May 15, 2021 • 35 mins
Ron starts this episode talking about his week and slicing his hand open working on a muffler : takes a call on a 94 Ranger that starts and runs great, but runs rough after restarting : takes a call on an 08 Lincoln MKX that was running fine, started lurching, stopped completely, and the mechanic says it now needs an engine : takes a call on a 99 Mitsubishi Galant where the headlights stopped working.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Ronan, I think electric vehicles with current technology isn't gonna happen.
I don't think it can. I just I'm not wishing it.
I'm just trying to be practical the Car Doctor. They
thought maybe that quick paint working right or something. Well, anyway,
they took the ball off and then it quit grade
into battery. What's really need, Paul, is if you use
(00:25):
a thermal imager like I was describing, that thermal imager
will find that bulb hot three hours later. Welcome to
the radio home of ron Andanian the Car Doctor. Since
this is where car owners the world overturned to for
their definitive opinion on automotive repair. If your mechanics giving
you a busy signal, pick up the phone and call in.
(00:48):
The garage doors are open, but I am here to
take your calls at eight five and now he running.
I guess the universe is maybe telling me to slow
down just a little bit, right, Listen. I get up
here every week and I usually start the hours of
(01:10):
the show or two hour weekly show or two hour
get together. Every week, you and I and I tell
you the events of the week, or or a really
tough car we worked on and solve the problem or
or something right. Tell you a story from the shop,
and you, guys seem to like the story from the
shop the best. Here's one you may or may not like.
I wasn't too thrilled with it, but um, it's the truth.
(01:30):
It's sort of the biggest thing that happened to me
this week, and I figured I would share it with you.
Friday is always a funny day and a repair shop,
you're you're you're trying to get the week closed out.
I like to close things out on Friday. I like
to have nothing hanging over of major proportion, or at
least if I've got something hanging over, I've got a
(01:51):
good direction so I can get a jump on it
for Monday. It's just the way I'm built. I I
just I like to have a beginning, in middle and
an end. Every week. It's just it just seems to
be what I am and who I am. This Friday,
this past Friday, it was no different. It was, you know,
the usual, let's we've got to get this done. We've
got to get this done, We've got to get that done. Um,
(02:13):
you know, I I actually had some funny emails that
I responded to at my ten o'clock coffee, one of
which was it has nothing to do with what happened
later on in the day, but it seemed like a
normal day other than this. I I was remarking to
my friend Chris from Automotive Training Group. We were talking
about an email that had shown up that a s
(02:34):
C posted an email about a webinar a training session
for four o'clock on Friday afternoon, and I said, what
what what dope wrote that? Why would you write a
training seminar and post it and schedule it for four
pm on a on a Friday afternoon. That doesn't make
any sense. And we sort of kicked it around and
(02:57):
you know, discussed, you know, do you do it at lunchtime?
M do you do it later? Do you do it earlier?
But four o'clock on Friday is just one bad time
because anything around four o'clock and later you're trying to
close out the week. And then we got through the
rest of the day and we actually were done about
oh gosh. By three o'clock. Danny and I had everything
buttoned up and customers were picking up cars and the
(03:20):
process was beginning and we were winding down. I said,
you know, let me just get let me just get
started on one more. Let's get let's get a jump on.
Next week, all the parts showed up for Mary's Montego.
We've got a very long term customer with a No.
Five Mercury Montego, which is seventeen years old now, and
and it needed a pile of things going on, and uh,
(03:41):
you know, we've got it till it's done. But I
wanted to get it done, you know, I didn't want
it to go on forever. And one of the things
that I had to do was exhaust. And I wanted
to get the exhaust off the car because it would
give me a clear direction come Monday morning. And I figured,
you know, let me get it up in the air.
Let me get the exhaust off. I can lay out
the new stuff, line it up. What do I do
I need to get? Am I gonna have problems with
(04:01):
exhaust studs at manifolds and things like that, And this
way I've got a direction. And then I did a
stupid thing. You ever see those cartoons where they're cutting
down the trees and the character is sitting on the
tree limb and he's sawing off the limb. That was me.
I had a saws all in my hands and I
(04:22):
was cutting down the exhaust pipe. And as I'm cutting
through the pipe, I'm thinking, I wonder where the muffler
is gonna go. And then it happened so quick. It
happens so fast that you can't react to it. You're
you're you know, the mufflers not gonna go anywhere. And
then you realize the mufflers what's holding up the rest
of it, and the pipe is gonna be stuck on
(04:44):
its hanger. But the other side of the muffler only
has a rubber hanger at the one end. And sure enough,
as I was thinking it, it happened. Cut through the pipe,
the mufflers swung down and just like those buzz saws
and the bugs bunny cartoons, slit the top of my
left hand open seven stitches later, thank you. And as
I was sitting in the emergency room at quarter to four,
(05:05):
and I was almost four o'clock at that point, I'm thinking, yeah,
this is why they say four o'clocks the witching hour
and a repair shop. And I was thinking what a
stupid move it was that I was in such a
rush that I had to do this and get this done.
And sometimes you just got to learn to say whoa,
um and I'll be all right. And you know it
(05:27):
was stitched up nice and um, you want to see
the pictures, send me an email. Uh, but it You know,
life is funny. Right this morning, I was on my
way to the chiropractor, and maybe this was the lesson.
And I was in a very laid back kind of
(05:47):
mode today as I was cruising out to the chiropractor
to get put back together from the week of auto repair,
twisting and turning and bending and so forth. And as
I'm sitting at the corner trying to make a left
onto this one road, the car and on me went
because the car coming from the other direction let him go,
and the guy went and he left and he came around,
(06:10):
and I was in no rush, and the guy driving
the car just yelled an up, sending to me at
me about what do I need an invitation? And I
just a lot of hostility in the world, you know,
so my hand will be all right. And I thought
about it, and I said, you know, maybe if I
hadn't cut my hand, I might have been more aggressive,
(06:32):
and maybe that would have led to a problem. So
maybe the universe saved me. I guess the point becomes
you can reflect on it all you want, but you
know what, order repair is a dangerous proposition because when
you least expect it, something goes wrong. Something can go wrong,
and you know it's It's funny. It was trying to
tell me it twice because when I was heating the studs,
(06:55):
I didn't catch it at first, but there was some
oil absorbent matt on the ground in a corner that
I didn't see, and I turned around and it was
on fire because some of the embers had rolled over
onto it. And I said, well, that would be a
great way to end the week. I'll set the shop
on fire. Um. And then fifteen minutes later I cut
(07:16):
my hands. So I guess the universe is trying to
tell me get out of the shop, now go home.
It's Friday. Take the day. But um, that was my week.
That's how That's how my weekended. It did end on
a positive note, though. The sixteen Chevy traverse that I've
been laboring over for the past four weeks is fixed. Uh.
