Baker's 4K

[John Larson <jdlarson@ix.netcom.com>]

John, I'm a shop owner and a tech. I understand the problem you have
with the bill, and I understand theirs too. It's often really hard for
me to charge for true time spent on diagnostics, and easy to feel sorry
for the customer who is faced with a large labor bill for a relatively
small repair. In fact, I'd be a lot better off financially if I could
bring myself to charge out more of this diagnostic time.
Let's face it your car's 11+years old, and the 4K is pretty well known
for fuse box/fuel pump relay problems. As it's probably a CIS-E car,
there are problems with sensors, the wiring is old, and who knows how
many other guys have been into the system? What wiring burned under the
dash, and why? At our labor rate, $345. is less than 5.5 hours, quite a
bit less time than they probably spent.
An experienced tech draws from a body of knowledge gained through
training and, even more importantly, BTDTs. He may not have seen a 4K in
the last 7 or 8 years, new car dealers don't see many cars older than 3
or 4 years old. Hall units do go bad, and the older they are the more
apt they are to have internal wiring failures and connector failures.
That's one of the first places I'd look, right after the ignition
switch. Then I'd look at the fuse box, a known problem area, and then
I'd look to see if the stereo installers had been in there! Maybe then
the fuel system, and the ECU and it's wiring. We often find the owner
has removed the CIS-E power fuse, thinking it's a spare.
My point is, we all approach a problem based on our training and
experience, we look for areas we see as potential sources of problems.
We look for what we see as  the most likely cause of the problem, and we
work forward or backward from that initial point. We spend the time, and
we should charge for it.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. When the computer service
guy comes out to your home or office, he charges portal to portal, from
when he leaves the shop 'til he's back. When he charges for diagnosis,
and that's most of what he does, we are so relieved to have the thing
fixed  we just pay it. Your car is as complicated as your computer, just
more familiar, and it doesn't spend it's life in a nice cool, clean
room, free from knocks, bangs, and vibrations, not to mention
temperature changes of 150 deg or more, rain, snow, cigarette smoke, in
many cases, and the abuses of jump start surges and mechanics who may
not understand how this thing even runs without a carburetor. Not to
mention professional and amateur stereo installers, tire changers, and
paint and body shops. We have to deal with lubrication systems,
hydraulic systems, cooling systems, fuel systems, drive trains, tires,
electrical and electronic systems, and paint and body, not to mention
glass, upholstery, and add on accessories. Any and all of these systems
can and do cause problems in any other system. They're all interrelated,
and function as such to get us where we want to go, mostly when we want
to go there. All this makes diagnosis and repair harder as the car gets
older.
If the shop acted in a professional manner, and the problem was solved,
and you were kept up to date on what was going on and what it was
costing, then you should have no complaint.
One last thing. I do have a question about the price of the fuel pump
relay, retail
probably doesn't exceed $45-50. Of course they can charge whatever they
want, but the price to you shouldn't be any different than to any
one walking in off the street.

Good luck, and thanks for reading my quarterly rant. Remember, the
modern tech is well educated, dedicated intelligent guy (or gal),
solving difficult problems, and facing unfamiliar challenges every day,
and deserves to be fairly compensated for his knowledge as well as his
work. How long would it have taken you to solve this problem, and what
would you have had to spend on parts, tools, and reference materials
with which to work?
Again, thanks, John