2001 mitsubishi eclipse gt spyder 3.0L v6 sputtering

Hi guys, i need your expert opinions please and your help with my concern/dilemma here.

I do not know much about cars but recently my car was sputtering and it would die on idle, so i had to rev up to keep the car running everytime i stopped. I opened up the hood and i saw some oil on the valve cover and the plugs got fouled. I took it to a car shop referred by my friend( owner is a friend of my friend). They changed valve cover gasket, installed new plugs and wire set, distributor cap and rotor, some new fuel injectors but then it was still sputtering and misfiring. So the shop couldn't fix it and sent it to another mechanic. Now the new mechanic said that it was electrical problem and he had to fix the wiring, im not sure what kind of work he did here, but the receipt shows that
1) he replaced mass air flow sensor wiring
2) he replaced throttle position sensor wiring
3) he repaired map sensor wiring
and for these he said it took him about 2 days of work and charged me a total of $650. Does it really cost this much to do all this work and how do i know that he did actually do these services?

After all this, the car worked fine for about 2 weeks then the same problem started again, engine light went on and misfire on cylinder#2. so i took it back to the shop, and now they are saying that they need to fix the piston ring and it has become internal problem and they need the engine overhauled completely from the ground up and they can not just fix the piston ring, otherwise the plug will keep on getting fouled up. They also did some compression test and said cylinder#2 is weak, compared to the other cylinders. This is the broken down cost from them:

Head set job $375
Valve job $350
Overhauled block $600
-----------
$1325 parts only
Plus the labor of $1000( they said it'd take about 5 days), so total is $2325

I just can not trust these guys anymore, because they have been making me pay all these repairs and stuff, yet they still have not fixed the problem and the car still has the same problem just like the very beginning. I think they are just trying to rob my money here.

Here is my questions:

1. Do you guys think that i can ask for the $650 that i paid for the wiring repair, since the car still has the same problem.
2. Do you guys think that what they were saying about the pistons ring on cylinder#2 is true and that it will foul the plug
3. Is the cost around $2325 to overhaul or rebuild my engine reasonable?

Thanks for your help

IDK about the prices, but it sounds like it was the MAF going, so them replacing it sounds right.

How long did you just deal with the sputtering before taking it in?

i dont' believe the Eclipse GT's have a "MAP" sensor since that is Manifold air Pressure sensor, which is useless if you already have a MAF sensor.

If cylinder 2 went out, and it isn't just a plug, then your kinda SOL, it isn't a headgasket since mitsu used Metal head gaskets on those, and i suppose it could be a piston, but if it isn't knocking, i dont' see why it would be. They "could" just replace the one piston ring on that cylinder, but it isn't in your best interest. Since the other rings are going to be in similar condition and repeating the task to get to the other rings isn't going to be cost effective. That amount of money for rebuilding the engine is fair. I wouldn't pay it, but in your circumstance i dont' see much choice. If it were sputtering most Good mechanics will do a compression test before they start anything.

If they didn't actually find that the wiring was faulty, i wouldn't pay that. They should have performed circuit tests before they randomly started re-wiring that.

A blown piston ring can cause a plug to foul, also a faulty maf could cause a lean circumstance that could cause a ring to blow out, it IS possible that one thing led to another, but it's hard knowing for sure one way or another.

and i'm with 808, how long did you wait before taking it to the shop?

Thanks alot for the replies.

Please correct me if i am wrong. My understanding after reading your replies/comments, that it was possible that the MAF sensor could be a cause of the sputtering and maybe they did repair the wiring.

Is $650 sounds about right to do this wiring work, they said it took them about 2 days????

But now, they're saying its a bad piston ring. it still has the same sputtering problem, so that means the store misdiagnosed my car the first time, right? and they may not have to do any wiring work.

Do i deserve to get my money (the $650) back from the shop?

I think i should give a brief history about my car. At first, my check engine light had gone on about 2 months before the car started sputtering. It was a mistake that i did not get it checked right away at that time. It went on and off for about 3 times, and it had been off until one morning it started sputerring and i took it in to the shop that same day.

Also i just remembered this now, after they "supposedly" did the wiring work, the car was running fine for 2 weeks. One day i cleaned up my K&N air filter, i used the K&N CLEANING KIT, it had 2 sprays, one was the CLEANER, and the other one was the LUBRICANT/OIL, but i made a mistake of not using the cleaner, so i was using all oil on the filter but i washed it w/ water and let it dry out on the sun. so 2 days after, it was sputtering again. I wonder maybe the air filter may have caused it, it might have too much oil/lubricant on it. I doubt it but im just thinking about possibilities now.

As far as the engine overhaul is concerned, is it better to do it on my own engine or get a rebuild engine or i heard something like a "drop engine". Please tell me what are my options here.

By the way my car is 8 years old, has 141,000 miles on it.

Thank you for your help.