re: Ask a mechanic a question

Meauxjeaux wanna chime in on my question? Am I getting raped?

Those parts are pretty cheap. Probably costs them $250. Add $100 for an alignment. Not sure how many hours they charge for that, but that sounds high. I'd expect $750 if they charged $100/hr for labor. Can't see how they'd charge more than 4 hours to unbolt some bolts, replace arms with joints in them, hammer out some ball joints, and press in new ones


Then again, I'm reasonable. Shops are usually unreasonable.

I would doi all that using Moog parts for around $650

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Because otherwise, he'd have to charge you 3 hours of labor to diagnose the damned thing without the tool instead of an hour to diagnose it with.

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I don't think you understand my point. A diagnostic scanner is one of many expensive tools a mechanic needs to do his job. You don't see charges for use of any of the other tools that save a mechanic time. Like I said, there's no charge for use of the lift. No charge for use of the air compressor. For consistency sake, it doesn't make sense to charge a customer for one thing and not others.

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I don't think you understand my point. A diagnostic scanner is one of many expensive tools a mechanic needs to do his job. You don't see charges for use of any of the other tools that save a mechanic time. Like I said, there's no charge for use of the lift. No charge for use of the air compressor. For consistency sake, it doesn't make sense to charge a customer for one thing and not others.

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Oh no, I understand fully. You are too stupid to grasp that whatever that charge is called, it's a charge for the time the mechanic spends diagnosing the problem. The mechanic just needs to change the bill to say something else to unbunch your panties.

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I am guessing there is more to this story...did they tow the vehicle to a garage?

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$600 is before the price of the tow.

As I understand, the cost to replace spark plugs depends on how difficult it is to access them on a particular model. My Jeep is the model with the 4.7L V8. Is it a pain in the butt to change the spark plugs on that one?

I've been having hard starts on cold start in my truck with 75k miles. Pretty much narrowed down the problem to fuel system because it starts easy everytime if I turn key to "on" position for 2 seconds to allow fuel pump to prime up before cranking. Tried one of those fuel system cleaners that you pour in the gas tank for the first time and it seems to have slightly improved the problem. Should I use that a few more times to see if it resolves the issue? And do you recommend using those regularly, every 4k-5k miles like the container recommends

1932 Buick Model 90 - every component in the front end has been placed except the steering gear box. It shimmies at 45 mph, enough to be a safety issue.

Tires? Dad put tires on a few years ago but the car is heavy and sits a lot. Any other suggestions?

We've spent several thousand dollars on this project with no success.

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I don't think you understand my point. A diagnostic scanner is one of many expensive tools a mechanic needs to do his job. You don't see charges for use of any of the other tools that save a mechanic time. Like I said, there's no charge for use of the lift. No charge for use of the air compressor. For consistency sake, it doesn't make sense to charge a customer for one thing and not others.

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I understand what you're say, and when I was a tech we rarely ever charged for just pulling codes.

However, scan tools are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actual diagnostics. They provide a good starting point. For instance, I had a mid size GM SUV come in that was throwing cam sensor codes. No big deal and a cheap fix for the customer, I thought. I replaced the sensor, cleared the code, and took it for a test drive. The code came back almost immediately. Maybe a faulty sensor(happens far too often than it should). I ordered another one and the same thing happened. So, now I hit up some GM message boards and found that a lot of other people had the same issue. The engine uses variable valve timing(VVT) for controlling the timing of the valve train. This engine also has over head cams. So, the cams and valve train work together to achieve the VVT function. The VVT System is controlled hydraulically by the engine's oil. The cam sensor was reading that the cam was out of phase with the ECM specs at that(or any in this case) engine speed. So, I went and checked the oil and sure enough it was 1/2 quart low, and looked terrible. I changed the oil, cleared the code, and went on a test drive. Everything was perfect. I put the original cam sensor back in and and had the same outcome. So, you're not just paying for the scan tool. You're paying for everything else that comes with it. In my customer's case, he basically paid $150 for an oil change. Maybe 45 minutes of actual work.