To recap. This was a sixteen traverse that had set
(07:41):
a pile of codes a half a dozen or so
fault codes, everything from bank one catalytic converter issues, lean
fuel trim codes, and several other things that it reacted
to from a result of a leaking power steering hose
until the two censor connector and general Motors wanted to
replace the entire wiring harness, and in doing so, I
(08:02):
I couldn't justify it, not in a forty mile vehicle
six going on seven years old, just for one connector
that was soaked with power steering fluid. I cut it back.
I found a connector and UH, replace that connector. And
we were rubbing EVAP monitors. If you recall the last
time we spoke the EVAP monitor, I couldn't get it
to go. That vehicle went three and twenty six miles
(08:25):
before it ran the EVAP monitor. It took that long
under the right conditions, even though we were trying to
you know, digit along with correct level of fuel and
you know, ambient temperature starts and doing proper things. And
I guess my one conclusion I came to is that
the newer the vehicle, the more complicated the emission controls,
the more complicated the psychology and the methodology of what
(08:47):
they're trying to achieve, and it just made me think
of you know, there's just no easy path anymore. It's
all technology driven until that vehicle feels like passing that
when it passes. So but that car is fixed down
the road and we did it without doing a wiring
harness and um, you know, customers happy. So that's on
(09:09):
its way. Um, that's what I got. That was my week.
It started good, it ended good. You know what, I
still got my hand. I can still move all my fingers.
Um didn't even bleed. It just sort of split the
top of the hand. And what can I tell you.
I was gonna draw a little I was gonna draw
two eyes and a nose on it, and I could
make like a little puppet. But that's a whole another story.
So listen, let me pull over and take the pause
(09:29):
and we can come back and kick the garage doors
wide open eight five zero nine zero zero, run in
any of the car. Doctor, I'll be back right after this.
Don't go away. Need advice on how to maintaining that
(09:53):
classic g t O ron is the guy five five
five zero nine nine zero zero. Here's ra Hey, let's
get over to Jim and Delaware ninety four Ranger Jim.
Welcome to the car doctor, sir, How can I help? Uh?
I have a Ranger four oh runs like a top rock.
Only problem is when I shut it off, leave a
(10:16):
step for a minute or so as I work. When
I go to turn it back on, it check ims
and light comes on and it runs real rough. Uh.
If I leave it set there and idol for a
little bit, it'll be fine. I'll drive it maybe a
mile or so and it'll start to clear out and
runs like a top. Ever since I have two codes
(10:37):
that that I off of. This isn't the five thousand
dollar code reader on nine? Okay? And do those do
those codes set consistently, meaning meaning if you were to
clear them, do they come back? Yeah? Okay? Um, so
(11:00):
they come back on a regular continuous basis. Okay, it'll
run fine after after after a short period of time, right,
and mileage is good. But it just mops up on me.
All right. So those fault codes are for rich limits
on the O two sensors right and left bank have
(11:22):
been reached. It's telling you that the PCM is seeing
maximum O two centsor operating rich limit. So it's seeing
a rich fuel condition that's causing this. Do you have
the ability to check fuel Do you have the ability
to check fuel pressure? Jim? Um, it would be nice
if we could get a gauge on the system and
(11:44):
then does it hold residual pressure? Is it bleeding down?
This should have also, this should have an auxiliary fuel
pressure regulator in the rail. And I wonder if the
I wonder if the fuel pressure regulator is ruptured allowing
it to bleed off. And the reason you're seeing, the
reason you're seeing, um, the rough running is because it's
(12:06):
it's just it's just drawing fuel. Yeah, right, So I
wonder if, um, you know, do we have a do
we have a ruptured uh fuel pressure diaphragm regulator in
the rail? Do we have a bad canister purge valve? Okay?
(12:29):
Do we have a bad mass airflow sensor? You know,
something's driving this rich So we've got to try and
diagnose this without any exotic tools. One of the things
I would like to One of the things I would
like to try is a four oh and ninety four
(12:49):
should run if we unplug the mass airflow sensor. Alright,
it'll it'll it'll run in a bypass if you unplug
the mass airflow and go to are at the truck,
does it start and run? If it starts and runs,
I'm wondering if that man's air is reaching its maximum
(13:10):
rich limit or I'm sorry, if it's reporting uh incorrect
air causing the engine to reach maximum rich limit. Does
this vehicle sit for any length of time? Do you
just overnight? And then it's I have a little business
and I'm here for ten minutes, that I'm going to
(13:31):
the next job for fifteen minutes, and I'm here for
you know, it's stopping on off and on off and on.
So I just let the If I let the truck
run still run all day, it's it's problem. It's only
when you shut it off, yep, and then go to
start it. Okay, So then my question is and then
(13:51):
I guess I could also have do I have a
bad inject or? Do I have an injector staying stuck open?
I gotta tell you the first thing I'd like, The
first thing I'd love to see is I'd love to
a fuel pressure on this truck. And when the problem happens,
does it hold residual fuel pressure or does it bleed off?
And you know when it bleeds off? Is it bleeding off?
Because if it has a pressure regulator in the rail,
(14:14):
which it has to have one somewhere, is that ruptured?
Or do I have a fuel injector physically stuck open?
That makes sense and it's bleeding off fuel. I bet
if you go ahead, I was gonna say, I bet
if you let me, let me say this. I bet
if you hold your foot right to the floor, as
(14:36):
if you were clearing out a flooded engine, I bet
it would start faster. You could try that. Does it smoke?
Is there black smoke that comes out of this when
it when it does finally start? No, not at all,
not at all? What what what happened? Uh? Injectors claimed,
(15:02):
you know at a shop where they run the junk
through it with that um Well, before I did that,
I'd spend an hour of the shop's time explain the
problem to them, because it sounds like it's a problem
that can be found. You know, half the problem with
diagnostics is getting a direction and the ability to reproduce
(15:24):
the issue. This issue, this issue is reproducible. I would
go in and explain it to them like you've explained
it to me, and request, can you can they verify
proper fuel pressure throughout the operating range of the engine
and residual fuel pressure meaning when you shut the key off,
fuel pressure on that is somewhere between thirty and thirty
(15:45):
three p s. I if I call correctly, and it
should hold that residual pressure for up to twenty minutes,
and I bet it drops like a stone. If it
doesn't drop like a stone and it holds, it holds
the same fuel pressure key on, engine off if it's
within five pounds. So if it's twenty seven thirty pounds
something like that, and it stays there and when you
(16:06):
go to started, fuel pressure doesn't budge. This is not
a fuel pressure issue. We can move on. Then I'm
gonna start to think about it. Then I'm gonna start
to think about a mass airflow sensor that for some reason,
is that a calibration or creating an issue? And you
know that can be replaced, That can be replaced, Sure,
(16:26):
all of it can be replaced. You know, finding parts
might be a little bit of a test. The vehicles
almost thirty years old. Um no, listen, I'm just I'm
just saying that finding parts is an issue. I'm not saying,
don't fix it, you know. And the reason I was
asking about does the vehicle sit or has it sad
for any length of time? Did the vehicle sit and
you started driving it recently and that's when the problem developed.
