Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches Capitol CEG Starter went bad...

At least, I'm presuming the starter's broken. Turning the key causes a metallic buzzy shriek that stops as soon as the key's released. Does anyone have a recommendation for an Alexandria-area shop that can fix this (I've been going to Wiygul for a while now), and how much it might cost?

Yep, that's what it sounded like when my starter went bad.

I'd recommend Ourisman's World of Ford on Rt. 1. That's where I bought my car and the only Ford dealer I'll let work on it. The guy who works on my car is Jim McNutt, but I assume the other techs are capable as well.

As for the cost, not sure, mine was under warranty when it happened.

EDIT: what is "Wiygul"?

Wiygul Automotive, which is a local non-dealership auto shop that's got a couple of locations. The one I've gone to a lot is over by the Home Depot on Pickett. We've used them for a fair amount of service, but that's because I got a discount service package card from them.

Thanks for the info!

Man...Ourisman is hammering me right now on this work. First, the guy says the starter's fine, but the car was stalling (which it never did on me). He said he had to replace the Idle Air Control Motor, and was cleaning carbon(?) from the manifold and EGR (I think), etc. Then he said it's going to be a total cost around $650! I'm going to request an itemized invoice be faxed to me before I go to pick it up, so I can review it and see if there's anything contestable.

Who is your service guy? I can't really vouch for any of the guys other than Jim, since he's the only one I know.

My mechanical knowledge is somewhat limited, so I don't know if what you mentioned is reasonable or not. Did the car not start at all, or just some of the time?

I know with mine, when it was dying the starter worked intermittently, and when I rolled the car a few feet, the starter would then catch.

Which contour (svt, v6, 4cyl?) do you have? I think somewhere I read that the IAC valve is a somewhat common problem. Also, try posting what has happened in the problems forum, they should be able to say whether the work they're doing is called for or not.

EDIT: I believe they are supposed to tell you the cost before doing any work, unless you told them to just fix it regardless. Did they call you before hand?

Well, Jim did the work on my car. The bill broke down as about $415 for labor, $50 for tow and the rest for parts/misc. Basically, what he did was replaced the IAC before he called me (at least, it sounded like that), and said he was cleaning carbon out of the engine (throttle body, EGR valve passage). Didn't start the fuel injection service until after he called me, but that was "only" $90 on top of the first $480 charge. And then my CEL came on AGAIN this morning after I'd asked him to check on that yesterday.

I do appreciate your recommendation...I prefer not going in totally blind, but since I'd thought I had a starter problem that would cost only around $350, finding a bill that almost doubled was a shock. And I still need to get a recall item taken care of. BTW, it's a 95 LX V6.

Damn, sorry it ended up being so much. Does the car at least start now without problems? I'd tell Jim sooner rather than later about the CEL. Since its likely a side effect of the work, I would think you should be able to get that resolved WITHOUT any cost to you, assuming the bill sais that it was dealt with.

Yeah, it starts fine. It started fine before Saturday night, too, which is why it was odd. I need to make an appointment about a recall anyway, so I'll nuke two birds with one bomb.