Question about service engine light

[Chrissd]

Several months ago service engine light came on and mechanic said it was torque converter and we had it changed, 2 months later light comes on again and he says transmission solinoid and he changes, 1 week later the light is on again he says code is coming up with solinoid again but he can not figure out, he told me to just trade it in, he loosened lightbulb. Can anyone help? I also just read in the forum that if the timing belt breaks this car has a non interference engine and no damage should occur, our belt broke about a year ago and he charged us $800 to repair valves? Did he rip us off or is it possible there was damage? Would appreciate any help at this point, thanks so much.

[Markb873]

Sounds like a bad mechanic.

[carlos80]

I believe all ZX2 s have inteference engines. I'd do some more research on that one before you accuse the guy. As far as the tranny problem whats the code number? Sounds like he just might be taking a guess at it, doesn't neccesarily make him a bad mechanic just not wise enough to say he can't fix it. Theres actually a few solenoids in the tranny but seeing as he replaced the torque converter i'm guessing its the TCC(torque converter clutch) solenoid s acting up. Could be wiring or just that the solenoid he replaced s bad(highly unlikely but does happen). This is just a guess without the code its hard to really start anywhere.
About your mechanic, if he's able to repair a head and replace it without problems I'd give the guy some credit. Just talk to the guy and tell him to let you know if he can't fix a particular problem. There s no such thing as a mechanic that can fix every problem, and some mechanics are ashamed to admit it.

[Markb873]

The Zetec is Non-Interference. For the Escorts, the Zetec and the old Mazda 1.8L were non-interferance. The SOHC 2.0L, the 1.9L, CVH 1.6L and 1.3L were the interferance ones. Perhaps there was valve damage but it was not caused by the belt failure.

I had a friend with an Explorer that had solinoids go one after another, It could be different solinoids. The Torque Converter and solinoid repairs are un-related There are quite a few in the transmission and automatic transmissions have a habit of spreading trouble from part to part or so it seems. It could be a problem with the valve body becoming worn, thats a common problem and also one that will make codes repeat themselves.

Have you tried to reset the codes yourself? If it takes a week to come back then it's not a problem with the solinoid, the fact that it takes a week to show up proves that the wiring is okay. Also, are there any symptoms?

I'm always wery of shops that do engine work and transmission work in the same shop, unless they are a huge shop or brand specific such as a dealer. It's unknown if this guy even pulled the head. I'm from Detroit. I knew a mechanic that kept bad parts around from previous customers to show later customers, when asked, to charge for a service that was never performed.

[Chrissd]

Originally Posted by Markb873

The Zetec is Non-Interference. For the Escorts, the Zetec and the old Mazda 1.8L were non-interferance. The SOHC 2.0L, the 1.9L, CVH 1.6L and 1.3L were the interferance ones. Perhaps there was valve damage but it was not caused by the belt failure.

I had a friend with an Explorer that had solinoids go one after another, It could be different solinoids. The Torque Converter and solinoid repairs are un-related There are quite a few in the transmission and automatic transmissions have a habit of spreading trouble from part to part or so it seems. It could be a problem with the valve body becoming worn, thats a common problem and also one that will make codes repeat themselves.

Have you tried to reset the codes yourself? If it takes a week to come back then it's not a problem with the solinoid, the fact that it takes a week to show up proves that the wiring is okay. Also, are there any symptoms?

I'm always wery of shops that do engine work and transmission work in the same shop, unless they are a huge shop or brand specific such as a dealer. It's unknown if this guy even pulled the head. I'm from Detroit. I knew a mechanic that kept bad parts around from previous customers to show later customers, when asked, to charge for a service that was never performed.

Hi and thank you for your reply. I am not a mechanic just getting very aggravated by my mechanic and I seem to be catching him in some lies. I am a woman so he probably thinks I know nothing. Anyway the last time the engine light came on was after the car was driven about 35 miles and the transmission started slipping, if you drive short distances it is ok. Its never been right since he changed the torque converter. The car is a 2001 and has 130k on it so would it be worth taking it to another mechanic or should I just trade it in? By the way he does always show the parts and I have always wondered if they were from other cars, even when he showed me the belt, it did not even look bad, it wasn't even broke he said it jumped or something like that.

[carlos80]

Originally Posted by Markb873

The Zetec is Non-Interference. For the Escorts, the Zetec and the old Mazda 1.8L were non-interferance. The SOHC 2.0L, the 1.9L, CVH 1.6L and 1.3L were the interferance ones. Perhaps there was valve damage but it was not caused by the belt failure.

I had a friend with an Explorer that had solinoids go one after another, It could be different solinoids. The Torque Converter and solinoid repairs are un-related There are quite a few in the transmission and automatic transmissions have a habit of spreading trouble from part to part or so it seems. It could be a problem with the valve body becoming worn, thats a common problem and also one that will make codes repeat themselves.

Have you tried to reset the codes yourself? If it takes a week to come back then it's not a problem with the solinoid, the fact that it takes a week to show up proves that the wiring is okay. Also, are there any symptoms?

I'm always wery of shops that do engine work and transmission work in the same shop, unless they are a huge shop or brand specific such as a dealer. It's unknown if this guy even pulled the head. I'm from Detroit. I knew a mechanic that kept bad parts around from previous customers to show later customers, when asked, to charge for a service that was never performed.

You're probably correct about the engine being non-interferance but the code not being produced by a wiring problem, I'm gonna have to disagree with you. Just because the code doesn't show up immediately doesn't mean that wiring can be eliminated as a problem. Techs hate problems that can't be reproduced at all times, and usually it ends up being wiring or an electrical component that works ok only some times.
I'm not saying this is her problem but don't rule it out based on the fact that the light took a while to come back on.

[Markb873]

True statement Carlos. I worded that badly. Just because a light comes on after an amount of time doesn't mean the wiring is ok. I was meaning to imply that when the light comes on repeatedly with the same time span it's not an intermittent short, open or grounded circuit. Unless, it's within three cycles. Assuming the car is driven every day it makes it well past the minimum trigger point.

Chriss, if I were you, I would trade it in while the car still has some residual value. The transmission slipping after it warms up sounds like a worn valve body internally. Not to pricey to do yourself but may cost a bit through a mechanic. Timing belts can jump and look okay. It happened on a Geo I had. It usually results from worn idler pullies though if the belt was okay.

-Mark