(16:51):
I'll tell you what. It's sat for years and years
and years, and then I got it running maybe uh
maybe two years ago, ran like a top and then
it just developed this recently. Yeah. And one other thing,
one other thing. I don't know if this had a
thing to do with it. I had to I had
(17:11):
the I had a stroke run. I'm sorry you had
the the AH for for what thermostat. I had the
thermostat replaced because it was because when I started running,
it was on the low side and then uh sometimes
(17:33):
now when I started up, it'll run for a long time,
you know, on the low side of the normal, and
then it will jump back up. Does that mean anything?
Before I were to consider that, Jim, I would want
to verify that by scan tool. I don't want to
trust the gauge on the vehicle, you know, the gauge
(17:54):
on the vehicle, the accuracy that gauge. It could be
off by five degrees and cause a wide swee upon
the temp gage. I would rather see if by scan
tool temperature is something to consider. But let's do some
basics there. Let's look at that, Let's look at fuel
pressure and go from there. Call me back, let me
know I can help you with some more. I'm run
on any of the car Doctor, will be back right
after this. Welcome back. We're on any of the car Doctor.
(18:38):
You know, just real quick for our previous caller regarding
the ranger from Delaware. For Jim Uh. You know, cooling
temperature is of a great deal of importance. Even on
an older vehicle, it doesn't matter. We recently had an
O nine Honda in the shop that was having issues
with a check engine light getting set. It was setting
(19:01):
a coolant tempt fault code and when we looked at it,
we came to the conclusion that it was missing the
mark by six degrees. Now, it wasn't something that we
could see on a on the on the dash gauge
to get the dash gauge didn't budge um in that
particular case, and you know, all dash gauges seem to
(19:21):
have a different degree of sensitivity. My point is, looking
at the scan tool, we were able to determine that
it was operating below temp um, you know, according to
spec and as a matter of fact, to verify the
spec beyond the information systems we have, we went at
the motorad dot com or or or go to UM
motor rad dot com has some really great solid thermostat
(19:42):
information there as well as specs of when and how
they opened and um they also will tell you, uh,
you know, single pellet, double pellet, all sorts of construction
information of a thermostats and when you're looking for a
lot of the down and dirty uh motorat dot com,
I'll give it to you. But we put a motor
rat stat in it that vehicle was fixed off by
six degrees setting a fault code. So um, you know,
(20:02):
only could tell by looking at a scancel. We don't.
We don't trust the dash gates. Just very very important.
Let's get over to the phones again. Let's go over
to Lisa and Illinois. Oh eight Lincoln, Lisa, what happened?
It sounds like the engine went bye bye. What can
I do for you? Trying to find out? Once it
was lurching and then it stopped and took it to
(20:23):
a mechanic. The UM indicated that they thought it was
the starter at the starter and then what they told
me was that they tried to manually turn the engine
crank it by him and couldn't. Therefore it was locked
up in it's a piece of now, thank you. Um so,
(20:50):
so you know, just tell me the story. Were you
just driving and stop and go traffic or highway speed
or something and it just stopped just running errand and
went to a dental appointment in it died in the
parking lot, but it restarted and then um kind of
chugged and then died again. Before that, there weren't any
(21:12):
problems with it. Any Any recent service worked unto it,
not other than oil changes, no other service work. How
long how long prior had the had the oil change
been done? I'm not exactly certain that it was. It
was over the recommended uh date of change that there
(21:36):
were there were weren't a lot of miles on it,
did they happen to say? And you know, and my
concern would be that you had had the oil change
the day before, and did they put the proper amount
of oil in it, uh, you know, et cetera, or
could they have put an oil filter on it that
leaked that was defective. But it doesn't sound like it
sounds like the oil, the oil in the filter had
(21:56):
been done three or four or five months prior. And
then here you are with an engine that just seized
up in a parking lot. Um you know any did
the shop say anything about any vital fluids missing, low
on oil, low on coolant, anything like that. It was
a little critically low and was not sick. Okay, And
(22:20):
how many miles are on this car? Guess what? You
know what? You know what? The next one? You know what?
The next question is what color? What? What color? It's white? No? No,
what color is the next car? Are gonna be? Yeah?
(22:43):
I'm sorry. You know, if if they if they if
they tried hand cranking it and it doesn't move, they're
saying it seased. You know, at at two d thousand miles,
you start to lay out the dollars. You know, in
your head, an engine is easily four to six thousand dollars.
(23:05):
What kind of shape is the rest of the body
and the vehicles fourteen years old? Yeah, the rest of
the bodies almost perfect except for scratch along the side
that my daughter did you know that? The concern is
that you'd have to put conservatively, you're gonna put oh,
(23:30):
I bet you four to six grand and an engine.
Then you've got to ask yourself, is that the original transmission?
Is it the original trans Yeah? So you know, would
you put six thousand dollars into a two thousand mile,
fourteen year old car with an original transmission? If the
transmission failed after the engine, would you fix that too? Yeah?
(23:51):
I see what you mean. You know, it starts, it
starts to snowball. Now, if if if you go out
and look at new vehicles and the vehicle that you
choose to give you a little bit of empowerment here
if I can, if if the next vehicle that you're
looking at, is you wanted something the class of a
Lincoln MK, you know, and and m k X. You
(24:13):
know you're gonna go out and spend forty sixty grand,
you know, maybe fifteen grand to re put this car
back on the road with a fresh engine, a fresh
trans you know, go through breaks, tire, suspension, Maybe it's
worth it, but you know, you gotta play. What if
you really gotta play? What if you're Lisa, you know,
(24:34):
what if this breaks? What if that breaks? Is it
worth it? What? What you're what you're describing to me
is a very reasonable explanation of an engine that failed.
All right, you're saying, you're saying all the right things.
They're saying all the right things. You know. It's it's
it's you know, it's tough. It's not your fault. It's
(24:58):
not because the oil was overdue by time? How overdue
by time? Was the oil? Uh? By time? Yeah? It
was over was it overdo it all? It was just
a little overdue by miles? What's what's a little five miles? Yeah?
Yeahs isn't gonna do it. So it's not your fault.
(25:22):
So get get rid of the get rid of the guilt,
you know, get rid of the guilt. I could tell that. Yeah, well,
and that's you know, so if I were if I
were talking, you know, if we're having the conversation and
it's it's limited means and and and so forth. The
(25:45):
next thing you have to think about is do you
do um? You know? Do you do uh? Is it
time to look at something that will give you a
fixed exposure in terms of do you go out? And
is it something in a lease that gives you the
ability to you know, plan Hey, here's your projected expenses
for the next two or three years till you get
(26:05):
yourself back on your feet financially, whatever the case might be.
