Dear Car Talk:
The “check engine” light in my 2003 T-Bird came on recently. Several of the local auto parts stores advertise they will run the diagnostics for free and tell you why the light has come on.
The local Ford dealer quoted me $150 to run the diagnostic and tell me what is wrong. Is there a difference between what the auto parts places check and what the dealerships check? — Tim
No. Not on a 2003 car. If you had a 2021 Mercedes, I might recommend you go to the dealer, who would certainly have the latest and greatest diagnostic software and familiarity with the car. But, for a car that’s 20 years old, a scan is a scan. And the scanner they have at the local auto parts place will come up with the same error code that your dealer will, minus the bill for $150.
It could be a sensor has failed, an evaporative emissions problem or a catalytic converter that’s worn out or plugged up.
So, keep in mind that you might need more information than just the results of your scan. You might need to know if it’s something you can fix yourself. You might want to know which evaporative emissions parts typically fail on this generation of Fords. Or, you might wonder what your options are for, say, replacing the converter on an older car.
In that case, you’ll need to go to a mechanic. But, you can save yourself $150 and at least get some preliminary (if not definitive) information about what’s wrong with the free scan. So why not?
Dear Car Talk:
I enjoyed your column about cars not fitting in garages and was amused by the recent letter from Holly about her grandfather’s 8-foot “lower half” garage extension to accommodate the hood of their 1960s Oldsmobile.
It reminded me of how my father squeezed a boat-length 1967 Chrysler Newport into a 1940s-era rural Pennsylvania garage. He had recently played Jonathan Brewster in a local theater production of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” and enlisted my mother to make a cloth dummy of Mr. Spinalzo, Jonathan’s latest victim that he intended to bury in his aunts’ basement.
For years afterward, Mr. Spinalzo served as our garage stop indicator, protecting the front bumper of the Newport from the cinderblock back wall.
Thanks for the laughs. — Catherine
Good thing he hadn’t just starred in “The Phantom of the Opera,” Catherine.
Got a question about cars? Write to Car Talk write to Ray in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email by visiting the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com.
