July 10, 2021 • 35 mins
Ron starts this episode talking about muscle cars and societal changes involving cars : and talks about a Honda that came in this week with an air conditioning problem – and Ron learns about Apple Pay : takes a call on a 12 Tacoma where the caller is looking for an aftermarket wiring harness source : takes a call on an 86 Chevy K10 pickup asking if he needs a secondary lockout level for the choke on his truck : responds to emails about a mistake he meant on a carburetor question on a previous show : takes a call asking his opinion on an 07 Toyota FJ and fluid change recommendations : and tells a JB Weld story from the shop this week.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Ron and Anian the exhaust manifolds on both sides like
typical GM Giant mistakes fashion GM, the exhaust manifold bolts
had popped off, the heads of the bolts popped off
at the end of the manifold, the head of the
bolts popped off at the front of the manifold, and
he had exhaust leaks. The car Doctor, I have an
unexpected intermittent ABS engagement at random roads, speed under ten miles. Yes,
(00:28):
I have not been able to pull or check the
coach yet. I'm gonna bet and say you probably won't
see fold codes. Welcome to the radio home of Ron
and Anian, 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,
(00:49):
pick up the phone and call in. The garage artists
are open, but I am here to take your palls
at eight five, five six, and now he's running. I
was thinking about muscle cars this morning for some reason,
and what a time period that was. And my idea
(01:10):
of a muscle car was the period from the mid
sixties early sixties to about the mid seventies and by
then the muscle car era was starting to die off.
From what I remember, because I was there towards the
tail end. UM. I was eighteen and nineteen seventy five
something like that, so I'm officially old or older um.
(01:32):
And I guess what I was thinking about was the
cars that my friends drove were muscle cars, but they
all had replacement engines. I don't know why I got
on this subject in my head. I guess I was
watching either Barrett Jackson or meek Um somebody, and they
were talking about this has an original engine, and that
hasn't you know what. I don't think half these muscle
(01:52):
cars have original engines anymore because everybody blew them up
because they were they were hot rods, they were high
performance vehicles out on the road. It was. It was
a crazy time. I remember my brother had a sixty
five g t O and he bought it in nineteen
seventy three, Yes seventy three, Harry got the g t O.
(02:15):
But it had a four hundred ram air motor out
of a sixt g t O on it, and that
was typical. That was so typical of what went on. Um,
someone else had a sixty five chevel a big block Chevelle,
but it had a three seven in it because oh,
I'm sorry eight three in it because the big block
was blown up. And it just seemed like a repetitive
(02:36):
thing back in the day that if you you owned
the muscle car, it might have been a badge of
honor or something. It was a societal thing. But it
was a great time because you you purchased this car
with a busted engine or a blown engine, and you know,
you spend Saturday afternoon with your buddies trying to swing
the engine out and put the new engine in. And
engines were a dime a dozen, and it was just
a simpler time, and there was there was camaraderie, There
(02:59):
was hanging out. There was a great learning curve that
went on, and it didn't involve being hunched over, walking
down the street, pushing buttons while you were on your phone.
It was just a different time frame. And I guess
I say this because I think of this, because I
think of the societal impact of the automobile and the
changes that it has brought and the changes it will
(03:21):
continue to bring, and how we will approach it. Hey, listen,
there's nothing new with there's nothing wrong with learning something.
Now I'll tell you. I'll tell you a huge, huge
funny story for you in the garage doors today. So
I had this, and I think I'm a pretty competent mechanic.
I'm pretty fair at what I do. I had this
twenty eleven, two thousand eleven Hondas CRV this week that
(03:44):
the air conditioning didn't work, and first time customers Sarah
brought it in young, young, young girl, I probably want
to you know, probably in her mid twenties, and you know,
the air conditioning didn't work. So I diagnosed it. And
you know, diagnosing air conditioning is a is A is
a strange phenomena. You never know where to start the
diagnosis or what to tell the customer to expect for
(04:04):
a diagnostic charge because it's all different. Is it low
on refrigerant? Is an electrical problem? Is the belt falling off?
Is it mechanical? Did something break? Is it a blend
door problem? Inside the car? Is the water valve stuck
open and the superheating the evaporator cored and that's why
the air won't get cold coming out of the duct.
You know where do you start? So in the end,
(04:24):
make a long story short. I diagnosed it. It It had
a bad a C compressor, put it a C compressor on,
you know, got approval. I went through the whole drill,
talked to Sarah, talked to her step that, Um, you know,
got the whole thing resolved, and put a compressor on
it and it was all good. Um, a little bit
of a funny or you know, how do things happen
kind of a scenario. The blower motor was real noisy
(04:47):
on this Honda, and it just didn't sound right. It
just had this vibrational like you knew something was. It
sounded like something out of Star Trek was trying to
lighten up the war drive engines. And um, I said,
I've got to pull the blower motor. I gotta see
what's going on because I can't give you back cold
air conditioning now, and you're gonna use it so much
(05:09):
or something. Man, you ought to see how many acorns
were inside this blower motor. Holy smokes, it was just
I you know, if if acorns were in nickel a pound,
I'd be retired. You wouldn't be listening to me today.
So you know, I cleaned out all the acorns, shook
it upside down, kind of kicked around the ducks, got
as many acorns out of the ducks. And I thought
about it, and I said, how could the acorns? I
(05:32):
don't know how we got on this subject, but we'll we'll,
we'll continue to go with this. I'm talking this one
off the top of my head. I'm just telling you
the week I said, how could the acorns get inside
the blower motor? It's it's sort of impossible. G I
wonder what the cabin filter looks like, because that sits
right on top of the blower motor. Well, I know
where the acorns came from, all right. And what happened
(05:54):
was there was some kind of a nest being built
on top of the cabin filter. I'm guessing a little mouse.
Mickey and Minnie were in there on a honeymoon, and
because they were annoying at the filter, they were kind
of chewing it up and they packed all these acorns in.
And I'm guessing somebody either changed the cabin filter and
acorns fell in, or because there was no hole all
(06:17):
the way through, but somehow the acorns got around the
cabin filter and all collected inside the blower motor or
many many or Mickey walked through the heat or ducks
under the dashboard and found a way to the blower
motor Visa V without having to go through the filter,
and that's where all the acorns were being stored. But
the funny part, and this is why I started talking
about Sarah and the Honda, was when she came to
(06:38):
pay Ron learned something this week? All right, Sarah said,
do you take Apple Pay? And I went, I don't
even know what Apple pay is otherwise, other than assuming
it's something with your iPhone. She goes, yes, she goes,
it's it's Apple Pay. Do you take Apple pay? Gee,
I don't know. I looked at my credit card terminal.
I said, it's got all these little symbols on it,
(07:00):
and I recognized Google and I went, oh, wait, is
this Apple pay? It has the Apple symbol. She says yeah,
she said watch this. She walks over with her phone.
We're all paid. That was it. I never said anything
like it. I thought that was the greatest thing, you know,
new technology. I said, how does that work? She says,
well yeah, And I'm telling you you want to understand,
you want to learn something new, just talk to a
(07:21):
young person because you know, there's a lot they've learned
walking down the streets of America holding their heads down,
pushing buttons. You know, they've they've picked up an awful lot. Yes, Tom, Tom,
you have a comment. I can okay, I can see
I can see a thought forming. Yeah, no, no, no,
I was I was just gonna say you were talking
about the acorns before. I've got to send you a
link to this. There's a link to um. It was
(07:42):
a tower crew that went up a tower. And you've
seen those big microwave dishes that look like drums on
the towers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well this one had to
be ten ft and there was no microwave signal, so
they gotta daft to open the thing up and see
what's going on. And they start pulling this cover off
because it's just like a drum, start pulling the cover off. Ron.
This thing was full of acorns. Well, you know, critters,
(08:06):
critters and components, Tom, critters and cars. You you look
at what they can do and how they can do it. Hey,
I just thought of a question I could ask you.