If that's the issue, and you know, that's just something
to think about. Um yeah, I mean, listen, you know
what cars are a lifestyle. I don't I don't care
if you live in Illinois, New Jersey, California, Florida, or
any point in between. All Right, it sounds like I'm
gonna guess here, so you know, let me stick my
(26:27):
neck out. Um. You know, maybe you're a single mom
or you know, you're on a limited budget, something along
those lines. Retired Okay, all right, so you're on well
but you get my point, you get my point, right,
Um yeah, you know it's it's you're you're you're retired,
you're on a budget, you're trying to hold down expenses.
(26:49):
If if you know it's it's it's real simple. Look
look at your income level over the next couple of
days and go, I've got you know, if I if
you can cut two to four free from you know,
the budget and say this is going to go towards
the car every month, I guess what you're now going
to enjoy that lifestyle. Okay, But but the issue becomes
(27:10):
you've got to find the right car, the lowest down payment.
You've got to realize that this is money you're never
going to get back. You're gonna go from being you know,
you haven't had a car payment and what probably ten years, Okay,
so now you're gonna go back to having a car
payment forever. So you've got to think about that. They
(27:32):
told me that they had done the full inspection, everything
was perfect, and I would be assured of being able
to put a whole lot more miles on it than
I have, and that didn't happen. Can I understand, biore? Beware,
but I don't know enough about cars or car engines
(27:57):
to know whether or not, which is why I called
find out whether or not was worth towing somewhere else
and getting a second opinion or whatever you call it
with that car, having it put on the computer system. Right,
I'll tell you what. I'm gonna hold you over. Let
me just hold you over real quick. Let's let's uh,
let's let's let's pick that up when I get back,
because I don't want to rush through this. I'm running
(28:18):
anady in the car. Doctor, we'll be back with Lisa
from Illinois. Right after this, we'm back the need of
the car doctor. Lisa from Illinois. You're still there, eight Lincoln. Yeah,
(28:39):
I'm sorry. I was caught up in the commercials. That's okay,
that's okay. At least we know we're writing good commercials. Um,
so you know they're Your question before we took the
pause was does it do you get a toad somewhere
for a second opinion? So let me ask you this question.
You're you're a retired single mom, right who's been working
on the car all this time? Is it? Is it
(29:00):
quick loudes? Is it one regular guy? Is it you
know somebody? A couple of different shops? What's going on?
Different places? But I mean I think they're reputable. There's
done business. It was like, you know, a regular loop
company business. And then then was at Um it was
(29:20):
the same thing. So let me ask you this question,
why do you why do you go to two or
three different repair shops because of my schedule. It was
not repairs. I didn't have repairs on it, but to
get the oil changed, that was only because of my
schedule when they could get me in, right know, And
(29:43):
I get that and listen. One of the things I
always like to point to is I think auto repair
is really important. It's to me. It's to me, it
ranks right up there with you pick a doctor, you
pick a lawyer and accountant, and you pick a mechanic,
and you know, one person gets than e. Lise's car,
Elese's cars because the car is actually to me. You know,
(30:05):
it's so important that it's safe, that it's reliable, and
that you're dealing with somebody that you have a relationship with.
And you know, one of the things I just want
to ask you to consider when we end our call
today is you know, do you want to be a
name or a number? Do you want to be in
a place where they Yeah, you want to be a name? Right?
You go to the You probably go to the same
(30:26):
doctor for years and years. You like their bedside man,
or you like the way they explain things. You trust them.
There's a relationship there, right, And I think that's really
to me my opinion from my corner of the world,
I think that's a lot to be said about auto repair.
And you know, do you tew this somewhere else? I
don't know what that's gonna get you. I think that's
(30:48):
you know, going to kind of bring it along the
lines of um uh, you know, you're just gonna have
to hear the same story all over again, and then
do you put another five six thousand dollar engineer it
all over again, and you know, and what kind of
shapes the rest of the vehicle and do this. Okay,
let's end it here. Do this. Go look at your budget.
How much car can Lisa affard, how much can Lisa
(31:09):
put down on a down payment, how that will affect
her monthly budget, and then who's gonna work on it,
and where you're gonna purchase that car from used or
know what's out there. There's a lot of issues with
buying cars right now because of the pandemic and ship shortages.
But you know, make an intelligent decision, not emotional, based
on what's in Lease's wheelhouse at this point, and then
we can talk about it next week or the week
(31:31):
after if you need more advice. But you need to
get some numbers together in a direction in your head. Yes,
it sounds like this vehicle needs an engine and it's
not worth putting money into based on its age um
because of the potential of other things that could go
wrong that you may or may not be financially prepared
to take care of as well. Two thousand miles. He
did pretty good. Call me back, we'll talk about it. Zero.
(31:54):
We'll be back right after this. Tut burning the car doctor,
Let's get over to Kennon, Wisconsin. I mean, I met
Subishi with no headlights ken Welcome aboard, sir. How can
I help? Yes, I've turned the headlights on one day
(32:16):
to the car. Well, they didn't work. So I went
out there and I checked the fuse. The high and
low beams didn't work, so I checked the few as
all the other lights worked, the running lights and all that.
I wiggled the socket on each light and they came on.
But the sockets were very hot to the touch. And
I found where the black ground wire on the driver's
(32:39):
side it melted the socket itself, but not the insulation
on the wires. Are those are they standard bulbs? Can?
Or they are they? They're the HB two so they're
high output bulb, Yeah, fifty sixty five, but I guess
(33:02):
they're called nine zero zero threes now right? But are they?
Are they? Are they any kind of a fancy aftermarket
high output bulb? Where they have standard. This is this
original one. Okay, so you put you put connectors and
bulbs in it, and or wouldn't put in because because
(33:23):
those still work. I put it new socket on from
O'Reilly and it works fine. Is that from a bad ground,
dirty old connection? Is it normal to be very hot
to the touch? Well, it's there. They are hot to
the touch. They can be hot to the touch. You've
gone this. You're talking about the socket itself, right, They
(33:46):
do get hot. The bacon light gets hot and it
gets brittle. What what I would tell you if listen,
let's do it like this, if it had a bad ground, okay,
what would happen to current flow through the circuit? Well,
that's what I think. I think. You know there has
got this eighteen gage wire on which is really thin.
I think only one strand was probably grounding. So did
(34:09):
you are you saying you? Are you saying you repaired
the ground from the broken wire? You put a solid
ground and now is it? Yeah? I replaced the whole
three prong prong socket use to use the old bulbs.
It works fine? Is it still? Is it still to
the touch? How that is it? Just? Is it just
(34:32):
so old that would cause this well, is it still
hot to the touch or since you changed the socket
it's working. No? No, that one's cool, but the other
one I didn't change because the socket didn't know. Uh,
you know what. Can It's probably a question better suited
for a longer time. But yes, broken wires can create
(34:52):
electrical issues, so you've probably solved it. Check the other
one and you might want to replace that as well.
