May 5, 2025 • 7 mins
Ron Ananian joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about what all of your dashboard warning lights mean, and which ones are the most serious.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, if you're like me, these warning lights go on
in your car and you just stare at them for
a while, going is that serious? Does that? What does
that mean? You know, like the one with the little
squiggly lines? What, what the heck does that mean? I
know it must be important, but I just keep driving.
Ron and Nanny and his host of the Car Doctor,
(00:21):
which is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app and owner
of our a Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey, and here
he is here to to decipher and interpret some of this.
Let's how about this, Ron, how about we start with
good morning to you, by the way, how about we
start with the check engine light.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, let's do that, Larry, good morning to you and everybody. Yeah,
let's start. Let's let's this will be our summer project.
I think we could talk about warning lights. Check engine light,
you know, that's like the granddaddy of them all. That's
that warning light that says there might be something wrong
with your cards on the dashboard. It's always orange. It
looks like a little engine eye. Sometimes it'll say check
(01:02):
engine or service engine. It doesn't mean your car's about
to break down, but it's sort of your car's way
of saying, hey, something's not quite right.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
What exactly is a fault code?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well here before we go there, So let me back
up a second. Kay, that's a great question. A check
engine light. I'm going to go a little deep here.
A check engine light, the idea of it was created
way back at nineteen ninety one. A little bit of history.
The Clean Air Act of nineteen ninety one mandated that
all vehicles sold within the continental United States have a
(01:40):
device on board that if the vehicle exceeds one and
a half times it's legal emissions level, it'll turn on
the light telling you something's not right. So absorb that
for a second. A check engine light does not mean
you need an oil change, although an extended oil change
or lack of oil can create a problem with the sensor,
(02:02):
which means the check engine light would come on. But
it doesn't mean you just hey, you ran over your
oil change interval, not that. It doesn't mean you need
to tune up, not necessarily. It means that your vehicle
is not as we say in a mission's compliance. Every
time you start a modern car, like you larry, every
time you get up in the morning, you do the
(02:22):
same routine. Right, you shower, you shave, you breakfast, your coffee,
you come to work. That's your routine. A car goes
through its routine every time you start it. The unique
thing about cars is it'll vary dependent upon when with
the last time you drove it. How hot or cold
is it, how hotter cold is it outside? What's the
(02:43):
weather like? What elevation are you at? A car can
adapt to all these things. You know, if some of
us have been driving longer and I fall into that category,
I remember carburetors. Remember carburetors larrying on it right? Well,
you got in it, you set the choke right, you
set the joke, and then you started it. And if
(03:05):
the car was right, it would fire up and it
would be on a fast idle and you'd wait thirty
seconds a minute, you'd kick it down. Hopefully it kicked
down right and you drove away. And if it was
a well balanced carburetor, it worked great. And then if
it wasn't, it was a nightmare. Well, think of the
modern cars, right, think of how well modern cars work.
We don't do that anymore. It's all computerized. It's all controlled.
(03:27):
That check engine light is there is a device to
tell you something's not quite right. And when something's not right,
now ask me your question. What was your question?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
What is the fault code?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
A fault code is it's sort of like a note
to the car, to the mechanics saying, hey, this is
a problem. So you take your car to a repair shop,
or you take it to your local ATO parts store
and they'll plug in a small scanner and they'll read
the code. Now, that digital code just towards a system.
(04:01):
It doesn't necessarily mean a part. For example, let's take
one everybody's dealt with. Everybody dreads the P zero four
to twenty P zero four to twenty fault code. Do
you know, Larry, just at a circumstance, have you had
this experience?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
No? No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
P zero four to twenty is a problem with the
catalytic converter. Always an expensive item, right, Everybody kind of cringes.
They don't want to hear that. But a P zero
four to twenty a cat fault usually is a cat,
but it can also be an exhaust league. It can
be an all two cents or fault. It can be
a computer programming update. So it doesn't necessarily mean it's
(04:42):
the component. But that fault code is they're saying, you've
got a problem, You've got to deal with it. Sometimes
it's big, sometimes it's small.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You know what I was wrong. I just didn't know
the numbers. But I just had a warning light about
my catalytic converter just now, just last in the last week,
and also the transmission. So I got rid of the car.
