My Old Pickup - Update

I went to pick up the old beast this evening from Landmark Ford in Tigard. I paid the bill and they brought my old pickup out to the front of the building. The paperwork they gave me told me that I had two bulbs that were burned out. I asked Chris, the assistant service manager, why they hadn't replaced them, or at the very least asked me if I wanted them replaced. Apparently those were out of stock. They needed to be replaced urgently, but not here, at the garage, where you take trucks and cars to be fixed. Sweet.

My wife drove my truck, and I drove the Scion that I had borrowed from my folks (Thanks Mom and Dad! You're the best!). Things looked good until we got about half way home. I'm following Heather and she makes an unscheduled left hand turn. I followed her as she turned into a cul-de-sac and rolled her window down. The check engine light had come on again.

Joy. Back to Landmark Ford. We'll find out what's going on just give us a couple of hours and I'll give you a call.

Now the upside to this fiasco is that I know more then I did when I started. For instance, did you know that there is a left heated exhaust gas oxygen sensor as well as a right heated exhaust gas oxygen sensor? I didn't know that. It turns out that one of the sensors that got replaced last night was the right heated exhaust gas oxygen sensor. Today the left heated gas oxygen sensor went out. Chris, the assistant service manager, tells me that when I had my transmission worked on these parts weren't removed, but were allowed to hang down. They weren't put back in after the transmission work was finished, but instead were zip tied up out of the way. In fact the left heated exhaust gas oxygen sensor was so kinked up from this that it became a minor headache for the service tech to get it out.

OK, so now I've got questions. What in the world were they doing at Tualatin Transmission. Now I get to go back there and talk to John Floyd Sr. about their practices. Is this common practice for them? Do they always leave these parts off? Are the HEGO sensors optional? The other question I have is why would the service techs at Landmark not look at the right HEGO sensor. The left HEGO sensor was off, and they found that. They told me that it looked like it happened during the transmission repair. Did it not occur to anybody to take a look at the other sensor? Are mechanics not allowed to show initiative anymore? "Sorry, but the diagnostic machine didn't tell us anything else was wrong."

Now it's going to cost another $270 and the part won't be there until tomorrow. Great. Hey MGM Grand, what are the odds that this is going to stay fixed after I get it back this time?