It's not carb related, but I'm gonna ask you here
because you talk about towers and high tension lines and
things like that. You ever look You ever look at
high tension lines and every some of them, every couple
of feet they have those white plastic triangles. Have you
(08:30):
ever noticed that? No, or there's balls. There's a ball. Yeah,
well what the balls are and the triangles may be
similar what the balls are? That is to make the
lines visible to a low flying aircraft. Tom, If some
of the lines I've seen are so low to the ground,
if the airplane saw that, I think the planes crashing anyway,
(08:50):
I think it's over. You know that. I know that.
But that's what the regulations are. You know, ten feet
off the ground. Trust me that it's ten feet off
the ground. And he's definitely hurd He's definitely in the
wrong place where he's landing for a reason. I always thought,
well at what wine though? So let me, um, let
(09:11):
me pull over and take a pause. So but Apple pay, Tom,
I now take Apple pay. I'm high tech? So um,
Sarah gotta kick out of it, though, Um should I
be impressed and like started bowing or something? Well? No, hey, Tom,
did you did you ever hear of Apple pay? Yeah?
I never got, kids, I got I got I've heard
of Google pay. Um, I knew a Google pay was,
but it's it's what's next, right, So now if they
(09:34):
can solve the electric car problem, in the lithium battery
charging problem and all the other things that are going on,
but we sure can't pay for it, real quick and easy,
eight zero nine zero. I'll be back to open the
garage doors right after this. Whether it's a little red
(09:56):
Corvette or you go, You've come to the right place
to get that car fixed. Ron, and in the car
doctor five five five zero nine zero zero. Now back
to Ron, Let's get over and talk to Ray in
Pennsylvania twelve Toyota the coma. Ray, you're on with the
car doctor. How can I help? Hey? Ron, thank you,
blessings to you and yours sir. Listen, this is the
(10:17):
second time I've had this happen to me. I had
a two thousand eight Tundra and the wiring harness and
the steering column went out, And now in my two
thousand twelve Tacoma it's gone out again. And I'm thinking,
if it's I've been fortunate enough to have it go
out twice on me, there might be enough going out
that they might be after marketing this part. But the
Toyota Dot dealership wants three d and fifty dollars for
(10:40):
the part, plus two hundred dollars to put it on.
That's a five bill. And I'm wondering if there's somewhere
out there that I can buy that new wiring harness
that goes down through the steering column aftermarket. It operates
like the horn and the cruise control and stuff like that.
I think you're talking about the clock spring, aren't you, Rayb.
(11:01):
I don't know. I'm not a I'm not I'm not
an auto guy like all you guys on this show.
But do you I just want to get the park
and give it to my mechanic. Okay, So so you're
let me ask you this question. Is the airbag light on,
any any dishboard lights on in the vehicle? Um? I
don't think so, okay, but so right, So what's what's
(11:23):
actually wrong with the truck right now? The horn doesn't work,
the horn won't blow, the cruise control won't go on.
And the dealership says it's this um something to do,
some kind of wiring harness in the steering column that
needs replaced. And it's the same thing that happened to
me in my two o eight tundra. Okay, so how
many miles around your this this da comare? Thousand? Yeah?
(11:49):
All right? So I think what you're talking about is
the clock spring an airbag. Clock spring is the first
line of connection between steering wheel controls and the rest
of the vehicle. Just like the name implies, it's it's, it's,
it's it's. It's called the clock spring or a spiral
(12:10):
cable because it allows okay, clock springs, same thing. Um,
it allows the steering wheel to turn and rotate and
still maintain connection. All right. Now, you can go out
to oraillyoto dot com. I know they've got a variety
of spiral cables out there for that twelve tacoma from
(12:32):
different manufacturers. You can call Orailey Oto Parts, tell them,
s them, tell them what you're looking for. Hey, what
have you had success with? What's got the best success rate?
But I've got to tell you, at three hundred thousand miles,
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to expect the
clock spring or anything else in this vehicle to break,
all right, just saying what it is, you know, at
(12:52):
three grand I'd be thrilled if all I had to do.
Was put in this vehicle was a clock spring. Um,
you know they they're great vehic because the last one
I had almost four Well, you know Toyota, Toyota makes
a good product. What goes wrong with Toyota's people ask
me the exhaust systems rought at the flanges, not the pipes,
the flanges, they get what I call the Toyota crunches,
(13:15):
because Toyota makes the systems out of stainless but the
flanges out of regular steel. Sooner or later they wrought.
We tend to paint them for customers, or try to.
We've started recently in the last couple of years. We
can't keep up with them, but it does slow down
the process. They go through charcoal canisters, they said, evap codes,
they'll set cat codes and air fuels. But you know what,
if you do the maintenance, you do the fluids, Um,
(13:38):
you'll never put an engine in the Toyota and the
transit last a good long time. The engines last a
real good long time, provided you do the maintenance to them.
So three parts sound reasonable only it does in my mind.
But I don't think you're gonna be satisfied until you
find out what it is in the aftermarket, and if
the aftermarket is three hundred dollars, then you know, for
(13:59):
the fifty bucks, I'd probably buy the oe Toyota part
because you know, you've got three hundred thousand out of this.
And it's it's not just the price of the part,
it's the reliability of the part and the ability to
you know, have to take it in and out. It's
the labor to replace it that gets to be expensive
to so but do this. Go out to orillyoto dot com.
(14:23):
It's real simple and easy. You can look up the
part yourself. Just type in, just click on add vehicle alright,
tell it it's a Toyota to Comma with whatever engine
you have. Tell them you're looking for a spiral cable.
I know they've got more than a few different manufacturers
out there. You can find your manufacturer, pick which one
you like, and then if you have any other questions
you can call them direct and say, hey, this is
(14:45):
what I'm looking for. Or maybe you have a local
Rallyoto Parts by U N p A and go from there.
At least you know what the Toyota dealers charging. Now
you can find out what it's gonna cost from Orillyoto
parts and go from there. All right, kiddo, thank you,
you'd be well, um important, it's it's important to compare,
and look, you know, competition is what made the American
(15:09):
auto industry what it is in a lot of ways,
some good, some bad. I saw some paperwork came across
my desk just this morning. Research Kathy as hard at
work finding information, and I should, you know, I have.
I have to give a little plug here for Research
Kathy and Radio Tom and Radio Josh and all the
people that are behind the scenes to keep me up
here on air so that we can talk each and
(15:30):
every week, because they do a heck of a job
and they kind of sit, you know, behind the scenes
and behind the stage and stick me out front, and um,
you know, I wouldn't be here without them. But Radio
Kathy just sent me something that talked about and I
think it was Radio Tom sent it to me too.
Research Kathy and Radio Tom. I gotta get my nomenclatures right.
I tend to do that with people. I don't know why.
(15:51):
I pigeonhole everybody by what they do. It's Radio Tom,
it's Research Kathy, it's it's it's either Shelby Jimmy or
computer Jimmy. UM, I've got a really weird, eclectic list
of friends that uh, you know, I work with and
that I spend time with. UM. But in any event
that talk about how in the latest infrastructure build the
(16:13):
government is putting forth, there's conversation there about the Right
to Repair Act and that their mandating right to repair
to allow the small shop, to allow farmers to repair
their equipment, to allow people to repair their own cell phones,
that they need access to information, how important it is,
and listen, that's really a good thing. It creates competition.
(16:36):
I understand that, you know, the manufacturers arguments about proprietary
information and how certain things shouldn't be let out into
the automotive aftermarket or into whatever aftermarket company or product
we're talking about. You know, I think about every time
I connect to a Chrysler lately, I think about that
episode back in I believe it was where the two
(16:59):
guys act a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee. They broke
into it and they took control of the vehicle while
the person was driving it on a test track to
prove the point. And it's because of that incident that
now with a Chrysler. When you scan a Chrysler as
a repair shop, I believe it started in twenty one
(17:20):
year seventeen. You have to it's a it's a yearly
fee for an independent shop. It's fifty bucks a year.
