A friend called me last week to tell me about her first negative car repair experience, a classic situation into which anyone can fall.
She bought her car to a shop because of a problem that has to do with the engine suddenly dying while she’s driving. There was nothing else together with this problem. The engine would just die all so sudden, with no warning whatsoever.
The mechanic told her to replace the fuel pump because it was not providing enough pressure for the fuel to reach the engine. After paying for the new pump and for labor, my friend brought her car home. The car was normal for a few days, until the same thing happened again—the car suddenly dying without any warning.
My friend returned the car to the shop and complained about the problem. The mechanic looked into it and then said that the regulator and the filter needed a replacement. My friend, who was growing a bit suspicious but was in dire need to have her car fixed, gave in.
But, the same thing happened—she got the car back and the problem returned. This time, she brought the car to another shop. Upon inspection, the shop found that it’s the inertia switch that’s failing. This switch is a component that shuts off the fuel when the car gets in an accident in order to protect the passengers from possible fuel hazards like fire. When the switch is damaged, it may prevent the fuel from reaching the engine.
True enough, when the mechanic pressed the reset button found on the switch, the car got back to its original shape. That was a temporary solution, though, and the switch had to be replaced. My friend agreed to the replacement, and the car ran fine since then.
According to the second mechanic, the old switch shows signs of wear that had most probably started for a long time, so there’s a great probability that it was the reason for the previous problems and not the fuel pump, regulator, and filter that have been replaced.
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