Resolved: Mechanic ? for car about a warning light

[firefly_ris]

Depends on what it is. I've got a random misfire of the same cylinder, even though there are no drivability issues and no apparently issue with performance and/or mileage.

The most common trouble code is an evaporative leak when the fuel cap isn't on securely.

Still - I'd at least recommend having one handy. I've been charged $50 just to diagnose a check engine light.

I had a 1997 Taurus that would give me a random cylinder misfire code two or three times a year. Could never pinpoint why that would happen... cleared the code and moved on, lol. Of course this was the same car that I drove an additional 45,000 miles after it stopped shifting into 4th gear... But it got me through college.

 

[yeahdisney]

Nothing good this week with the car. The dealership I bought is 45 minutes away and they have one transmission tech and he is on vacation this entire week.
An hour the other way is another dodge dealership, they agreed to look at the car, they had it the entire week. They drove it twice a day and started it twice a day, no warning lights no nothing.

Tonight I picked it up and 10 minutes from home, service transmission and then performance shifting is not available at this time warning came on and rpm went up between 3 and 4 and the car wanted to go 35 miles per hour and would not shift.
Guess back to the original dealership. I stopped and took a picture of the warnings.

 

[cvjw]

Take lots of pics and videos. It was very helpful for the technician to see exactly what my son’s car was doing. Hope you get some answers soon!

 

[bcla]

Nothing good this week with the car. The dealership I bought is 45 minutes away and they have one transmission tech and he is on vacation this entire week.
An hour the other way is another dodge dealership, they agreed to look at the car, they had it the entire week. They drove it twice a day and started it twice a day, no warning lights no nothing.

Tonight I picked it up and 10 minutes from home, service transmission and then performance shifting is not available at this time warning came on and rpm went up between 3 and 4 and the car wanted to go 35 miles per hour and would not shift.
Guess back to the original dealership. I stopped and took a picture of the warnings.

Pretty much all automatic transmissions in the last 30 years are electronically controlled and monitored, so when a problem is logged the electronics do what they can to prevent the transmission from self-destructing. I had fun trying to drive a car to get it repaired. I probably should have had it towed, but I could drive it maybe a mile at a time. The transmission would work (sort of) then stop working unless I stopped for a couple of minutes. But at least the engine was still working and I had power steering and power brakes even when the transmission wouldn't move the car.

Of course a manual transmission doesn't have that problem. One might still be able to move with a problem - all while the problem gets worse and worse.

 

[bcla]

Thanks. It is a Chrysler 200 with a warranty.

I rented one of those a few years back. In fact to drive to Disneyland where my wife thought it was better than taking our older cars. First time I'd ever driven a car with a knob selector. I guess that's better than the rocker, like with the Jeep that ran over Anton Yelchin.

 

[luvsJack]

If you don't know cars well and trust the counter people at AutoZone, I'd think twice. Sure, their scanner can pull the code, but I wouldn't feel good they'd be sure what the actual issue is (the code doesn't always specify exactly what the cause of the problem is).

Just had first hand experience with this. Wasn’t a transmission problem but the car was acting funny and the check engine light came on. Dh took it to Auto Zone to pull the code. Their reading said it could be one of three things but most likely one of the three. Dh bought the part and replaced it. No good. So we tried OReilly’s. Pulled the code and they pretty much said the same thing but that it was probably “this” part. Well, $300 later, we took it to the shop.

The mechanic said the problem with the scanners at auto parts stores is that they only tell you what system the problem is in, not the specific problem. They charged me $300 to fix the car. So it cost us double what it should have.

And just a note for anyone that works on their own cars—twice I have had one of the auto parts places tell me a part was $$$$. We would decide to take it to the shop because of lack of time for dh and we were charged less for the part and labor than what we would have been charged for just the part.

The first time it was the battery. Auto Zone said the car has two batteries and they have to be taken in and out at the same time and one of them was several hundred dollars. I paid way less than that at the dealership.

 

[yeahdisney]

Last week I took the dealership the car. The mechanic had returned to work from vacation so he already had car appointment other than mine, so nothing really happened on my car . This week they found a chewed wire by a mouse, and a mouse nest. They fixed that and then found out the internal harness needed to be replaced that part was under warranty. I had to pay for 2.5 hrs of labor $380.

This week DH truck was making a noise that cost around $400. The kid car needed a new something that was under $300. I borrowed my dad's truck, my mom kept it after he passed and I told DH it smelled like it was burning, so it went to the local shop and it cost under $500.

I said I'm poor after this week. But we are all safe.