I just bought a new car because of the fault codes.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, and it's and and that cat. What kind of
car was it.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
That I had before? A two thy fifteen Nissan Rogue.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, that needed a cat. Yeah, they go they just
go through cats. It's just that there's certain things we
know that that needed a cat.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, it's funny he put it, you know, he hooked
it up and he said, well, we got some codes here,
some error codes. One of them you don't have to
worry about. Two of them are the worst you.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Could ever get, right, Yeah, it's it's the two worst
you can ever get. In my book is well, not
counting transmission faults. Transmission faults, there's a few cases where
you get a transmission fault code because a transmission fault.
And let's talk about that a second. A transmission fault
will turn on a check engine light. Kind of weird, right,
(05:49):
But why does it do that? Because if the transmission
can't operate through its gears correctly, if they can't shift
or you know, go into the proper speed second, third, fourth,
fifth gear and so on, what does that affect larry
out the.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Tailpipe you're exhaust, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
It affects emissions. It's making the engine work harder or
incorrectly at the rpm band. So it's it's sort of
like think of a tense speed bike. You're out there
trolling along on your ten speed and I know there's
twenty speed, so I'm dating myself, But think of your
ten speed bike. Right when you get to the hill
and you're in the wrong gear, you have to work harder, right, right,
but get up the hill. Yeah, the car does the
(06:29):
same thing. So that's why it affects emissions.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Let me ask you this, Do you have to go
in to see a mechanic for every time you have
some error code?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
You should, yes, because you don't know, you know, you
don't want to panic, but you want to just get
it looked at all. Right, Maybe it's listen, there's been
a lot of times people will come into the shop.
It's a P zero four twenty. It's an older car.
You know, it's got twenty thousand miles on it. And
I know that that was the week that they spent
a lot of time local around town. They didn't take
(07:00):
it out on the highway for a good run. And
I know that that three thousand dollars cat's going to
break the bank. Clear the code. Go take it for Larry.
If it comes back in three weeks, we'll deal with it.
If it doesn't, it's just age in the circumstance. Let's
see what happens. And you can do that. But you've
really got to leave it up to the mechanic, because
everybody's got a trusted mechanic, right.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Well, sometimes trust you. I trust you. Ron and Nady
and host of the Car Doctor, which is available weekly
on the iHeartRadio app and owner of our Automotive in Waldwick,
New Jersey. Thanks so much, Ron, You're very welcome. Larry
be well, talk to you next week.
Well, if you're like me, these warning lights go on
in your car and you just stare at them for
a while, going is that serious? Does that? What does
that mean? You know, like the one with the little
squiggly lines? What, what the heck does that mean? I
know it must be important, but I just keep driving.
Ron and Nanny and his host of the Car Doctor,
(00:21):
which is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app and owner
of our a Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey, and here
he is here to to decipher and interpret some of this.
Let's how about this, Ron, how about we start with
good morning to you, by the way, how about we
start with the check engine light.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, let's do that, Larry, good morning to you and everybody. Yeah,
let's start. Let's let's this will be our summer project.
I think we could talk about warning lights. Check engine light,
you know, that's like the granddaddy of them all. That's
that warning light that says there might be something wrong
with your cards on the dashboard. It's always orange. It
looks like a little engine eye. Sometimes it'll say check
(01:02):
engine or service engine. It doesn't mean your car's about
to break down, but it's sort of your car's way
of saying, hey, something's not quite right.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
What exactly is a fault code?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well here before we go there, So let me back
up a second. Kay, that's a great question. A check
engine light. I'm going to go a little deep here.
A check engine light, the idea of it was created
way back at nineteen ninety one. A little bit of history.
The Clean Air Act of nineteen ninety one mandated that
all vehicles sold within the continental United States have a
(01:40):
device on board that if the vehicle exceeds one and
a half times it's legal emissions level, it'll turn on
the light telling you something's not right. So absorb that
for a second. A check engine light does not mean
you need an oil change, although an extended oil change
or lack of oil can create a problem with the sensor,
(02:02):
which means the check engine light would come on. But
it doesn't mean you just hey, you ran over your
oil change interval, not that. It doesn't mean you need
to tune up, not necessarily. It means that your vehicle
is not as we say in a mission's compliance. Every
time you start a modern car, like you larry, every
time you get up in the morning, you do the
(02:22):
same routine. Right, you shower, you shave, you breakfast, your coffee,
you come to work. That's your routine. A car goes
through its routine every time you start it. The unique
thing about cars is it'll vary dependent upon when with
the last time you drove it. How hot or cold
is it, how hotter cold is it outside? What's the
(02:43):
weather like? What elevation are you at? A car can
adapt to all these things. You know, if some of
us have been driving longer and I fall into that category,
I remember carburetors. Remember carburetors larrying on it right? Well,
you got in it, you set the choke right, you
set the joke, and then you started it. And if
(03:05):
the car was right, it would fire up and it
would be on a fast idle and you'd wait thirty
seconds a minute, you'd kick it down. Hopefully it kicked
down right and you drove away. And if it was
a well balanced carburetor, it worked great. And then if
it wasn't, it was a nightmare. Well, think of the
modern cars, right, think of how well modern cars work.
