Well, I have an update to my story. I picked up the car at the dealer with a tow truck today, and had a chance to talk to the service manager. He said that this sometimes happens, and that I shouldn't waste my time trying to figure out anything since the most competent tech in the area (his words) said the engine was no good. They could of course, replace it a a cost of $3,800. He gave me a bill for $63 for diag. time which states in writing that the engine needs to be replaced due to lack of compression. After getting the car to my firend's house, we immediately performed our own compression test which revealed #1 had 155 lbs, 2 & 3 had 170 lbs. and #4 checked in at 165 lbs. Still had no spark.
After a few hours of checking power to all connections with a meter (everything good), my friend noticed that the crank angle sensor was unplugged. Plugged it back in, buttoned everything up, and it runs as good as it ever did, even with 3 month old gas in it.
My situation now is peculiar. I'm not positive what to do about the dealership. It's obvious that the sensor was unplugged on purpose, since the harness for it was tucked up 6 inches above the sensor. It did not fall off. The metal retaining clip on it was intact. I have a feeling that I was the target for an expensive repair bill, or at the very least the dealership was grossly incompetent at diagnosing the issue.
The A/C compressor was probably on its way out, I have no problem with that. But telling me I needed a new engine because of that? I don;t think so. Therefore I am pretty pissed at the whole bunch of them right about now. I intend to speak with the service manager on Monday morning (calmly) and intend to drive the car there and volunteer to perform a compression test in front of him.
At the very least, I want my $63 back. Am I being unreasonable about this? I just want to know how to present this to the dealer.
Thanks for the thoughts....
John
