96 Isuzu Trooper "Check Trans" and "Check Engine" Light (H..

Well, I finally did it. I took the truck to the shop. Just as I thought. It
was only a sensor that malfunctioned. The O2 Sensor to be exact. Total cost
to replace the sensor: $351, labor and part.

I feel like I just bent over for the Isuzu Dealership. The diagnostic alone
cost $88. Total time of fix was 2 hours. I waited at the shop to peek at the
work, all they did to run diagnostic was plug it into an electronic reader.
It took 5 minutes...$88. That's sick! The part is no bigger than a thin
light bulb. It looks like it just needed to be unplugged, and plugged back
in. I didn't stay for the whole show. But as soon as I got home from the
shuttle van, they called within half an hour to tell me it was fixed.

I wonder if another shop could've done it for alot less.


"Alfred B" <alfredB18 DeleteThis @prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:9b817d66.0403010121.76666b48@posting.google.com...
 > "Kiy Oting" <kytingpal DeleteThis @cox.net> wrote in message
news:<vAf%b.13531$1k.8547@okepread01>...
  > > Can someone shed some advice on what may be the possibilities and fix
for
  > > this? Initially, the check engine light came on and off for a period of
5
  > > months. It started this past Summer. I pulled the battery to reset it,
in
  > > which the light did disappear for a while. Then it came back on, and
went
  > > off again, this cycle of on and off continued.
  > >
  > > Recently, just yesterday, the "check trans" begin flashing. My Isuzu
Trooper
  > > has 92,000 miles. The automatic transmission runs smooth, shifts nicely
  > > during acceleration and deceleration. I recently made an appointment to
drop
  > > the truck off at the shop. Does anyone have any insight into this?
 >
 > Find a good shop and get your codes checked!
 >
 > Thank goodness for computer diagnostics...no telling how many guesses
 > you'd take at fixing your rig if it was carbed!<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 96 Isuzu Trooper "Check Trans" and "Check Engine" Light (H.. 

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 23:36:45 -0600, Kiy Oting wrote:

 > Well, I finally did it. I took the truck to the shop. Just as I thought. It
 > was only a sensor that malfunctioned. The O2 Sensor to be exact. Total cost
 > to replace the sensor: $351, labor and part.
 >
 > I feel like I just bent over for the Isuzu Dealership. The diagnostic alone
 > cost $88. Total time of fix was 2 hours. I waited at the shop to peek at the
 > work, all they did to run diagnostic was plug it into an electronic reader.
 > It took 5 minutes...$88. That's sick! The part is no bigger than a thin
 > light bulb. It looks like it just needed to be unplugged, and plugged back
 > in. I didn't stay for the whole show. But as soon as I got home from the
 > shuttle van, they called within half an hour to tell me it was fixed.
 >
 > I wonder if another shop could've done it for alot less.


RTFM. The O2 sensor costs something like $35 or $50 from Bosch. The O2
light comes on every 80,000 miles; it's a standard service interval.

The reason the diag costs so much is because the machine itself costs $$$,
and it takes up shop floor space, so more $$$. And the mechanic to read
it has to go to school every year, more $$$. Car repair ain't all about
turning wrenches anymore.

If you're at all handy, replacing the O2 sensor is a minor repair. Then
again, how much is your tranny worth? And how much is a new car payment?

I just spent $1,500 on an 1989 Tropper repair bill. Lots of money, but
3 months of payments for a new car....

--Kamus<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 96 Isuzu Trooper "Check Trans" and "Check Engine" Light (H.. 

"Kiy Oting" <kytingpal.RemoveThis@cox.net> wrote in message
news:V9e1c.24055$1k.22288@okepread01...
| Well, I finally did it. I took the truck to the shop. Just as I thought.
It
| was only a sensor that malfunctioned. The O2 Sensor to be exact. Total
cost
| to replace the sensor: $351, labor and part.
|
| I feel like I just bent over for the Isuzu Dealership. The diagnostic
alone
| cost $88. Total time of fix was 2 hours. I waited at the shop to peek at
the
| work, all they did to run diagnostic was plug it into an electronic
reader.
| It took 5 minutes...$88. That's sick! The part is no bigger than a thin
| light bulb. It looks like it just needed to be unplugged, and plugged back
| in. I didn't stay for the whole show. But as soon as I got home from the
| shuttle van, they called within half an hour to tell me it was fixed.
|
| I wonder if another shop could've done it for alot less.
|

I've had a similar experience with getting my TOD on my trooper repaired.
There is a valve, actually a pair of valves connected together on one
bracket, the whole thing about half the size of a door knob, that cost $150+
and the labor was another $150+ for a total bill with tax of $326 at the
Isuzu dealer. The "diagnostic" took about 3 minutes and the repair about 10
minutes. Of course they "stretched" out the apparent time by taking a half
hour just to pull the trooper into one of the bays and then when it was
done, keeping it in their parking lot for another half hour. I could have
replaced the valve in no more than 20 minutes myself. Of course they still
would have wanted "full" price for the valves. I should have done what I did
with them when I owned a cadillac that lost its remote base unit in the
trunk. I went to their parts department and got the part and told them it
was for "Chuck's Service". They had 6 places on their files called "Chuck's
Service" so I just picked one. That saved me about 40% on the part and I
installed it in 10 minutes, without even knowing what I was doing. I'd
watched their technician try to reset the codes in the old one to see if
that's all it was, so I knew how to ground the unit and do that 15 second
operation.

I suspect that the mechanics aren't the one's who are making out on these
repairs. I think the dealers are pocketing half the total cost of the
repairs for themselves and paying the mechanics $10-12 and hour.

Since the experience with the trooper, I contacted my old mercedes (foreign
car) mechanic to see if he would work on my trooper. He said he does work on
troopers. But I think he keeps his prices below, but pretty close to the
dealer, so I don't expect to save too much through him.

Chuck
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