We don't do that anymore. It's all computerized. It's all controlled.
(03:27):
That check engine light is there is a device to
tell you something's not quite right. And when something's not right,
now ask me your question. What was your question?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
What is the fault code?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
A fault code is it's sort of like a note
to the car, to the mechanics saying, hey, this is
a problem. So you take your car to a repair shop,
or you take it to your local ATO parts store
and they'll plug in a small scanner and they'll read
the code. Now, that digital code just towards a system.
(04:01):
It doesn't necessarily mean a part. For example, let's take
one everybody's dealt with. Everybody dreads the P zero four
to twenty P zero four to twenty fault code. Do
you know, Larry, just at a circumstance, have you had
this experience?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
No? No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
P zero four to twenty is a problem with the
catalytic converter. Always an expensive item, right, Everybody kind of cringes.
They don't want to hear that. But a P zero
four to twenty a cat fault usually is a cat,
but it can also be an exhaust league. It can
be an all two cents or fault. It can be
a computer programming update. So it doesn't necessarily mean it's
(04:42):
the component. But that fault code is they're saying, you've
got a problem, You've got to deal with it. Sometimes
it's big, sometimes it's small.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You know what I was wrong. I just didn't know
the numbers. But I just had a warning light about
my catalytic converter just now, just last in the last week,
and also the transmission. So I got rid of the car.
I just bought a new car because of the fault codes.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, and it's and and that cat. What kind of
car was it.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
That I had before? A two thy fifteen Nissan Rogue.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, that needed a cat. Yeah, they go they just
go through cats. It's just that there's certain things we
know that that needed a cat.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, it's funny he put it, you know, he hooked
it up and he said, well, we got some codes here,
some error codes. One of them you don't have to
worry about. Two of them are the worst you.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Could ever get, right, Yeah, it's it's the two worst
you can ever get. In my book is well, not
counting transmission faults. Transmission faults, there's a few cases where
you get a transmission fault code because a transmission fault.
And let's talk about that a second. A transmission fault
will turn on a check engine light. Kind of weird, right,
(05:49):
But why does it do that? Because if the transmission
can't operate through its gears correctly, if they can't shift
or you know, go into the proper speed second, third, fourth,
fifth gear and so on, what does that affect larry
out the.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Tailpipe you're exhaust, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
It affects emissions. It's making the engine work harder or
incorrectly at the rpm band. So it's it's sort of
like think of a tense speed bike. You're out there
trolling along on your ten speed and I know there's
twenty speed, so I'm dating myself, But think of your
ten speed bike. Right when you get to the hill
and you're in the wrong gear, you have to work harder, right, right,
but get up the hill. Yeah, the car does the
(06:29):
same thing. So that's why it affects emissions.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Let me ask you this, Do you have to go
in to see a mechanic for every time you have
some error code?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
You should, yes, because you don't know, you know, you
don't want to panic, but you want to just get
it looked at all. Right, Maybe it's listen, there's been
a lot of times people will come into the shop.
It's a P zero four twenty. It's an older car.
You know, it's got twenty thousand miles on it. And
I know that that was the week that they spent
a lot of time local around town. They didn't take
(07:00):
it out on the highway for a good run. And
I know that that three thousand dollars cat's going to
break the bank. Clear the code. Go take it for Larry.
If it comes back in three weeks, we'll deal with it.
If it doesn't, it's just age in the circumstance. Let's
see what happens. And you can do that. But you've
really got to leave it up to the mechanic, because
everybody's got a trusted mechanic, right.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Well, sometimes trust you. I trust you. Ron and Nady
and host of the Car Doctor, which is available weekly
on the iHeartRadio app and owner of our Automotive in Waldwick,
New Jersey. Thanks so much, Ron, You're very welcome. Larry
be well, talk to you next week.
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