Flashing Arrow Oddity!

warmblood58 · Post by **warmblood58** » 12 Oct 2017, 11:57

Now this is different. I have an intermittent flashing arrow and have pulled "torque converter lockup" code. Twice now, when my car has had the arrow flashing, I have gone to a nearby touchless carwash place and when car goes through wash, the flashing arrow disappears! Why would this be? Electrical, but where?

warmblood58 · Post by **warmblood58** » 12 Oct 2017, 19:13

Mechanic verified that energizing torque converter lockup solenoid resulted in no click so . . . . big bucks to replace solenoid. They will go in from underneath and drop/raise subframe. I found a thread where another member went in from the top and had some success this way -I wonder if the hours are reduced going in this direction?

Post by **abscate** » 13 Oct 2017, 05:39

The hours saved will probably be equal to the hours needed to research

It usually doesn't end well, asking a mechanic to do a job a different way of their choosing.

When I dove into my clutch , I had people who told me locally you didn't have to drop subframe which was patently false. There is bad information out there.

warmblood58 · Post by **warmblood58** » 13 Oct 2017, 10:13

True dat, at the same time, there are mechanics who adhere strictly to shop time and procedure - no creative thinking here. My former roommate years ago owned an auto repair facility and showed me a number of times how to shave time by using your head, ex. removing a entire component to access a section that was very difficult to reach vs. "the procedure". I have often thought about him and this over the years as I work on various projects. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can't.

Post by **scot850** » 13 Oct 2017, 11:26

That is a rampant problem in the repair business of overblown repair times to give bigger profits. My wife had a 99 Audi A4 2.8 AWD and I was quoted 12 hours to replace the 8!!! front control arms. They had 3 bolts in each and would take no more than 30 minutes each max to replace. When I called the dealer service department on it they admitted they could do the job (if they hit no rust issues) in about 4 hours + alignment. We compromised on 6 hours in case the 10 year old car had any issues. Another time I was quoted 1.5 hours by Volvo to replace a cam sensor on a 93 850 GLT. Took me 10 minutes! Sometimes the times are bad, sometimes they are fair.

But to cover the 'other side' of the coin, dealers have to pay overheads and mechanics, but like most stuff there is a middle ground.

Neil.