Check Engine Light

[84LX89GT]

Yeah that's expensive, but it could have been alot worse. At least it's not a blown head gasket or something critically wrong.

Yeah, plugs and wires are a maintainence item anyway so you would have needed to do them later anyway, just think of it as you getting your money's worth out of what you had (drove until they failed).

How many miles are on your car?
I'm a professional mechanic so luckily auto repair costs ALOT less for me. I worked at a Ford dealership for 4.5 years and i was able to rebuild my rear axle for $60, fix a transmission internal hydraulic leak causing a missing 3rd gear for $6, FREE oil changes and quite a few other things. Having good parts just laying around helps (get excess in packages from ford warranty). I work on BMW's now so i don't get that luxury anymore but it's still nice having tons of tools i can bring home to work on my car.

I'm glad to hear things worked out ok and that it wasn't terminal