What is common practice?

I took my 99 Windstar in to the shop over a week ago.....see post 'Lean Windstar'... for CEL. The mechanic said it was the MAF sensor (the codes were lean bank 1, lean bank 2) he cleaned it up, all was good. While the car was at the mechanic I had them do a full tune up including cleaning the fuel injectors. Exactly a week to the day that I got my car back from the mechanic the CEL came back on! I have an appointment to take it back in tomorrow. My question is if they find something different will/should I be charged? I am thinking since I took it in for CEL being on to begin with and got the car back with a MAF diagnosis and if fixed than if it is something different I shouldn't be charged, right? I know with this particular code (171 & 174) that it could be any number of things but they should have found out what that was at that time, right? I am sure they will deal with this fairly just want to be prepared if I am not assuming the right way this should be handled.

Unfortunately you wont be able to recoup the money you already spent on repairs- unless that mechanic doesn't mind working for free :screwy: . He likely did what would *normally* correct this particular issue & charged you accordingly. Do a search for those OBDII codes & I think you will find your problem is caused by vacuum leaks from under the plastic upper intake (bad isolator bolt seals). Any auto tech without intimate knowledge of the 1999-2003 3.8L would probably have taken the same approach. Check here before taking your van in next time.
G/luck
Joel

I'm also very "understanding" of your mechanic's situation.

I recently went down the whole list of possible causes for a OBDll code on my daughter's car. I did not take time to do extensive testing on each component .. I just replaced-away.

Yeah, I may have spent a couple hundred "extra" bucks before replacing the main culprit ... but it sure runs good now, and all those new (perhaps upgraded) components should lend to the overall maintenance/dependability of a well-used auto.

I agree with Rodeo, that particular code makes me think of manifold leaks. They are very prevalent on the 3.8. I would be inclined to replace the lower manifold gasket also.

Unfortunately you wont be able to recoup the money you already spent on repairs- unless that mechanic doesn't mind working for free :screwy: . He likely did what would *normally* correct this particular issue & charged you accordingly. Do a search for those OBDII codes & I think you will find your problem is caused by vacuum leaks from under the plastic upper intake (bad isolator bolt seals). Any auto tech without intimate knowledge of the 1999-2003 3.8L would probably have taken the same approach. Check here before taking your van in next time.
G/luck
Joel
I did check here before I took the van in. I told the mechanic of the TSB you are referring to. He didn't find that to be the problem.
Today, he looked into another TSB regarding the PCM. Ran some more tests with the meter hooked up, what he called a running test and everything is with in normal parameters. Based on his findings he felt certain it was the PCM. He took it to the dealer himself and had it re-programmed/re-calibarted. The dealer said the PCM is the problem 90% of the time especially when everything else has been done and reading normal.
He didn't charge me his time for taking it to the dealer, just charged me what the dealer charged him.
Now hopefully, my van isn't in the 10%!

the maf being dirty is very common cause of lean codes in fords - and if the codes are the same this visit you should not be recharged for diag - however if you have different codes yes you will have to pay - this sucks but some problems can mask other problems and prevent all the codes from being active at once