cold start problem frustrating me

volksey

2 trips (currently on the third) to the garage, alot of frustration and €950 later i still have an annoying cold start problem

firstly afew weeks ago my car would only start on the second or third attempt of turning the ignition when cold. i figured it was a spark plug problem, bought the plugs and paid my mechanic 50 euro to replace them.... after a day or so the problem still persisted.

so i finally bit the bullet and sent the car in for a fully service and diagnotics check to ultimately service the car, replace anything that was wearing out and sort out the cold start once and for all!
the final damage was €900, which included a service, new front discs and pads and a new air mass meter with sensor (this was indentified as the cold start problem)
i parted with my well earned cash (with a tear in my eye) only for the same bloody cold start problem to come back a less than a week later and it persisted everytime the car was cold. Well i am telling you i cursed and swore so much i nearly got a headline in the Irish Catholic newspaper!:mad:

so i have now sent the car back in (not happy), gave a ring there at lunch and the car was just being hook up to the Diag. machine again. Diagnostics run is all clear on the car, BUT is found to have some cylinder misfiring every so often ( the car was misfiring every so often before all this comotion started). i am now awaiting a phone call in the next hour to tell me wait has to be done.......

Should this not have be fixed originally!!!, i spent €900 euro specifically stating to fix the problem whatever it is (plus a full service) and it came back again.
i will go mad if i have to fork out more cash
Advise please

rccaulfield

volksey wrote: »

2 trips (currently on the third) to the garage, alot of frustration and €950 later i still have an annoying cold start problem

firstly afew weeks ago my car would only start on the second or third attempt of turning the ignition when cold. i figured it was a spark plug problem, bought the plugs and paid my mechanic 50 euro to replace them.... after a day or so the problem still persisted.

so i finally bit the bullet and sent the car in for a fully service and diagnotics check to ultimately service the car, replace anything that was wearing out and sort out the cold start once and for all!
the final damage was €900, which included a service, new front discs and pads and a new air mass meter with sensor (this was indentified as the cold start problem)
i parted with my well earned cash (with a tear in my eye) only for the same bloody cold start problem to come back a less than a week later and it persisted everytime the car was cold. Well i am telling you i cursed and swore so much i nearly got a headline in the Irish Catholic newspaper!:mad:

so i have now sent the car back in (not happy), gave a ring there at lunch and the car was just being hook up to the Diag. machine again. Diagnostics run is all clear on the car, BUT is found to have some cylinder misfiring every so often ( the car was misfiring every so often before all this comotion started). i am now awaiting a phone call in the next hour to tell me wait has to be done.......

Should this not have be fixed originally!!!, i spent €900 euro specifically stating to fix the problem whatever it is (plus a full service) and it came back again.
i will go mad if i have to fork out more cash
Advise please

No u wont have to pay any more cash, but they took advantage of u coz u told them and asked them to do certain things to fix problem rather then telling them the problem and asking for an estimate for repair and thats it u know?

Mr.Diagnostic

Hi,

The bill you paid would probably have been mainly for the service and brakes. Unless you have an issue with that part of the job then I would think that part of the bill should stand.
Another chunk of the bill would likely be for the MAF. If the MAF being fitted did not cure any symptoms then it probably should not have been fitted. It is possible it needed the MAF for other reasons besides the cold start problem.
The only one who can judge the amount of the bill that relates to work carried out successfully is you as you should have an itemised invoice.

I get the impression that you left the car in for a service in the hope that the service would solve the problem. Almost always a service will not cure a fault on a modern car.

Did the garage keep the car overnight to test for the cold start issue while the car was actually cold? If the car is running well all the time, except when cold then this is when the diagnosing needs to be done.

As regards what you should pay for diagnosing the fault. That is never easy to answer. Time is what is charged and with any job that entails looking to find a fault it is impossible to say how long it will take. Also, until the fault has been identified it is impossible to know if it will require parts or not.

You mention a misfire that was there before the service as well as after. If they didn’t fix that or charge to fix it then it should not have been fixed. It may or may not be related to the cold start problem.

HTH


P.S. What type of car is it?