Log into auto off A U T H. Auto off
dot Com. Register, register all your tools, register who you
are so that you now can talk to a Chrysler,
goes up to the cloud, it comes back down, it
(17:41):
goes to the car. It's a it's a two or
three step process, depending on your perspective. But the reason
they're doing that is to prevent hacking, prevent uh, you know,
prevent things like that from becoming an issue. So it's
it's it's just that important. It's really auto repairs changing.
If you wait five seconds, it'll change completely all over again.
(18:03):
So I see it every day in the shop. Hey,
I'm on an Ani in the car. Doctor, come on back.
We're gonna pull over and take a pause. We'll talk
some more. We've got some calls, and um, I've gotta Telly.
I got a great JB. Weld story that's all coming
up after this pause. I'm on an Anian. Don't go away.
(18:44):
Welcome back right in the end the car doctor. Let's
go over to Fred. Is that Fred in Massachusetts or
Main I'm not sure which it is? Uh m A Tom,
you have to be more specific. Um eighty six Chevy.
I know that. So Fred, welcome awards, sir, How can
I help? Thank you for taking my call on. I
really appreciate it. You're very welcome. What's going on? Uh?
I got this quadrat yet I bought and it doesn't
(19:07):
have a secondary lockout level on it, and I was
wondering if I need that or not. Well, that's yeah,
that's there. You know, that's there to prevent or to
help promote proper choking secondary operation during warm up. So
I would I mean, you can find them. They're out there. Uh,
there's a couple of different places. We've had some success
at the shop when we need you know, parts of
(19:29):
place called let me think it's up in Michigan Quadrajet Power.
I think it's Quadriget Power dot com. But you know,
I'm sure, I'm sure there's other places that, um, you
know you want that you can just purchase linkage or
individual pieces or parts. And you know the sad part is, Fred,
you know how many of those carburetors we all threw
away back in the day because we didn't think anything.
(19:50):
Uh you know, yeah, it's you know, it was just
guys like you don't need it. I'm like, well, why
did they make it with it? Right? Yeah, it's now,
it's there for a reason. I would. I would try
to put it back on. And frankly, if you're gonna
use this carburetor and you know, on a vehicle to
make it run, I would personally, I would, you know,
(20:14):
I'll rebuild a car, but I'll say it like this.
I can rebuild a carburetor, all right. I can't remanufacture
a carburetor. I don't have the proper tooling. I don't
have the skill set, and I don't have the time
or the patients, all right, and the differences. I can
replace gaskets, I can clean, I can set float level.
I can do all the basic preliminary adjustments. I can't
(20:36):
repair the throttle bore. I can't measure it. The seat.
Does it need to be repaired? You know, there's just
some remanufacturing componentry that you know, on a forty year
old piece of equipment, it's got to be done. So
you may want to consider just sending the whole car
about to somebody telling hey, listen, rebuild it, replace the
missing pieces. They will flow test it. If they're a
(20:57):
decent rebuilder, they will actually run liquid through it like
a you know, with a similar viscosity and density to gasoline,
so they'll see how everything actually operates and under you
knows as live conditions as they can possibly make without
putting it on the vehicle. And it's worth the extra money.
I've I've done it a few times. It comes back
and you bolt them on. They usually idle right where
(21:18):
they're supposed to. Boom, play with the mixture, screws a
little bit, You're good to go. You're done. It's it's
it's worth the money you'll spend. Because this carbonary that
you bought from this guy, did he rebuild the car?
I buy him a rebuilder. That's the thing, boy, And
that's that's kind of scary. And these are the guys
that are telling you you don't need that part. Yeah, national, yeah,
(21:42):
you know it's I would I would want to know
exactly what the linkage is that you're missing. Does I
believe it prevents choke? It prevents secondary operation during choke,
so that the vehicle is properly warmed up. Uh if
GM wanted, right, I you know, here we go, we're
gonna have to reinvent it. Why why would we want
(22:03):
to reinvent the component. It's hard enough just making things
run properly when you've got all the pieces. Now we're
gonna try to second guess what the engineers were thinking
when we don't have all the pieces. You know, this
is this is part of my anti stupid campaign, all right,
because now these same guys are gonna be working on
electric vehicles someday, and you wonder how they're gonna We
don't need this computer module. It's not necessary. It was
(22:24):
just an extra. Look at all the other ones you have. Um,
So yeah, find somebody reputable, let him go through the carburetor,
because at that point, if they're if they're thinking like that,
I don't know that I would trust them to go
through the vehicle, to go through the carburetor, and and
you know that what they're gonna do is gonna work, um,
you know as far as a product and and and
do what it's supposed to do. So I would definitely
(22:47):
let uh someone else go through it, rebuild it, flow
it you know all that kind of good stuff, and uh,
make that work all right, kiddo, You're very welcome, you
take good care. Let's uh oh you know it's speaking
of carburetors. UM. I got a couple of emails. Remember
last week we were talking with the gentleman with the
corvette and UM the float, the UM. We were talking
(23:11):
about how the carburetor was always flooding out, and I
should point this out. You know, I made it. I
did a dangerous thing last week or the week before.
I think it was the week before, two weeks ago
on air on the July four show, UM, where I
made the assumption dangerous word, assume that the caller had
checked the float to make sure the float wasn't punctured
(23:32):
all right? But I received a few e meals on this, Hey, ron,
could a pinhole in the float be keeping the needle
and seat open? Plastic float, saturated brass float with a
hole in it? Yeah? Absolutely? And I apologized to everybody,
and I want to do it up here and say,
you know what, I never considered that because I'm thinking
that if you rebuilt it, you were smart enough. You're
smart enough to rebuild it. You should be smart enough
(23:53):
to feel the fuel in the bowl. But you know,
then again, never assume right. Never never believed that everybody
went through and did everything they were supposed to do.
So um, that could also be an issue where the
floats are saturated and not doing what they're supposed to do.
Real quick, before we take the pause, Caffy sent us
an article talking about the race to crack battery recycling
(24:14):
before It's too late. I was reading this. It's kind
of scary. Everyday millions of lithium IAM batteries roll off
the line of Testas Giga Factory and Sparks Nevada. By
the way, I think Sparks Nevada is the place where
they found that flower on top of the lithium uh
deposits that they're not allowed to cultivate because they're gonna
ruin the flower, which is an endangered species now and
(24:35):
blah blah blah. That is what the article is about.
The cells produced are on Cite or by Panasonic are
destined to be bundled together by the thousands in battery
packs of New Tesla's. The article continues, but not all
batteries are cut out for life on the road. Panasonic
ships truckloads of cells that don't pass the qualification test
to a facility in Carson City. This is the home
of Redwood Materials, a small company founded in tween with
(24:57):
an ambition to become the anti giga actory, a place
where batteries are cooked down into raw materials that will
serve as the grist for new cells. This is where
it gets interesting. Okay, so Testa is producing all these
lithium ion batteries and basically what the article is saying
is some batteries don't meet spec They're not made, they
don't meet the standard. It then goes on Redwood as
(25:20):
part of a new wave of startups racing to solve
a problem that doesn't exist yet, how to recycle the
mountains of batteries from electric vehicles that are past their prime.
Over the past decade, the world's lithium ion production capacity
has increased tenfold to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles. Now,
vehicles from that first production wave are just beginning to
reach the end of their lifespan. I think electric vehicle
lifespan is a lot shorter than ten years. I think
(25:40):
it's five. And you know, you've got to think about
computer software and computer modules and how often things are
gonna have to be updated. How often is your laptop
updated before you throw it out. This marks the beginning
of a tsunami of spent batteries, which will only get
worse as more electric cars at the road. The International
Agency predicts an eight percent increase in the number of
electric vehicles over the next decade. Each car are packed
with thousands of cells. The dirty secret of the electric
(26:02):
vehicle revolution is that it has created an electric waste
time bomb, and cracking lithium ion recycling is the only
way to diffuse it. And then the article goes on
to talk about how they're trying this, and they're trying that,
but this is this to me, was that this is
the meat and potatoes. Okay. There are two ways to
deactivate lithium ion batteries. The most common technique, called pyro metallurgy,
involves burning them to remove unwanted organic material and plastics.
