 2.2CL (built Dec 1996) with 190,000 miles as my commuter car. I bought it in 2001. Here is what is wrong with it:

Plastic headlight housing are yellowed and cloudy.
Got into my only fender-bender ever a couple of years ago (hit a VP at my company!) and the hood is out of whack.
Just last week, tore the mudflap off the front right passenger wheel housing getting out of a snow bank.
Passenger side window takes about one minute to go up and makes one hell of a racket doing so.
Driver's seat leather is torn and worn to an inch of it's life.
Just replaced my third radiator.
One fuel injector runs lean meaning the check engine light is always on.
ABS sensors are shot, so I only have regular brakes.
CV joints are going and sound like dueling marachas when making a turn
Bearings in A/C assembly are loose and the defroster sounds like a whore in heat for a while until, Fonzie like, I pound on the dash and it goes away.
Rear driver's brake leaks fluid
Kids have trashed the back seat with applesauce, pretzels, juice and garbage so bad that I once had cockroaches in the car. I only knew this because dead cockroaches were appearing on the back parcel shelf in the summer.
Rear wheel arches are rusted and I will someday drop my bumper on the road after the bolts rust out. Probably won't know it and will just show up wherever I am going and then notice I don't have a bumper.

But, with all that if you take away the radiator replacement the only things that I have changed have been fluids, brake pads and rotors, and the muffler (just once in 13 years.) It gets great MPG, still has get up an go, starts every morning even in double digit below zero readings, and as long as it will keep on truckin' (carin'?) I will drive it the 22 mile commute round trip.

We also have a brand spanking new 2013 Honda Odyssey, and I have for my summer cruising enjoyment a 1985 BMW 535i in Cinnabar Red.

Clean the MAF sensor and Seafoam the intake and that will take care of the check engine light and improve the gas mileage... and will take about 15 minutes. 99% of the time the injectors themselves are fine.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

(12-30-2013 04:33 PM)VA49er Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:30 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:24 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Dealerships these days don't even really have mechanics all the time. A lot of the work is done by idiots with flow charts.

Maintenance is a fine dance for me because a lot of mechanics don't know crap about Jags etc but the dealership in Birmingham just kind of sucks. Luckily, I haven't had any real problems so that's good.

I have never found an honest dealership when it comes to servicing you car.

Me neither. Had a dealership try to tell me I need a new transmission. Took truck by a mechanic and he fixed the knocking with a simple transmission flush. $100 versus $3,000. I'll never go to a dealership for service issues ever again.

They are frickin con artists. I had a girlfriend who bought a bumper to bumper warranty from those clowns and she took it in for a blown fuel pump. They said the warranty didn't cover it. Then they wanted to charge $700 for a thermostat and $1200 for a brake job.

Someone should burn those places down.

They call it the stealership for a reason. I do all my own vehicle repairs. It certainly helps with my bro being a mechanic.

(12-30-2013 04:06 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:04 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:01 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 03:59 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 03:58 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  I took it to my mechanic. Of course it had gone off by the time I drove it to them. However, they could find no hard codes saved on the system. It hasn't come on since they reset it. I do have other maintenance issues that need to be done like the distributor needs to be replaced complete with timing...crack in the radiator and the power steering pump hoses need to be replaced. Hell, I put 115k on that truck.

Did it run like normal when the CEL was on?

Yes, no difference in the way it ran.

Sometimes the O2 sensor will wear. I'd bet its downstream from the engine where the problem is at.

What are the repercussions for just ignoring it?

crappy MPGs and a bumpy engine if you really ignore it.

I had a friend that discovered that their car was filled with automatic transmission fluid instead of oil.

(12-30-2013 04:41 PM)dmacfour Wrote:  I had a friend that discovered that their car was filled with automatic transmission fluid instead of oil.

Good God!

(12-30-2013 04:41 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:06 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:04 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:01 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 03:59 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Did it run like normal when the CEL was on?

Yes, no difference in the way it ran.

Sometimes the O2 sensor will wear. I'd bet its downstream from the engine where the problem is at.

What are the repercussions for just ignoring it?

crappy MPGs and a bumpy engine if you really ignore it.

Solution? Change the 02 sensor? How much does it run $?

Could it be the distributor problem I already know of?

(12-30-2013 04:39 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:33 PM)VA49er Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:30 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:24 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Dealerships these days don't even really have mechanics all the time. A lot of the work is done by idiots with flow charts.

Maintenance is a fine dance for me because a lot of mechanics don't know crap about Jags etc but the dealership in Birmingham just kind of sucks. Luckily, I haven't had any real problems so that's good.

I have never found an honest dealership when it comes to servicing you car.

Me neither. Had a dealership try to tell me I need a new transmission. Took truck by a mechanic and he fixed the knocking with a simple transmission flush. $100 versus $3,000. I'll never go to a dealership for service issues ever again.

They are frickin con artists. I had a girlfriend who bought a bumper to bumper warranty from those clowns and she took it in for a blown fuel pump. They said the warranty didn't cover it. Then they wanted to charge $700 for a thermostat and $1200 for a brake job.

Someone should burn those places down.

Hey! $1200-1500 is par for the course for a brake job on some cars.

My brother in law just paid $5700 for a service on his 458.

(12-30-2013 04:43 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:41 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:06 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:04 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(12-30-2013 04:01 PM)oklalittledixie Wrote:  Yes, no difference in the way it ran.

Sometimes the O2 sensor will wear. I'd bet its downstream from the engine where the problem is at.

What are the repercussions for just ignoring it?

crappy MPGs and a bumpy engine if you really ignore it.

Solution? Change the 02 sensor? How much does it run $?

Could it be the distributor problem I already know of?

Probably not if it's running fine.

An O2 sensor will take an idiot 30 minutes, so you'll have it done in 10 or so.

Depending on your engine etc it could be anywhere from $20-75 bucks.