Appreciate the call. I'm on a na of the car.
Doctor of Mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you
Ronan, I think electric vehicles with current technology isn't gonna happen.
I don't think it can. I just I'm not wishing it.
I'm just trying to be practical the Car Doctor. They
thought maybe that quick paint working right or something. Well, anyway,
they took the ball off and then it quit grade
into battery. What's really need, Paul, is if you use
(00:25):
a thermal imager like I was describing, that thermal imager
will find that bulb hot three hours later. Welcome to
the radio home of ron Andanian the Car Doctor. Since
this is where car owners the world overturned to for
their definitive opinion on automotive repair. If your mechanics giving
you a busy signal, pick up the phone and call in.
(00:48):
The garage doors are open, but I am here to
take your calls at eight five and now he running.
I guess the universe is maybe telling me to slow
down just a little bit, right, Listen. I get up
here every week and I usually start the hours of
(01:10):
the show or two hour weekly show or two hour
get together. Every week, you and I and I tell
you the events of the week, or or a really
tough car we worked on and solve the problem or
or something right. Tell you a story from the shop,
and you, guys seem to like the story from the
shop the best. Here's one you may or may not like.
I wasn't too thrilled with it, but um, it's the truth.
(01:30):
It's sort of the biggest thing that happened to me
this week, and I figured I would share it with you.
Friday is always a funny day and a repair shop,
you're you're you're trying to get the week closed out.
I like to close things out on Friday. I like
to have nothing hanging over of major proportion, or at
least if I've got something hanging over, I've got a
(01:51):
good direction so I can get a jump on it
for Monday. It's just the way I'm built. I I
just I like to have a beginning, in middle and
an end. Every week. It's just it just seems to
be what I am and who I am. This Friday,
this past Friday, it was no different. It was, you know,
the usual, let's we've got to get this done. We've
got to get this done, We've got to get that done. Um,
(02:13):
you know, I I actually had some funny emails that
I responded to at my ten o'clock coffee, one of
which was it has nothing to do with what happened
later on in the day, but it seemed like a
normal day other than this. I I was remarking to
my friend Chris from Automotive Training Group. We were talking
about an email that had shown up that a s
(02:34):
C posted an email about a webinar a training session
for four o'clock on Friday afternoon, and I said, what
what what dope wrote that? Why would you write a
training seminar and post it and schedule it for four
pm on a on a Friday afternoon. That doesn't make
any sense. And we sort of kicked it around and
(02:57):
you know, discussed, you know, do you do it at lunchtime?
M do you do it later? Do you do it earlier?
But four o'clock on Friday is just one bad time
because anything around four o'clock and later you're trying to
close out the week. And then we got through the
rest of the day and we actually were done about
oh gosh. By three o'clock. Danny and I had everything
buttoned up and customers were picking up cars and the
(03:20):
process was beginning and we were winding down. I said,
you know, let me just get let me just get
started on one more. Let's get let's get a jump on.
Next week, all the parts showed up for Mary's Montego.
We've got a very long term customer with a No.
Five Mercury Montego, which is seventeen years old now, and
and it needed a pile of things going on, and uh,
(03:41):
you know, we've got it till it's done. But I
wanted to get it done, you know, I didn't want
it to go on forever. And one of the things
that I had to do was exhaust. And I wanted
to get the exhaust off the car because it would
give me a clear direction come Monday morning. And I figured,
you know, let me get it up in the air.
Let me get the exhaust off. I can lay out
the new stuff, line it up. What do I do
I need to get? Am I gonna have problems with
(04:01):
exhaust studs at manifolds and things like that, And this
way I've got a direction. And then I did a
stupid thing. You ever see those cartoons where they're cutting
down the trees and the character is sitting on the
tree limb and he's sawing off the limb. That was me.
I had a saws all in my hands and I
(04:22):
was cutting down the exhaust pipe. And as I'm cutting
through the pipe, I'm thinking, I wonder where the muffler
is gonna go. And then it happened so quick. It
happens so fast that you can't react to it. You're
you're you know, the mufflers not gonna go anywhere. And
then you realize the mufflers what's holding up the rest
of it, and the pipe is gonna be stuck on
(04:44):
its hanger. But the other side of the muffler only
has a rubber hanger at the one end. And sure enough,
as I was thinking it, it happened. Cut through the pipe,
the mufflers swung down and just like those buzz saws
and the bugs bunny cartoons, slit the top of my
left hand open seven stitches later, thank you. And as
I was sitting in the emergency room at quarter to four,
(05:05):
and I was almost four o'clock at that point, I'm thinking, yeah,
this is why they say four o'clocks the witching hour
and a repair shop. And I was thinking what a
stupid move it was that I was in such a
rush that I had to do this and get this done.
And sometimes you just got to learn to say whoa,
um and I'll be all right. And you know it
(05:27):
was stitched up nice and um, you want to see
the pictures, send me an email. Uh, but it You know,
life is funny. Right this morning, I was on my
way to the chiropractor, and maybe this was the lesson.
And I was in a very laid back kind of
(05:47):
mode today as I was cruising out to the chiropractor
to get put back together from the week of auto repair,
twisting and turning and bending and so forth. And as
I'm sitting at the corner trying to make a left
onto this one road, the car and on me went
because the car coming from the other direction let him go,
and the guy went and he left and he came around,
(06:10):
and I was in no rush, and the guy driving
the car just yelled an up, sending to me at
me about what do I need an invitation? And I
just a lot of hostility in the world, you know,
so my hand will be all right. And I thought
about it, and I said, you know, maybe if I
hadn't cut my hand, I might have been more aggressive,
(06:32):
and maybe that would have led to a problem. So
maybe the universe saved me. I guess the point becomes
you can reflect on it all you want, but you
know what, order repair is a dangerous proposition because when
you least expect it, something goes wrong. Something can go wrong,
and you know it's It's funny. It was trying to
tell me it twice because when I was heating the studs,
(06:55):
I didn't catch it at first, but there was some
oil absorbent matt on the ground in a corner that
I didn't see, and I turned around and it was
on fire because some of the embers had rolled over
onto it. And I said, well, that would be a
great way to end the week. I'll set the shop
on fire. Um. And then fifteen minutes later I cut
(07:16):
my hands. So I guess the universe is trying to
tell me get out of the shop, now go home.
It's Friday. Take the day. But um, that was my week.
That's how That's how my weekended. It did end on
a positive note, though. The sixteen Chevy traverse that I've
been laboring over for the past four weeks is fixed. Uh.
To recap. This was a sixteen traverse that had set
(07:41):
a pile of codes a half a dozen or so
fault codes, everything from bank one catalytic converter issues, lean
fuel trim codes, and several other things that it reacted
to from a result of a leaking power steering hose
until the two censor connector and general Motors wanted to
replace the entire wiring harness, and in doing so, I
(08:02):
I couldn't justify it, not in a forty mile vehicle
six going on seven years old, just for one connector
that was soaked with power steering fluid. I cut it back.
