Classic Car Doctor - June 27, 2014 - Hour 1, Second Half - Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor (855)560-9900
December 30, 2024 • 17 mins
The Car Dr is all calls this segment; Justin from PA is calling in about a P0420 cat efficiency code on his VW Jetta; Ron walks him through some diagnostic steps and helps break it down into simple terms. Jesse (from Chico California) is up next with questions about changing transmission fluid on his 2013 Ford F150. He has been told several different answers to the question and now turns to Ron for the definitive answer.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey, welcome back. Ronini in the Car Doctor eight five
five five six zero nine to nine zero zero Car
doctorshow dot com. Ronn Innian the Car Doctor out on Facebook.
Annian an A, I A and I think we covered
all the bases. Let's get back to the garage doors
and get into the bay. Let's go talk to Justin Harrisburg, PA. Justin,
Welcome to the Car Doctor, sir, how can I help?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Thanks? Thank you, Paul, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You're very welcome. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I have a two thousand and five d W Jetta
that started throwing a P zero for two zero code.
I hoped to toll up to diagnostics and gave me
the code. It's related to the catalytic converter. By clear
the code out, the code doesn't come back on for
(00:57):
sometimes a week, sometimes a month or two.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Does your driving pattern change or very whether it's a
week or a month, are you still are you? Are
you a pretty consistent drive cycle pattern?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Very consistent drive cycle? Okay, yeah, it's pretty much used
for a work commute and that's about it. Since then,
I've noticed that if the car sits overnight and it rains,
I start the car up in the morning to go
to work. Having sporadic miss fires and it's throwing the
(01:31):
p Zier three oh one general miss fire codes both
on cylinder one.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Three and four.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Okay, there's a four. There's a four cylinder.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Justin Yes, a four cylinder two point leader, non turbo.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Motor, all right, any other any other diagnosis.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Like I said, it only misfires when it's cold out.
If I leave the car idle, it'll idle up for
about five or ten minutes and then it's good. Okay,
doesn't miss fire after that once the cars are warmed
up to operating temperature.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
This is a spark plug, spark plug, wire and singular
coil vehicle, yeah okay. And this has the right a
coil pack. And and this has the air pump mounted
on top of the coil.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah yeah, the secondary air pump.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, great place to put it. So what's probably going
on here is you probably have impending coil failure, which
is not uncommon. You know, it's got a misfire. Let's
let's talk about that first. The misfire. You know, an
engine misses why it's not running smooth and in simplest terms,
(02:47):
it's going to miss for one of three reasons. Ignition fuel, mechanical.
I really doubt this is a mechanical reason, not on
an intermittent basis, not related to cold, damp weather fuel. Possibly,
but you'd have to give me a reason and support
that as to why ignition is the more common denominator.
(03:09):
And I'd be willing to bet that if you got
a little spray bottle of water, a little animizer fush
fish fush, and very gently misted water in the area
of the coil when the engine is running good, and
give it four to six minutes to soak in water
does some amazing things. I bet you it'll start to miss.
(03:31):
And if that's the case, I take the air pump off,
which you're probably gonna end up having to do anyway.
There's I think it's a six millimeter Allan. There's three
Allen's on that one two three. They come off, disconnect
to pump that slides out. You'll be looking right at
the ignition coil. There's a bracket that's a little bit
of a pain in the neck to deal with, and
you need a long Alan shank to get that back
bottom bolt. But you'll be looking right at the top
(03:53):
of the coil. Take a look at the coils where
the tower comes up and it runs with wise across
the you know, with of the car, so to speak.
I bet you there's a crack in a coil. And
if that's the case, it needs a coil assembly. Now
you know how many.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Miles are on the car, one hundred and seven thousand.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Ever, do plugs.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I just bought the vehicle less than a year ago, okay,
and I don't have any previous maintenance history on it.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
All right, So if it's you're gonna have to do
plugs and wires. This is the one where the plugs
and the wires are underneath the intake planum, right right,
pretty simple to do. There's a minimum amount of things
that you have to disconnect. You do need You will
need to buy a long Alan socket set. The two
screws in the back of the upper planum that fold
(04:46):
over or hidden in their kind of heart to see,
but if you look, they're there. When I do this job,
I actually have two Alans. I actually have two long
islands because I have two different sets. I have one
with a ball end and one with a straight end.
