Am I out of $650?

DIONASETTS

MEMBER
2004 NISSAN SENTRA
11,500 MILES

I took my 2004 nissan sentra ser to a mechanic, because my check engine light was on and I had 3 codes coming up when scanned and needed to pass inspection, that was my only problem. I paid him $650 after he fixed whatever cleared 2/3 codes out and qualified for a wavier that allowed me to get my car tagged. The next day my car started stuttering and cutting off on me, so I took it back. He has had my car 2weeks and calls me today to tell me he can't figure it out and I need to take it to the dealership. I've never had a problem with my car's performance and am positive that he did something to mess it up. What can I do? I definitely NEED my car and don't feel like I should be out of luck with the $650 I paid

5 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Get us the troble codes so we can understand what could be the problem.

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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 7:42 PM

DIONASETTS

MEMBER
3 POSTS

I'm sorry. It's 115,000miles. I remember 2 of the codes.1446.0011 and the last one I believe was 0033. The last code came up after he worked on it.

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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 7:47 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

If you give us the wrong codes, you are not going to get the correct answer so hope you are sure about the codes posted.

P1446 - EVAP Canister Vent Control Valve. It could be clogged vacuum lines, a faulty solenoid, presence of water in canister and a few others which requires diagnostics to confirm.

P0011 - IVT control. This is the hydraulic control system for the camshaft timing and the most likely cause of your stalling and performance problem. Low engine oil, stuck/clogged IVT solenoid valve and excessive sludging are possible causes of this fault.

P0033 - Turbocharger/supercharger bypass valve control circuit which I don't believe your vehicle is equipped with.

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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 8:16 PM

DIONASETTS

MEMBER
3 POSTS

All the codes have been fixed, except for the last one, but the problem is that now I am faced with a new problem. My car ran fine before he started messing with it. There weren't any performance problems, just that the light was on and I needed to pass inspection. I believe that it's something that he did that messed up my car and now causes it to shake, sound terrible and intermittently shut off on me. I already paid him though and he's had it for 2 weeks trying to fix this new issue and is now telling me that I need to take it to the dealer, because he doesn't know what's wrong with it. Am I just out the money that I already paid for him fixing the old problems, even though I think he created a new one?

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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 8:23 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Please reconfirm the present code.

Whatever you paid for him if they had resolved the initial problem should be good but the new problem could be related or coincidence so unless we know what is wrong, otherwise it is not possible to know if he is responsible.