Dealer wants $173 just to diagnose CEL!!!

[Fer Echegaray]

Service guy said that even if I already had the diagnostic code (P1400), they still had to hook up the scanner and do the diagnostic themselves, and they charge $173.... :huh:



IF, and only IF they find that it is the DPFE that is failing, it would cost nothing because of the extended warranty (original wty. expired already), however, if it is the EGR, then I'd be stuck with the $173 plus whatever they would charge for the EGR & work time.



That just reminded me why I do not take my ST to them for scheduled maintenance.



Has anyone replaced the DPFE and EGR?

Is it too hard?

Are they expensive?



Thank you!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Yeah, diagnostic charges are often crap!



I had a 2000 Chevy Impala with a multi-function switch (dimmers, turning signals, et al) that was busted (had to pull twice to get it from high/low beam). I took it in to the dealer that sold it to me and told them exactly what the problem was yet they tried to charge me $80 to tell me the multifunction switch had to be replaced. Then, they wanted to charge me $320 for the part, and $80 labor to replace it....($480 total). I did a quick search, found the part for $150, told them I would be willing to pay $200 total for the entire repair, and the loud voices and dickering commenced.



They hemmed and hawed, and finally we agreed to $230 total (strange, they were able to find a replacement part that was lower cost, and waived the diag fee, etc).



Pretty much I told them that I wasn't going to pay a diag fee when I told them exactly what was wrong and I wasn't going to pay overly inflated prices for parts. There options were to be competitive and do the repair on my cost terms, OR give me my car back and not get a dime because other than quoting me a repair price they have provided me NO service and I owed them NOTHING...and I was willing to bring the town police to their shop to pick up my car and sort out the matter.



The car JUST went off warranty mileage wise, and had 8 months remaining year wise, so I was ticked to begin with.



NEVER took the car back to them. Was shopping to buy a new Chevy Blazer at the time, even test driving with the sales dept of the dealer. Told the sales guy that the service dept just lost him a sale.



(sorry for those that remember this story, as I have told it here before).



TJR

 

[Bob McDonald]

Seeing as how the DPFE costs less than $20.00, if I was you, I would replace it myself and see if it fixes it. I just had to replace mine the other day (P0401) and it was easy. Hardest part was pulling if off the hoses. Kind of stuck on.

 

[Fer Echegaray]

I did a quick search and found the DPFE part number:

4U7Z-9J460-AA about $30



I can't find the PN for the EGR tho. But I found an online price of $51.80



So even if I buy both parts and replace them myself I would be paying about the same as 1 hour of their labor...

 

[Fudged Undies]

Fer, run with the dpfe sensor. This has fixed just about everyone's CEL light and when the code is read it brings up some type of egr error. I'd bet on the dpfe sensor being bad, especially since you have an '02.

 

[Tom Higbee]

Do overlook the rubber vacuum elbow!!!

 

[Mark B]

That diagnostic fee seems really high. I've paid $68 & $85 in the IN/KY area. There has to be a zillion Ford or Lincoln/Mercury dealers in San Jose and surrounding areas, have you called around?



Otherwise, DPFE at $20 sounds like its worth a shot. Good Luck

 

[Larry Phillips]

GO TO AUTO ZONE!!!!! THEY CHECK IT FOR FREE!

 

[Fer Echegaray]

fy10lyny, There are several, but I don't think it's worth the time once I've read here what I need to do, I'll save time & money.



Larry, I do have a code reader, so I just went to the dealer to have the part swapped and they came with the history that they had to do the reading themselves.... I'm buying the sensor and replacing it myself.



Thanks all

 

[Josh Tara]

u may not even have to pay the 20 for the dpfe, wont it be covered under recall 02m01?

 

[2]

joshtara, FYI, only 01, 02 and certain 03 models are covered, all the others you need to pay for yourself. I know because I had one of the 03's that wasn't covered and yet the stupid thing went at the exact same milage as my 01 had.