But my point is what I'll do is I'll break
all of them loose with the long shank, and then
I'll take the ball end and I will put that
(05:07):
on the two that are hidden. When you see this,
you'll understand if this comes down to where you've got
to change plugs and wires, which I would recommend doing
with the coil, so you know everything is fresh. Once
you determine the coil's bed, I use those two alans
to hold the screws in the manifold. Just the weight
of the allen's laying there. We'll keep the screws from
(05:27):
falling out, because if they fall out, it's gonna be
a pain in the neck to put back in. All right,
and you've got to be mindful that when you lift
the planum off, you've now got an open area directly.
You know, this is like let's go play with hand
grenades over a crate full of puppies. Okay, you've got
this open planum that if one of those screws falls out,
(05:51):
guess where it goes? Right into the motor. See. Uh,
you know, then that's done. So what I'll do is
I'll bury gently lift it off. I take a piece
of duct tape right across the planum. Now, I'm not
worried if something, you know, falls drops, I've got some
security there. The gasket that separates the two is probably
(06:15):
good enough to reuse. They're usually rock hard and they
don't change shape. If you want to get one, get one.
They're not expensive. And you know, plugs, wires, and a
coil pack. Make sure you use a good quality OE
level coil pack. Take a look at some of the
plugs from Denso there there are iridium TT's if they
make it for that car work really well. I've used
(06:38):
them on some of the other volkswagons. Good part number.
Just just things to be mindful of and and that'll
resolve the misfire, all right. So that's the misfire side
of this equation. The catalytic converter fault. Catalytic converter faults
happened because there's exhaust coming into the there's an oxygen
(07:01):
sensor in the front of the cat, there's an oxygen
sensor in the back of the cat. A catalytic converter,
by definition of the law, has to reduce emissions seventy
percent or better, all right. So they're looking at oxygen
content going into the cat, oxygen content coming out of
the cat. The cat has to store oxygen. If the
(07:22):
cat doesn't store oxygen, it can't create the proper catalytic
reaction and cause the and cause the emission levels to
be reduced. So that being said, something is fouling out
this cat. It could be the misfire, and it could
be once you resolve the misfire and then possibly doing
(07:44):
some sort of a fuel system cleaning may bring that
cat back to life. But the problem is the cat's
now working twice as hard with a miss that's been
developing over time. Chances are you may have to put
a catalytic converter in this car first. But let's fix
the misfire fire first, all right, justin and then we'll
then we'll talk after that. If the light continues to set,
(08:07):
does that work?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
That works for me?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay, but you know where to find me, you know
what's going on. That should give you enough to work on.
All right, all right, Oh you're very welcome. I hope
I didn't I hope I didn't draw this out too long.
It's just it's a it's a it's a simple procedure
that's just got a lot of detail to it. So
I just wanted to make sure you got it. If
you need me during the week, we're on at cardoctorshow
(08:29):
dot com. I'll do what I can for you via email.
You're very welcome, Good luck to you and hide everybody
out there in PA. Eight five five five six zero
nine nine zero zero. Run on any and the Car Doctor.
We're back right after this. Welcome back, Run on any
(09:11):
in the Card Doctor eight five five five six zero
nine nine zero zero. If you want to call in
and get in on the Card Doctor hotline, that is
the twenty four to seven number. You can call that
number eight five five five six zero nine nine zero
zero anytime, day or night. That number is always active.
There's always a messaging service on there when we're not
on the air. This radio show is live Saturday afternoons
two to four pm Eastern Time, So any other time,
(09:33):
if you call and leave a message on eight five
five five six zero nine nine zero zero, Fast Tario
or executive producer will get you in Q and talk
to you about your problem up here on air for
everyone to hear, because that's what we want to solve
your problem. We want to educate everybody. That's what this
radio show is all about. Let's get over to Jesse,
our next caller in Chico, California, with some questions about
(09:54):
changing trans fluid on a twenty thirteen F one to fifty. Jesse,
Welcome to the Card Doctor, sir.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Thanks Ron, I really really enjoy your show.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm just confused on when to do that. I've gotten
three different recommendations from the Ford dealer, and then I
know my maintenance guy says something totally different. So I
just wanted to find out what you would recommend What.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Do you think? What are some of the recommendations you're hearing.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Well, one he's got thirty one thousand on it now
and I have it the oil change. That's a dealer.
