1988 BMW 325 no-start diagnosis

1988 BMW 325
120,000 MILES • 6 CYL • 2WD • MANUAL
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POLSKA
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A mechanic had my car for 2 weeks and finally diagnosed my no-start condition, which turned out to be corroded connectors on the wiring harness to the fuel injectors.
He wants to charge me 400 dollars. Is that a correct amount of money to pay for this repair, generally speaking?
Jan 14, 2010 at 8:05 PM
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DOCHAGERTY
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$400 might seem a bit high, then when the price of the replacement harness is $712.95, it comes into perspective.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1113&mospid=47309&btnr=12_0830&hg=12&fg=28
Jan 15, 2010 at 9:07 AM
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POLSKA
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Following proper no-start diagnosis, how many chargeable hours for a mechanic to diagnosis a no-start condition?
From the start he had the following info: pump operation, new relays, new fuel, cleaned injectors, car started when primed with carb fluid.
Jan 15, 2010 at 12:08 PM
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DOCHAGERTY
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Thank you for the clarification, I did not understand. $400 to diagnose a no start is way out of line.
Jan 16, 2010 at 9:37 AM
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POLSKA
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aaa
Jan 16, 2010 at 2:13 PM
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POLSKA
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Well, I'll need to back-track on this one.
The mechanic did more work than he let on. So I guess the message to be learned is "communication". And at the end of the day I felt like I got my money's worth.

It turns out that the mechanic actually found me a used/new working harness and had it installed. Previously, I thought he had just cleaned the connectors of corrosion and reinstalled the old one.

He also changed out the half-sticking thermostat, changed my coolant, installed a missing dowel pin on my timing cover and put on new wipers.

I thought that it might have taken too long to diagnose the no-start, but I should have also mentioned that another ASE mechanic couldn't find it, and said I would need new injectors, which obviously wasn't the problem.
Jan 16, 2010 at 2:14 PM
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DOCHAGERTY
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Thanks for getting back. Glad it is all better.
Jan 17, 2010 at 2:46 PM