I found a connector and UH, replace that connector. And
we were rubbing EVAP monitors. If you recall the last
time we spoke the EVAP monitor, I couldn't get it
to go. That vehicle went three and twenty six miles
(08:25):
before it ran the EVAP monitor. It took that long
under the right conditions, even though we were trying to
you know, digit along with correct level of fuel and
you know, ambient temperature starts and doing proper things. And
I guess my one conclusion I came to is that
the newer the vehicle, the more complicated the emission controls,
the more complicated the psychology and the methodology of what
(08:47):
they're trying to achieve, and it just made me think
of you know, there's just no easy path anymore. It's
all technology driven until that vehicle feels like passing that
when it passes. So but that car is fixed down
the road and we did it without doing a wiring
harness and um, you know, customers happy. So that's on
(09:09):
its way. Um, that's what I got. That was my week.
It started good, it ended good. You know what, I
still got my hand. I can still move all my fingers.
Um didn't even bleed. It just sort of split the
top of the hand. And what can I tell you.
I was gonna draw a little I was gonna draw
two eyes and a nose on it, and I could
make like a little puppet. But that's a whole another story.
So listen, let me pull over and take the pause
(09:29):
and we can come back and kick the garage doors
wide open eight five zero nine zero zero, run in
any of the car. Doctor, I'll be back right after this.
Don't go away. Need advice on how to maintaining that
(09:53):
classic g t O ron is the guy five five
five zero nine nine zero zero. Here's ra Hey, let's
get over to Jim and Delaware ninety four Ranger Jim.
Welcome to the car doctor, sir, How can I help? Uh?
I have a Ranger four oh runs like a top rock.
Only problem is when I shut it off, leave a
(10:16):
step for a minute or so as I work. When
I go to turn it back on, it check ims
and light comes on and it runs real rough. Uh.
If I leave it set there and idol for a
little bit, it'll be fine. I'll drive it maybe a
mile or so and it'll start to clear out and
runs like a top. Ever since I have two codes
(10:37):
that that I off of. This isn't the five thousand
dollar code reader on nine? Okay? And do those do
those codes set consistently, meaning meaning if you were to
clear them, do they come back? Yeah? Okay? Um, so
(11:00):
they come back on a regular continuous basis. Okay, it'll
run fine after after after a short period of time, right,
and mileage is good. But it just mops up on me.
All right. So those fault codes are for rich limits
on the O two sensors right and left bank have
(11:22):
been reached. It's telling you that the PCM is seeing
maximum O two centsor operating rich limit. So it's seeing
a rich fuel condition that's causing this. Do you have
the ability to check fuel Do you have the ability
to check fuel pressure? Jim? Um, it would be nice
if we could get a gauge on the system and
(11:44):
then does it hold residual pressure? Is it bleeding down?
This should have also, this should have an auxiliary fuel
pressure regulator in the rail. And I wonder if the
I wonder if the fuel pressure regulator is ruptured allowing
it to bleed off. And the reason you're seeing, the
reason you're seeing, um, the rough running is because it's
(12:06):
it's just it's just drawing fuel. Yeah, right, So I
wonder if, um, you know, do we have a do
we have a ruptured uh fuel pressure diaphragm regulator in
the rail? Do we have a bad canister purge valve? Okay?
(12:29):
Do we have a bad mass airflow sensor? You know,
something's driving this rich So we've got to try and
diagnose this without any exotic tools. One of the things
I would like to One of the things I would
like to try is a four oh and ninety four
(12:49):
should run if we unplug the mass airflow sensor. Alright,
it'll it'll it'll run in a bypass if you unplug
the mass airflow and go to are at the truck,
does it start and run? If it starts and runs,
I'm wondering if that man's air is reaching its maximum
(13:10):
rich limit or I'm sorry, if it's reporting uh incorrect
air causing the engine to reach maximum rich limit. Does
this vehicle sit for any length of time? Do you
just overnight? And then it's I have a little business
and I'm here for ten minutes, that I'm going to
(13:31):
the next job for fifteen minutes, and I'm here for
you know, it's stopping on off and on off and on.
So I just let the If I let the truck
run still run all day, it's it's problem. It's only
when you shut it off, yep, and then go to
start it. Okay, So then my question is and then
(13:51):
I guess I could also have do I have a
bad inject or? Do I have an injector staying stuck open?
I gotta tell you the first thing I'd like, The
first thing I'd love to see is I'd love to
a fuel pressure on this truck. And when the problem happens,
does it hold residual fuel pressure or does it bleed off?
And you know when it bleeds off? Is it bleeding off?
Because if it has a pressure regulator in the rail,
(14:14):
which it has to have one somewhere, is that ruptured?
Or do I have a fuel injector physically stuck open?
That makes sense and it's bleeding off fuel. I bet
if you go ahead, I was gonna say, I bet
if you let me, let me say this. I bet
if you hold your foot right to the floor, as
(14:36):
if you were clearing out a flooded engine, I bet
it would start faster. You could try that. Does it smoke?
Is there black smoke that comes out of this when
it when it does finally start? No, not at all,
not at all? What what what happened? Uh? Injectors claimed,
(15:02):
you know at a shop where they run the junk
through it with that um Well, before I did that,
I'd spend an hour of the shop's time explain the
problem to them, because it sounds like it's a problem
that can be found. You know, half the problem with
diagnostics is getting a direction and the ability to reproduce
(15:24):
the issue. This issue, this issue is reproducible. I would
go in and explain it to them like you've explained
it to me, and request, can you can they verify
proper fuel pressure throughout the operating range of the engine
and residual fuel pressure meaning when you shut the key off,
fuel pressure on that is somewhere between thirty and thirty
(15:45):
three p s. I if I call correctly, and it
should hold that residual pressure for up to twenty minutes,
and I bet it drops like a stone. If it
doesn't drop like a stone and it holds, it holds
the same fuel pressure key on, engine off if it's
within five pounds. So if it's twenty seven thirty pounds
something like that, and it stays there and when you
(16:06):
go to started, fuel pressure doesn't budge. This is not
a fuel pressure issue. We can move on. Then I'm
gonna start to think about it. Then I'm gonna start
to think about a mass airflow sensor that for some reason,
is that a calibration or creating an issue? And you
know that can be replaced, That can be replaced, Sure,
(16:26):
all of it can be replaced. You know, finding parts
might be a little bit of a test. The vehicles
almost thirty years old. Um no, listen, I'm just I'm
just saying that finding parts is an issue. I'm not saying,
don't fix it, you know. And the reason I was
asking about does the vehicle sit or has it sad
for any length of time? Did the vehicle sit and
you started driving it recently and that's when the problem developed.
