Auto repair question

Another auto repair question please. I took the car to the ford shop for this intermittent sputtering and they said it needs a new airflow sensor, that's what the diagnostic said, so what do you think?

Should I go with the repair and do you know any places to buy the airflow sensor for good price so I can do it my self?

My auto repair advise

I would let the dealer repair the car and have them guarantee that the car will be fixed. This will make sure they are not guessing with your money spent.

I would also road test with the dealer representative BEFORE and AFTER the repair and make them aware that you expect this sputtering problem fixed or you will require a refund of parts and labor.

Auto repair question reply

Well they could not order the part, so I had to order the Mass Air Flow sensor and install it and it did not do anything.

Can the mass airflow sensor be affected by my BOMZ cold air intake? This is getting ridiculous money wise.

The spark plug wires are new, fuel filter, mass airflow sensor and what else? I bet your suggestion is a mechanic again? I think it is the fuel injectors.

My auto repair advice reply

I had doubted the maf sensor diagnosis but since I am not there I can't say for sure. (I just had my doubts) You know I think it’s a distributor or ignition related problem from our previous e-mails but I could be wrong since again I'm not there. Here is a free snippet from my $7.00 E-Book on how to deal with your auto repair shop on drivability diagnosis

You're in a auto repair shop for a drivability problem. It seems as if your car has a mind of its own. You step on the gas and the car stalls (then again, sometimes it doesn't). The auto technician is perplexed; he can't go right to the problem.

You ask the right auto repair question how much will it cost to fix? The mechanic says I can't give you an exact price. This one is going to be charged on a time and material basis.

The technician will now embark on a diagnostic quest in an effort to locate and isolate the problem. The time will be logged and you will be charged the shop's labor rate per hour, as well as the cost of any needed materials, until the problem is found (or until you tell them to stop). If the problem is highly technical and requires a high rate of skill, then many shops charge the "Skilled Labor Rate." This rate is higher than the regular rate because the job requires the services of a highly skilled diagnostician.

The number one way to protect yourself in this situation is to only approve 1 hour of diagnosis at a time. This puts you in control of the time and money scenario. After each hour of labor passes demand a full report of the diagnostic tests that were used and what results were found.

Before approving the next hour of diagnosis find out what they plan to do in the next hour and if they are getting close to finding an answer to the problem. Make sure the shop understands you refuse to write them a blank check and that you do not have unlimited funds to spend on diagnosis. I have seen customer’s use this approach so well that the shop gets tired of asking for more money every hour. The shop then actually kicks in some free diagnosis to get to the bottom of the problem and complaint.

Another reason the shop will kick in this free labor is because they may know the technician has not been faced with this complaint before and is actually learning new diagnostic skills in the process of working on your vehicle. When the diagnostic time starts pilling up you want to make it clear to the shop that you are not interested in paying for the technicians training and will require a straight answer to your auto repair question.

Auto mechanics can be somewhat mysterious in nature. This next page will focus on what its like to be a mechanic and some of the tricks an evil mechanic can use. Let me make it clear that not all mechanics are bad. Well see for yourself this next link takes you from auto repair question to more auto service stories

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