1998 Honda Civic 4 cyl Wheel Drive Type unknown Automatic 173000 miles
My Civic sat over the winter holidays for 4 weeks without being started. In that time the weather was quite cold and humid, with a lot of snow and rain.
When I tried to start it yesterday, the starter would go but the engine would not turn over. The weather was above the freezing point, there was a half tank of gas, the oil was full and recently changed and the battery was not dead. I pressed the gas pedal down, thinking maybe the engine had no gas in it after sitting for so long, but this didn't help it start.
It got towed to a garage, and when the mechanic tried to start it, it started with no problem. The garage then told me that it was a problem with the map sensor (something about the air intake computer and gas and temp sensors?) And it would be $400 and if I didn't do the repair my car would continue to be unreliable in starting.
I declined the repair and my car started 10 times that same day with no issues. I am worried that they are right and I am driving an unreliable car, but I also felt a bit pressured and potentially ripped off by the garage.
Could it just have been a blip because the car had sat for so long without being started?
Saturday, January 12th, 2008 AT 12:16 PM
