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Car Repair Advice Needed ASAP


ChrisL

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My son took his 2013 Nissan Sentra to Firestone as the check engine light is on and it frequently hesitates when accelerating. 

They recommended we replace some intake hoses and the O2 sensor. Except they are telling him it has to be a factory O2 sensor, the aftermarket sensor won’t stop the check engine light from coming on.

i call BS but wanted to get insights if anyone knows.  I can’t find anything online...

 

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I suggest that he takes his car to a Nissan dealership. It might cost more but a better chance to have it fixed right. And if it needs a factory O2 sensor, it's going to cost Nissan prices anyway.

I'd think it likely that the Mass Air Flow (MAF) / Mass Air Pressure (MAP) might be the culprit. 

Did they say what the ODBII codes were?

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1 minute ago, JerrySTL said:

I suggest that he takes his car to a Nissan dealership. It might cost more but a better chance to have it fixed right. And if it needs a factory O2 sensor, it's going to cost Nissan prices anyway.

I'd think it likely that the Mass Air Flow (MAF) / Mass Air Pressure (MAP) might be the culprit. 

Did they say what the ODBII codes were?

Thanks, no he didn’t. I’m going there shortly with him.

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1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

Many auto parts stores will read the codes for you.

My brother can too but I was more concerned about the OEM part. 

I went down there and went over everything with the shop and got them to knock about $400 off the repair and we are going with the OEM sensor.

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10 hours ago, ChrisL said:

My brother can too but I was more concerned about the OEM part. 

I went down there and went over everything with the shop and got them to knock about $400 off the repair and we are going with the OEM sensor.

They knocked $400 off the bill? How much was the bill? Most O2 sensors are under $100.

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With Nissan, sticking with OEM parts are usually the best route to go.  The aftermarket support generally isn't huge for most vehicles, so aftermarket parts don't always work well.  I'd say the Firestone guys are probably right in this case.  Of course, if you poke around on forums, you can find out what brand the OEM parts are then order them and replace them.  I'm sure they are a name brand, but not sure who Nissan is running for O2 sensors.

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44 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

They knocked $400 off the bill? How much was the bill? Most O2 sensors are under $100.

 

3 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

And what? It may say a bad sensor, but the sensor may be failing from something upstream of it, causing it to go bad. Trouble shooting the problem is what you pay for.

The total bill was $1,200 but it included a bunch of stuff that wasn’t necessary.  I went over the work order and said nope, not doing that, not paying for that, aftermarket on that etc.   The factory upstream O2 sensor was around $550, aftermarket was $380.  I was looking over his shoulder at the screen.  I told them go after market and we’ll roll the dice and he knocked $100 off the factory part and discounted labor so the upcharge was negligible.

We thought about taking it somewhere else but we would be on the hook for the $120 diagnostic fee and then whatever the new new place charged so we kept it there & haggled.

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30 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

And what? It may say a bad sensor, but the sensor may be failing from something upstream of it, causing it to go bad. Trouble shooting the problem is what you pay for.

You will be a lot farther ahead with a bad sensor code than with a check engine light on code.  At least you will know if Firestone is selling you a framit valve.

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Just now, maddmaxx said:

You will be a lot farther ahead with a bad sensor code than with a check engine light on code.  At least you will know if Firestone is selling you a framit valve.

The code doens't tell the the root cause. When my MIL comes on, I only use the dealership.

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When I had my Jetta that light came on often - though in my case it didn't affect how the car ran, so that took away some of the urgency.  I drove that car for over 120K miles and I estimate the check engine light was on for 40K of them.  

I used to take it to the neighborhood guy, who generally did great work.... but it seems like check engine light issues (on German cars perhaps) weren't in his wheelhouse.   At some point I took it to the VW dealer and I never saw that light again.  It cost a little more but they fixed it right.

Guess I can't comment on the aftermarket-vs-OEM question though.

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17 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

The code doens't tell the the root cause. When my MIL comes on, I only use the dealership.

Very true. Reading the codes is one of the first steps in troubleshooting, but certainly not the last. There was a Nissan V6 engine that often put out knock sensor codes. People would see it and change the knock sensor which was an expensive PITA as you had to remove the intake manifold. What the code actually meant was that the engine was knocking and not the sensor was bad. Often just changing the brand of gasoline or going to premium gas fixed the problem.

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Just now, JerrySTL said:

Very true. Reading the codes is one of the first steps in troubleshooting, but certainly not the last.

When I had my Grand Prix I bought the service manual, which was three books. Every trouble code has a flow chart of items to check, and in the correct order. Without this, its a matter of trial and error. And this can cost more than fixing it correctly once.

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I was in getting an oil change the other day.  The kid brings me the PCV and holds a shiny new one beside it.  "Sir, your PCV is looking old and are recommended for replacement at 120,000 km."  How many km's are on the car I ask?  "ah, 42,000". Exactly, put the old one back on and stop dicking with me.  