So the service writer the last time I was in
a couple of weeks ago, said oh, we should do
the transmission next oil change. Then another guy I talked
(10:44):
to he said, oh, we should do it about sixty thousand.
I know my book says something about like one hundred
and fifty thousand, right, And I used to have before
this one. I had an O six f one fifty
and the recommendation on that one on the transmission with
every thirty thousand. Yeah, I'm just confused.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Okay, let me see if we can unconfuse you here.
First of all, this is not normal transfluid. It is,
but it isn't. This is mercon LV. This is their
extended life fluid. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive
when you compare it to the price of a new
vehicle or transmission. The one hundred and fifty thousand mile
change your transmission fluid concept, yeah, is ridiculous to me.
(11:30):
I don't understand that for a variety of reasons. Jesse.
Let's be practical. If this truck has fifteen thousand miles
on it, it's got to be ten twelve years old.
Would you would? Would you would?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Would?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Let's see, if you're doing how many miles a year?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Do you go?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Ten thousand, fifteen thousand, fifteen? Okay, so in ten years
you're gonna have one hundred and fifty thousand miles on
it in ten years. Would you spend three four grand
in today's money to put a transmission in that truck?
Or would you go buy a new truck.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I'd buy a new truck, right, so ergo.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
We now know why the marketing department decided one hundred
and fifty thousand miles change of transfluid. We're going to
sell a lot of cars in ten years. And I
still believe that with all my heart. I just don't
buy that fluids last that way. And I've had conversations
with transmission builders and they tell me, point blank they're
still faced with the same problems. It's about heat, it's
(12:22):
about contaminant, it's about moisture, it's about all the things
that they're all trying to correct with special fluids that
don't seem to get corrected to the level that they want.
In a perfect world, an engineer can design a fluid
that will work. But unfortunately, all the roads are far
from perfect than anyone that's driven on them, and sat
in traffic are been doing ninety on the freeway trying
(12:44):
to avoid getting hit by a truck can relate to that.
So the one hundred and fifty thousand that's out the door. Okay,
first trans fluid change, first fluid change of any kind.
I like the thirty thousand mile rule, and I'll tell
you why, point blank. Okay, is the truck still under warranty? Yeah,
all right, how long is the warranty?
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Well, it was an ionic used with thirteen thousand, and
it's a factory certified, so the drive train goes to
one hundred thousand.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Okay. So if there's a problem with this, I'd rather
catch it early, all right. So if there was something
done wrong in the way of assembly, if there's a
metal shard in there, if there's something coming apart, early
in the life of the vehicle. Because new doesn't mean good,
new means never ever worked. I just like to know early,
all right. I vote for changing. I vote for changing
(13:36):
the transfluid at thirty all right, okay, or thirty five,
whatever your next schedule changes. I also vote for changing
the transfer case and the differential fluids for the same
exact reason, all right. Differential and drive line fluids other
than transmission are kind of like the Rodney dangerfield of
the automotive world. They just don't get any respect. And
(13:57):
it's a case that those fluids, he'll do an awful
critical job in maintaining that truck and keeping it on
the road in the straight and narrow. You know, what
breaks down seals is contaminant. What creates contaminant is lack
of change moisture. The fluid changes its chemical makeup and
starts to create failures. So in a nutshell, the vehicle
(14:19):
that's maintained is the vehicle that doesn't have the problem
versus the one that is. Jesse, I got to pull
over and take a pause, sit tight, and when we
come back, we'll finish this up. I'm running. Ay in
the car doctor, we are back right after this. A
(14:50):
thousand dollars card ain't worth nothing. Hey, welcome back. Why
don't they mean? In the car doctor, We've got Jesse
on the line from Chico, California. We're gonna finish our
conversation here. Jesse, are you still there? You and you're
(15:11):
twenty thirteen f one to fifty.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I am ron, thank you, so you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You know, I would do the first fluid drive line,
fluid change trans transfer case, both differentials. Thirty thousand miles.
