So it's inspection time and my check engine light is on. It all goes back to a repair gone wrong (didn't know my mechanic was a drunk ). Anyway, he put back the wiring harness wrong so it got tangled around the alternator and shorted out the distributor and something else I forget (cost me $1000 I remember that). In the course of the repair and the repair of the repair the check engine light went on. My (sober I think) mechanic said the computer was reading the parts as busted, but they were fine (we just replaced them and if they were busted then my car wouldn't crank). Therefore, we think the "computer" is partially shorted.

Mark Jacobson Toyota quoted me $1000-1500 just for the part. But, I found what I think is the same part used for 100-150.

Is there more than one part on the engine refered to as the "computer"? Any thoughts, I know little about cars.

6/26/2006 2:13:23 PM

god i hate mark jacobson and his fucking ads

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 2:23 PM. Reason : oh and why don't you talk to the original mechanic about the botched repairs and get him to fix it?]

6/26/2006 2:22:24 PM

Only one thing called a computer.

Sounds like you got tore a new asshole.

6/26/2006 2:29:25 PM

^^ original mechanic a friend of my parents and lives 200+ miles away. Not to mention he might make it worse.

Thing that bugs me the most is it runs great, mechanically it's fine.

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 2:34 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2006 2:34:35 PM

Original mechanic should be responsible for any damages he does.

6/26/2006 2:35:37 PM

i sold my 96 camry last summer - i owned it from 2001-2005 from 46,000 to 110,000miles - the only thing i did apart from normal maintenance on it was to buy a new O2 sensor (if you can consider that not normal at 100k) - but it was just about to have everything fall apart

96 LE American Edition - what a great car

6/26/2006 2:37:12 PM

^ ya, I'm just a little past that with mine, unfortunately I don't have the time or $$ to find a new car right now, I just want to make the problem go away... I've heard the Camry runs good till like 180,000 miles is that wrong?

6/26/2006 2:53:03 PM

Look up some people you went to high school with, someone is bound to be somewhere that does inspections-even if it's Texaco! OR wait till someone on here pm's you to come to their shop! Try the battery cable thing (guess its too late now if you're gonna pay all that to get it fixed)

Inspection rate is the same all over the state, the only difference is if that county requires OBD testing. I just got mine inspected today, and they told me all of that. It's $9.50 if it's older than 1996, or $30.00 if newer (mine ). My inspection had been out since April. The bad thing is that even though it's getting done again in June, they still stamp April-but whatever!

Quote :

"Thing that bugs me the most is it runs great, mechanically it's fine"

But don't you know that whatever is wrong with it, you're poisioning the atmosphere. All the babies, old people, and asthmatics. YOU'RE CONTRIBUTING TO SMOG!!

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 3:00 PM. Reason : ]

6/26/2006 2:53:48 PM

^ first of all its a 96, and there is no way to pas it in nc with the mil on

6/26/2006 3:27:40 PM

what did the original repairs deal with? did you have an electrical fire, was he replacing the alternator? my vote goes for a new o2 sensor then maybe a new cat. and it should be fixed. it might be running fine, but i have no idea about the sensors on camries. it could eventually lean out the mixture to try and correct itself and it will lead to more problems down the road. but dont take it to mark jacobson

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 3:31 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2006 3:30:41 PM

^^Not 'legally'.

6/26/2006 4:54:44 PM

So, I'm probably going to need to find a used computer for the car. Fred Anderson also said the part was upwards of $1000 ( which is bloody rediculous considering it's a 10 year old computer ). So where should I go locally, I really don't have enough time to for internet parts,

What's a good local salvage yard?

Thanks for all your comments so far, except

Quote :

"But don't you know that whatever is wrong with it, you're poisioning the atmosphere. All the babies, old people, and asthmatics. YOU'RE CONTRIBUTING TO SMOG!! "

no I'm not anymore than usual, the car runs fine and it's not a sensor problem. Like I tried to explain earlier the computer is broke, it says the "spring-tensioner" and I think the "igniter coil" are broken, but they are not broken, I had them replaced and the car wouldn't even start if they were. (I know the computer says this because the last mechanic was very puzzled until he stoped relying on the accuracy of the computer's diagnostics )

As far as the source of the trouble, it was weird to begin with the car ran fine, then after 3 hours of travelling it started lurching then died in Greensborough. I had it towed to Durham where I knew a mechanic fairly well. He looked at it for a while and like I said was really puzzled until they took a cover off the alternator (or some cover near the alternator) and found that the drunk mechanic had incorrectly positioned the wires so that they got tangled and shorted out. He put some new wires in and replaced the igniter coil and the distributor and it's fun fine since then except that the computer thinks the car is messed up. But basically it's not, I've run it for 3 months since then and I've gotten the same or better mileage I did before. If the light had just come on at some random time it'd be different, I'd replace the oxygen sensor or whatever and go on with my life. grrrr...

