On June 9th, I visited the Elk Grove Ford Service Department, to inquire about the Check Engine light, which had come on intermittently on my 97 Ford Aspire. I had just purchased the car two weeks earlier and the original owner reported no previous problems with the Check Engine light. The Service Advisor informed me that no one was on duty on weekends to run the diagnostic machine and suggested I bring the car back during the week.
I there left to get gas and when I started the engine after the fillup, the light went out again. It came back on again the following Thursday (June 14th) and I brought it back to the Service Department that afternoon. The Service Advisor checked for any obvious clues, such as a loose gas cap, but couldn't determine immediately what the problem was. The light was on solid during this time. He asked if I could leave the car there and he would call me with an estimate within a day or so. Since I didn't have a ride home, one of the young ladies working there gave me a ride home in the car. As I started the car, the light went out again. I asked her to be sure to tell the Service Advisor that the light went out again, since there obviously was nothing to check, diagnostically, at that point. When I hadn't heard from Elk Grove Ford by the following Wednesday, I stopped by to talk to them. I was informed that a thorough check revealed that the IAC solenoid needed to be replaced, and that it would take two weeks to get one and that it would cost around $ 400.00. Since I didn't really have much choice there, I agreed to the repairs. I picked up the car on June 29th and was presented a bill for $545.10 (parts & labor). I was also assured that the problem was fixed since they had tested the car extensively after the replacement of the solenoid and the Check Engine light never came on.
A week later the light was back on again. I returned to talk to the Service Department, but the previous Advisor wasn't there. The gentleman I spoke to said there obviously must be something else was wrong and that the car had to be hooked up to the diagnostic machine again; that would cost $81.00, just to analyze the problem. Whatever part and labor were required, would then be on top of that. The fact that I had brought the car in to fix that very same problem the first time around, didn't really seem to matter.
That sort of arrogance made me angry and I decided to check a few things out myself, via the Internet forums. The thought of paying $500.00 a pop, just to have their Service Department shoot in the dark, replacing components at random, inspired me to order a OBD II (On Board Diagnostics) program (cost: $182.00), which was highly recommended on the Internet. It runs from my laptop computer and polls the PCM (Powertrain Control Module) for fault codes. I accessed the PCM on September 1st and downloaded the error messages. The only one that registered was: Idle Speed Higher than Expected. I tracked the idle speed and it was 1,100 rpm. I jumpered the PCM input, reset the idle speed to 700 rpm and the light has not come on since.
Then I remembered: I set up the idle speed myself, just before the light came on for the first time. The car has after-market air-conditioning (installed by E.G. Ford) and the 1300cc engine almost stalls when idling in traffic, with the AC running, so I increased the idle speed until the engine ran smoothly, not knowing that I had to jumper out the PCM input while doing that. It seems that, during the installation of the A.C. Unit, back in 98 (by E.G. Ford), someone forgot to install the input which tells the PCM to maintain the idle speed, whenever the AC is turned on.
The reason for the light coming on intermittently is now clear: The OBD system checks the idle speed to be at 700 rpm when the engine is at operating temperature, the transmission is in neutral and the idle switch is reset (foot off the gas pedal). If, after 30 seconds, the RPM is anything other than 700, the Check Engine Light comes on. If the above conditions do not occur during 5 successive engine cycles (start and stops), the light resets itself. Since I never put the transmission in neutral at stoplights, the light would eventually reset, when I drove the car. My wife always puts it in neutral, and the light would come on again at her first traffic light stop.
In conclusion, not only did I pay Elk Grove Ford $545.00 for repairs that were not needed, but when I brought the car back for the same problem, they wanted more money, until they finally got it right, I guess. This whole PCM/OBD system is a license for repair facilities like theirs to rip off unsuspecting and mostly ignorant customers, who ultimately have no choice but to rely upon their honesty and integrity (an oxymoron) for any service.
I feel that I should be reimbursed for the unnecessary repairs of $545.10 and also for the
$182.00 I paid for the software, to find out what the real problem was, which Elk Grove Ford evidently was not able to do, even with all their sophisticated equipment. I enlisted the California Department of Consumer Affairs to that end, by filing a complaint.
Hagen M. Sahm
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