A few things accumulated with the GX470 that I haven't had time to deal with so I dropped it off at a local independent mechanic. There has been a persistent check engine light, which according to techstream was due to a knock sensor code and a vacuum leak. Mechanic told me that there's no way to troubleshoot the knock sensors without taking the intake off and that'll be $850 in labor. I said fine, since we have no choice. I asked him if he thinks we should preemptively replace the secondary air pump while we're in there. He agreed.
So here's the total list of work done:
1. Replace knock sensors.
2. Replace secondary air injection pump.
3. Full synthetic oil change
4. NYS Inspection (40$)
5. He said he had to drive it for 30-40 miles to get the monitors to reset.
6. He smoked the evap system in an attempt to find the vacuum leak. He did not find any. He explained that he suspects it's a disintegrating charcoal canister that intermittently sends bits of charcoal that get stuck in the EGR or purge valve, which might occasionally prevent the valve from closing fully. He advised against replacing the charcoal canister because it's expensive. Didn't seem to throw any more vacuum leak codes so we left it as is and passed the inspection.
Overall, the bill was $1700. Reasonable?
So here's the total list of work done:
1. Replace knock sensors.
2. Replace secondary air injection pump.
3. Full synthetic oil change
4. NYS Inspection (40$)
5. He said he had to drive it for 30-40 miles to get the monitors to reset.
6. He smoked the evap system in an attempt to find the vacuum leak. He did not find any. He explained that he suspects it's a disintegrating charcoal canister that intermittently sends bits of charcoal that get stuck in the EGR or purge valve, which might occasionally prevent the valve from closing fully. He advised against replacing the charcoal canister because it's expensive. Didn't seem to throw any more vacuum leak codes so we left it as is and passed the inspection.
Overall, the bill was $1700. Reasonable?
