PHEWWWWWW. That was a close shave.

I Honestly expected a Good Slating as some of you guys seem to be able to fix anything and expect to be able to fix anything.

I think about what the customers reaction is likely to be when you fit a £200 part and the car still has problems and you then tell them is needs £7-800 worth of injectors and they want to know if it will definitely fix it cos You told them it needed an EGR valve and it obviously wasn't that because it didn't cure the problem.

My Tuning mate has just Cleaned the throttle housing out on a 1992 corolla for Stalling problems which cured it but it was Massively overfuelling due to a faulty 02 sensor and the customer Cannot understand how it could possibly have 2 problems . ?? Well, it is only 20 years old.

I said well, it hasn't really got 2 problems, one is just lack of maintenance.

The Main problem is you can prove that parts are faulty but you cannot guarrantee that it will be 100% perfect once youve spent £1k on it.

I Sometimes spend Money on Parts fixing Defintely faulty components such as on a Car that came in a couple of weeks ago with an AA diagnosis / Code read listing a faulty rear 02 sensor, The Customer said it occasionaly cuts out at junctions or hesitates, So I said Well, The Rear sensor may be faulty but I cannot see it causing the stalling problem, But I will Test the sensor before I fit it so that I don't replace any parts unnecessarily, So he said thats Fine, I Code read it and then checked the rear 02 sensor and found it to have an open circuit heater element, So I ordered a sensor and fitted it, We test drove it and found nothing wrong, A freind of mine came in with a bit of spare time so he test drove the car for 16 miles and at that point he pulled up at a junction and it cut out, He restarted it and it misfired and then cleared and drove back fine, He then took the plugs out and steam came out one of the cylinders. ( Head gasket failing )

The Customer came to pick up the car and wasn't happy as he had a bill for £180 for the 02 sensor inc £60 labour, We had wasted extra time proving the secondary fault and the long test drive.

And then I start thinking should I have spent hours testing before fitting the 02 sensor. ?? But He would have still had a bill for £180 As we would have then justified charging him for the Diagnostics.

As We Explained all this to him, he said hmmmmmm I wondered where all the water was going as i keep having to top it up. ?? and funnily enough, I work 17 Miles away from home, and it always cuts out at the same spot when i am nearly at work.

I too enjoy the Challenge of fixing the impossible and finding a way to fix something at a sensible price as I also think it will help me on the next few that come in.

And Its sometimes as good and cheaper than Paying for a few Days training.

Tony.