(26:27):
This method leaves the recycling with just a fraction of
the original material, typically just the copper and nickel or
cobalt from the cathoid. A common pyro method, called smelting,
use a furnace powered with fossil fuels, which isn't great
for the environment. So wait a minute, We're gonna use
We're gonna use fossil fuels to generate the electricity to
charge the vehicle. We're gonna use fossil fuels to smelt
(26:49):
the battery down, to separate it, to reuse it and
safely recycle it. All this in the name of having
electric vehicles. Where does the clean air part come in?
I still don't understand this part of the anti stupid campaign?
Is it me? I don't know? Zero zero. I'd love
(27:10):
to hear your thoughts. Send me a line Ronald Card
Doctor show dot com, or give us a call. Zero
nine zero zero. I'm Ron and Indian. I'll be back
right after this. Doctor. Let's get over and talk to
Frank in Texas. Oh seven Toyota Frank, Welcome aboard, sir.
(27:31):
How can I help hi? I just recently first and
wrong in the opinion? What do you think about the
ft A? I just bought a two thousand and seven.
They're hard to find. I purchased it from the tool
to dealer. But do you recommend that I changed all
the oils on the differential transfer case and leaving the
transmission how many? How many miles are on at Frank
(27:58):
I do. I let's and if you if you look
up and I'm gonna I'm gonna say that it's that
vehicle probably is driven under severe operating conditions. Most vehicles,
in my mind, if you read the if you read
the parameter, if I want a manufacturer call severe, most
vehicles operate in the United States under severe conditions. That
(28:19):
being said, Toyota, if you look in the service guide,
I know on that particular vehicle they call for axle
fluids in the fifty to sixty thousand mile range. If
there's and there's a transfer case, you know, if transfer
case trans fluid, you know, it should all be done.
I like, I liked. One of the practices I've done
over the years whenever I buy a used vehicle is
(28:42):
that if I buy something used, if it's wet, I
change it, break trans dif transfer case. Uh. You know,
in a lot of cases, I won't always do power
steering fluid depending upon mileage, but in a lot of
cases I will. Um, you know, at least then I
know where I'm starting out, and then to put vehicle
on a regular scheduled diet of fluid maintenance and I
(29:05):
think you'll do really well. Those are great vehicles. I
think that the reason they're so hard to find is
they weren't produced in such big numbers as everything else,
because the public didn't seem to react to them all
that well. Whether it was a look thing or the
way they fit everybody's lifestyle, I don't know. But they
were made really well. They were made really well. They
(29:25):
they tend to last. I see very few issues with
those vehicles, anything out of the normal, you know. To me,
they're like normal Toyota vehicles. They run well, they last
a long time, a little bit of maintenance, a little
nip and tuck here and there, you should do well. Great. Great,
So I'll go ahead and take your advice and do that.
I kind of feeling I overpaid a little bit, but
(29:46):
I really wanted one, and when I started looking at prices,
I don't think I will pay by that much. But
you know, yeahs old vehicle, But you know what it's
right now. Finding a decent vehicle is a hard gig.
And you think of it like this, what do you
think you should have paid instead of paying twenty, would
(30:07):
have fifteen have made it? You know, do you think
that vehicle was Do you think it was sixteen? Think?
Think of it this way? Is it? Is it a
clean vehicle? Is it in good shape? Extremely clean? You
know what that three grand was a was a buyer's
premium alright. For three grands, you got peace of mind,
(30:28):
You got the vehicle you want. Price always or condition
always dictates price, and demand always dictates condition and price.
You know it's it's it's it's a three parts cycle.
Depending upon the market, depending upon condition, will always dictate
what you pay for something. And you know what exactly
it is that you get. I'd rather pay a little
(30:49):
bit more for a better vehicle than have to try
and go through and rebuild and repair because the consequences
of somebody not taking of taking care of a vehicle
are very long standing and well, um, what's the word
I'm looking for? Deep reaching. I remember years ago we
purchased a ninety four Chevy Caprice wagon used. It was
(31:09):
a couple of years old with thirty thousand miles on it.
We went for a road test. It was about an
hour's ride to the dealer located in Central Jersey, and
after five minutes on the highway, I turned to my
wife and I said, we're gonna take it, and she
said really, I said yeah. I said, it's got enough
mileage on it. That only had to do was five
oil changes. And the oil is clean, and I see stickers,
(31:31):
and I see maintenance records. I'm not worried about the
rest of the fluids. I'm not worried about the rest
of the condition. I'll fix whatever is there. But the
long term damage wasn't done. The vehicle got oil changes,
the vehicle got some level of maintenance. If that fourteen
year old vehicle you just paid twenty grand four was
well maintained, think of all the things you won't have
to repair because somebody did proper maintenance. And maybe a
(31:54):
little bit above and beyond right makes sense. It makes sense.
You make it feel a lot better about it now
you put it that way, you know, So listen, thanks
for a great advice, great advice, and I will. I
am going to take it and get the all the
oils change. I think that's a great call up. Thank
you so much. You're very welcome, Good luck to and
enjoy every minute of that vehicle. Be well, my friend,
(32:15):
you're very welcome. Um. Yeah, I can't tell you enough.
Getting the right vehicle, folks, is getting a good used vehicle.
It's a wonderful feeling and you save a few bucks
in the process. Don't worry about your pay worry about
what you get. What you get is more important, and
you get what you pay for. Zero zero running any
(32:35):
of the Car Doctor coming back right after this welcome back.
We're on nating of the Car Doctor. You know, I
promised you a JB. Weld story had happened this week
in the shop, and I was thinking also that maybe
this will be the future of auto repair, right and
(32:57):
you'll understand why in a minute. So we use Milwaukee
power tools in the shop. The Milwaukee cordless stuff and
the lithium batteries are kind of heavy. And it's interesting
the way Milwaukee designed the battery cases for the cordless
impact guns, in that the bigger batteries, the eighteen volt batteries,
there's only two little screws in each corner. There is
(33:20):
a screw in each corner, two in each end that
hold the two battery clamshell halves together. Well, I guess
over time the weight of the battery causes the screw
to break the plastic housing. That it's it's it's it's
bound into batteries. Aren't cheap. The batteries are you know,
eight bucks apiece, and there's nothing wrong with them. It's
(33:41):
just that the screws have broken the housing. I'm thinking
about this and I'm thinking, you know, how do I
want to repair this and still keep a professional looking
you know what? I went out to jb Well dot
com and I looked up They have the ability you
can look up your project and I looked at my project.
I said it was plastic and p VC, and they
came up with some of the JB welld adhesives and
(34:03):
a poxies and I used that. I actually repaired the
batteries and there's nothing wrong with him there. You know,
they're they're only a couple of years old, and I'm
gonna get longer life out of him. And Shamon Milwaukee,
you guys should have put more material in the clamshell
has But that isn't even the point of it. And
you can find more information at jb well dot com.
That isn't even the point of it. I'm saying to myself,
(34:25):
is this gonna be the future of water repair. I'm
not gonna be a poxying and adhesiving things back together
when the electric cars break. Hey, my electric car broke. Really, Oh,
let me fix the battery. Let me get out my
tube of JB weld and put the car back together.
I don't know. Do you think it could happen? It
could be interesting. It's we'll see where it goes. And
let me say this too. You know we've we've talked
(34:47):
a lot about electric vehicles, you and I over the
past couple of months. I want your input, you know.
As I said before, I sat with dinner at dinner
with my friend Tony this week and I listened to
what he had to say because he's a listener to
He listens to the show. All of your listeners. This
isn't my radio show, it's our radio show. I want
(35:09):
your thoughts, I want your feelings. What do you think?
