Originally Posted by
zip439
dpdean, not only are there codes that can be stored and read when the check engine light is not illuminated, but a decent garage with the right scan tools can actually see real time info from your car as to fuel ratios and throttle body movement and many other sensors, so if the garage you choose to use are really good at what they do and make the time to do a through examine they can interpret those real time sensor readings and get a much better qualified explanation as to why your care is hesitating.
My $80 Bosch 1100 does that!
Problem is, most 'mechanics' are not good at diagnostics.
It's so hard to find good, knowledgeable people, you pay $100 an hour for a guy who makes $25 an hour and is looking for a better job way harder than looking for what is wrong with your car.
ON A RELATED NOTE: I fixed the Ranger last night. All I had was a cylinder two misfire code and a "multiple misfires in first 1000 revolutions" code. That's it. Nothing more to go on.
Pressing pedal made the misfire way worse. Popping noise in the AM radio is what gave it away, something was arcing. There is only one thing strong enough to arc badly: The 32,000 volts coming out of the coilpack.
I changed the all-six-in-one coil pack ($88 for a MortorCratf OEM part) and the truck is FINE now. I beleive the pack was arcing internally either to ground or from pole to pole.
MY POINT: The codes can help you diagnose, but if you go only by the codes, you will probably have a long road ahead. I always preach "read the codes" but in no way do I mean that codes tell all, they don't, but they are information that helps you piece together what is wrong.