On Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:22:32 -0500, KONGC wrote:
>THANK YOU! My dad and I cleaned the battery cables where they meet at
>the terminal. It had gunk build up which means I need to replace the
>battery cables. All is fine now. I called the mechanices up and told
>them off...wasting my time and money. They are as bad as lawyers and
>vultures. Karma is a b---- and someday it will bite them in the
>derriere.
Now just remember this for next time: Even though the new
side-terminal posts are infinitely better at controlling corrosion,
they still can go bad with acid working it's way between the wires and
the lug stamping.
And with the fancy molded plastic cover on the battery terminal
you'll never see the corrosion building up - but you still have to
replace the cables occasionally. 10 years is when you keep an eye
open and especially if you get slow crank troubles and it isn't the
battery, 20 years is when you start thinking about replacing the
cables 'just because'.
Dealers and mechanics that you don't know have to do "Defensive
Repair Work" - Just like "Defensive Medicine, this means they have to
be overly thorough (change all parts even marginally suspect) so you
don't come back with the same problem again - And if it's a Dealer
with a "we fix it the first time for a lifetime" policy you might want
them to do it for free, so they don't chance it. Ergo, your bill is
almost always quite a bit higher.
If the symptoms are vague and it could be a cheap fix or an
expensive fix, I prefer to do the simple and inexpensive stuff first.
(Often it's stuff that needed to be done for maintenance anyway.)
See if that cures it before changing the expensive parts.
Like an ignition stumble, where you aren't sure if it's the coil,
module, pickup or just the plugs and wires, and the computer or
testing can't help - first you do plugs and wires, rotor and cap (all
maintenance items) then drive it for a while and see.
--<< Bruce >>--
>> Stay informed about: 2002 Taurus SES:check engine light 
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