3 /5 Harvey Miller: To save time, read my last two paragraphs which is the shortened version of my review here.
Driving my van, my wife and I arrived in the Binghamton area on Wednesday 11/27/24. We were visiting my wife’s four grand kids and her daughter up in Harpursville and planned to return home that Sunday. The next day though, while riding at night, my check engine light came on. My code reader defined the issue as a code P219a which means that the fuel/air ratio in bank #1 (the line of spark plugs that includes the #1 spark plug) was off. This can mean many things but it’s usually a vacuum leak caused by a hole in an air hose or a bad oxygen sensor. It could also mean any of at least 10 more less likely but possible issues.
Precision was my third pick due to some reviews that stated that they were pricy. Upon entering the office area I was very impressed by both the look of the station in general and the office in particular. It looked like a car dealership and the two service people behind the counter proudly chuckled when I said that, telling me that the owner takes pride in his business, being in the same location for 43 of their 45 years. When I asked them what type of scanner they’ll be using to work on my van they stated that the tech that will be assigned to analyze the issue has several scanners and that his only job is electronic analysis, making the work orders for the mechanics who are tasked to fix the problem that the tech determined. I know from my 37 years in my job with Snap-On Tools and, thus, being in MANY shops that this is the best way to approach these kinds of problems so I was hopeful that it would be fixed that day, a necessity as otherwise my schedule would be complicated.
Precision had communicated with me twice during the course of the repair and told me that they will be adding 5 gallons of fuel to my tank (which had around 10 gallons remaining) to dilute the fuel enough to mitigate the problem. After clearing the fuel trim codes and driving for 20 minutes, not getting the code again, they felt it was okay. After picking up my van I filled the tank with higher than normal octane fuel, just to be sure.
For 1-1/2 hours diagnostic time to find the reason for the P219a code, plus fuel, I was charged $220.00, a very reasonable fee considering my fears that they could have taken me to the cleaners but, thankfully, were honest instead. They were professional, efficient, honest, and though they stated that the issue was solved, it wasnt. I got one more check engine light on my way home but, after clearing it, it never came back but, later, I realized that the code will probably occur again when my van goes back to Binghamtons higher elevation. What Precision didnt suggest and what should have been obvious was advising me to use a fuel injection cleaner, the best one which is BG44G. Apparently Precision didnt perform an injector balance test or at least even recommend a system cleaner.
They were probably relying on a generic symptom, rather than reading LTFT/STFT values, or live misfire counts. Id bet that their tech didn’t use SureTrack (or just ignored it, even when its installed) as that is an intrinsic part of their Snap-On scanner and provides a specific and detailed list of actual cures done by real world techs on my specific vehicle and INCLUDES ADVICE TO CLEAN THE INJECTORS. Though, otherwise, this repair center is first rate and that’s saying something considering that I’ve been in countless stations due to my years with Snap-On, I am disappointed that they "copped out" with the "bad fuel explanation" something that known tests can otherwise explain. They stated that my bad fuel was due to the level of alcohol but I put E85 fuel into my van and that would undermine their explanation, totally. E85 fuel is known to clog injectors over time. It was a good thing that I thought of the injector cleaner and that made all the difference, even after returning to Binghamton several times with no more P219a codes. Moral of the story for me: buy 1st tier gas or run BK44G every 10,000 miles.