It's a good number. It gives you a baseline to
work from. All right. The other rationale is in your case. Okay,
the warranty goes up to one hundred thousand miles. But
in a lot of cases, a lot of vehicles have
powertrain warranty five years, sixty thousand miles. You know, if
(15:38):
you waited until the sixty thousand mile mark, and you
got in at sixty two thousand. Because we're all so
busy these days, we kind of stretched things to the
max in a lot of cases, you know, g Jesse,
We're sorry, but you know, we pulled the pan down
at sixty two thousand. It could be sixty thousand three
miles and guess what. Oops, gee's this big metal thing
which isn't supposed to be there. Gee, it's too bad
(16:00):
you're out a warranty. If you'd gotten in at fifty
nine thousand mills, we could have fixed this for you.
And how many times does that conversation happen? Yeah, you know,
and it's so ounce of prevention, pound to cure. Do
it at all? Do them all at thirty All right,
use the proper fluid and trust me, I'm I'm not
saying this trying to sell a trans service. I've done
this transmission. This is the six R eighty. You know
(16:21):
where the dipstick is for this transmission?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
No, because I can't, I don't think right.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
The genius has put it down next to the exhaust
pipe on the right side, just before the catalytic converter.
So you need to get into like a thermal body.
Suit so you don't get fourth degree burns, you know,
when you're trying to check the fluid level with the
engine hot. It's just absolutely ridiculous. And the whole rationale
of dipstickless transmissions and hard to get through. That's a
(16:48):
conversation for another day. Let's just suffice it to say,
change the transfluid. Now, keep an eye on it. I
would tell you at your fifty five thousand mile oil change,
have them pull that stick, what color is the fluid,
and if the fluid is still pink and rosy, roll
the dice. My vote is to change the fluid every
thirty to every thirty to thirty five thousand miles, and
(17:10):
chances are you won't have to put a transmission in
it and you'll enjoy it for the life of the vehicle. Jesse,
I appreciate the call. I'm running ding in the car, doctor,
I gotta go. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
See you
Hey, welcome back. Ronini in the Car Doctor eight five
five five six zero nine to nine zero zero Car
doctorshow dot com. Ronn Innian the Car Doctor out on Facebook.
Annian an A, I A and I think we covered
all the bases. Let's get back to the garage doors
and get into the bay. Let's go talk to Justin Harrisburg, PA. Justin,
Welcome to the Car Doctor, sir, how can I help?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Thanks? Thank you, Paul, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You're very welcome. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I have a two thousand and five d W Jetta
that started throwing a P zero for two zero code.
I hoped to toll up to diagnostics and gave me
the code. It's related to the catalytic converter. By clear
the code out, the code doesn't come back on for
(00:57):
sometimes a week, sometimes a month or two.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Does your driving pattern change or very whether it's a
week or a month, are you still are you? Are
you a pretty consistent drive cycle pattern?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Very consistent drive cycle? Okay, yeah, it's pretty much used
for a work commute and that's about it. Since then,
I've noticed that if the car sits overnight and it rains,
I start the car up in the morning to go
to work. Having sporadic miss fires and it's throwing the
(01:31):
p Zier three oh one general miss fire codes both
on cylinder one.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Three and four.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Okay, there's a four. There's a four cylinder.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Justin Yes, a four cylinder two point leader, non turbo.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Motor, all right, any other any other diagnosis.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Like I said, it only misfires when it's cold out.
If I leave the car idle, it'll idle up for
about five or ten minutes and then it's good. Okay,
doesn't miss fire after that once the cars are warmed
up to operating temperature.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
This is a spark plug, spark plug, wire and singular
coil vehicle, yeah okay. And this has the right a
coil pack. And and this has the air pump mounted
on top of the coil.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah yeah, the secondary air pump.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yeah, great place to put it. So what's probably going
on here is you probably have impending coil failure, which
is not uncommon. You know, it's got a misfire. Let's
let's talk about that first. The misfire. You know, an
engine misses why it's not running smooth and in simplest terms,
(02:47):
it's going to miss for one of three reasons. Ignition fuel, mechanical.
