Date: Wed, 27 Mar 85 14:32:03 est
From: Saul Kravitz <sak@cmu-ee-faraday.ARPA>
Message-Id: <8503271932.AA22751@cmu-ee-faraday.ARPA>
To: bovik@a
Subject: Tune up Information
Cc: sak@cmu-ee-faraday.ARPA


To my regret, I had my car tuned up at Sparks Tune Up in Penn Hills. They
had a good price, but that was about it. I complained when I brought the car
('82 Ford Escort) that it was pinging/knocking. When I picked the car up,
they told me that the reason it was pinging was that my EGR valve (exhaust
gas recirculation valve) was not working and I should take it to a Ford
dealer to get it repaired (the part is under 5 yr warranty by Federal Law). 

I took the car to Target Ford in Monroeville, and when I told them that my
EGR valve had been diagnosed as bad, they said "Who told you that, Sparks?".
I said that Sparks had diagnosed it, and they warned me that Sparks has a
history of telling people whose problems they cannot solve that they have a
bad EGR valve. If I wanted to take the risk they would look at it, if the
EGR valve was OK I would have to pay. Since I trust auto dealer service
managers about as far as I can throw them, I decided to take the risk.

It turns out that the EGR valve was fine. The problem was that the timing
was 4 degrees off (set to 16 rather than the reccommended 12 degrees).
Apparently, Sparks never adjusted the timing. Target Ford adjusted the
timing and the car runs fine. I am now trying to recover the money I paid to
Sparks Tuneup, since they didn't do the work properly.

Moral: Avoid Sparks Tune-Up like the Plague!!!!

Saul Kravitz