Just got an update from the dealership after having my car towed, they said it showed a bad plug on #1 and #7, they think that will fix it. Also said the technician wanted to do a throttle body cleaning on it. Total for the work is $867 for parts, labor and taxes. Don't know what the charge for throttle body cleaning was but I guess it was needed, what do you think? Was thinking about just telling them to forget the throttle body cleaning and try to do it myself.

 

They “think” it will fix it ???…you don’t take your car to a dealership for any troubleshooting…they just replace parts and hope they fix it…well is the car running smoothly now ??…with a scan tool you can see if your TB needs cleaning…just get some TB cleaner and an old toothbrush…very easy for a DIY’er…the TB does not have to be removed…why did they say it needing cleaning ??…upselling ??

 

I tend to agree with you, my car had a new upgrade throttle body on it and I can easily clean it with seafoam or any aftermarket product. I personally think it is not the plugs, I think it could be coil packs or some another electrical or firing problem. Guess I will find out next week when I pick it up, really don't know what else to do but give them a shot at it and hope that it works, It had so many electrical problems and various codes showing up on it that it was past my capabilities of fixing it with my entry level scanning device. Guess I will just take it out for a test drive and see how it does before paying them. It was running so badly that I had no other options. I guess I'm just hoping for the best result.

 

A competent shop should not have to guess…I see you are in NW Georgia…if you want to see how a real diagnostic shop diagnoses a misfire watch the video…Royalty Auto Service is in St. Mary’s in SE Georgia…may be worth a trip there to get it fixed right…dealerships don’t use this advanced diagnostic equipment and that is why they only guess.

 

Did the technician himself, not the appointment clerk aka Service Advisor, tell you what caused those plugs to be bad? I would want to know why 2 plugs went bad as opposed to "they are bad so change them". If you don't know what caused them to be bad in the first place, how do you know you won't be back for the same thing in a bit?

I would find out who this technician is and what he is good for and then ask him to explain why it went bad. I would also want to know what made him think that it needed a throttle body cleaning and what it was going to do. I don't trust those appointment clerks to do more than schedule an appointment. I know for a fact the SA at my current dealership lied to me to cover up his mistake because the tech himself called me to confess. I let him go on to see how deep he wanted to dig it. I place more faith in "The technician I spoke to said" than "The SA said the technician said".

 

Thanks, I tend to agree with you, I am not looking for the easy way out, I want the car to be fixed properly. Plugs just don't go bad for no reason, I have driven cars for well over 100k miles with no problems. I hope they fix the problem, as bad as the car was running, I will be able to tell as soon as I crank it up and take it for a short drive and see if all the check engine and warning lights are off. Just seems like too easy of a fix to me, I hope that was all that it was, but I am kinda skeptical, guess I will find out when I pick it up. The car was not driveable at all when it was delivered it and that was the reason it was towed, guess I can drive it and check all the warning lights that were on and know if that was the problem. This was not the closest dealership from my home, the reason I carried it to them is that they sell a lot of new Corvettes and they said all their techs were GM certified for what that's worth. I assume that I am kind of just hoping that they are competent and are fixing the vehicle. The car has 48k miles on it and has never missed a beat, just don't see how two plugs could go bad all of the sudden.

 

Did you run codes before going in? If so what did you get? My problem is if you get a P0301 and a P0307 and you pull those plugs out and replace them, great. There are 6 other plugs. What was their condition? I might have opted to change all 8 if the other 6 were not fouled but getting there. That might make me ask what caused it in the first place. You mentioned a new TB. Parts have been known to be bad out the box or soon after. I might just change back to the OEM one and run it for a while to be sure.

As to the check engine lights, I know someone who works at one of the parts houses and he does code scans with his own scanner and not a code reader. He has asked if the owner has cleared codes or pulled the battery if the scanner says they were cleared say 30 miles ago. At which point, we know that the sleazy seller pulled the battery to clear the check engine light and now they have to deal with it. I guess what I am trying to say is that the CEL being off is good. Staying off is better.

