In this case, neglect took a $60 problem to a $4,000 problem. What is neglect costing you?
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As a certified master technician, I have seen how neglecting maintenance can have a negative impact on a healthy relationship: This one between a man and his car.
He explained that after watching the Big Bang Theory and seeing Penny operate her Volkswagen with the check engine light on for years, it should be OK to delay repairs to his Ford F-150.
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With 30 years of auto repair experiences under my belt, a few cases of neglected car maintenance stand tall above the rest. Let me share one of these stories of how a small issue snowballed into a wallet- crushing event. Maybe it will open your mind to the possibility that quick action is often better than waiting for the next paycheck to come in.
A Lesson in Lights
Before we open up the case file on this story, let me give you some background and a lesson that everyone can learn from. I had a customer, let’s call him “Joe”, who continued to drive with a check engine light on for the better part of a year. He explained that after watching the Big Bang Theory and seeing Penny operate her Volkswagen with the check engine light on for years, it should be OK to delay repairs to his Ford F-150.
He only meant to put off the repairs until he was in a better financial situation. Unfortunately, that day never came. In fact, the lack of spendable cash is the most common barrier between a well-maintained vehicle and a neglected one. In this particular situation, the code stored in memory required immediate attention. And this brings us to the first lesson: While some check engine light codes are considered nuisance codes and will not harm the long-term health of the automobile, others can snowball into something ugly and expensive if not handled in a timely manner.
Neglect Can Get Ugly
When Joe’s check engine light first came on, his 10-year-old Ford F-150 pickup truck with a V-8 engine appeared to be running fine and continued to do so for a couple of months. Then, it got worse. The vehicle began to experience hesitation and poor fuel economy. Joe considered this a minor inconvenience compared to the money it might cost him to repair the situation, so he pressed on. After a few more months passed, the mighty 5.4 L Ford Triton V-8 engine began to misfire. Additional symptoms like extremely rough idle, bucking and surging at highway speeds concerned Joe. However, he continued to operate the truck until the check engine light started to flash on and off rapidly.
The damage that this vacuum leak caused to this man’s truck is something that will live with me for a long time.
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At this point the engine control module set additional codes for a random engine misfire and a catalyst efficiency problem. Joe completely understood that things were going from bad to worse for his beloved F-150. He decided to stop using it as his daily driver and only used it in emergency situations. Joe turned into a passenger for several months. Finally, he had it towed to our repair facility.
A Simple Problem
The original problem that first turned on the check engine light a year before its initial diagnosis was a simple, easy-to-find vacuum leak. The power brake booster has a rubber 90 degree elbow that attaches to the intake manifold. A small hole developed allowing unmetered air into the fuel mixture.
At first the vehicle’s computer was able to compensate for the imbalance by enriching the mixture. It accomplished this by keeping the fuel injectors open for a longer period of time. But eventually the tear in the rubber vacuum fitting worsened, and the computer could no longer keep up. This situation caused a lean fuel mixture.
The leaner the mixture, the higher the combustion chamber temperatures become. In fact, the air and fuel mixture became so lean that it could no longer support complete combustion in the individual cylinders. This is when the check engine light started to flash to notify the driver that the problem had become much more serious. The damage that this vacuum leak caused to this man’s truck is something that will live with me for a long time.
A Devastating Result
After reading the codes and finding the original source of the vacuum leak, it was time to prepare an estimate to get this truck back on the road again. When we had the truck running we could hear the catalytic converters rattling. After putting it up in the air and removing the oxygen sensors, we could see they were all melted along with the insides of the catalytic converters. Mechanics call this post-combustion chamber damage.
He towed the truck home and threw a car cover over it, where I believe it remains today.
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Unfortunately, this would not be the worst or most expensive issue the truck would face on its road to recovery. When we attempted to remove the spark plugs they wouldn’t come out, because they were melted inside the combustion chamber. We also expected to find cylinder head damage, but we needed permission to disassemble the engine. After much soul-searching and talking about junkyard engine replacements, Joe agreed to let us pull the heads on the Triton V-8.
There was heavy damage to both cylinder heads, intake and exhaust valves. Fortunately, there was no piston damage, and the engine block appeared to be in good condition. But add in the four catalytic converters and four heated oxygen sensors, and the total for the repairs climbed into the $4,000 range. Although I wanted to tell Joe that the original problem of the leaking vacuum fitting would’ve cost about $60 including parts and labor, I didn’t have the heart to do so. He towed the truck home and threw a car cover over it, where I believe it remains today.
So, even if you’re financially strapped and not able to tackle an expensive car repair, take the time to get some initial diagnosis. Find out what code is set in the computer’s memory and the potential harm it can cause your vehicle. And there is second lesson here: You probably shouldn’t get your automotive repair advice from a scripted sitcom television show.
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Photo: Getty Images
That’s a good read…..and man!!…can I relate!!