I really doubt this is a mechanical reason, not on
an intermittent basis, not related to cold, damp weather fuel. Possibly,
but you'd have to give me a reason and support
that as to why ignition is the more common denominator.
(03:09):
And I'd be willing to bet that if you got
a little spray bottle of water, a little animizer fush
fish fush, and very gently misted water in the area
of the coil when the engine is running good, and
give it four to six minutes to soak in water
does some amazing things. I bet you it'll start to miss.
(03:31):
And if that's the case, I take the air pump off,
which you're probably gonna end up having to do anyway.
There's I think it's a six millimeter Allan. There's three
Allen's on that one two three. They come off, disconnect
to pump that slides out. You'll be looking right at
the ignition coil. There's a bracket that's a little bit
of a pain in the neck to deal with, and
you need a long Alan shank to get that back
bottom bolt. But you'll be looking right at the top
(03:53):
of the coil. Take a look at the coils where
the tower comes up and it runs with wise across
the you know, with of the car, so to speak.
I bet you there's a crack in a coil. And
if that's the case, it needs a coil assembly. Now
you know how many.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Miles are on the car, one hundred and seven thousand.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Ever, do plugs.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I just bought the vehicle less than a year ago, okay,
and I don't have any previous maintenance history on it.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
All right, So if it's you're gonna have to do
plugs and wires. This is the one where the plugs
and the wires are underneath the intake planum, right right,
pretty simple to do. There's a minimum amount of things
that you have to disconnect. You do need You will
need to buy a long Alan socket set. The two
screws in the back of the upper planum that fold
(04:46):
over or hidden in their kind of heart to see,
but if you look, they're there. When I do this job,
I actually have two Alans. I actually have two long
islands because I have two different sets. I have one
with a ball end and one with a straight end.
But my point is what I'll do is I'll break
all of them loose with the long shank, and then
I'll take the ball end and I will put that
(05:07):
on the two that are hidden. When you see this,
you'll understand if this comes down to where you've got
to change plugs and wires, which I would recommend doing
with the coil, so you know everything is fresh. Once
you determine the coil's bed, I use those two alans
to hold the screws in the manifold. Just the weight
of the allen's laying there. We'll keep the screws from
(05:27):
falling out, because if they fall out, it's gonna be
a pain in the neck to put back in. All right,
and you've got to be mindful that when you lift
the planum off, you've now got an open area directly.
You know, this is like let's go play with hand
grenades over a crate full of puppies. Okay, you've got
this open planum that if one of those screws falls out,
(05:51):
guess where it goes? Right into the motor. See. Uh,
you know, then that's done. So what I'll do is
I'll bury gently lift it off. I take a piece
of duct tape right across the planum. Now, I'm not
worried if something, you know, falls drops, I've got some
security there. The gasket that separates the two is probably
(06:15):
good enough to reuse. They're usually rock hard and they
don't change shape. If you want to get one, get one.
They're not expensive. And you know, plugs, wires, and a
coil pack. Make sure you use a good quality OE
level coil pack. Take a look at some of the
plugs from Denso there there are iridium TT's if they
make it for that car work really well. I've used
(06:38):
them on some of the other volkswagons. Good part number.
Just just things to be mindful of and and that'll
resolve the misfire, all right. So that's the misfire side
of this equation. The catalytic converter fault. Catalytic converter faults
happened because there's exhaust coming into the there's an oxygen
(07:01):
sensor in the front of the cat, there's an oxygen
sensor in the back of the cat. A catalytic converter,
by definition of the law, has to reduce emissions seventy
percent or better, all right. So they're looking at oxygen
content going into the cat, oxygen content coming out of
the cat. The cat has to store oxygen. If the
(07:22):
cat doesn't store oxygen, it can't create the proper catalytic
reaction and cause the and cause the emission levels to
be reduced. So that being said, something is fouling out
this cat. It could be the misfire, and it could
be once you resolve the misfire and then possibly doing
(07:44):
some sort of a fuel system cleaning may bring that
cat back to life. But the problem is the cat's
now working twice as hard with a miss that's been
developing over time. Chances are you may have to put
a catalytic converter in this car first. But let's fix
the misfire fire first, all right, justin and then we'll
then we'll talk after that. If the light continues to set,
(08:07):
does that work?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
That works for me?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay, but you know where to find me, you know
what's going on. That should give you enough to work on.