(16:51):
I'll tell you what. It's sat for years and years
and years, and then I got it running maybe uh
maybe two years ago, ran like a top and then
it just developed this recently. Yeah. And one other thing,
one other thing. I don't know if this had a
thing to do with it. I had to I had
(17:11):
the I had a stroke run. I'm sorry you had
the the AH for for what thermostat. I had the
thermostat replaced because it was because when I started running,
it was on the low side and then uh sometimes
(17:33):
now when I started up, it'll run for a long time,
you know, on the low side of the normal, and
then it will jump back up. Does that mean anything?
Before I were to consider that, Jim, I would want
to verify that by scan tool. I don't want to
trust the gauge on the vehicle, you know, the gauge
(17:54):
on the vehicle, the accuracy that gauge. It could be
off by five degrees and cause a wide swee upon
the temp gage. I would rather see if by scan
tool temperature is something to consider. But let's do some
basics there. Let's look at that, Let's look at fuel
pressure and go from there. Call me back, let me
know I can help you with some more. I'm run
on any of the car Doctor, will be back right
after this. Welcome back. We're on any of the car Doctor.
(18:38):
You know, just real quick for our previous caller regarding
the ranger from Delaware. For Jim Uh. You know, cooling
temperature is of a great deal of importance. Even on
an older vehicle, it doesn't matter. We recently had an
O nine Honda in the shop that was having issues
with a check engine light getting set. It was setting
(19:01):
a coolant tempt fault code and when we looked at it,
we came to the conclusion that it was missing the
mark by six degrees. Now, it wasn't something that we
could see on a on the on the dash gauge
to get the dash gauge didn't budge um in that
particular case, and you know, all dash gauges seem to
(19:21):
have a different degree of sensitivity. My point is, looking
at the scan tool, we were able to determine that
it was operating below temp um, you know, according to
spec and as a matter of fact, to verify the
spec beyond the information systems we have, we went at
the motorad dot com or or or go to UM
motor rad dot com has some really great solid thermostat
(19:42):
information there as well as specs of when and how
they opened and um they also will tell you, uh,
you know, single pellet, double pellet, all sorts of construction
information of a thermostats and when you're looking for a
lot of the down and dirty uh motorat dot com,
I'll give it to you. But we put a motor
rat stat in it that vehicle was fixed off by
six degrees setting a fault code. So um, you know,
(20:02):
only could tell by looking at a scancel. We don't.
We don't trust the dash gates. Just very very important.
Let's get over to the phones again. Let's go over
to Lisa and Illinois. Oh eight Lincoln, Lisa, what happened?
It sounds like the engine went bye bye. What can
I do for you? Trying to find out? Once it
was lurching and then it stopped and took it to
(20:23):
a mechanic. The UM indicated that they thought it was
the starter at the starter and then what they told
me was that they tried to manually turn the engine
crank it by him and couldn't. Therefore it was locked
up in it's a piece of now, thank you. Um so,
(20:50):
so you know, just tell me the story. Were you
just driving and stop and go traffic or highway speed
or something and it just stopped just running errand and
went to a dental appointment in it died in the
parking lot, but it restarted and then um kind of
chugged and then died again. Before that, there weren't any
(21:12):
problems with it. Any Any recent service worked unto it,
not other than oil changes, no other service work. How
long how long prior had the had the oil change
been done? I'm not exactly certain that it was. It
was over the recommended uh date of change that there
(21:36):
were there were weren't a lot of miles on it,
did they happen to say? And you know, and my
concern would be that you had had the oil change
the day before, and did they put the proper amount
of oil in it, uh, you know, et cetera, or
could they have put an oil filter on it that
leaked that was defective. But it doesn't sound like it
sounds like the oil, the oil in the filter had
(21:56):
been done three or four or five months prior. And
then here you are with an engine that just seized
up in a parking lot. Um you know any did
the shop say anything about any vital fluids missing, low
on oil, low on coolant, anything like that. It was
a little critically low and was not sick. Okay, And
(22:20):
how many miles are on this car? Guess what? You
know what? You know what? The next one? You know what?
The next question is what color? What? What color? It's white? No? No,
what color is the next car? Are gonna be? Yeah?
(22:43):
I'm sorry. You know, if if they if they if
they tried hand cranking it and it doesn't move, they're
saying it seased. You know, at at two d thousand miles,
you start to lay out the dollars. You know, in
your head, an engine is easily four to six thousand dollars.
(23:05):
What kind of shape is the rest of the body
and the vehicles fourteen years old? Yeah, the rest of
the bodies almost perfect except for scratch along the side
that my daughter did you know that? The concern is
that you'd have to put conservatively, you're gonna put oh,
(23:30):
I bet you four to six grand and an engine.
Then you've got to ask yourself, is that the original transmission?
Is it the original trans Yeah? So you know, would
you put six thousand dollars into a two thousand mile,
fourteen year old car with an original transmission? If the
transmission failed after the engine, would you fix that too? Yeah?
(23:51):
I see what you mean. You know, it starts, it
starts to snowball. Now, if if if you go out
and look at new vehicles and the vehicle that you
choose to give you a little bit of empowerment here
if I can, if if the next vehicle that you're
looking at, is you wanted something the class of a
Lincoln MK, you know, and and m k X. You
(24:13):
know you're gonna go out and spend forty sixty grand,
you know, maybe fifteen grand to re put this car
back on the road with a fresh engine, a fresh
trans you know, go through breaks, tire, suspension, Maybe it's
worth it, but you know, you gotta play. What if
you really gotta play? What if you're Lisa, you know,
(24:34):
what if this breaks? What if that breaks? Is it
worth it? What? What you're what you're describing to me
is a very reasonable explanation of an engine that failed.
All right, you're saying, you're saying all the right things.
They're saying all the right things. You know. It's it's
it's you know, it's tough. It's not your fault. It's
(24:58):
not because the oil was overdue by time? How overdue
by time? Was the oil? Uh? By time? Yeah? It
was over was it overdo it all? It was just
a little overdue by miles? What's what's a little five miles? Yeah?
Yeahs isn't gonna do it. So it's not your fault.
(25:22):
So get get rid of the get rid of the guilt,
you know, get rid of the guilt. I could tell that. Yeah, well,
and that's you know, so if I were if I
were talking, you know, if we're having the conversation and
it's it's limited means and and and so forth. The
(25:45):
next thing you have to think about is do you
do um? You know? Do you do uh? Is it
time to look at something that will give you a
fixed exposure in terms of do you go out? And
is it something in a lease that gives you the
ability to you know, plan Hey, here's your projected expenses
for the next two or three years till you get
(26:05):
yourself back on your feet financially, whatever the case might be.