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Just now, wilbur said:

I was in getting an oil change the other day.  The kid brings me the PCV and holds a shiny new one beside it.  "Sir, your PCV is looking old and are recommended for replacement at 120,000 km."  How many km's are on the car I ask?  "ah, 42,000". Exactly, put the old one back on and stop dicking with me.  

if it ain't broke... ;)

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The need for OEM on an O2 sensor is BS.  As is true with many parts.  Quite often, those parts come of the same line and go in different boxes.  There's nothing terribly special about an O2 sensor for any car that requires it be OEM to send the correct reading.  Quality is an issue, as some aftermarket parts are poorly built, use substandard connector plastic, things like that.  

And always get the codes first,  before agreeing to repairs.  P0457 is usually fixed by removing and putting back the gas cap, but mechanics will sell expensive EVAP repairs.

You can get a bluetooth dongle that plugs into your OBDII port for about $20.  Download the Torque app, pay the $4.95.  You get access to a ton of information  the car knows about itself

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6 minutes ago, 12string said:

The need for OEM on an O2 sensor is BS.  As is true with many parts.  Quite often, those parts come of the same line and go in different boxes.  There's nothing terribly special about an O2 sensor for any car that requires it be OEM to send the correct reading.  Quality is an issue, as some aftermarket parts are poorly built, use substandard connector plastic, things like that.  

And always get the codes first,  before agreeing to repairs.  P0457 is usually fixed by removing and putting back the gas cap, but mechanics will sell expensive EVAP repairs.

You can get a bluetooth dongle that plugs into your OBDII port for about $20.  Download the Torque app, pay the $4.95.  You get access to a ton of information  the car knows about itself

And yes, that will be the first step in diagnosing the problem..........and the second step in protecting your wallet.

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5 hours ago, wilbur said:

I was in getting an oil change the other day.  The kid brings me the PCV and holds a shiny new one beside it.  "Sir, your PCV is looking old and are recommended for replacement at 120,000 km."  How many km's are on the car I ask?  "ah, 42,000". Exactly, put the old one back on and stop dicking with me.  

Yea, I would have been pissed about that. The few times I have had my oil changed at those quicky joints, I tell them to change my oil and to not touch anything else. I have always used aftermarket air filters and change the PCV valves myself.   

One time, after making my request clear, a kid took out my air filter. I immediately asked to talk to the salesman and the manager.  The kid turned white as a ghost. 

I now have a good shop I go to for oil changes. He actually has a local radio show on Sundays. 

Shu Fang 

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11 hours ago, ChrisL said:

 

The total bill was $1,200 but it included a bunch of stuff that wasn’t necessary.  I went over the work order and said nope, not doing that, not paying for that, aftermarket on that etc.   The factory upstream O2 sensor was around $550, aftermarket was $380.  I was looking over his shoulder at the screen.  I told them go after market and we’ll roll the dice and he knocked $100 off the factory part and discounted labor so the upcharge was negligible.

We thought about taking it somewhere else but we would be on the hook for the $120 diagnostic fee and then whatever the new new place charged so we kept it there & haggled.

Just because a dealership is charging $380 for an aftermarket part that doesn’t mean that is what the part actually costs.

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2 hours ago, Longjohn said:

Just because a dealership is charging $380 for an aftermarket part that doesn’t mean that is what the part actually costs.

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Yeah it’s called mark up... I know he/we got hosed but it’ll have to be a learning lesson for my son. He was trying to be independent and then got in over his head & needed to be bailed out.

But hey thanks for posting those prices, I feel soooo much better now...

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10 hours ago, Shu Fang said:

Yea, I would have been pissed about that. The few times I have had my oil changed at those quicky joints, I tell them to change my oil and to not touch anything else. I have always used aftermarket air filters and change the PCV valves myself.   

One time, after making my request clear, a kid took out my air filter. I immediately asked to talk to the salesman and the manager.  The kid turned white as a ghost. 

I now have a good shop I go to for oil changes. He actually has a local radio show on Sundays. 

Shu Fang 

...real men still change their own oil.  I'm appalled by the younger generation.

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Just now, Page Turner said:

...real men still change their own oil.

I used to in my other cars.  I really enjoyed it too.  But, I don't have a garage and this car has a flappy thing that shields the lower part of the engine for aerodynamics that is a pain in the ass to remove.  A lift would make it easier.

But to be honest,  your crazy hippy opinions mean nothing to me.  And I speak for AWWC as well, since he's a bit insane.  You have probably noticed his insanity and he obviously doesn't care about that.

Shu Fang

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5 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Changing oil isn't difficult.  Avoiding government regulations and sneaking into your neighbor's back yard to dump it is hard.

...IKR.  Thirty years ago here in California, I could spread it out on the gravel alley behind the house and rationalize that I was "just keeping the dust down". Which is what I saw them doing some places with big trucks that oiled the gravel backroads here.  Now I have to collect it all in a 5 gallon container (left over from the fire department that used to hold suppression foam.)  Then I have to drive it up to the auto parts store where they have a collection bin.

I'm surprised no one has filed a case and taken this important Constitutional freedom issue up through the courts yet.

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