Um....

Ok, so this one is weird and I don't really know what to say about it...

I might have written about it, but a while ago (years??) my car started being a little... funky.

It had issues starting, and sometimes felt "jerky".  I started trying to diagnose it.  Was it age?  (sad face)  Or something more serious?  An air filter maybe?  Ok, let's change that?  Bad fuel?  Ok, let's clean that system.  Etc etc.

With Jason's help I learned about components that might be causing some of the symptoms and one of the things that came up was an MAF.  A mass airflow sensor.  (My vague understanding is that it senses the amount of air that is needed to be mixed with the fuel.)

A lot of the symptoms seemed to match with what would be a faulty one of these and so at some point I started asking the dealership to look at things.  

It was probably the battery, they said (I knew it wasn't.)  Oh, ok, no.  It was maybe the fuel line, but that'll cost you $400 to diagnose.  (I'll pass for now.)  I asked them to look at the MAF, they didn't say anything.  

Jason has a specialist mechanic in town he knows and trusts and he had them look at my vehicle and test a few things Jason was suspicious about (fuel injectors?  I don't remember) and here's where things get weird.

This mechanic, in looking for a cause of the weird non-consistent starting issues found that the MAF in my car had been swapped out.

As in, the one that is in my vehicle is NOT the factory MAF, it is a cheaper non standard version.

You what????

I contacted the dealership.  Did they have ANY record at all over the years of swapping out my MAF?  

No.

So.... then someone, at some time did it without permission and I just don't know what to think about that.

I have no proof, other than what's in the car isn't what is supposed to be in the car and I have never touched it and it's not something a thief would open up the hood and steal.  From what I understand there's no value to this part, and you'd only "take" it to put it in another vehicle and Jason says that yeah that's a thing that sometimes happens and I just can't wrap my bleeping head around it.

Needless to say, I do not feel comfortable returning to the dealership even though they are very easy to deal with and easy to get to and from (vs this other mechanic who has a location that is a bit tricky for me.)  I don't know what to think and I can't really go accusing anyone of anything because if this IS the source of my car issues, it happened years ago.

I'm angry, of course.  And wishing I had pushed for them to look at the MAF when we first started to wonder if it's an issue.

The other mechanic cleaned it and said to drive the car for a while because maybe the issue will be better now but I think I'll get a new MAF installed in the next few months anyway because WHO STEALS A STUPID PART AND PUTS IN A CHEAPER ONE WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL???

I keep meaning to try to look at this little part but I mean even if I do, it's not like I can tell if it's a genuine part or a cheap one.  Sigh.

I hope whoever did whatever has stopped being a jerk face and that they got some sort of karma or punishment or something because what a lame (to be nice) thing to do.

I really can't fathom someone doing this but apparently my car got sick because someone was poopy.

Sigh.