so about a month ago my car started running ****ty on me. it was doing till i had to slow down fast and all of a sudden it ran like **** with the check engine light on. scanned it says needs maf and a computer - scanner read error. new maf doesnt fix anything. new computer doesnt help, the scanner still gives the comunicating error. so the shop that its at right now replaced a ecu fuse? that was blown. witht he new fuse in u could turn the key to OFF and pull it out with the car still fully running, till u pull that fuse out and she dies. they took out all my alarm system and wireing that has been in the car since i bought and hasnt worked. i got a call yesterday and they say the wireing on it is just fuked right up. the previous owner did some wierd ****. so my question is do i pay them to replace the wireing harness or would it be better if i buy the harness and do it my self. i feel i am capable of doing it but how big of a PITA is it? and what would u guys recomend i buy? i know there are the painless wireing kits, or should i just get one directly from GM. its an 87 GTA 5.7 TPI

sorry its a long post, i hope someone can help. ive been without my car for too long now and just want it running properly again

 

Well, for me, I'd do it myself...cost me a few bucks for the harness and a day or two to get it right.

Consider shop cost...plus shop parts price...

If you can do it yourself, you'll probably save 75% of cost...

Did they give you an estimate?

 

You can get a plug and play harness from painless for like $600. I'd get the car outta there, go to a junk yard and pull a harness. Its gonna be a lot cheaper then the shop. I bet your gonna flip just seeing the bill for all the diag time they spent on it.

 

do it yourself, grab a painless wiring kit and go from there

 

ok well i got a call from teh shop. theier giving up on it and telling me to take to an electrical shop and see if they can figure it out. i dunno what else to do. it might not be the wireing harness and i dont wanna spend 600$ on a new one to find ou it doesnt work. i cant keep spending money on geting it towed around the city. gahh its pissing me off

 

Ultimately, it depends on your ability. In my opinion, I work with tech's every day, tech's assume way too much. If there is a question of wiring. I would remove the entire engine harness, spread it out on the basement floor and see what in the hell is going on. Hell, if you don't have ability, your still better off than most garages, like I said, they assume too much. If you have that "I can fix anything attitude", you can fix it, if you don't, and be honest, you should seek out one of your buddies on this board that lives near by and does. Most shops can't fix cars especially the dealer.

OneBadZ4U

 

Either that or they don't wanna waste anymore of this guys money screwing around with a hacked up 20 year old harness at $90 an hour. Go to a wrecker and pull the harness. It will take like 10 min to do so. Then, find some wire diagrams, whcih you most likely won't need. Now if parts of the harness are hacked from the drivers side, its a bit more involved but still do able. Go buy a test light too I have a full set of mitchell diagrams from a 85' Z28, I'll scan em and email em to you if you want

 

First of all, any mechanic that tells your car is throwing a code for bad maf, or bad computer is an idiot. There are no codes for a bad maf or bad computer. The only thing codes do is say that it is noticing something unusual with regards to a signal or condition.

For example, a code 34 is MAF related. It means its reporting low air flow. You could have very retarded base timing, and cause a low air flow condition without your MAF being bad. The code DOES NOT mean that the MAF is bad.

I wouldn't trust that shop with a car wash even.

As far as a $600 painless harness being plug and play, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Fore less than that, you can buy a brand new GM harness for his 87. Thats the only plug and play option.

I am not a mechanic by any means, and have never taken any courses on automotive work. I have yet to speak to a mechanic that has been able to convince me that he has a slight understanding what he does for a living.

Anyway, thats my take on things.

 

you guys do know there are tons of techs on here right?

 

Yea its always the techs fault

 

I guess I should clarify what I meant a little better. What I meant to say is that I have never spoken to a mechanic in person(in a repair shop, not online) that knew what he was doing. Granted, I don't walk into repair shops often. I have accompanied others to have something done, or to pick up their car.

There are TONS of very knowledgeable people on this site. I'm sure alot of them are mechanics or even factory techs. In no way did I intend to criticize any of these guys.

 

I have been and work with techs every day. Most techs assume way too much and WCS(worst case sinerio) way to frequently. Techs who can actually diagnosis malfunctions and accurately repair the malfunction are truely rare.

 

thanks for all the help guys. just to clear things up the shop i work in is a large chain of shops(Kal Tire). so the shopmy car is at is another kal tire, i am getting still getting employee cost on labour and parts. the shop didnt really do anything except take out the alarm that was in it (notworking) to see if it was tied into the wire harness. and they replaced a fuse that was blown. so they really havent done anything to be able to charge me they just dont know what else to do and gave up on it. im gonna wait till payday so i can tow it back here rip out the wireing harness and see whats up.