06-19-2023, 05:08 AM
About 5 years ago, I took my then 17-year-old 2001 Ford Escape to Lex Brodies in Pahoa for them to diagnose an issue. The car would, under a load when going up a long hill (IE Saddle Road) suddenly what my husband and I felt like "misfire" just once and only did it under a load like that. Nor would it trip any warning lights.
At the time the car had only 40,000 miles on it - we only use the Escape for large grocery runs - or to go to Kona with.
Their diagnosis:
COMPLETE TRANSMISSION FAILURE. Not rebuildable. Must order a whole brand-new transmission. And take it to Ford or one of the transmission shops in Hilo.
But - before "you do that, we should flush the transmission for $149.99 plus tax!"
We decided not to do anything there - and not to plug them but went straight to Orchid Isle Ford. Figured if it's going to cost thousands to fix - we will just get a new one.
Orchid had the car for 2 days - guy calls me and tells me it's a coil on one of the spark plugs. The coil was like 40 bucks - BUT - the labor was like 400 bucks - as it was one of the three in the back of the engine (V6 - mounted sideways) and required a major teardown just to get to it.
He recommends we replace all three back there as well as all of the spark plugs - since if another one goes bad - it's the same teardown and another 400 bucks. If one of the other 3 on the front of the engine goes - it's a simple repair!
Car now is now 22 years old with 65,000 miles and runs like the day it was new!
At the time the car had only 40,000 miles on it - we only use the Escape for large grocery runs - or to go to Kona with.
Their diagnosis:
COMPLETE TRANSMISSION FAILURE. Not rebuildable. Must order a whole brand-new transmission. And take it to Ford or one of the transmission shops in Hilo.
But - before "you do that, we should flush the transmission for $149.99 plus tax!"
We decided not to do anything there - and not to plug them but went straight to Orchid Isle Ford. Figured if it's going to cost thousands to fix - we will just get a new one.
Orchid had the car for 2 days - guy calls me and tells me it's a coil on one of the spark plugs. The coil was like 40 bucks - BUT - the labor was like 400 bucks - as it was one of the three in the back of the engine (V6 - mounted sideways) and required a major teardown just to get to it.
He recommends we replace all three back there as well as all of the spark plugs - since if another one goes bad - it's the same teardown and another 400 bucks. If one of the other 3 on the front of the engine goes - it's a simple repair!
Car now is now 22 years old with 65,000 miles and runs like the day it was new!