Monday, November 5, 2012

What dumbass thought that was a good idea?

Oh wait, it's gubmint motors.
Belle's Chevy Malibu threw a shoe check engine light a few days back.  The puter's stored code indicates the throttle position sensor is headed south.

Easy fix thinks I.  Get a new sensor, twenty minutes and a few hand tools and it's good to go.
Off to Autozone.com I go.  Hmmm, no TPS even listed.  OreillyAuto.com next. Hmmm, no TPS listed at all. AdvanceAutoParts.com..nope. My secret weapon, RockAuto.com....WTF? no TPS listed.

Srsly? I'm going to have to go to a stealership parts department to get a throttle position sensor? The Harrah!

My stubbornness about paying inflated parts prices drove me to find out what the deal was. What would have been a 10 minute part lookup turned into a 2 hour googlefu quest.

Turns out Chevy built the throttle position sensor into the throttle body....meaning, the entire throttle body has to be replaced when the $28 sensor craps out.   Cheapest of the cheap auto parts store; Autozone price $369...special order only.

noeffingway.

www.rockauto.com had a wholesaler's closeout on an AC Delco replacement part for 86 bucks. Yay! I think?  (once you know what the hell you are looking for it's a lot easier to find)

Wholesaler's closeout?  That car is 5 years old.  Might be time to start hoarding Malibu parts.

4 comments:

  1. Sell it, and buy her a 10 year old Miata. My boss just had to change out his wife's TPS, and it was like a $15 part down at AutoZone. Plus, "Miata" rather than "GM."

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  2. Trust me bud, it ain't just the Malibu.
    My wife's 2005 Impala is FULL of little surprises like that. Normally I do my own mechanican', but as of late I've been too busy, and the car started having issues that I really wasn't prepared to deal with. After taking it to a mechanic and spending about 1500 bucks so far, it turns out that the problem has been (in part) the fuel pump, which is another 600 bucks.

    To hell with Grand Malfunctions, I'm buying Korean or Japanese next time.

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  3. Yeah...The lights that illuminate what gear my SUV is in are built into the whole shift thingy and I'd have to replace the whole shebang just to replace the lights. Not happening. Stupid design.

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  4. My next car will most likely be a Toyota 4 Runner or a Toyota Highlander... not sure which yet.

    ReplyDelete

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