Re: Ford Ka cat ...


"Clint Sharp" <clint@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3GhC8TGFzUWIFwN7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In message <tiT5k.9179$iv3.2830@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Arfa Daily
<arfa.daily@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
Hi all

Any thoughts, insights, advice etc appreciated.

1. Just because the dealer told you it was the cat doesn't mean they are
correct (or honest).

2. Ditch your garage, find one that has their own diag gear and knows how
to use it, yours doesn't have the gear to reset the warning light so they
aren't reading the codes either. They are guessing about the fault based
on what you're telling them, if it all goes titsup and the fault doesn't
go away, guess who they'll blame! You could end up buying a cat only to
find it's something completely different and the fault reappears a few
hundred miles later when the new cat stops working.

3. Scan tools *only* give an indication of the fault, it's often not cut
and dried that the reported fault is caused by the component named by the
scan tool or even the 'obvious' one.

4. Cats and O2 Sensors are notoriously easy to make mistakes with,
especially when the fitter takes the codes as gospel because few mechanics
actually understand combustion and emissions control systems and how one
end of the system is affected by the other.

5. If it's low mileage, unless she's done something monumentally stupid,
it possibly just needs a good thrashing and the light turning off (It may
even go off on its own after said Italian tune up.)

TIA Arfa



--
Clint Sharp

Thanks for the comments, all. I was assuming that as the diagnosis was made
by main dealers Allen Ford, that they would have got it right. Am I wrong to
assume this ? Are main dealers' service personel not sufficiently properly
trained in the interpretation of fault codes on their own dealership
vehicles, to be able to make a definitive diagnosis ? Heaven knows where we
go from here, if that's not the case ... If I can't trust what *they* say,
then I really don't know whether I can suggest that she goes elsewhere and
seeks a second opinion, for which she is going to have to shell out yet more
wonga over what she already has. And if they come up with a different
diagnosis, what then ?

I don't know off the top of my head what the mileage is, but I do know that
she doesn't do all that much in it herself, and is unlikely to have done
anything as you say "monumentally stupid". She did say to me though that it
is not running well, and feels "ill".

FWIW, I seem to remember that some time ago, she did have another occurence
of an engine warning light coming on, and that was, as you say, a faulty
oxygen sensor, which was duly replaced. I don't know which one though.

You are correct about the other garage that I spoke to. They are just my
local village garage where we have general servicing and MOTs done on our
'bog standard' cars. They are reasonably cheap, and honest, and I have been
using them for 30 years. They do have a basic hand-held OBD analyser, but
they freely admit that they are not specialists in the field of electronic
engine management, and for that reason, have a 'mobile' specialist that they
can call in. They were just quoting me to do the basic job of replacing the
cat, and getting the fault light reset, based on what the main dealer had
said needed doing, and which I trusted to be a full and correct analysis of
the problem.

So, I really don't know what to recommend now that she does. 690 quid is a
lot of dosh in anyone's book, and she hasn't really got it, and neither have
I at the moment.

Arfa


.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Ford Ka cat ...
    ... Just because the dealer told you it was the cat doesn't mean they ... guessing about the fault based on what you're telling them, ... Cats and O2 Sensors are notoriously easy to make mistakes with, ...
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