Send me a line, send me a note, Ron at
card Doctor show dot com. Let me know what you're thinking.
If you want to hear us talk about something, send
us that as well. We want to hear from you.
I'm Ron any in the Car Doctor. It's been an
absolute pleasure as always until the next time. Good mechanics
aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you
Ron and Anian the exhaust manifolds on both sides like
typical GM Giant mistakes fashion GM, the exhaust manifold bolts
had popped off, the heads of the bolts popped off
at the end of the manifold, the head of the
bolts popped off at the front of the manifold, and
he had exhaust leaks. The car Doctor, I have an
unexpected intermittent ABS engagement at random roads, speed under ten miles. Yes,
(00:28):
I have not been able to pull or check the
coach yet. I'm gonna bet and say you probably won't
see fold codes. Welcome to the radio home of Ron
and Anian, 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,
(00:49):
pick up the phone and call in. The garage artists
are open, but I am here to take your palls
at eight five, five six, and now he's running. I
was thinking about muscle cars this morning for some reason,
and what a time period that was. And my idea
(01:10):
of a muscle car was the period from the mid
sixties early sixties to about the mid seventies and by
then the muscle car era was starting to die off.
From what I remember, because I was there towards the
tail end. UM. I was eighteen and nineteen seventy five
something like that, so I'm officially old or older um.
(01:32):
And I guess what I was thinking about was the
cars that my friends drove were muscle cars, but they
all had replacement engines. I don't know why I got
on this subject in my head. I guess I was
watching either Barrett Jackson or meek Um somebody, and they
were talking about this has an original engine, and that
hasn't you know what. I don't think half these muscle
(01:52):
cars have original engines anymore because everybody blew them up
because they were they were hot rods, they were high
performance vehicles out on the road. It was. It was
a crazy time. I remember my brother had a sixty
five g t O and he bought it in nineteen
seventy three, Yes seventy three, Harry got the g t O.
(02:15):
But it had a four hundred ram air motor out
of a sixt g t O on it, and that
was typical. That was so typical of what went on. Um,
someone else had a sixty five chevel a big block Chevelle,
but it had a three seven in it because oh,
I'm sorry eight three in it because the big block
was blown up. And it just seemed like a repetitive
(02:36):
thing back in the day that if you you owned
the muscle car, it might have been a badge of
honor or something. It was a societal thing. But it
was a great time because you you purchased this car
with a busted engine or a blown engine, and you know,
you spend Saturday afternoon with your buddies trying to swing
the engine out and put the new engine in. And
engines were a dime a dozen, and it was just
a simpler time, and there was there was camaraderie, There
(02:59):
was hanging out. There was a great learning curve that
went on, and it didn't involve being hunched over, walking
down the street, pushing buttons while you were on your phone.
It was just a different time frame. And I guess
I say this because I think of this, because I
think of the societal impact of the automobile and the
changes that it has brought and the changes it will
(03:21):
continue to bring, and how we will approach it. Hey, listen,
there's nothing new with there's nothing wrong with learning something.
Now I'll tell you. I'll tell you a huge, huge
funny story for you in the garage doors today. So
I had this, and I think I'm a pretty competent mechanic.
I'm pretty fair at what I do. I had this
twenty eleven, two thousand eleven Hondas CRV this week that
(03:44):
the air conditioning didn't work, and first time customers Sarah
brought it in young, young, young girl, I probably want
to you know, probably in her mid twenties, and you know,
the air conditioning didn't work. So I diagnosed it. And
you know, diagnosing air conditioning is a is A is
a strange phenomena. You never know where to start the
diagnosis or what to tell the customer to expect for
(04:04):
a diagnostic charge because it's all different. Is it low
on refrigerant? Is an electrical problem? Is the belt falling off?
Is it mechanical? Did something break? Is it a blend
door problem? Inside the car? Is the water valve stuck
open and the superheating the evaporator cored and that's why
the air won't get cold coming out of the duct.
You know where do you start? So in the end,
(04:24):
make a long story short. I diagnosed it. It It had
a bad a C compressor, put it a C compressor on,
you know, got approval. I went through the whole drill,
talked to Sarah, talked to her step that, Um, you know,
got the whole thing resolved, and put a compressor on
it and it was all good. Um, a little bit
of a funny or you know, how do things happen
kind of a scenario. The blower motor was real noisy
(04:47):
on this Honda, and it just didn't sound right. It
just had this vibrational like you knew something was. It
sounded like something out of Star Trek was trying to
lighten up the war drive engines. And um, I said,
I've got to pull the blower motor. I gotta see
what's going on because I can't give you back cold
air conditioning now, and you're gonna use it so much
(05:09):
or something. Man, you ought to see how many acorns
were inside this blower motor. Holy smokes, it was just
I you know, if if acorns were in nickel a pound,
I'd be retired. You wouldn't be listening to me today.
So you know, I cleaned out all the acorns, shook
it upside down, kind of kicked around the ducks, got
as many acorns out of the ducks. And I thought
about it, and I said, how could the acorns? I
(05:32):
don't know how we got on this subject, but we'll we'll,
we'll continue to go with this. I'm talking this one
off the top of my head. I'm just telling you
the week I said, how could the acorns get inside
the blower motor? It's it's sort of impossible. G I
wonder what the cabin filter looks like, because that sits
right on top of the blower motor. Well, I know
where the acorns came from, all right. And what happened
(05:54):
was there was some kind of a nest being built
on top of the cabin filter. I'm guessing a little mouse.
Mickey and Minnie were in there on a honeymoon, and
because they were annoying at the filter, they were kind
of chewing it up and they packed all these acorns in.
And I'm guessing somebody either changed the cabin filter and
acorns fell in, or because there was no hole all
(06:17):
the way through, but somehow the acorns got around the
cabin filter and all collected inside the blower motor or
many many or Mickey walked through the heat or ducks
under the dashboard and found a way to the blower
motor Visa V without having to go through the filter,
and that's where all the acorns were being stored. But
the funny part, and this is why I started talking
about Sarah and the Honda, was when she came to
(06:38):
pay Ron learned something this week? All right, Sarah said,
do you take Apple Pay? And I went, I don't
even know what Apple pay is otherwise, other than assuming
it's something with your iPhone. She goes, yes, she goes,
it's it's Apple Pay. Do you take Apple pay? Gee,
I don't know. I looked at my credit card terminal.
I said, it's got all these little symbols on it,
(07:00):
and I recognized Google and I went, oh, wait, is
this Apple pay? It has the Apple symbol. She says yeah,
she said watch this. She walks over with her phone.
We're all paid. That was it. I never said anything
like it. I thought that was the greatest thing, you know,
new technology. I said, how does that work? She says,
well yeah, And I'm telling you you want to understand,
you want to learn something new, just talk to a
(07:21):
young person because you know, there's a lot they've learned
walking down the streets of America holding their heads down,
pushing buttons. You know, they've they've picked up an awful lot. Yes, Tom, Tom,
you have a comment. I can okay, I can see
I can see a thought forming. Yeah, no, no, no,
I was I was just gonna say you were talking
about the acorns before. I've got to send you a
link to this. There's a link to um. It was
(07:42):
a tower crew that went up a tower. And you've
seen those big microwave dishes that look like drums on
the towers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well this one had to
be ten ft and there was no microwave signal, so
they gotta daft to open the thing up and see
what's going on. And they start pulling this cover off
because it's just like a drum, start pulling the cover off. Ron.
This thing was full of acorns. Well, you know, critters,
(08:06):
critters and components, Tom, critters and cars. You you look
at what they can do and how they can do it. Hey,
I just thought of a question I could ask you.
It's not carb related, but I'm gonna ask you here
because you talk about towers and high tension lines and
things like that. You ever look You ever look at
high tension lines and every some of them, every couple
of feet they have those white plastic triangles. Have you
(08:30):
ever noticed that? No, or there's balls. There's a ball. Yeah,
well what the balls are and the triangles may be
similar what the balls are? That is to make the
lines visible to a low flying aircraft. Tom, If some
of the lines I've seen are so low to the ground,
if the airplane saw that, I think the planes crashing anyway,
(08:50):
I think it's over. You know that. I know that.