All right, all right, Oh you're very welcome. I hope
I didn't I hope I didn't draw this out too long.
It's just it's a it's a it's a simple procedure
that's just got a lot of detail to it. So
I just wanted to make sure you got it. If
you need me during the week, we're on at cardoctorshow
(08:29):
dot com. I'll do what I can for you via email.
You're very welcome, Good luck to you and hide everybody
out there in PA. Eight five five five six zero
nine nine zero zero. Run on any and the Car Doctor.
We're back right after this. Welcome back, Run on any
(09:11):
in the Card Doctor eight five five five six zero
nine nine zero zero. If you want to call in
and get in on the Card Doctor hotline, that is
the twenty four to seven number. You can call that
number eight five five five six zero nine nine zero
zero anytime, day or night. That number is always active.
There's always a messaging service on there when we're not
on the air. This radio show is live Saturday afternoons
two to four pm Eastern Time, So any other time,
(09:33):
if you call and leave a message on eight five
five five six zero nine nine zero zero, Fast Tario
or executive producer will get you in Q and talk
to you about your problem up here on air for
everyone to hear, because that's what we want to solve
your problem. We want to educate everybody. That's what this
radio show is all about. Let's get over to Jesse,
our next caller in Chico, California, with some questions about
(09:54):
changing trans fluid on a twenty thirteen F one to fifty. Jesse,
Welcome to the Card Doctor, sir.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Thanks Ron, I really really enjoy your show.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm just confused on when to do that. I've gotten
three different recommendations from the Ford dealer, and then I
know my maintenance guy says something totally different. So I
just wanted to find out what you would recommend What.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Do you think? What are some of the recommendations you're hearing.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Well, one he's got thirty one thousand on it now
and I have it the oil change. That's a dealer.
So the service writer the last time I was in
a couple of weeks ago, said oh, we should do
the transmission next oil change. Then another guy I talked
(10:44):
to he said, oh, we should do it about sixty thousand.
I know my book says something about like one hundred
and fifty thousand, right, And I used to have before
this one. I had an O six f one fifty
and the recommendation on that one on the transmission with
every thirty thousand. Yeah, I'm just confused.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Okay, let me see if we can unconfuse you here.
First of all, this is not normal transfluid. It is,
but it isn't. This is mercon LV. This is their
extended life fluid. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive
when you compare it to the price of a new
vehicle or transmission. The one hundred and fifty thousand mile
change your transmission fluid concept, yeah, is ridiculous to me.
(11:30):
I don't understand that for a variety of reasons. Jesse.
Let's be practical. If this truck has fifteen thousand miles
on it, it's got to be ten twelve years old.
Would you would? Would you would?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Would?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Let's see, if you're doing how many miles a year?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Do you go?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Ten thousand, fifteen thousand, fifteen? Okay, so in ten years
you're gonna have one hundred and fifty thousand miles on
it in ten years. Would you spend three four grand
in today's money to put a transmission in that truck?
Or would you go buy a new truck.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I'd buy a new truck, right, so ergo.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
We now know why the marketing department decided one hundred
and fifty thousand miles change of transfluid. We're going to
sell a lot of cars in ten years. And I
still believe that with all my heart. I just don't
buy that fluids last that way. And I've had conversations
with transmission builders and they tell me, point blank they're
still faced with the same problems. It's about heat, it's
(12:22):
about contaminant, it's about moisture, it's about all the things
that they're all trying to correct with special fluids that
don't seem to get corrected to the level that they want.
In a perfect world, an engineer can design a fluid
that will work. But unfortunately, all the roads are far
from perfect than anyone that's driven on them, and sat
in traffic are been doing ninety on the freeway trying
(12:44):
to avoid getting hit by a truck can relate to that.
