Auto Restoration Assistant software

From : Annonymous

Q: tbone tbonenospam@nc.rr.com wrote dodge ram 1999 318. 4x4 when a catalytic converter gets clogged or goes bad or whatever it does and causes the engine to not be able to run acts as if its ran out of gas does the clog and lack of air flow send messages to the computer that then send a message to the spark plugs not to fire a strong spark no. why would there be any valid reason to reduce the level of spark if the engine detected a problem like this wouldnt it make more sense to light up the check engine light instead. thats a whole other story. the check engine light has been on and off mostly on for the three years that ive had it. this mechanic could not figure out why its on all the time. needless to say i am not taking anything back to him. i dont blame you there. if he is a real mechanic working on modern vehicles he should have as a minimum a basic code reader. so if this truck were given to an inexperienced mechanic this mechanic might think the plugs wires rotor and cap are bad because there isnt a strong spark and when he changes all these and it still wont start he then thinks the computer has gone bad. how did he determine that the spark was weak im not sure. then it would be difficult to know if he has any clue as to what may be going on. does this sound like something that could happen cause i think its exactly what is happening to me. ive had my truck in the shop since dec 6th. its now january 5th. the mechanic first ruled out the fuel pump then he said it needed new plugs wires rotor and cap. then he said he still cant get it to run couldnt get a good spark so he thought it was the computer gone bad. so he bought a used one after we ourselves looked around and found one for way under the $400.00 he wanted to charge us and had the truck towed to a dodge repairshop so they could flash the computer. now since the truck has been at this dodge place the same mechanic calls us and says he recently discovered that this truck had a recall for catalytic converters and that we are getting a new one free of charge. recall huh lol. perhaps he might want to supply you with this recall notification and if you are the origional owner of the vehicle why didnt you get the notice yourself it is possible that it went bad and if so would be covered by the federal emmission warranty if you were under 80000 so it in fact would be no charge. we are not the original owner and its over 102000. then you probably wouldnt get a recall notice. what i think happened is this. it was the catalytic converter all along causing the symptoms that he couldnt diagnose. and when the truck ended up at the dodge place with skilled mechanics he was told what the real problem was. being that he now would look like a fool if he told us it was the catalytic converter all along even after i asked him if he had looked into it being the catalytic converter and he said but that has nothing to do with the spark being weak. and we didnt really need the new plugs wires rotor cap and computer he made up the story about there being a recall so we would think that wed actually still have to pay for all the new uneeded parts he just put in. he is correct in saying that the converter has nothing to do with spark energy. since it is your vehicle you should be able to go to the dealership where he had it serviced and ask them exactly what they did to it and their opinion on the problems and why it didnt run. how far off am i it is hard to say. remember that anything you get here is nothing more than others opinions as none of us has actually seen the vehicle. for a more valid opinion you might want to say a little bit more about what happened to the vehicle that sent it to this mechanic in the first place. did it break down suddenly it died on a short trip to town. all the same symptoms of it running out of gas except my wife was able to drive it 3 miles back home not being able to go over 15-20 miles per hour. when i ran out of gas before i went about 100 yards and it died. we put gas in it couldnt get it to start. so it went to the shop. it could be a failed converter causing those symptoms loss of power and this would have nothing to do with the level of spark. it is possible that your mechanic misdiagnosed your problem and replace a lot of parts for nothing. the only real chance you might have to find the truth is to speak with the dealer that replaced the converter and find out how bad of shape it was in if they still remember and are willing to tell you. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving .