So i'm getting my oil changed today...

[shoteen95]

But first rewind to last weekend. My car blew a heater hose so i found a firestone tire shop and garage that was open on saturdays to replace the hose. Did the job in a few hours..i had heat and coolant in my car, i was happy.

In the following week i get the impression that my gas milleage is getting worse. And a few days ago my check engine light starts coming on..

So today i'm getting my oil changed and having a new fuel filter put in, and the mechanic notices i have no transmission fluid dipstick..well this is just crazy, cause i saw it a few weeks ago when i was running wire through my engine bay. He also notices that theres a small hose disconnected from what he said was my EGR. (The round thingy on the back of the intake?)

I'm assuming that the shop i had my car repaired is pretty incompetent..

could the disconnected EGR have caused the CE light and bad mileage?

I hope my car will be alright without the tranny dipstick for a little while till i can get to an autozone or someplace that has them

 

[wood_e]

A disconnected EGR will cause a check engine ight but there might be more to the story. Check your engine trouble codes.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Read the codes. That's the only way to find out why the CEL was on.

As to the shop's incompetence, you really shouldn't expect competence when choosing a local Firestone just because they're open on Saturday! They could have very easily have left a vacuum line off the EGR system.

Your gas mileage may be related to the disconnected EGR vacuum hose, but it could also be the result of other issues or neglected maintenance.

 

[shoteen95]

I did not mean to imply that the shop being open on saturday led me to believe they were a competent garage, i just needed my car fixed asap. You both bring up good points about the CEL. The codes will be checked before the month is over for sure. I hope to get any and all maintenence related issues taken care of as quickly as i can afford to do so

funny thing is..i have a PM from chris (huntervf) telling me never to take my car back to that firestone shop and that he's heard horror stories about the place..

its things like this that make me paranoid about taking my car anywhere for service

 

[wood_e]

You DO realize that you can check your codes using a small wire or paper clip, right?

 

[shoteen95]

yes..i read all about the paper clip method. I've never done it before but will give it a try as soon as i get over this cold/flu/annoying bug..its about 9 degrees outside..so now would not be the time..lol

 

[pjtoledo]

,,,,,,,,,,, He also notices that theres a small hose disconnected from what he said was my EGR. (The round thingy on the back of the intake?),,,,,,

It's been a while since I worked on an ATX,,,but I thought "pie" are round, and EGR are square/rectangular? How are the secondaries working now?

Get that dipstick tube plugged with something, it's letting all sorts of crap into your tranny!!!


Perry

 

[Denny]

Next time you need an oil change, I say it would be worth a trip up to East Lansing

 

[Huntervf]

As to the shop's incompetence, you really shouldn't expect competence when choosing a local Firestone just because they're open on Saturday!

LOL, actually Chris in this case I have direct experience with this particular Firestone shop he went to. They once tried ****** a little old lady for $1500 because her CE light happened to come on in her minivan (which my dealership sold her a couple months earlier) while she was driving by the place. Told her that the computer was bad and causing the car to run rich, which was melting her catalytic converters and exhaust system, and which also was affecting her cooling system. They were going to replace it all to the tune of $1500. Fortunately she was a good friend of the dealer I worked for and she called us before giving them the ok. My boss sent me down and I talked with the shop personally, and I was (and still am) disgusted by the complete and total pile of lies they dropped on both her and me (however, it was satisfying to look him in the eye and see him sweat while he was talking to me.) I simply told them "no", gave her a loaner and drove her van back to our dealership (with absolutely no drivability problems aside from the CE light.) Later that day we sent the van up to the local Chrysler dealer, who simply diagonsed the problem as an errant code set by the computer. Reset everything free of charge and the van was all set.

So SHOteen...that's what you have to deal with at that local Firestone. I frankly have no problems believing that they intentionally left the dipstick out and the EGR hose unplugged. The EGR can definitely cause a CE light and bad gas mileage. Furthermore, I'd inspect your car as indepth as you can, just to make sure they didn't "accidentally" remove any other vital parts. And I'd march into that place and "suggest" that they have your transmission dipstick, since it would have likely been removed to replace the heater hoses and since it was there before.

And while I'm at it, avoid all the local Lentz and Midas shops. Midas did more harm than good on a 93 Spirit I'd bought (how do you install a thermostat BACKWARDS???) and Lentz made Denny sign a waiver before they'd give him his SHO back, telling him his car was unsafe and needed $1600 in suspension work (after he'd stopped in for an oil change.)