So the one hundred and fifty thousand that's out the door. Okay,
first trans fluid change, first fluid change of any kind.
I like the thirty thousand mile rule, and I'll tell
you why, point blank. Okay, is the truck still under warranty? Yeah,
all right, how long is the warranty?
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Well, it was an ionic used with thirteen thousand, and
it's a factory certified, so the drive train goes to
one hundred thousand.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Okay. So if there's a problem with this, I'd rather
catch it early, all right. So if there was something
done wrong in the way of assembly, if there's a
metal shard in there, if there's something coming apart, early
in the life of the vehicle. Because new doesn't mean good,
new means never ever worked. I just like to know early,
all right. I vote for changing. I vote for changing
(13:36):
the transfluid at thirty all right, okay, or thirty five,
whatever your next schedule changes. I also vote for changing
the transfer case and the differential fluids for the same
exact reason, all right. Differential and drive line fluids other
than transmission are kind of like the Rodney dangerfield of
the automotive world. They just don't get any respect. And
(13:57):
it's a case that those fluids, he'll do an awful
critical job in maintaining that truck and keeping it on
the road in the straight and narrow. You know, what
breaks down seals is contaminant. What creates contaminant is lack
of change moisture. The fluid changes its chemical makeup and
starts to create failures. So in a nutshell, the vehicle
(14:19):
that's maintained is the vehicle that doesn't have the problem
versus the one that is. Jesse, I got to pull
over and take a pause, sit tight, and when we
come back, we'll finish this up. I'm running. Ay in
the car doctor, we are back right after this. A
(14:50):
thousand dollars card ain't worth nothing. Hey, welcome back. Why
don't they mean? In the car doctor, We've got Jesse
on the line from Chico, California. We're gonna finish our
conversation here. Jesse, are you still there? You and you're
(15:11):
twenty thirteen f one to fifty.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I am ron, thank you, so you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You know, I would do the first fluid drive line,
fluid change trans transfer case, both differentials. Thirty thousand miles.
It's a good number. It gives you a baseline to
work from. All right. The other rationale is in your case. Okay,
the warranty goes up to one hundred thousand miles. But
in a lot of cases, a lot of vehicles have
powertrain warranty five years, sixty thousand miles. You know, if
(15:38):
you waited until the sixty thousand mile mark, and you
got in at sixty two thousand. Because we're all so
busy these days, we kind of stretched things to the
max in a lot of cases, you know, g Jesse,
We're sorry, but you know, we pulled the pan down
at sixty two thousand. It could be sixty thousand three
miles and guess what. Oops, gee's this big metal thing
which isn't supposed to be there. Gee, it's too bad
(16:00):
you're out a warranty. If you'd gotten in at fifty
nine thousand mills, we could have fixed this for you.
And how many times does that conversation happen? Yeah, you know,
and it's so ounce of prevention, pound to cure. Do
it at all? Do them all at thirty All right,
use the proper fluid and trust me, I'm I'm not
saying this trying to sell a trans service. I've done
this transmission. This is the six R eighty. You know
(16:21):
where the dipstick is for this transmission?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
No, because I can't, I don't think right.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
The genius has put it down next to the exhaust
pipe on the right side, just before the catalytic converter.
So you need to get into like a thermal body.
Suit so you don't get fourth degree burns, you know,
when you're trying to check the fluid level with the
engine hot. It's just absolutely ridiculous. And the whole rationale
of dipstickless transmissions and hard to get through. That's a
(16:48):
conversation for another day. Let's just suffice it to say,
change the transfluid. Now, keep an eye on it. I
would tell you at your fifty five thousand mile oil change,
have them pull that stick, what color is the fluid,
and if the fluid is still pink and rosy, roll
the dice. My vote is to change the fluid every
thirty to every thirty to thirty five thousand miles, and
(17:10):
chances are you won't have to put a transmission in
it and you'll enjoy it for the life of the vehicle. Jesse,
I appreciate the call. I'm running ding in the car, doctor,
I gotta go. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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