But that's what the regulations are. You know, ten feet
off the ground. Trust me that it's ten feet off
the ground. And he's definitely hurd He's definitely in the
wrong place where he's landing for a reason. I always thought,
well at what wine though? So let me, um, let
(09:11):
me pull over and take a pause. So but Apple pay, Tom,
I now take Apple pay. I'm high tech? So um,
Sarah gotta kick out of it, though, Um should I
be impressed and like started bowing or something? Well? No, hey, Tom,
did you did you ever hear of Apple pay? Yeah?
I never got, kids, I got I got I've heard
of Google pay. Um, I knew a Google pay was,
but it's it's what's next, right, So now if they
(09:34):
can solve the electric car problem, in the lithium battery
charging problem and all the other things that are going on,
but we sure can't pay for it, real quick and easy,
eight zero nine zero. I'll be back to open the
garage doors right after this. Whether it's a little red
(09:56):
Corvette or you go, You've come to the right place
to get that car fixed. Ron, and in the car
doctor five five five zero nine zero zero. Now back
to Ron, Let's get over and talk to Ray in
Pennsylvania twelve Toyota the coma. Ray, you're on with the
car doctor. How can I help? Hey? Ron, thank you,
blessings to you and yours sir. Listen, this is the
(10:17):
second time I've had this happen to me. I had
a two thousand eight Tundra and the wiring harness and
the steering column went out, And now in my two
thousand twelve Tacoma it's gone out again. And I'm thinking,
if it's I've been fortunate enough to have it go
out twice on me, there might be enough going out
that they might be after marketing this part. But the
Toyota Dot dealership wants three d and fifty dollars for
(10:40):
the part, plus two hundred dollars to put it on.
That's a five bill. And I'm wondering if there's somewhere
out there that I can buy that new wiring harness
that goes down through the steering column aftermarket. It operates
like the horn and the cruise control and stuff like that.
I think you're talking about the clock spring, aren't you, Rayb.
(11:01):
I don't know. I'm not a I'm not I'm not
an auto guy like all you guys on this show.
But do you I just want to get the park
and give it to my mechanic. Okay, So so you're
let me ask you this question. Is the airbag light on,
any any dishboard lights on in the vehicle? Um? I
don't think so, okay, but so right, So what's what's
(11:23):
actually wrong with the truck right now? The horn doesn't work,
the horn won't blow, the cruise control won't go on.
And the dealership says it's this um something to do,
some kind of wiring harness in the steering column that
needs replaced. And it's the same thing that happened to
me in my two o eight tundra. Okay, so how
many miles around your this this da comare? Thousand? Yeah?
(11:49):
All right? So I think what you're talking about is
the clock spring an airbag. Clock spring is the first
line of connection between steering wheel controls and the rest
of the vehicle. Just like the name implies, it's it's, it's,
it's it's. It's called the clock spring or a spiral
(12:10):
cable because it allows okay, clock springs, same thing. Um,
it allows the steering wheel to turn and rotate and
still maintain connection. All right. Now, you can go out
to oraillyoto dot com. I know they've got a variety
of spiral cables out there for that twelve tacoma from
(12:32):
different manufacturers. You can call Orailey Oto Parts, tell them,
s them, tell them what you're looking for. Hey, what
have you had success with? What's got the best success rate?
But I've got to tell you, at three hundred thousand miles,
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to expect the
clock spring or anything else in this vehicle to break,
all right, just saying what it is, you know, at
(12:52):
three grand I'd be thrilled if all I had to do.
Was put in this vehicle was a clock spring. Um,
you know they they're great vehic because the last one
I had almost four Well, you know Toyota, Toyota makes
a good product. What goes wrong with Toyota's people ask
me the exhaust systems rought at the flanges, not the pipes,
the flanges, they get what I call the Toyota crunches,
(13:15):
because Toyota makes the systems out of stainless but the
flanges out of regular steel. Sooner or later they wrought.
We tend to paint them for customers, or try to.
We've started recently in the last couple of years. We
can't keep up with them, but it does slow down
the process. They go through charcoal canisters, they said, evap codes,
they'll set cat codes and air fuels. But you know what,
if you do the maintenance, you do the fluids, Um,
(13:38):
you'll never put an engine in the Toyota and the
transit last a good long time. The engines last a
real good long time, provided you do the maintenance to them.
So three parts sound reasonable only it does in my mind.
But I don't think you're gonna be satisfied until you
find out what it is in the aftermarket, and if
the aftermarket is three hundred dollars, then you know, for
(13:59):
the fifty bucks, I'd probably buy the oe Toyota part
because you know, you've got three hundred thousand out of this.
And it's it's not just the price of the part,
it's the reliability of the part and the ability to
you know, have to take it in and out. It's
the labor to replace it that gets to be expensive
to so but do this. Go out to orillyoto dot com.
(14:23):
It's real simple and easy. You can look up the
part yourself. Just type in, just click on add vehicle alright,
tell it it's a Toyota to Comma with whatever engine
you have. Tell them you're looking for a spiral cable.
I know they've got more than a few different manufacturers
out there. You can find your manufacturer, pick which one
you like, and then if you have any other questions
you can call them direct and say, hey, this is
(14:45):
what I'm looking for. Or maybe you have a local
Rallyoto Parts by U N p A and go from there.
At least you know what the Toyota dealers charging. Now
you can find out what it's gonna cost from Orillyoto
parts and go from there. All right, kiddo, thank you,
you'd be well, um important, it's it's important to compare,
and look, you know, competition is what made the American
(15:09):
auto industry what it is in a lot of ways,
some good, some bad. I saw some paperwork came across
my desk just this morning. Research Kathy as hard at
work finding information, and I should, you know, I have.
I have to give a little plug here for Research
Kathy and Radio Tom and Radio Josh and all the
people that are behind the scenes to keep me up
here on air so that we can talk each and
(15:30):
every week, because they do a heck of a job
and they kind of sit, you know, behind the scenes
and behind the stage and stick me out front, and um,
you know, I wouldn't be here without them. But Radio
Kathy just sent me something that talked about and I
think it was Radio Tom sent it to me too.
Research Kathy and Radio Tom. I gotta get my nomenclatures right.
I tend to do that with people. I don't know why.
(15:51):
I pigeonhole everybody by what they do. It's Radio Tom,
it's Research Kathy, it's it's it's either Shelby Jimmy or
computer Jimmy. UM, I've got a really weird, eclectic list
of friends that uh, you know, I work with and
that I spend time with. UM. But in any event
that talk about how in the latest infrastructure build the
(16:13):
government is putting forth, there's conversation there about the Right
to Repair Act and that their mandating right to repair
to allow the small shop, to allow farmers to repair
their equipment, to allow people to repair their own cell phones,
that they need access to information, how important it is,
and listen, that's really a good thing. It creates competition.
(16:36):
I understand that, you know, the manufacturers arguments about proprietary
information and how certain things shouldn't be let out into
the automotive aftermarket or into whatever aftermarket company or product
we're talking about. You know, I think about every time
I connect to a Chrysler lately, I think about that
episode back in I believe it was where the two
(16:59):
guys act a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee. They broke
into it and they took control of the vehicle while
the person was driving it on a test track to
prove the point. And it's because of that incident that
now with a Chrysler. When you scan a Chrysler as
a repair shop, I believe it started in twenty one
(17:20):
year seventeen. You have to it's a it's a yearly
fee for an independent shop. It's fifty bucks a year.
Log into auto off A U T H. Auto off
dot Com. Register, register all your tools, register who you
are so that you now can talk to a Chrysler,
goes up to the cloud, it comes back down, it
(17:41):
goes to the car. It's a it's a two or
three step process, depending on your perspective. But the reason
they're doing that is to prevent hacking, prevent uh, you know,
prevent things like that from becoming an issue. So it's
it's it's just that important. It's really auto repairs changing.
