Basically, took my car in for diagnosis. Car had a hard time starting. Thought it was MAF issues so I tried to clean it myself but didn’t fix issue. Cycled the key 3 times and then started after. Possible fuel pump issue. Brought it to dealer and said car is running lean and will need new fuel pump.
Also, on high speeds on highway (65-70) knocking sound occurs in right passenger side. Then check engine light turns on. Every time. I suspected front end links loose or mount but he didn’t say that was it. Mechanic test drove on highway. Didn’t not hear any sound but said afterwards he found broken coil on right side. They also pushed and moved tire around. I forget now, but also said there are some parts missing on the right side by tire and they should be there or could have fallen off. They only THEORIZE this is the issue for the knocking sound. No concrete answer.
This sounds really expensive. Should I take it for a second opinion or is this about the range I should expect for this fix? I will pay $110 already for diagnosis.
No disrespect meant, but I cannot ascertain from your post what the mechanic found or did other than the broken coil!
Can you post a photo of your copy of the shop order?
I agree with @the_same_mountainbik- it is hard to give any kind of opinion with the incomplete info you gave. give more descriptive and complete info on what the mechanic said, and we may be able to help more.
having said that, unless you have a long standing trusting working relationship with this mechanic, you should absolutely take it for a second opinion. There is nothing wrong with getting another set of professional eyes on this, especially since you don’t seem to have a lot of faith in the current mechanic.
but, broken front end parts makes me think it might be better to have it towed somewhere else. Be careful, what ever you do.
If you have a broken coil, that’s got to be fixed, it’s a safety issue. And the symptoms certainly sound consistent with a fuel pump problem. And the price to fix both the fuel pump and the broken coil seems within reason. Esp bc you say there are some add’l problems that are included in the fix. I think you got a good shop there, b/c it often isn’t easy to diagnose a broken coil. Suggest you continue with the work at this shop, no need for a 2nd opinion; they seem to be on top of the situation. A broken coil wouldn’t usually cause the check engine light to come on so that’s probably a different problem. Rather than guessing what that one might be, hopefully it is just the fuel pump, but you could ask the shop to provide you a list of the diagnostic codes, then folks here might be able to offer up some suggestions.
BTW, usually when a coil – it’s probably part of the strut – is replaced on one side, the recommendation here is to replace the other side too, so you end up with the proper right/left symmetry in the suspension system.
As for not being able to fully verify the customer’s complaint, BUT seeing something physically damaged during a visual inspection . . .
it happens all the time
For example, just a few days ago, I was working on a truck that came in for a bad misfire
The check engine light was on, it had only 1 misfire code, but it was running fine at the time. I drove it, but couldn’t get it to misfire at that time
Nevertheless, I performed a visual inspection. I took out the plug for the cylinder which threw the code. It had cracked ceramic. I thought to myself “this could certainly misfire when hot, so I better inspect all of them.” Sure enough, it wasn’t the only bad plug. In fact, another one had half the ceramic MISSING. Yet that one wasn’t the one that threw the code. It goes without saying I replaced all of the plugs.
As for the price . . . considering the dealer’s labor rate is probably $100 or more per hour, $1400 for the coils and fuel pump seems okay. The parts alone probably cost several hundred