I Don’t Begrudge The Dealer But… WOW!

I Don’t Begrudge The Dealer But… WOW! was Originally Posted on May 24, 2012 by lavarock

As you probably know, modern cars now have a computer in them which controls manay aspects of the vehicle. It can control the speedometer, speed control the firing of the spark plugs, checking the oxygen content of the air flow, determining whether the fuel is too lean or too rich and adjusting, etc.

It also controls the “Check Engine” light to tell you when you may need maintenance or an oil change. Your dealer can plug a device into your car and read the error codes stored in the computer to help diagnose what is wrong with the system.

Locally, the Honda dealer charges a one man-hour charge to read and diagnose the error codes. Honda charges about $118 to do that! Other places may charge but oftentimes it is free. Afterall, if the error light comes on, something is broken and needs to be repaired. I don’t know about you, but if I took all the trouble to take a car in to the dealer get it diagnosed, I would let the dealer fix the problem.

To Hondas credit, they did tell my friend today that the charge was policy and that IF she knew someone with a reader, they could query the computer themselves and save the fee. My friend knows that I have such a tester and will read her computer error codes for her.

Although WalMart sells those testers, I bought mine on Ebay for (drum roll) $23!

How hard is it to read your own codes? Well the book is 11 pages of paper folded in half. You plug the unit into a connector usually under the dashboard, turn on the unit and press a button or two. The unit may display some codes, which you look up in the book, or perform an internet search for.

So lets say that you read a value of P0298. The explanation is “Engine Oil Temperature Too High”. You might want to check the level of oil in the engine via the dipstick. If that is OK, then you may have a bad sensor. That is a unit with a couple of wires on it and it would screw into the engine block. An auto parts store might have your particular unit in stock and it could be replaced in minutes. Granted, it takes just a bit of work to replace that, however it could save you a couple hundred dollars for someone to diagnose the problem and fix it. Now don’t get me wrong, there can be a few error codes and you may not have an easy problem to fix, but if you can borrow a tester you may find that the problem is something that you can repair easily and cheaply yourself.

Sometimes the error was a one-time event and you can clear the error and turn off the light, then wait to see if it reappears. Usually a major engine problem would reshow that error in minutes.

Another thing these testers do is display the VIN number of the vehicle. It is the same number shown on the dashboard that can be read by eye from outside the vehicle. You know, the same one the police read when they write you a ticket.

The thing to keep in mind is that if the engine VIN and the one on the dash are different, then the engine in the vehicle is not the one shipped with the vehicle. Thus it was replaced. That information might be useful when buying a used car and you may know more about the vehicle than the seller!

I don’t begrudge Honda if they are diagnosing the problem and people are going elsewhere for repairs, but a hundred dollars is way out of line for this, considering that other places do it for free.