If you wait five seconds, it'll change completely all over again.
(18:03):
So I see it every day in the shop. Hey,
I'm on an Ani in the car. Doctor, come on back.
We're gonna pull over and take a pause. We'll talk
some more. We've got some calls, and um, I've gotta Telly.
I got a great JB. Weld story that's all coming
up after this pause. I'm on an Anian. Don't go away.
(18:44):
Welcome back right in the end the car doctor. Let's
go over to Fred. Is that Fred in Massachusetts or
Main I'm not sure which it is? Uh m A Tom,
you have to be more specific. Um eighty six Chevy.
I know that. So Fred, welcome awards, sir, How can
I help? Thank you for taking my call on. I
really appreciate it. You're very welcome. What's going on? Uh?
I got this quadrat yet I bought and it doesn't
(19:07):
have a secondary lockout level on it, and I was
wondering if I need that or not. Well, that's yeah,
that's there. You know, that's there to prevent or to
help promote proper choking secondary operation during warm up. So
I would I mean, you can find them. They're out there. Uh,
there's a couple of different places. We've had some success
at the shop when we need you know, parts of
(19:29):
place called let me think it's up in Michigan Quadrajet Power.
I think it's Quadriget Power dot com. But you know,
I'm sure, I'm sure there's other places that, um, you
know you want that you can just purchase linkage or
individual pieces or parts. And you know the sad part is, Fred,
you know how many of those carburetors we all threw
away back in the day because we didn't think anything.
(19:50):
Uh you know, yeah, it's you know, it was just
guys like you don't need it. I'm like, well, why
did they make it with it? Right? Yeah, it's now,
it's there for a reason. I would. I would try
to put it back on. And frankly, if you're gonna
use this carburetor and you know, on a vehicle to
make it run, I would personally, I would, you know,
(20:14):
I'll rebuild a car, but I'll say it like this.
I can rebuild a carburetor, all right. I can't remanufacture
a carburetor. I don't have the proper tooling. I don't
have the skill set, and I don't have the time
or the patients, all right, and the differences. I can
replace gaskets, I can clean, I can set float level.
I can do all the basic preliminary adjustments. I can't
(20:36):
repair the throttle bore. I can't measure it. The seat.
Does it need to be repaired? You know, there's just
some remanufacturing componentry that you know, on a forty year
old piece of equipment, it's got to be done. So
you may want to consider just sending the whole car
about to somebody telling hey, listen, rebuild it, replace the
missing pieces. They will flow test it. If they're a
(20:57):
decent rebuilder, they will actually run liquid through it like
a you know, with a similar viscosity and density to gasoline,
so they'll see how everything actually operates and under you
knows as live conditions as they can possibly make without
putting it on the vehicle. And it's worth the extra money.
I've I've done it a few times. It comes back
and you bolt them on. They usually idle right where
(21:18):
they're supposed to. Boom, play with the mixture, screws a
little bit, You're good to go. You're done. It's it's
it's worth the money you'll spend. Because this carbonary that
you bought from this guy, did he rebuild the car?
I buy him a rebuilder. That's the thing, boy, And
that's that's kind of scary. And these are the guys
that are telling you you don't need that part. Yeah, national, yeah,
(21:42):
you know it's I would I would want to know
exactly what the linkage is that you're missing. Does I
believe it prevents choke? It prevents secondary operation during choke,
so that the vehicle is properly warmed up. Uh if
GM wanted, right, I you know, here we go, we're
gonna have to reinvent it. Why why would we want
(22:03):
to reinvent the component. It's hard enough just making things
run properly when you've got all the pieces. Now we're
gonna try to second guess what the engineers were thinking
when we don't have all the pieces. You know, this
is this is part of my anti stupid campaign, all right,
because now these same guys are gonna be working on
electric vehicles someday, and you wonder how they're gonna We
don't need this computer module. It's not necessary. It was
(22:24):
just an extra. Look at all the other ones you have. Um,
So yeah, find somebody reputable, let him go through the carburetor,
because at that point, if they're if they're thinking like that,
I don't know that I would trust them to go
through the vehicle, to go through the carburetor, and and
you know that what they're gonna do is gonna work, um,
you know as far as a product and and and
do what it's supposed to do. So I would definitely
(22:47):
let uh someone else go through it, rebuild it, flow
it you know all that kind of good stuff, and uh,
make that work all right, kiddo, You're very welcome, you
take good care. Let's uh oh you know it's speaking
of carburetors. UM. I got a couple of emails. Remember
last week we were talking with the gentleman with the
corvette and UM the float, the UM. We were talking
(23:11):
about how the carburetor was always flooding out, and I
should point this out. You know, I made it. I
did a dangerous thing last week or the week before.
I think it was the week before, two weeks ago
on air on the July four show, UM, where I
made the assumption dangerous word, assume that the caller had
checked the float to make sure the float wasn't punctured
(23:32):
all right? But I received a few e meals on this, Hey, ron,
could a pinhole in the float be keeping the needle
and seat open? Plastic float, saturated brass float with a
hole in it? Yeah? Absolutely? And I apologized to everybody,
and I want to do it up here and say,
you know what, I never considered that because I'm thinking
that if you rebuilt it, you were smart enough. You're
smart enough to rebuild it. You should be smart enough
(23:53):
to feel the fuel in the bowl. But you know,
then again, never assume right. Never never believed that everybody
went through and did everything they were supposed to do.
So um, that could also be an issue where the
floats are saturated and not doing what they're supposed to do.
Real quick, before we take the pause, Caffy sent us
an article talking about the race to crack battery recycling
(24:14):
before It's too late. I was reading this. It's kind
of scary. Everyday millions of lithium IAM batteries roll off
the line of Testas Giga Factory and Sparks Nevada. By
the way, I think Sparks Nevada is the place where
they found that flower on top of the lithium uh
deposits that they're not allowed to cultivate because they're gonna
ruin the flower, which is an endangered species now and
(24:35):
blah blah blah. That is what the article is about.
The cells produced are on Cite or by Panasonic are
destined to be bundled together by the thousands in battery
packs of New Tesla's. The article continues, but not all
batteries are cut out for life on the road. Panasonic
ships truckloads of cells that don't pass the qualification test
to a facility in Carson City. This is the home
of Redwood Materials, a small company founded in tween with
(24:57):
an ambition to become the anti giga actory, a place
where batteries are cooked down into raw materials that will
serve as the grist for new cells. This is where
it gets interesting. Okay, so Testa is producing all these
lithium ion batteries and basically what the article is saying
is some batteries don't meet spec They're not made, they
don't meet the standard. It then goes on Redwood as
(25:20):
part of a new wave of startups racing to solve
a problem that doesn't exist yet, how to recycle the
mountains of batteries from electric vehicles that are past their prime.
Over the past decade, the world's lithium ion production capacity
has increased tenfold to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles. Now,
vehicles from that first production wave are just beginning to
reach the end of their lifespan. I think electric vehicle
lifespan is a lot shorter than ten years. I think
(25:40):
it's five. And you know, you've got to think about
computer software and computer modules and how often things are
gonna have to be updated. How often is your laptop
updated before you throw it out. This marks the beginning
of a tsunami of spent batteries, which will only get
worse as more electric cars at the road. The International
Agency predicts an eight percent increase in the number of
electric vehicles over the next decade. Each car are packed
with thousands of cells. The dirty secret of the electric
(26:02):
vehicle revolution is that it has created an electric waste
time bomb, and cracking lithium ion recycling is the only
way to diffuse it. And then the article goes on
to talk about how they're trying this, and they're trying that,
but this is this to me, was that this is
the meat and potatoes. Okay. There are two ways to
deactivate lithium ion batteries. The most common technique, called pyro metallurgy,
involves burning them to remove unwanted organic material and plastics.
