02 Eclipse GT engine light

Have fun with this one guys! I was having fun driving down the road when lo and behold my service engine soon light comes on. Nothing seems to be wrong but being the cautious type (yeah! right!), I go home and call the dealership and request service. After giving me crap about its just the gas cap or a transient error, they schedule me for almost a week later. Having no choice but to drive the car all weekend for work, the light clears after about 150 miles. OK maybe the dealer was right. I drive the car all week and then the damn yellow bastard starts blinking on and off. I'm thinking, Gee, this can't be good so I get ahold of the dealer again and schedule it for service. I take the car in yesterday and they read the codes. Seems that the thing has developed a serious misfire. It has repeated stacked error codes for this problem. I TOLD THEM SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT! I then get informed that there is a TSB about this. It seems that the ECU program was wrong and the chip has to be reprogrammed. Also, and I have no understanding of this, my thermostat had to be replaced. There was absolutely no indication of thermo problems at all. The dealer stated that all 02-03 have this problem at some time or another. Anyone else have this problem?? I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks

-- FireFighter Extraordinaire Put the wet stuff on the red stuff! Always remember and don't ever forget!!!! DON'T USE PURPLE K ON CHAMP CARS!!!!!

Reply to
Kestrel
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Sounds to me like they are trying to get some money out of you, since the TSB means that you don't have to pay for the service.

But saying that, thermo's just go sometimes. If you want to be safe, but not spend $75 on labor for a $20 part, have them sell you the thermo and install it yourself. It's not really that hard to install, if you need more than gasket sealant material, a screwdriver, and a visegrip than you shouldn't be let near a car with tools.

Cheers, CMF

Kestrel wrote:

Reply to
Chris Ferris

Thanks for the veiled insult. It was appreciated (not). On the lighter side, I got my sick little puppy back late yesterday and here's the report. As noted in the original post, The ECU was sending misfire reports causing the light to come on. The dealer informed me that there was a TSB on the problem and the fix was to reprogram the chip. This was accomplished AND the thermostat was replaced as part of the TSB, i.e. NO CHARGE. The dealer couldn't explain why it was replaced as, after testing it, it was not in a failure condition. What the heck, if I don't have to pay for it, let em do it. The dealer also took care of several other little problems without hassle, all under warranty, even though I may have caused one of the issues. I like my dealer. They've never tried to rip me off or take advantage of me. This has existed with me through 2 Eclipses and they have even serviced my wife's P.O.C. Grand Am. Maybe its rare but they've been very good to me. Thanks

Kestrel

Reply to
Kestrel

How far are they from Wappingers Falls, NY (about 90 miles north of NYC) ???

;-)

Reply to
Hank Arnold

Now Hank, if I told you that, you'd all be running to my dealer and I'd never be able to get an appointment for my service.

-- FireFighter Extraordinaire Put the wet stuff on the red stuff! Always remember and don't ever forget!!!! DON'T USE PURPLE K ON CHAMP CARS!!!!!

Reply to
Kestrel

No insult intended, it was merely my attempt at sarcasm, I apologize for any offense taken. And I am happy that your dealer was kind enough to add the thermo repair at no cost. I have met many many dealers that try to squeeze money out of you for just about anything. I was just thinking that they might have been attempting the same thing. But since they seemed honest, I would stick with them.

Regards, CMF

Kestrel wrote:

Reply to
Chris Ferris

I promise.... I won't tell a soul... It will be just between the two of us.... ;-)

Reply to
Hank Arnold

Well I had to take my 02 in for the engine light coming on. Sounds alot like you story. It came on on a Friday night, and by Monday it had gone off. So I decided there was no need to take it in. About 2 weeks later it came back on again and I took it in, they said it showed a vacuum leak and they said it was probably the gas cap not seated properly. My wife had driven the car the day before it came on and put gas in it, so I thought ok maybe. About 2 days later it came on again, and I had not put any gas in it yet. I took it back and they said it showed the same thing, so they replaced the gas cap. It hasn't come back on since and that was about 3 months ago. I have take it in soon for another problem so I will ask about this TSB.

Reply to
Terminal

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