6/26/2006 5:32:06 PM

^Did you miss the " " face after that comment? I was joking-I'm not one of "those people". That was the point of the blanket statement-it was a joke against the environment nazis. Guess you missed it.

(I wouldn't have suggested non-legal measures, friends who can get ahold of some inspection stickers, or waiting on a pm from someone willing to do it for you anyway if I wasn't picking about that statement.)

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 6:01 PM. Reason : ]

6/26/2006 5:58:52 PM

Has anybody CLEARED the DTCs yet?

I don't see any reason for a bigtime stink over this.

And I definitely wouldn't mess with the computer until I had verified that there were no shorts between each sensor and the computer connector. THEN I would start worrying about a computer.

Did the last tech do either of these things yet?

6/26/2006 6:24:35 PM

^I'll likely find out tomorrow.

6/26/2006 7:21:40 PM

maybe try another dealer?

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 11:23 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2006 11:22:51 PM

Quote :

"^Did you miss the " " face after that comment? I was joking-I'm not one of "those people". That was the point of the blanket statement-it was a joke against the environment nazis. Guess you missed it. "

oops, sorry, humor is somewhat lost on me today.

Quote :

"Has anybody CLEARED the DTCs yet? I don't see any reason for a bigtime stink over this. And I definitely wouldn't mess with the computer until I had verified that there were no shorts between each sensor and the computer connector. THEN I would start worrying about a computer. Did the last tech do either of these things yet?"

What's a DTC? I'm pretty clueless with cars really. The last mechanic though the short was in the computer. I tried the disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes thing, it worked....












for 3 seconds

I've heard there is a month temporary inspection pass if you fail on say emissions? Has anyone else heard of this? My source did it a couple years back and it seems these regulations keep changing... if I can get a free month that'll give me more options. Hope it's the case, otherwise looks like I'll be avoiding the police for a few weeks, gulp.

6/27/2006 1:10:04 AM

Yup. You got 30 days to comply if you fail.

In reality, you have about 3 or 4 months...at least until they send you a letter in the mail. You usually have 30 days after they send the letter to you to get your shit in order and have the car inspected (and passed) before you're slapped with a 250 dolla fine.

DTC = diagnostic trouble codes.

6/27/2006 1:17:23 AM

Sounds good, thanks for the info. I think my parents who live in a county free of envirowacko constraints are about to become the proud owners of a 1996 toyota camry.

btw, in the inspection if there was some way I could physically extinguish the light, if the emissions were still on the level could I pass? Do they just check the exauhst, or do they do that and hook up to the computer?

6/27/2006 1:45:10 AM

Actually, it doesn't matter what county you live in now. ALL cars '96 and newer are OBD-II compliant, and have to pass emissions testing. Basically, they hook up to your diagnostics port and read what your car's computer tells them.

If there are ANY error codes pertaining to emissions and your MIL is illuminated (your check engine light), the car fails.

It doesn't matter which county you're in...

6/27/2006 1:50:14 AM

did iredell county go to emissions testing? its been a few years since i've been.

6/27/2006 1:59:42 AM

Quote :

"Not 'legally'. "

no, there is no way to pass an obdII, you scan the old sticker, do the safety shit, plug it in, it verifies the vin with the sticker and plate, and dials the dmv before you even know whether or not it passes, then you have to scan the new sticker before you put it on. you could cheat with the pre 95 in the old emissions sniffer, of which i will not divulge any details and plead the fifth, but not the obdII, its all done by the computer, nothing the tech can fuck with, unless you kept a stock of random computers with all tests complete, always plugged in, for every type of vehicle

6/27/2006 10:21:01 AM

Quote :

"Actually, it doesn't matter what county you live in now. ALL cars '96 and newer are OBD-II compliant, and have to pass emissions testing. Basically, they hook up to your diagnostics port and read what your car's computer tells them. "

Since when? I know I paid $9.50 to inspect my 2004 Honda.

[Edited on June 27, 2006 at 11:34 PM. Reason : ?]

6/27/2006 11:27:36 PM

^my 2004 mazda has been 9.50 the two times i've had it inspected cause that is only for "safety inspection". they couldn't run emissions testing because mazda/nc dmv hadn't gotten the emissions testing set yet...atleast thats what i was told by the dealership

6/30/2006 4:26:26 PM

Quote :

"I've heard the Camry runs good till like 180,000 miles is that wrong?"

My '95 Camry had over 160k miles on it and still ran perfectly. My uncle bought it from us, and he says it's still in great shape now.

6/30/2006 5:36:00 PM

I took my truck in to have plugs changed and to put a new belt on. They had to take my radiator out just to put the belt on. when i got my truck back the check engine light is now on. Im gonna run it by advance auto to check codes. I wonder if the work they did just tripped some sensor or if they forgot to hook something back up If they screwed something up is it too much to ask for them to fix it???

7/1/2006 9:29:04 AM

No, make sure they fix it. Most likely it will take some grief, but honestly unless you tell the shop 'no', there is no reason a car should walk out their door with a trouble light on.

7/1/2006 10:34:54 AM