My dad got it towed to the mechanic already. He didn't want to have to deal with parking tickets (alternate side parking in NYC) so he put it in with the mechanic. Hopefully they'll just fix the solenoid and let us decide if we want a new catalytic converter.

Good so far! Get some control over the situation, and you should only be asked if you'd like a cat. If you stay out of this, your dad may end up paying for a new cat from them.

Well, there isnt a CEL for the CAT, so I don't think they'll call if they want to change it. I think I'd try and seafoam it after getting it see if it gets all of that rich burn glaze out of everything.

There should be a CEL for the cat - the rear O2 sensor. It does absolutely nothing except sensing whether the cat is performing correctly. Take out the sensor or the cat, and your car will run as if nothing ever happened except for the CEL for the cat.

Talked to the mechanic, he said he changed the O2 sensors, and is looking at the starter and the wiring (!) I keep telling him its not that, but whatever, I'm not paying for it.

So I went to the mechanic to drop off oil for the cars oil change today, and I get there looking for someone to tell to change my oil to. I find the mechanic whose working on my car and ask him to change the oil and he takes me to the car and tells me the car has "Severe electrical issues". I ask him if he looked at the evap system and he exclaims "NO PROBLEM WITH THE EVAP SYSTEM" and has his assistant take off the ignition coil (or pack) and goes in and cranks on the starter to show me theres no spark. I ask him what he thinks it is and he tells me its the security system turning off the electric system. I asked his assistant if they took the battery off to reset the 'security system' since the 9c1'* don't have a functioning security system and this is when they all stopped acting like they didn't speak english anymore. Then, his assistant takes a rusty metal rod and prods the side of the engine (!) and he gets another english speaking assistant to tell me that this takes time. I'm getting ******* tired of this bullshit, and I kinda want to tow the car out (of course it got towed in so now they can tell me all sorts of crap about the cars severe electric issues) and tell them to **** off and find another mechanic, what do you guys think?

P.*., no one told me they were going to change the oil.

First, I'm sure I have a few in my purge solenoids in my drawer.

Second, why is this guy ignoring the fact that you had a code stating the purge valve. That is where you start. Codes are our friends. At the very least, the shop shoudl look at it, test it, what ever. Just swapnostic it. However, if the car has been running super rich, it causes other problems. Over loads and clogs the O2 sensor, then over heats the cat.

Here is what I would do. Start the car, it stalls, then pull the spark plugs right away. Are they wet? If so, your getting to much fuel, or you have a really weak spark. If all plugs are wet, a weak spark is less likely because you have 3 coils. To test spark put a spark plug in the end of teh plug wire and lay it on a good ground, then have a friend crank the engine. You should have a good spark, if it looks weak then test the coils.

I think this guy is trying to come up with a magical problem to keep the car in his shop and act like it was that instead of an itty bitty fix. I CANNOT get my car to stall, because it DOES NOT start. If I can piggy back with what you're getting at, the plugs are DRY because theres not fuel getting into the pump (weak spark because of them not getting wet, right? Well it doesn't seem like they can get gas at all). Normally, if I listened closely, I could hear the pump prime when I turned the car on, and gas rushing into the pump, now you just hear the pump repeatedly waiting for gas coming in.

What kind of overloads are you talking about Danthurs? Is it an electrical overload?

You really need to do a fuel pressure test. Thsi will tell you yes or know as to the fuel pump. Key on, 45-50 psi, if not, then start with the fuse, if good, check relay, if good, check voltage at the fuel pump, if good, check ground, if good, replace fuel pump. I know fuel filter comes up a lot, but you really don't see clogged fuel filters like you used to in the good old days.

Over load I was refering to is to much raw gas will clog up the O2 sensor. Also, raw gas in the cat will wreck it.

Well none of these are related to 'severe electrical problems' or to a locked up security system, so I think I will be looking for somewhere else to get this car looked at.