FishTown
New member
My 4runner is currently in the shop for the 4th time in the past 2 weeks. I would've done all of this myself had I known it would've cost me an arm and a leg... but I needed it done quickly because I was going out of town. I've about had it with this shop, but I feel like they need to make things right.
Anyways, the problem: Cylinder 5 misfire. They checked coil packs, plugs and wires and everything checked out so they went on to the fuel injectors. Sure enough, the injector for cylinder 5 was the problem. They called me and said they cleaned it out and that should fix the problem. They test drove it a while to make sure it was running better and they said that it was. I picked it up and paid $430. I was a bit surprised about this seeing as they didn't even replace anything. I paid it and went to lunch. 5 minutes later, it's doing the exact same thing (engine shaking and check engine light on) so I call them and immediately take it back. They take it apart and see that it's the same fuel injector that's causing the problem only it's on cylinder 3 because they swapped positions to diagnose the problem. So they put the new fuel injector in (just the one). I pick it up and it's $490! Of which was a $180 fuel injector, $70 fuel filter (which they say caused the problem in the first place), $20 in fuel because they ran out of gas while test driving, and labor. I wasn't happy about the price and brought them down to $420 and a free oil change card.
My first question is, is that really how much ONE fuel injector costs? I looked them up and saw them ranging from $40-$173. Why such a big difference?
The story goes on (please bare with me): I drive it a couple hundred miles out of town for the weekend and come back. When I get back, it died on me at a stop light. I turn it back on and it starts making a clacking noise (which only lasted about 30 seconds). Sounded like a lifter noise to me. So I take it back to them the next day and explain what happened. They said they couldn't find anything wrong. So I pick it up again. No charge. Again, I had to go out of town. After about 300 miles, same story. Engine shaking, CEL on and blinking now. I bring it back to them the next day and explain that I've been here 4 times now in the last week and a half and have paid $850 and I'm still having the same problem. The CEL is reading cylinder 5 misfire again. But they say they replaced cylinder 3 (because they swapped the two.) I told them I can't afford anymore work but they need to have this fixed. It's been there for 2 days now and they haven't told me what's going on.
Sorry for the long story.
If it's the fuel injector story and I need to get another replaced, I'm going to go pick it up and do it myself. But I'd like to know how difficult it's going to be. I'm still sort of new to working under the hood.
What should I expect to pay for fuel injectors? How much time do you think it will take? I will probably go ahead and replace plugs and wires while I'm at it since she's got about 186k miles.
Thanks for all the help.
Anyways, the problem: Cylinder 5 misfire. They checked coil packs, plugs and wires and everything checked out so they went on to the fuel injectors. Sure enough, the injector for cylinder 5 was the problem. They called me and said they cleaned it out and that should fix the problem. They test drove it a while to make sure it was running better and they said that it was. I picked it up and paid $430. I was a bit surprised about this seeing as they didn't even replace anything. I paid it and went to lunch. 5 minutes later, it's doing the exact same thing (engine shaking and check engine light on) so I call them and immediately take it back. They take it apart and see that it's the same fuel injector that's causing the problem only it's on cylinder 3 because they swapped positions to diagnose the problem. So they put the new fuel injector in (just the one). I pick it up and it's $490! Of which was a $180 fuel injector, $70 fuel filter (which they say caused the problem in the first place), $20 in fuel because they ran out of gas while test driving, and labor. I wasn't happy about the price and brought them down to $420 and a free oil change card.
My first question is, is that really how much ONE fuel injector costs? I looked them up and saw them ranging from $40-$173. Why such a big difference?
The story goes on (please bare with me): I drive it a couple hundred miles out of town for the weekend and come back. When I get back, it died on me at a stop light. I turn it back on and it starts making a clacking noise (which only lasted about 30 seconds). Sounded like a lifter noise to me. So I take it back to them the next day and explain what happened. They said they couldn't find anything wrong. So I pick it up again. No charge. Again, I had to go out of town. After about 300 miles, same story. Engine shaking, CEL on and blinking now. I bring it back to them the next day and explain that I've been here 4 times now in the last week and a half and have paid $850 and I'm still having the same problem. The CEL is reading cylinder 5 misfire again. But they say they replaced cylinder 3 (because they swapped the two.) I told them I can't afford anymore work but they need to have this fixed. It's been there for 2 days now and they haven't told me what's going on.
Sorry for the long story.
If it's the fuel injector story and I need to get another replaced, I'm going to go pick it up and do it myself. But I'd like to know how difficult it's going to be. I'm still sort of new to working under the hood.
What should I expect to pay for fuel injectors? How much time do you think it will take? I will probably go ahead and replace plugs and wires while I'm at it since she's got about 186k miles.
Thanks for all the help.
