Hi all.
I've had a low idle/stalling problem with my car for a while. Last Fall I brought it to my usual mechanic to get fixed. He said the cause was the alternator, which surprised me because the symptoms weren't like other bad-alternator symptoms I've seen. Since it's an easy fix, I did it myself. I asked the person at the auto parts store to test the alternator and it was bad. When I put the new one in, the car started and ran fine for a month or so. Then the same old low idle/stalling problem returned. I took it back the the mechanic who said 2 fuel injectors needed to be replaced. In reptrospect this surpised me because it was less than 1000 miles earlier that he said the injectors were fine. He did that and a couple of other things that cost me $600. This morning I picked up the car but within a mile it was back to its old ways. I had this problem once before where I had symptom X and the mechanic replaced something that didn't fix the problem. He still expected to be paid the full amount. "The scope says such-and-such is out of spec, so it needs to be replaced," he said. That time I later took the car to the dealer who told me the spark plug wires needed to be replaced. I did it and things were fine. Now I'm right back in the same position. Should I pay the mechanic? Should we negotiate a lower fee?
I think I've learned my lesson not to go to this mechanic anymore.
Thanks a lot.
john