I would look for a Corvette Certified tech. Bigger dealerships have a couple. If the company is willing to spend more on them, maybe I will give them a first look? Especially if they have a little more training on the systems of the car. I picked out the 2 guys at the dealer and casually looked at how they work from afar and found an excuse to talk to them and pick one out. Some would say I lucked out with an honest tech who told me the mistake he made, others might say it is a product of careful selection before you need them.

You did say you changed the TB. How long ago? I would want to ask them to do the other 6, while I am there so I can see what they look like as well.

 

The throttle body was changed by the previous owner, I have the original one in a box. When the car started running bad and I got it back home, my little scanning device was showing P300 and then started showing random misfires. I put a new battery in it but it did not help. Car was running so badly that it could not be driven to the dealership. Check engine light was on and also said Service Stabillink and Service Rear Axle.

 

Isn't P0300 and random or multiple misfire? How did he zoom in on cylinders 1 and 7? I would have checked all so maybe you need to have a chat with the technician and not the clerk?

 

The factory level scan tool that the dealership would have has misfires monitors so they can tell exactly what cylinder or cylinders are misfiring however this isn’t 100% accurate all the time…I use other diagnostic equipment to verify 100%.

 

So you are saying that if I had a P0300 you can scan it and narrow it down to a P0301 and a P0307? Sounds really good. I don't think my scan dongle can do it even with Torque Pro.

 

Only factory level or equivalent aftermarket scan tools have this capability…shows current and history misfires…Torque Pro is probably just a step up from a code reader but not as good as a factory level one.

 

That has a very expensive look for a home user. For a professional, absolutely.

 

I have 4 other factory level scan tools and other advanced diagnostic equipment that the dealerships don’t even have…I do the Corvette diagnostics on the side and other make cars down here in Florida when I get the work…a dealership “Corvette Tech” should be able to diagnose ANY car if they are any good…unfortunately they are not.

 

Ho-We-*** For $867, bring the car here and I'll change all the plugs and clean the throttle body for half that, including parts and no guarantee like the dealer.

 

I'll also mention that C7s....all of them....have a habit of popping plug wires off the coils and the plugs. Sometimes it's just enough they no longer make contact but the wires look connected. The "fix"....is to reattach the plug wires. On #1 & #7 that would have taken at least 10 seconds to check and 4-5 minutes to fix assuming you clean up the boots, etc.

 

Of course you can. You got no overheads to speak of, no warranties or anything. If you cross thread the plug, what recourse does he have? You can be like those mobile mechanics that sit in the parking lots of the parts houses in the inner city. They see you come out and they will ask if they can install those parts for you. Cheaper than any legit shop. I knew someone who worked at one of those parts shops and we used to laugh at the customers he had that tried those cut rate mechanics only to come crying later on when something went wrong. Well, you get work done by someone in a parking lot who has a couple of jacks and stands and some tools. What do you expect? If it works, great. If not, sucks to be you.

 

What's your point? Shops charge flat rate and not how long a job takes. Not a perfect system but if you want an estimate, them are the breaks. When my MB had a glow plug seize, the glow plug change became a head R&R with a trip to the machine shop. That was a known thing in the MB community but they kept to the estimate for the plug change. I suppose you would want to get an estimate and compare it with the actual work time and pay the lower of the 2 bills?

 

Just picked up car and drove it home, about 40 miles, from the dealership. Said they checked and diagnosed bad plugs on #2 and #7, switched the plugs to different cylinders to make sure that they weren't firing, both plugs were bad and replaced. Then they pulled the valve covers to check for any problems with the valve train, everything was good. Then they did the Daytona Air Induction service to the throttle body and intake system, for whatever that's worth, did full multi check on the vehicle, everything checked out. Bottom line, it was $835 for the service and the cars runs just as it is supposed to. May be an overcharge, but I am pleased and have my car back, hope it keeps running as it should.

 

I thought you said plugs 1 and 7?

$835 does NOT mean squat. If you want to see if they overcharged you, see what you paid for and how much. If you tell me how much you are charging me for labor rate, parts cost and number of hours work for the job, I can easily ask around to see if you are padding the parts cost, number of hours and if your labor rate is in line with the local charges.

If everyone around here does the job in 4 hours, I'm not sure how you managed to quote me 2 hours. I am more afraid of under charging than over charging. My experience with under charging has been almost 100% regret.