Problems with dealer/car

Two things:

A) So my car's check engine light came on the other day. I pulled the codes with my AP. P0070 which reads "Request AT Mil on". Took it to the dealer and they told me that the harness for the sensors was broken which caused it to throw false (or no) data. They zip tied it together (which they hilariously charged me an hour for ). The kicker was that he said it would take 12-14 hrs of labor to fix it for real because of how its routed under the engine and into the dash. The part I'm talking about is [poorly] circled in red. And one of the lines in they are talking about is [even more poorly] outlined in yellow (please ignore the black line if you can spot it. I stole the picture which had some other stuff [poorly] highlighted -

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/csully0230/underhood-1.jpg

 

When I get home I will actually take pictures of the harness that is broken. Two concerns are- 1) do they really even need to reroute all the wiring? I know you guys can't tell until I get a pic up of the piece that's actually broken. 2) If they do...14 hrs ?? That seems like a crap load of time...even for an overestimating dealership.

 

On to problem (B)

When I was at the dealer for A) The service tech told me that my car was about 1/2 quart low on oil. Not sure how because I always check it. Anyways the guy told me they went ahead and put a half quart of oil in (they had done this already- without asking me if I wanted them to) and I said "ya great" because I was focused on the issues at hand. I was driving into my driveway when all the sudden the CEL came back on. At first I thought that my original problem had reared up again but the codes say P0021 and P0011. Will check the oil pressure later today. Could have screwed my turbo but I'm praying it's not (it was acting quite normal). I did immediately realize that the dealership doesn't use fully synthetic oil which my car has been running for many miles now. Could that create the problem I'm experiencing if I really didn't drive it all that far? I'm going to follow the steps I've found here: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/p0011-p0021-missfire-ocv-oil-flow-control-valve-141880.html?t=141880 as well as in the link within that thread to see if that's the problem. I have also read it could be a belt issue and my serpentine does seem to be making louder than normal noises. Any other suggestions/opinions?

 

Edit: I am idling at 1500 RPMs. I'll check my belt in more detail soon.

 

Any help is appreciated.

ugh. sorry to hear about your problems.

i had the dreaded P0021 code thrown when i was a good 1000 miles from home. car would end up stalling out (after a very rough idle). but yeah, turns out i just need to change/replace the driver's side OCV (took me 5 minutes and i'm a noob). it was an $80 or so part from fredbeans. i called a local dealer (for kicks) and they said it would be at least a $300 job. ROFL.

 

but there is a thread on this DIY job...i know i posted in there.

A) Not sure if the pins pop out of the big connector you circled, but nonetheless there are certainly much easier and faster ways of fixing it. You only need all the pins to connect to each other. If you have a leak where water can get in, tape it up. If the connectors won't stay together, get creative or just maintain the zip tie fix. There is no functional reason that zip ties aren't the best way to go for performance and cost effectiveness.

 

If you have some spare time, buy a really good crimp tool and a couple sets of these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MSD-Ignition-8186-Electrical-Wiring-Connector-Deutsch-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4cf0215cb6QQitemZ330446232758QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_3122wt_897 to make a completely new connector. This last option is a bit out there, but a hell of a lot better than replacing the stock harness, which is what the dealer wants to do.

I had that same code come up on me out of no where one morning (saturday).....I called the dealership and they said to bring it in but before i could it had turned itself off (Sunday morning) Nothing they can do now, but it was the same P0070 code that you had.

^code should be stored in memory for them to pull.

Thanks Climber. The ties are holding it together just fine for now...however I think I'm going to go with the last thing you mentioned...eventually. I'm anal so I'll tape up up the harness to avoid any water seepage. My main concern right now is problem B) so I think I'll just keep it as a hack job for a little while until I find the time.

I had that same code come up on me out of no where one morning (saturday).....I called the dealership and they said to bring it in but before i could it had turned itself off (Sunday morning) Nothing they can do now, but it was the same P0070 code that you had.

 

Probably wouldn't hurt to check your wiring connections but there could be several reasons you triggered the code.

