At Home repairs

Are there any “Certified” machanic’s in the San Jose, CA. area that will go to an owners home to try to find the Short in his 2000 Chrys 300. Been “on the hook” to dealer 3 times and always starts there. Now, home in garage and won’t start. I know a “travel charge” will be involved. Help please

It’s possible but very unlikely that a “certified” mechanic will make a service call. Maybe if you put up $1,000 as incentive someone will jump at it.

When a dealership mechanic gets a work order for a “no crank” condition the flat rate time that he will be paid is likely less than .5 hours. Who can afford to work for free? But after the flat rate time is used he works for free. It may require many hours to find an intermittent problem. Find an independent shop that specializes in electrical problems and discuss diagnosing and repairing the problem. If you preface your problem with such statements as “It won’t take a good mechanic long,” or “It shouldn’t cost too much,” don’t be surprised if the shop is suddenly too busy to look at your car for many weeks.

Find a good independent shop. It’s not always the case but you can start by looking for AAA approved “top shops” in your area.

For no-crank no-start conditions I start the diagnosis at 2 hours. This gives my electrical diagnostic technician plenty of time to start at point A and work his way through all possibles. I always get a customer to commit to 1 hour of diagnostic time for drivability issues where the vehicle is self-propelling, and 2 hours for engine/electrical diagnosis.

Committing to $200 for a proper diagnosis also ensures you won’t get a long list of half-assed “maybe” causes.

Qon.i start is very uninformative. Will the engine crank or does nothing happen when you turn the key? If it won;t crank do you hear a click when you turn the key? If it cranks, do you hear the fuel pump run if you just turn the key to “on” without cranking the engine? Do you smell gas if it cranks but won’t start? Does it ever “sputter” when cranking like it is trying to start?

These are all things that will tell your mechanic what system to look at. Just telling someone that it won’t start and then having it start when it gets to them doesn’t give them a clue
If you let it sit for hours will it start in your garage

Thanks to both of you for comments. No click, no nothing of any kind. Turning key is only sound. In the past slamming the drivers door one to many times has cured the problem. So, obviously a short. But 3 weeks in Chrys shop and always starting several time a day, then home and 2nd day - No start, no sound, nothing. Still hope someone knows of a Certified mechanic that will do house calls. Travel time and “minimum price” are proper phone discussions. Any body therer?

Have you checked the cable connections at the battery, ground and starter to be sure they are all clean and tight? When it does nothing do the dash warning lights come on? Maybe an ignition switch on it’s way out.

Have you tried starting it in Neutral. Sometimes my 95 Dodge Dakota would have the same problem, turn the key and nothing. The Neutral Safety Switch was out of adjustment. After shifting to Neutral from Park, the truck would start up every time.

Ed B.

So, obviously a short.

Bad assumption. The chances of a short being temporarily cured by slamming a door is about nil. Shorts usually result in a blown fuse. Now an intermittent connection or OPEN circuit is far more likely to be repeatedly cured and fail again due to vibration. Don’t make any statements to the mech…

Skip the dealer. Find a reputable independantly owned and operated shop. While intermittant problems can be hard to diagnose, there are things that can be checked. dealers often aren’t interested in spending the time necessary to troubleshoot 11 year old vehicles. They’d rather you replaced it with a new one.

Other than what a tow truck can do, there’s little a traveling mechanic could do. without having one’s tools and diagnostic equipment, the limitations are severe. It’s even difficult to work in an unfamiliar shop. One spends as much time trying to find things as fixing the vehicle.