Auto Diagnostics in Graham, WA

Auto Diagnostics

A check engine light doesn't tell you what's wrong. It tells you the computer noticed something outside normal range, and that could be a five dollar sensor or something a lot more involved. The only way to know is to pull the codes and actually look at what's going on, not guess based on what usually causes that light.

Same goes for a car that won't start, or one that runs fine most days and then does something strange once a week. Intermittent problems are the hardest kind, because the fault might not be showing itself when we have the car on the lift. We look at the codes, check the wiring and connections around the suspect area, and test the parts that actually control what's failing, rather than swapping parts until something works.

The most common jobs that come out of a diagnostic session are a coil on plug replacement, which usually shows up as a rough idle or a misfire code on a specific cylinder, and throttle body cleaning, which shows up as a rough or hesitant idle, especially on a car that hasn't had it done in a while. Neither is expensive on its own, but neither is worth doing on a guess. We diagnose first, then tell you what we found and what it would take to fix it.

We keep diagnostic time to about an hour where we can. Some problems take longer to chase down, especially the intermittent ones, and if that's the case we'll tell you before we keep going, not after.

Once we know what's wrong, we'll tell you what it costs to fix and let you decide. On an older car, especially one with other issues piling up, sometimes the honest answer is that the repair costs more than the car is worth to keep running. We'll say that if it's true. We're not trying to sell you a job the car doesn't need.

Tony Sindhu handles most of the diagnostic and driveability work at the shop. If your check engine light has been on for a while, or your car has started doing something odd and you haven't been able to pin down when or why, call us at (253) 375-7057. We're at 28801 Meridian E in Graham, open Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.

Questions about auto diagnostics

Is it safe to keep driving with the check engine light on?

Usually yes for a day or two, but it depends on whether the light is steady or flashing. A flashing light means the engine is misfiring badly enough to damage the catalytic converter, so stop driving and get it looked at. A steady light is worth checking soon, but it's not usually an emergency.

Can you just read the code and tell me what part to buy?

We can pull the code over the counter, but the code by itself often isn't enough to know what to replace. It points at a system, not always the exact part, so we still need to check whether the code matches what the car is actually doing before we'd tell someone to buy anything.

What if the fault doesn't happen while it's at your shop?

This is the hard part of intermittent problems. Sometimes we can reproduce it on a test drive, sometimes we can't, and then we're working from what you tell us about when it happens - cold mornings, highway speed, after rain. If we can't catch it acting up, we'll say so rather than guess and charge for a repair that might not fix it.

Does the diagnostic charge get taken off the repair if you do the work?

Yes. If you have us do the repair, the diagnostic fee comes off your final bill — you don't pay twice. Diagnosis is real work: we test the actual circuit, wiring and parts to find what is genuinely wrong instead of guessing off the trouble code. But the moment you approve the repair, that diagnostic cost applies toward it.

Will you just clear the code so the light turns off?

We can, but if the underlying problem is still there the light will come back on, sometimes in a day, sometimes in a few weeks. We'd rather find out what triggered it first, so clearing it is usually the last step, not the first.

Where our customers come from

We are on Meridian E in Graham, and people bring us auto diagnostics from across the South Puget Sound. If your town is on this list, we are probably closer than you think.

Auto Diagnostics in Graham, WA