If that's the issue, and you know, that's just something
to think about. Um yeah, I mean, listen, you know
what cars are a lifestyle. I don't I don't care
if you live in Illinois, New Jersey, California, Florida, or
any point in between. All Right, it sounds like I'm
gonna guess here, so you know, let me stick my
(26:27):
neck out. Um. You know, maybe you're a single mom
or you know, you're on a limited budget, something along
those lines. Retired Okay, all right, so you're on well
but you get my point, you get my point, right,
Um yeah, you know it's it's you're you're you're retired,
you're on a budget, you're trying to hold down expenses.
(26:49):
If if you know it's it's it's real simple. Look
look at your income level over the next couple of
days and go, I've got you know, if I if
you can cut two to four free from you know,
the budget and say this is going to go towards
the car every month, I guess what you're now going
to enjoy that lifestyle. Okay, But but the issue becomes
(27:10):
you've got to find the right car, the lowest down payment.
You've got to realize that this is money you're never
going to get back. You're gonna go from being you know,
you haven't had a car payment and what probably ten years, Okay,
so now you're gonna go back to having a car
payment forever. So you've got to think about that. They
(27:32):
told me that they had done the full inspection, everything
was perfect, and I would be assured of being able
to put a whole lot more miles on it than
I have, and that didn't happen. Can I understand, biore? Beware,
but I don't know enough about cars or car engines
(27:57):
to know whether or not, which is why I called
find out whether or not was worth towing somewhere else
and getting a second opinion or whatever you call it
with that car, having it put on the computer system. Right,
I'll tell you what. I'm gonna hold you over. Let
me just hold you over real quick. Let's let's uh,
let's let's let's pick that up when I get back,
because I don't want to rush through this. I'm running
(28:18):
anady in the car. Doctor, we'll be back with Lisa
from Illinois. Right after this, we'm back the need of
the car doctor. Lisa from Illinois. You're still there, eight Lincoln. Yeah,
(28:39):
I'm sorry. I was caught up in the commercials. That's okay,
that's okay. At least we know we're writing good commercials. Um,
so you know they're Your question before we took the
pause was does it do you get a toad somewhere
for a second opinion? So let me ask you this question.
You're you're a retired single mom, right who's been working
on the car all this time? Is it? Is it
(29:00):
quick loudes? Is it one regular guy? Is it you
know somebody? A couple of different shops? What's going on?
Different places? But I mean I think they're reputable. There's
done business. It was like, you know, a regular loop
company business. And then then was at Um it was
(29:20):
the same thing. So let me ask you this question,
why do you why do you go to two or
three different repair shops because of my schedule. It was
not repairs. I didn't have repairs on it, but to
get the oil changed, that was only because of my
schedule when they could get me in, right know, And
(29:43):
I get that and listen. One of the things I
always like to point to is I think auto repair
is really important. It's to me. It's to me, it
ranks right up there with you pick a doctor, you
pick a lawyer and accountant, and you pick a mechanic,
and you know, one person gets than e. Lise's car,
Elese's cars because the car is actually to me. You know,
(30:05):
it's so important that it's safe, that it's reliable, and
that you're dealing with somebody that you have a relationship with.
And you know, one of the things I just want
to ask you to consider when we end our call
today is you know, do you want to be a
name or a number? Do you want to be in
a place where they Yeah, you want to be a name? Right?
You go to the You probably go to the same
(30:26):
doctor for years and years. You like their bedside man,
or you like the way they explain things. You trust them.
There's a relationship there, right, And I think that's really
to me my opinion from my corner of the world,
I think that's a lot to be said about auto repair.
And you know, do you tew this somewhere else? I
don't know what that's gonna get you. I think that's
(30:48):
you know, going to kind of bring it along the
lines of um uh, you know, you're just gonna have
to hear the same story all over again, and then
do you put another five six thousand dollar engineer it
all over again, and you know, and what kind of
shapes the rest of the vehicle and do this. Okay,
let's end it here. Do this. Go look at your budget.
How much car can Lisa affard, how much can Lisa
(31:09):
put down on a down payment, how that will affect
her monthly budget, and then who's gonna work on it,
and where you're gonna purchase that car from used or
know what's out there. There's a lot of issues with
buying cars right now because of the pandemic and ship shortages.
But you know, make an intelligent decision, not emotional, based
on what's in Lease's wheelhouse at this point, and then
we can talk about it next week or the week
(31:31):
after if you need more advice. But you need to
get some numbers together in a direction in your head. Yes,
it sounds like this vehicle needs an engine and it's
not worth putting money into based on its age um
because of the potential of other things that could go
wrong that you may or may not be financially prepared
to take care of as well. Two thousand miles. He
did pretty good. Call me back, we'll talk about it. Zero.
(31:54):
We'll be back right after this. Tut burning the car doctor,
Let's get over to Kennon, Wisconsin. I mean, I met
Subishi with no headlights ken Welcome aboard, sir. How can
I help? Yes, I've turned the headlights on one day
(32:16):
to the car. Well, they didn't work. So I went
out there and I checked the fuse. The high and
low beams didn't work, so I checked the few as
all the other lights worked, the running lights and all that.
I wiggled the socket on each light and they came on.
But the sockets were very hot to the touch. And
I found where the black ground wire on the driver's
(32:39):
side it melted the socket itself, but not the insulation
on the wires. Are those are they standard bulbs? Can?
Or they are they? They're the HB two so they're
high output bulb, Yeah, fifty sixty five, but I guess
(33:02):
they're called nine zero zero threes now right? But are they?
Are they? Are they any kind of a fancy aftermarket
high output bulb? Where they have standard. This is this
original one. Okay, so you put you put connectors and
bulbs in it, and or wouldn't put in because because
(33:23):
those still work. I put it new socket on from
O'Reilly and it works fine. Is that from a bad ground,
dirty old connection? Is it normal to be very hot
to the touch? Well, it's there. They are hot to
the touch. They can be hot to the touch. You've
gone this. You're talking about the socket itself, right, They
(33:46):
do get hot. The bacon light gets hot and it
gets brittle. What what I would tell you if listen,
let's do it like this, if it had a bad ground, okay,
what would happen to current flow through the circuit? Well,
that's what I think. I think. You know there has
got this eighteen gage wire on which is really thin.
I think only one strand was probably grounding. So did
(34:09):
you are you saying you? Are you saying you repaired
the ground from the broken wire? You put a solid
ground and now is it? Yeah? I replaced the whole
three prong prong socket use to use the old bulbs.
It works fine? Is it still? Is it still to
the touch? How that is it? Just? Is it just
(34:32):
so old that would cause this well, is it still
hot to the touch or since you changed the socket
it's working. No? No, that one's cool, but the other
one I didn't change because the socket didn't know. Uh,
you know what. Can It's probably a question better suited
for a longer time. But yes, broken wires can create
(34:52):
electrical issues, so you've probably solved it. Check the other
one and you might want to replace that as well.
Appreciate the call. I'm on a na of the car.
Doctor of Mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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