(26:27):
This method leaves the recycling with just a fraction of
the original material, typically just the copper and nickel or
cobalt from the cathoid. A common pyro method, called smelting,
use a furnace powered with fossil fuels, which isn't great
for the environment. So wait a minute, We're gonna use
We're gonna use fossil fuels to generate the electricity to
charge the vehicle. We're gonna use fossil fuels to smelt
(26:49):
the battery down, to separate it, to reuse it and
safely recycle it. All this in the name of having
electric vehicles. Where does the clean air part come in?
I still don't understand this part of the anti stupid campaign?
Is it me? I don't know? Zero zero. I'd love
(27:10):
to hear your thoughts. Send me a line Ronald Card
Doctor show dot com, or give us a call. Zero
nine zero zero. I'm Ron and Indian. I'll be back
right after this. Doctor. Let's get over and talk to
Frank in Texas. Oh seven Toyota Frank, Welcome aboard, sir.
(27:31):
How can I help hi? I just recently first and
wrong in the opinion? What do you think about the
ft A? I just bought a two thousand and seven.
They're hard to find. I purchased it from the tool
to dealer. But do you recommend that I changed all
the oils on the differential transfer case and leaving the
transmission how many? How many miles are on at Frank
(27:58):
I do. I let's and if you if you look
up and I'm gonna I'm gonna say that it's that
vehicle probably is driven under severe operating conditions. Most vehicles,
in my mind, if you read the if you read
the parameter, if I want a manufacturer call severe, most
vehicles operate in the United States under severe conditions. That
(28:19):
being said, Toyota, if you look in the service guide,
I know on that particular vehicle they call for axle
fluids in the fifty to sixty thousand mile range. If
there's and there's a transfer case, you know, if transfer
case trans fluid, you know, it should all be done.
I like, I liked. One of the practices I've done
over the years whenever I buy a used vehicle is
(28:42):
that if I buy something used, if it's wet, I
change it, break trans dif transfer case. Uh. You know,
in a lot of cases, I won't always do power
steering fluid depending upon mileage, but in a lot of
cases I will. Um, you know, at least then I
know where I'm starting out, and then to put vehicle
on a regular scheduled diet of fluid maintenance and I
(29:05):
think you'll do really well. Those are great vehicles. I
think that the reason they're so hard to find is
they weren't produced in such big numbers as everything else,
because the public didn't seem to react to them all
that well. Whether it was a look thing or the
way they fit everybody's lifestyle, I don't know. But they
were made really well. They were made really well. They
(29:25):
they tend to last. I see very few issues with
those vehicles, anything out of the normal, you know. To me,
they're like normal Toyota vehicles. They run well, they last
a long time, a little bit of maintenance, a little
nip and tuck here and there, you should do well. Great. Great,
So I'll go ahead and take your advice and do that.
I kind of feeling I overpaid a little bit, but
(29:46):
I really wanted one, and when I started looking at prices,
I don't think I will pay by that much. But
you know, yeahs old vehicle, But you know what it's
right now. Finding a decent vehicle is a hard gig.
And you think of it like this, what do you
think you should have paid instead of paying twenty, would
(30:07):
have fifteen have made it? You know, do you think
that vehicle was Do you think it was sixteen? Think?
Think of it this way? Is it? Is it a
clean vehicle? Is it in good shape? Extremely clean? You
know what that three grand was a was a buyer's
premium alright. For three grands, you got peace of mind,
(30:28):
You got the vehicle you want. Price always or condition
always dictates price, and demand always dictates condition and price.
You know it's it's it's it's a three parts cycle.
Depending upon the market, depending upon condition, will always dictate
what you pay for something. And you know what exactly
it is that you get. I'd rather pay a little
(30:49):
bit more for a better vehicle than have to try
and go through and rebuild and repair because the consequences
of somebody not taking of taking care of a vehicle
are very long standing and well, um, what's the word
I'm looking for? Deep reaching. I remember years ago we
purchased a ninety four Chevy Caprice wagon used. It was
(31:09):
a couple of years old with thirty thousand miles on it.
We went for a road test. It was about an
hour's ride to the dealer located in Central Jersey, and
after five minutes on the highway, I turned to my
wife and I said, we're gonna take it, and she
said really, I said yeah. I said, it's got enough
mileage on it. That only had to do was five
oil changes. And the oil is clean, and I see stickers,
(31:31):
and I see maintenance records. I'm not worried about the
rest of the fluids. I'm not worried about the rest
of the condition. I'll fix whatever is there. But the
long term damage wasn't done. The vehicle got oil changes,
the vehicle got some level of maintenance. If that fourteen
year old vehicle you just paid twenty grand four was
well maintained, think of all the things you won't have
to repair because somebody did proper maintenance. And maybe a
(31:54):
little bit above and beyond right makes sense. It makes sense.
You make it feel a lot better about it now
you put it that way, you know, So listen, thanks
for a great advice, great advice, and I will. I
am going to take it and get the all the
oils change. I think that's a great call up. Thank
you so much. You're very welcome, Good luck to and
enjoy every minute of that vehicle. Be well, my friend,
(32:15):
you're very welcome. Um. Yeah, I can't tell you enough.
Getting the right vehicle, folks, is getting a good used vehicle.
It's a wonderful feeling and you save a few bucks
in the process. Don't worry about your pay worry about
what you get. What you get is more important, and
you get what you pay for. Zero zero running any
(32:35):
of the Car Doctor coming back right after this welcome back.
We're on nating of the Car Doctor. You know, I
promised you a JB. Weld story had happened this week
in the shop, and I was thinking also that maybe
this will be the future of auto repair, right and
(32:57):
you'll understand why in a minute. So we use Milwaukee
power tools in the shop. The Milwaukee cordless stuff and
the lithium batteries are kind of heavy. And it's interesting
the way Milwaukee designed the battery cases for the cordless
impact guns, in that the bigger batteries, the eighteen volt batteries,
there's only two little screws in each corner. There is
(33:20):
a screw in each corner, two in each end that
hold the two battery clamshell halves together. Well, I guess
over time the weight of the battery causes the screw
to break the plastic housing. That it's it's it's it's
bound into batteries. Aren't cheap. The batteries are you know,
eight bucks apiece, and there's nothing wrong with them. It's
(33:41):
just that the screws have broken the housing. I'm thinking
about this and I'm thinking, you know, how do I
want to repair this and still keep a professional looking
you know what? I went out to jb Well dot
com and I looked up They have the ability you
can look up your project and I looked at my project.
I said it was plastic and p VC, and they
came up with some of the JB welld adhesives and
(34:03):
a poxies and I used that. I actually repaired the
batteries and there's nothing wrong with him there. You know,
they're they're only a couple of years old, and I'm
gonna get longer life out of him. And Shamon Milwaukee,
you guys should have put more material in the clamshell
has But that isn't even the point of it. And
you can find more information at jb well dot com.
That isn't even the point of it. I'm saying to myself,
(34:25):
is this gonna be the future of water repair. I'm
not gonna be a poxying and adhesiving things back together
when the electric cars break. Hey, my electric car broke. Really, Oh,
let me fix the battery. Let me get out my
tube of JB weld and put the car back together.
I don't know. Do you think it could happen? It
could be interesting. It's we'll see where it goes. And
let me say this too. You know we've we've talked
(34:47):
a lot about electric vehicles, you and I over the
past couple of months. I want your input, you know.
As I said before, I sat with dinner at dinner
with my friend Tony this week and I listened to
what he had to say because he's a listener to
He listens to the show. All of your listeners. This
isn't my radio show, it's our radio show. I want
(35:09):
your thoughts, I want your feelings. What do you think?
Send me a line, send me a note, Ron at
card Doctor show dot com. Let me know what you're thinking.
If you want to hear us talk about something, send
us that as well. We want to hear from you.
I'm Ron any in the Car Doctor. It's been an
absolute pleasure as always until the next time. Good mechanics
aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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