No fault code but Mechanic says fix it? Should I?
Discussion
Ok, so I had a cold-start issue (rough idling) only in cold weather, called a VAG garage to find out if they can
fix the issue, told me to come in (50 km away distance), and I did this past weekend. He took a look at the car
briefly, ran some kind of diagnostic (not VCDS, maybe another one, on their tablet device), and told me that
there seems to be a much bigger issue, and not just my cold start rough idling.
He said something about the fuel parameters were all off. Unfortunately I didn't see it on his instrument and I should have
asked to see exactly what they were looking at on the instrument when he was revving the engine and holding it for
a few seconds. He said something about fuel parameters always in the negative and it should come back to 0 or positive.
I'm assuming he might have been describing fuel trim?
So he says it would take him about 3 days to find the issue and wants me to keep the car there. Obviously I wasn't prepared
to do that on the spot as I just came in thinking he was going to check the cold start issue and if it was due to RFD (runner flap delete)
or non-ECU tuned RFD, or if it was something else like a leak, bad pcv, etc.
Initial thoughts, he thinks PCV is fine because he said it's a new version (so it was recently changed), but it could either be one
or all of the following: a) blowby tube leak, b) HPFP problem, c) diverter valve problem or d) something about cam shaft or the
part that is beneath the cam follower. He says he'll call me to let me know what they find out quote me how much it would cost
to do the work.
My question is this: I don't have any problems with the car's driving, esp. once it is warmed up...no signs of anything really wrong
as far as driveability, no check engine lights, no fault codes, etc. If there were a serious fuel parameter issue, woudn't that trigger
a fault code ? If a part was failing like HPFP, DV, or it was lean or rich mixture, wouldn't VCDS reveal it?
My VCDS scan doesn't show any fault codes pertaining to that.
Now I'm just wondering if this could be something that mechanics will often try to get the customer to do (that isn't necessarily urgent or required at the moment, but wants you to do it now because of the business and money for them)....or if he's truly being an honest guy and cares
and not just trying to get me to give him business and money.
It helps when you know the mechanic and if he's your friend because you know they aren't just looking at you as a customer and potential profits. They will be honest with you and really tell you if something is serious or just over reaction. In this case, I don't know what to do.
I could just hand him the keys, let him have my car for 3 days and then call me up and tell me all the things he found that needs to get fixed and quote me 2,000 - 3,000 dollars (2K pounds), or do you think if VCDS doesn't show any problems, it's not really serious and I don't need to have this done right now?
Please go easy on me...I'm not looking to upset anyone. Just asking an honest question from a customer's perspective because I know that in business, people just try to upsell all the time, or try to get you to spend more money and I'm not saying he's lying to me. I'm sure there really is a fuel parameter discrepancy, but if it's not so bad that VCDS can't even pull up a fault code, then maybe it's not as urgent to do now? I don't know.
I'm probably going to let him have the car for 3 days and let him call me with a quote on all the work he's going to tell me I have to do....but at the same time, I think I want to pre-record a VCDS scan/log live data while driving the day before just to make sure after I get the car back, nothing has gotten significantly worse. I would be very suspicious if I got the car back and ran the scans and see fault codes suddenly show up.
fix the issue, told me to come in (50 km away distance), and I did this past weekend. He took a look at the car
briefly, ran some kind of diagnostic (not VCDS, maybe another one, on their tablet device), and told me that
there seems to be a much bigger issue, and not just my cold start rough idling.
He said something about the fuel parameters were all off. Unfortunately I didn't see it on his instrument and I should have
asked to see exactly what they were looking at on the instrument when he was revving the engine and holding it for
a few seconds. He said something about fuel parameters always in the negative and it should come back to 0 or positive.
I'm assuming he might have been describing fuel trim?
So he says it would take him about 3 days to find the issue and wants me to keep the car there. Obviously I wasn't prepared
to do that on the spot as I just came in thinking he was going to check the cold start issue and if it was due to RFD (runner flap delete)
or non-ECU tuned RFD, or if it was something else like a leak, bad pcv, etc.
Initial thoughts, he thinks PCV is fine because he said it's a new version (so it was recently changed), but it could either be one
or all of the following: a) blowby tube leak, b) HPFP problem, c) diverter valve problem or d) something about cam shaft or the
part that is beneath the cam follower. He says he'll call me to let me know what they find out quote me how much it would cost
to do the work.
My question is this: I don't have any problems with the car's driving, esp. once it is warmed up...no signs of anything really wrong
as far as driveability, no check engine lights, no fault codes, etc. If there were a serious fuel parameter issue, woudn't that trigger
a fault code ? If a part was failing like HPFP, DV, or it was lean or rich mixture, wouldn't VCDS reveal it?
My VCDS scan doesn't show any fault codes pertaining to that.
Now I'm just wondering if this could be something that mechanics will often try to get the customer to do (that isn't necessarily urgent or required at the moment, but wants you to do it now because of the business and money for them)....or if he's truly being an honest guy and cares
and not just trying to get me to give him business and money.
It helps when you know the mechanic and if he's your friend because you know they aren't just looking at you as a customer and potential profits. They will be honest with you and really tell you if something is serious or just over reaction. In this case, I don't know what to do.
I could just hand him the keys, let him have my car for 3 days and then call me up and tell me all the things he found that needs to get fixed and quote me 2,000 - 3,000 dollars (2K pounds), or do you think if VCDS doesn't show any problems, it's not really serious and I don't need to have this done right now?
Please go easy on me...I'm not looking to upset anyone. Just asking an honest question from a customer's perspective because I know that in business, people just try to upsell all the time, or try to get you to spend more money and I'm not saying he's lying to me. I'm sure there really is a fuel parameter discrepancy, but if it's not so bad that VCDS can't even pull up a fault code, then maybe it's not as urgent to do now? I don't know.
I'm probably going to let him have the car for 3 days and let him call me with a quote on all the work he's going to tell me I have to do....but at the same time, I think I want to pre-record a VCDS scan/log live data while driving the day before just to make sure after I get the car back, nothing has gotten significantly worse. I would be very suspicious if I got the car back and ran the scans and see fault codes suddenly show up.
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