6/3/21 Service Engine Light?

    Well, they say you can't take it with you, but dammit, you can't even pretend to be getting ahead.  We have been very responsible as of late, we got ourselves out of debt, we refinanced our house, and we keep trying to save money, but fudge!  Just when you think you might get a step ahead, a stupid light comes on and it will cost good money to make it go away.  We had such a good time Saturday, just driving around with no purpose other than to spend the day together out of the house.  Well, when we got home, the service engine light came on, this was on our 2013 Ford Escape, which we just bought a couple months ago.  It felt like a steal getting this car right before this craziness where all cars seem to be doing what the housing market is doing and the prices have just taken off.  We were able to buy the car for $11,000 cash, if I remember correctly.  This was money from the refinance, don't think we are that good at saving money.

    I took the car to Ford, I know it costs more, but I like the peace of mind that they will fix the car right the first time and we can be on our way.  Right away, when I pulled in, the guy plugged a diagnostic tool into the car and it said O2 sensor.  I thought for a second if this is all that it is I might try to tackle this myself.  He gave me some mumbo jumbo about heater coil signal too and went on, trying to sound technical.  I looked up the part and it is maybe $100 for the two coils, fine, but then I got the call Tuesday that it was going to be something like $850, they were also recommending a change of spark plugs and more confusing language about testing the closed loop cycle or whatever BS after I told him that he was sticking it in me pretty hard and dry.  At this point, what choice do I have, I am already paying $99.95 for the service visit, the O2 parts are $100, the spark plugs ($50) and coils (I hope) ($200) do cost some money, but dammit!

    I finally had a chance to look at the work to replace the O2 sensors and it really looks like a pain in the ass.  The guy doing the work for himself is super skinny, which helps, has to take apart so many covers to get to the work area.  He went under the car and took off two different shields that protect the engine underneath, then he went from above and removed two plastic shields the width of the car right below the wiper blades, the plastic you can see between the hood and the front windshield.  After removing all of these, he required a special tool which you can rent from Auto Zone but that sounds like a pain in the ass, plus the tight spaces he was shoving his hands into, I doubt I would have been able to.  He also required some special spray to break the bond of the O2 sensor where it was screwed tight.  Looking at the work, I don't really mind having some professionals doing it, even if they screwed me a bit on the price.  I am hoping this gives us a few years of dependable service, I really do enjoy driving the car, even though it's almost 8-9 years old, it still seems like a new car, to me.  They also recommended new tires, but I was already thinking I was going to install some since Wife does drive this car to San Antonio a couple times a week to save some wear and tear on the Telluride.