Amazon has the best price on oem sensors all 4 would have been $200. Also I do not know if o2 clear right away or need a certian time / mileage to clear. Some emmsion components do.

 

^ new ones will take some miles to be ready to read.
Not usuAlly a cel, just system not ready.

 

Thanks for the reply. To be fair, not replacing all four was my error; I was being cheap and hadn't realized that it was about the point in mileage where they should be replaced. Although AZ mechanic did say that the others were 'ok'.

Earl

 

Believe me, if I could I would. I was simply told "we're getting all sorts of O2 sensor codes. and a lean mixture code'. I was also told at that point that it was either O2 sensors, a 'leak' or pressure issue of some kind, or 'wiring'. I didn't try to 'out diagnose' them at that point... They DIDN'T suggest at first that the codes pointed to the computer, or the catalytic converters. If they had said 'we're getting codes - but they're in conclusive and therefore it could be this, this, this, or maybe this' right upfront, I probably would have picked the beast up and left

At this stage, they know I'm unhappy at their approach, price, and diagnostic success, and are pushing back.. I don't think I'm about to get the full readout... although when I pay them their ransom, I assume it's reasonable to ask.

Thanks for the response.

 

Again, to be fair, you're talking about prices in Canada BUT yes, an hour of labor for each and $245 (I believe) for each for originals ($1400!) was what made me hesitate.

I actually asked if he could source aftermarket units (which I've come to see are much cheaper) - but instead they 'swapped' existing units with supposedly working ones, and when the codes didn't clear, they put back the originals that were there. $500 gone. Now that I've done some poking around, and given that the beast is 10+ years old with 100+ thousand miles on it, I certainly would have spent $750 to have the four new (aftermarket) units in there, rather than $500 for nothing, but that wasn't offered as an option.

I'm going out to buy some Preparation H

 

Hah.. thanks. I would have RUNNNN...but wanted to be sure I wasn't throwing away a 'well spent' G-note because perhaps this was truly necessary, and I didn't know what I was talking about.

The irony about your Buffalo friends is that the beast had to sit in a parking lot in Buffalo for a week on the way back because I had to get 'export permission' from the US Customs department. Should have posted to this forum then. (smacking my forehead!).

The poor disco is now caught in 'no mans land' - it's been legally exported from the U.S. but I can't get it registered in Canada. And yet if I try to drive it across the border to Buffalo with Arizona plates on it (and my Canadian Passport) it will set off red flags with border patrol.

Yup. I'm snookered.

Not giving up yet tho!

Thanks for the insight.

E

 

Hah, my first thought too I was just going to pull the bulb

But the tests here go by OBD2, and if there are codes that would put that light on, ...FAIL.

 

Agreed. I made the same level headed argument. I was told that 'actually' they spent WAY MORE THAN the number of hours I was being billed for. I didn't say what I was thinking... that that only suggests to me that they're WORSE diagnosticians than it appeared, therefore no excuse

My conundrum ( or perhaps Canuckdrum? is that if I go somewhere else, they'll want to 'pull the codes', and want to replace the O2 sensors, and likely disregard what the current guys did, in which case, the first $1000 is completely down the drain, and, if this problem is truly the kind of gremlin that just isn't easy to track down and does require trial and error, then I'm about to spend it again with a new guy.

That's why I reached out to you folks with some objective experience... to see if I'm being unrealistic, or if they are.

I'm assuming that given the choice between a) paying the grand, and letting these same guys now pull my catalytic converters on the 'chance' that they're the problem ($800 MINIMUM they say) and b) just starting fresh with someone new, and walking away from the grand, you'd lean toward b, based on what you've read?

Thanks for your insight regardless..

 

If I try to swap the O2s myself, and see if it fixes the problem, I only need a generic OBD2 scanner? I had the impression that to diagnose LandRover's systems, I needed to buy a custom 'reader' as well (they look like they're about $250 on ebay).

I don't think I have the time or money to love the Rover THAT much Remember, I already have a SAAB

E

 

I agree about the nature of diagnosis. Just wanted some validation from you guys.

To be fair to my AZ guy, it's my fault he didn't replace them all. I was being cheap.

Re the Toronto guys, I was surprised when they told me I was into $500 in labor to swap the sensors, but not improve or discover anything except that it wasn't the problem.

When they told me they were pretty sure it was the computer, but to pull one out of their parts disco, reprogram it, and install it in mine would cost $500 in time, I didn't see much alternative.

What I didn't expect is that after doing both those things, they still don't know what's wrong, I have no 'improvement' by way of at least having newer, working parts, and that they would ask for hundreds more just to do the next EXPERIMENT.

No, I didn't sign anything, and no they didn't give me a written estimate. Frankly, I don't know what happens if I go try to get my vehicle back... Can they hold it hostage? I presume if I were to take it back they'd 'sue' me for what they considered the damages... but I've never been in a situation like this before.

Usually, I'm not a sucker or uninformed. This just caught me looking like that