Incorrect Diagnosis - £358 out of pocket.

TheEnergyThread

mattyprice4004 said:

Unfortunately you chose to cheap out and pay another garage to do the work - the situation you've found yourself is a disadvantage of that approach.
If you'd have asked Halfords to do the work and it didn't resolve the issue you'd have some leverage, but trying to save £150 might just have cost you a chunk more. If you asked the garage just to replace what's on the sheet, it's not their fault if the issue is elsewhere.

I’ll just have to take it on the chin and put it behind me under experience.

AdrianC

Five quid for a fault code reader and a free smartphone app...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Torque-ELM-327-Bluetooth-V2-1-OBD2-OBDII-Car-Diagnostic-Auto-Scanner-Code-Reader/393082336499

jimjames

born_again said:

What is odd is the garage took the advice of a halfords diagnostic & what needing replacing without doing one of their own.

Guess they saw a easy buck to be made. 

Any decent garage would have run their own check & cleared the codes stored. So any fault now would show and not all the old ones.

Really depends what they were asked to do. If the customer says I need new coil packs why would they spend time doing diagnostics first?

Herzlos

jimjames said:

Really depends what they were asked to do. If the customer says I need new coil packs why would they spend time doing diagnostics first?

Because the old adage "The customer is always right" is usually complete nonsense

Not directed to you OP, but I'd assume most garages wouldn't just take "I need a new xyz" at face value without at least asking why they think it's faulty.

angrycrow

Even if the fault codes pointed to the coil packs and lambda being faulty this does not mean they were actually faulty. A break in the wires to the coil pack or sensor could result in the same fault code. Proper diagnostics is more than plugging in a code reader and seeing what faults are stored. Personally I always try and work out what a fault is before plugging in a code reader and then see if the codes back up my own diagnostic. 

Take it back to the garage that fitted the parts. If the new fault code indicates it is the lambda sensor get them to check the wiring to it as they can break or rub through and ground out. 

On some cars it is good practice to fit new spark plugs when fitting a new coil pack so as not to stress the new coil pack. 

AdrianC

Herzlos said:

jimjames said:

Really depends what they were asked to do. If the customer says I need new coil packs why would they spend time doing diagnostics first?

Because the old adage "The customer is always right" is usually complete nonsense

Not directed to you OP, but I'd assume most garages wouldn't just take "I need a new xyz" at face value without at least asking why they think it's faulty. 

"I need new coil packs"
We've put new coil packs on.
"It's not fixed! I'm not paying you!"
You didn't ask us to find out what the problem was.

dipsomaniac

angrycrow said:

On some cars it is good practice to fit new spark plugs when fitting a new coil pack so as not to stress the new coil pack. 

I have never heard this before.  don't people clean and re-gap plugs anymore?  this is a moneysaving forum.  please don't say its cheap to replace 4 or 6 plugs and leads

AdrianC

dipsomaniac said:

angrycrow said:

On some cars it is good practice to fit new spark plugs when fitting a new coil pack so as not to stress the new coil pack. 

I have never heard this before.  don't people clean and re-gap plugs anymore?  this is a moneysaving forum. 

Plugs don't need cleaning like they used to. They don't oil up, unless there's a big problem elsewhere in the engine, and mixtures are far better controlled with closed-loop injection than they ever were with a carb.

Gaps don't open up like they used to, because of different electrode metals, which is why plugs are good for ten times the old intervals.

please don't say its cheap to replace 4 or 6 plugs and leads

What else would you call the £35 I paid a few months ago for four Bosch plugs and an OEM lead set, on top of £25 for two OEM double-ended coil packs?

I call it cheap basic preventative maintenance.

dipsomaniac

That was x2 plugs and leads. I have x6, most have x4. Rice is cheap not plugs and leads for most people on min. wage

So how does modern used plugs stress new coil packs?

williamgriffin

dipsomaniac said:

That was x2 plugs and leads. I have x6, most have x4. Rice is cheap not plugs and leads for most people on min. wage

So how does modern used plugs stress new coil packs?

I'm sure Adrian said four Bosch plugs.