Oh and just had my GF start the car and check the idle. It's idling at 1500 RPMs....I'm almost sure it's my belt. I'll be home soon to take a good look.

Harness for the sensor? What sensor? This sounds to me like a speed sensor harness. My dealer also quoted me around 10-12 hours of labor alone because they were going to drop the tranny and take the housing apart. My local shop did it in 2 hours. I don't know if it's the same issue you are seeing. You can read about how I had to deal with it here

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/sport-light-blinking-84513.html

Well problem B was being diagnosed at the dealer today. No oil pressure....WTF. If you have any thoughts leave them I am too aggravated to type anything out.

OCV's. Then, if you've starved your turbo enough...onto replacing that.

Before I took the car to the dealer I checked the OCV's. Had plenty of oil on 'em. Pin slid fine but still cleaned em up a little. Put more oil on them. Then still had problems so I gave up and took it to the dealer. They think the oil pump...but they are going to figure it out today. I am just too frustrated/busy to bother with it myself.

I haven't read much here, but I don't get the feeling your dealer service center has qualified people.

^That feeling has been creeping into the back of my mind as well.... I am at a loss for what to do next

Get SOA involved if you haven't already and if there's another dealer you can go to, do that as well. Tell SOA about the situation and exactly why you are starting to doubt the abilities of the techs at the dealer.

Ok, well finally solved everything...I think. They took the oil pump out and said they needed to take it apart to find out what was wrong. They took it apart and told me there was metal inside that was clogging something resulting in zero pressure. He said he was almost 100% sure the metal didn't come from the block. I asked them to save the metal so I could formulate my own opinion (I would be under the impression it is from when my stock turbo blew this past fall/winter - probably some bearings. I had thought I checked this thouroughly enough but perhaps not). They said "sure" but upon getting there the metal was misplaced or thrown away or whatever. All in all they ended up charging me a for about 8 hours of work just to drop the pan and clean it, take the oil pump out, remove the clog and and put the pump back in. He then said a complete teardown would be beneficial but for the cost it wasn't worth it based on what he saw. Car works and seems to run without a hitch but I still am not happy with these folks. I don't think they will be seeing repeat business from me.

Well problem B was being diagnosed at the dealer today. No oil pressure....WTF. If you have any thoughts leave them I am too aggravated to type anything out.

 

 

Some here have the the relief valve in the pump stick open......or the pickup tube cracked.

This is the cynic in me but sounds like they disconnected the oil pressure sensor, then "pulled" the pump apart to find the"metal" and "cleaned it up" for a fraction of what they "should" charge you. It's funny how you just had problems when you brought it to them, something completely un-related, and ended up "misplacing" the shavings.... Sorry to say but unless you have known other people to deal with them, I would contact SOA and see if you can get your money refunded, since it sounds like the dealership is trying to scam you...

 

oh yea and you "must get 14 hours" to change out your harness, instead of the 4-5 to rebuild the plug.

This is the cynic in me but sounds like they disconnected the oil pressure sensor, then "pulled" the pump apart to find the"metal" and "cleaned it up" for a fraction of what they "should" charge you. It's funny how you just had problems when you brought it to them, something completely un-related, and ended up "misplacing" the shavings.... Sorry to say but unless you have known other people to deal with them, I would contact SOA and see if you can get your money refunded, since it sounds like the dealership is trying to scam you...

 

oh yea and you "must get 14 hours" to change out your harness, instead of the 4-5 to rebuild the plug.

 

Your cynicism is appropriate. These are my thoughts exactly...it just all sounds a little sketchy. There's just little grounds for an actual argument where I would gain anything.

Dude, let me know if you need help with the wiring.

Will do. I probably could use a hand. If for no other reason than to hit you back from when you helped me out the last time. :redeyes:

 

It's really just a matter of time. I've got a lot of things on my plate right now so I'm not 100% on when I'll get to it. For now, the zip tie is proving to be a warrior. I'll keep you posted though. Thanks man.