Hail the "experts"

Few years back, my car developed a “bipolar mood disorder”. At times, it was feisty and sporty. At others, it literally limped and jerked. On some occasions, it chickened out on a mild upward gradient, leaving me red-faced.

To resolve the issue, I took it to various authorized technicians, but to no avail. Part of the problem was that it was not easily reproducible. The authorized technicians, so called “experts” suggested myriad remedies from de-carbonizing the engine to engine overhaul. I tried to reason with them that it couldn’t be a purely engine problem as most of the times, the car was back to normalcy after switching off the ignition and restarting. It had to be an electro-mechanical problem.

This went on for a couple of years – we had finished visiting all the authorized service centers in my city, it was extremely frustrating to say the least. My family advised me to sell the car. Not wanting it to sell it at a throwaway price, I decided to investigate on my own.

I bought an OBD dongle online that retailed at $20. My next “pitstop” were forums like Team-BHP and Schrodingers Box channel on You Tube. They helped me immensely in understanding the innards of car engines.

Some of the Team-BHPians had faced similar problems in the past but on other car models. But it gave me a direction. The OBD analysis and the forums helped me arrive at a probable cause.

I have faced similar predicaments with other professionals (a.k.a “experts”) – doctors, lawyers.... you name it. It seems they lack the wherewithal and/or time to go beyond their call of duty.

My story fortunately had a happy ending - after replacing the EGR valve and cleaning the MAF sensor, the car was cured of all its maladies!

(Courtesy and credits: pixabay.com)

Takeaway?

1. Do not take any expert's advice or diagnosis at face value - ask relevant questions without offending them. If your reasoning and their expertise are at logger-heads, then most probably you are right :) .
2. There are plenty of authentic forums available on the internet to help you with your problems – you could get closer to the cause-effect relationship or sometimes a solution.
3. Observe, observe, observe – sometimes the way systems fail give vital clues about the root cause of failure.
4. Finally, where there's a will there's a way .... need I say any more?