So, I'm not sure how to explain all this but I'll try.

I'm no mechanic, so we take our car to the shop when we started getting serious engine power losses. Mechanic never really finds the problem, but changes the spark plugs, runs a compression test (everything was perfect), and performs a complete tune-up.

Trooper has been home... two weeks I think. It completely broke down. Once it was out of the shop the first week, it seemed fine. The week after however it was having very tiny power losses in the engine again. Nothing like before when it felt like only two cylinders where firing. Two days ago the car just all the sudden started having MAJOR losses, almost like it caught a virus over night. I had just drove it earlier that day too and seen nothing that major. The loss in power was massive and a clicking sound the car has had for 6 months seemed worse. I just drove it to the laundry mat in our apt complex and back home. But it was still running.

Later that day I had to go pick-up my girlfriend and the car had to think about cranking. When I put it in gear it creeped out of the parking space with the pedal half-way down. I get down to the entrance to our complex and whatever it was that has been going, went. This huge clicking noise started up. I just turned around and went back to the complex. As soon as I stopped in the parking space it cut off.

Here is things I've notice of the last couple of months. The car first started having trouble staying cranked sometimes in the morning and then that slowly got worse. At this same time it seemed it also was having power issues until it warmed up. I use to have a cold starting honda civic, so I didn't think it was weird for it to happen, just that the truck use to just crank with no throttle needed and stay cranked, no choking or anything. Also started hearing a light clicking sound... it would go away after warming up.

All those problems have slowly gotten worse over the last few months.

Throttle was dropping badly for awhile during this, but we took it in and they installed some new sensors they said were causing this. Yet, I still saw some small throttles drops up until it got the bad power losses two weeks ago and we took it back in.

I for one think they are taking us for a ride, don't know what they are doing, or breaking as they are fixing.

The car is back in the shop they've run another compression test and say it's only running on 1/3 cylinder power. Wow... funny that two weeks ago the thing was tip-top in that department. They think it could cost 1500 to fix it.

I looked under the hood 2 days ago when it stopped working. I was looking to see if a belt broke (but with the car still moving I didn't think that was it) or is something was loose. I found what looked to be an electric motor (really not sure) attached to the transmission I believe. It was under the motor cylinders themselves (where you would put in oil and on the right side of the engine if you're inside the vehicle. Next to what I think was the engine block). What I thought was funny is it was not screwed on all the way. And it had a lock washer on it. I don't know how that part... when it looked attached to the trans, would affect power loss. My theory is that part was somehow slowly coming loose, or the repair shop removed it for some reason and didn't screw it back in all the way causing it to come back out and that's what caused the clicking noise and the breakdown. I also saw a ring where a screw and washer were missing in that same area.

I've looked under the hood a million times, but have no idea what I'm looking at for the most part. I do however know that if that part was as loose like that I would have saw it just like I did. Why didn't the mechanic who was working in that same area on the distrubtor when the car was in the shop see that? I promise you can't help but see it. and the screw was still in the hole so it didn't pop off due to some kind of exploding part. The threads didn't look stripped either.

Long read, but I figured more info the better. Do you think that a lock washered screw could have come undone by itself? Or did the repair shop not tighten it all the way? And lets say it was doing this by itself, why would they not have seen it when it's the only part in plan view in that area? You look down in that area and it's just staring you in the face. No clutter in the way. Yeah, I'm suspicious. I would like to think they didn't do it on purpose, but I don't want to take a car back to a place where people forget to put in a screw and didn't tighten another.

Also, if anyone knows what can cause the problems I've been explaining *I'm pretty sure the part almost falling off is why it's not running* but even if that's fixed and the symptoms that have been continue, what could it be?