Hi EmFer's,

The customer paid a "mechanic" to get her car to pass it's smog inspection. The mechanic is a person that grew up with her son, and she thinks of him as family. Here's a list that he made.

1999 Toyota Camry CE, Photo

I have no idea why all those repairs were recommended. I have no idea what trouble codes the mechanic was chasing. The vehicle failed it's smog check for monitors not run.

The customer paid cost for all the parts, and was only charged labor.

The customer came to me because apparently the P0441 could not be fixed. That was the code in memory when she drove in. She stated that valves, sensors, canister, and gas cap was replaced. The tank was dropped and smoke checked to check for leaks. The PCM was sent to a rebuilder to be tested.

I was thinking I shouldn't take this job, but she was just short of pleading to me to give it my best shot.

The first thing I did was to check if the canister and fuel tank could hold pressure or vacuum and performed a test similar to this and it passed. At least nothing is screwed up there.

[1999 Toyota Camry LE, Emissions Scan Data]

I then commanded the purge duty cycle valve, and it didn't work properly. Hardly anything was flowing through the valve.

The new aftermarket purge duty cycle valve was defective.

Aftermarket Evap Purge Valve

The Evap system is fixed.

How do you guys get consumers to trust you? Seems like to the general public, we're all the same with the same level of skills. The customer trusted her mechanic, she watched him grow up. The customer got my number by printing out all the STAR Test and Repairs in Los Angeles. I was not recommended by anyone. The customer thought my 1.5hr diagnostic fee was excessive during the first call. I was surprised that she called back to make an appointment.

Danny from California

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