Pretty common in older cars, esp OBD I cars. My OBD I Corolla has several temperature sensors which screw into the cooling system
Dash temp gauge
ECM (computer)
Cold start thermal switch (to set correct air/fuel mixture on warm vs cold starts)
Radiator fan control
I’ve had to replace the last one a couple times. The parts store staff has a very difficult time deciding which sensor it is, and have always given me one of the other ones on their first attempt, usually the third one.
On newer designs there’s usually only one coolant temp sensor. The ECM divvy’s out the information to all the other systems that need it.
May be overstating the situation a little. But it’s true that experienced diy’ers will often spend more time diagnosis, and less time replacing. Most of the reason for that is that the “replace this, replace that” method can result in less labor hours.
I am not arguing with that but this approach also may “fix” the problem at the moment while the underlying root cause is not found/fixed and, therefore, the failure may re-occur. Sometimes years later.
It’s not uncommon for posters here with an intermittent car problem will say something to this effect: “the shop refuses to work on this problem until it fails at the shop”. When the experts here point out that the shop will most likely be happy to work on whatever problem desired, as long as the car owners agree to pay their hourly rate in advance, the reply we hear is usually: “I wouldn’t post here if I could afford to pay unlimited hourly labor rates. I want the shop to guarantee a proper result for a specific price.” The shop staff find themselves between a rock and a hard place, damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.
IMO repair shops should make their objective clear, such as “we will use our professional training to address the owner’s car problem to the best of our abilities, and agree to continue to work on the resolution until the owner is satisfied with the result.”
In other words the same objective that a physician or lawyer will commit.
Some mechanics will outright tell the customer “It’s most likely the xxxxxx sensor. It’ll cost $100 to replace. Or I could diagnose it for $145 and find that you just need the sensor.” The customer can choose the risk.
Or the mechanic will take a chance and just change the sensor. If it works everybody’s Happy. If it don’t work then the mechanic will give the customer a break when doing the proper diagnosis.
Exactly! Except that neither lawyer nor physician - just like 99%+ shops - is in business of serving you in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. They only serve their bottom line.
They would not mind if the “customer” ALSO benefits from their activities but bottom line ALWAYS takes precedence.
You are welcome not to believe that but you may be up to a rude awakening.
You have no clue as to what you talking about. Period. Consider the following true scenario.
Low miles 4 cylinder Nissan towed in. Bought new, daughter’s car, oil changed every 3k miles, and she was in the habit (instilled by dad) of checking fluids every 2 weeks. Backs out of drive and engine seizes. Car looks like new in, out, and under the hood.
He brings it to me and says rebuild it. Do it right and you have a blank check. Something did not sound right so I told him to wait until I took a closer look at it. The cause of the seized engine? The idler pulley bearing had seized and that tiny bearing was locking the engine up due to the bite of the belt.
I charged him 50 bucks for this 15 minute fix and when I called him he refused to believe it was that simple.
When he picked the car up I showed him the old bearing and he was stunned. He also thanked me immensely for what I did. Matter of fact, a month later he dropped off 2 huge Xmas baskets for me. One with a huge turkey/fixings and the other full of fruit and candy. I was quite humbled.
So exactly where where do I fit into the “all mechanics are crooks” scenario? Surely you are not going to state that I am only part of that less than 1% honest group?
Surely you are not going to state that Tester, db4690, Nevada, and others are crooks or incompetents whose only goal in life is to gouge someone?
There is an old saying “exceptions only confirm the rule”.
Without a doubt, there even are doctors who are legitimately concerned about their patients’ well-being. I even know someone who knows one. But usually they can’t compete with the standard crooked environment persisted in the profession because crooks - obviously - make a lot more money and run mind-dumbing advertising campaigns. Among other reasons.
I’ve worked with many mechanics over the years. I can count on one hand the number of flat out crooks I’ve worked with and that was not for long. You want to know why? Because a crook is not going to be tolerated for very long by management or other techs. They WILL get found out and by that point they often end up spontaneously leaving suddenly.
I’ve worked with a slightly higher number of guys who are either incompetent or somewhat misguided. Again, that number is not that large and like the crooks; won’t be around long.
If you had actually spent some real time in a working shop you would find that most techs are honest. Instead, all you are doing is perpetuating a stereotype.
You know what’s really crooked in the auto repair industry? Service contract companies and the inspectors they send out to “verify” my diagnosis.
Within the last year I dealt with a company that sent out an MBI inspector who was no more than 25 years old and reeked of weed, and obviously had no idea what the inside of a modern-day Jeep transfer case looked like. I had to explain to him why there were clutches and steels inside.
That same company had the nerve to contact my customer and recommend that she take her car somewhere else, based on the fact that $144/hr was a “rip-off” and could get the same service elsewhere for $95/hr.
Not claiming those offering professional services – auto repair, physicians, lawyers & the like – that their primary goal is to provide efficient and cost effective services. They’d like to do that of course, if only that it would bring them recommendations and therefore more customers. But a professional’s primary goal is technical in nature and very specific: they want to solve the customer’s problem. The better examples will continue to work on the solution, no matter how long it takes, until the customer is satisfied with the result. But they do need to charge the customer by the hour for this work in order to continue in business. Professionals would like to be able to offer up a fixed price for each and every problem the customer brings them. But it’s just not possible. The price charged depends on how many hours of work is required.
It is often possible to obtain a fixed price quote from professinals , but there’s usually pretty severe strings attached.