April 3, 2024 • 19 mins
Welcome to the 1st posting Of Classic Car Dr. This episode of The Car Doctor is from September 27, 2014. In this first half of hour 1 Ron talks about maintaining cars for customers over time; the generational affect of working on the parents and then the kids cars. He discusses an older Jeep that has some serious problems among which is a power steering leak that could lead to a fire. He concludes this segment with a call from someone about getting better fuel mileage on a 1994 Ford Explorer then starts a call helping a listener make a new vehicle purchase choice.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Ron An Aian.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Some days in auto repair you're you're sitting there scratching
your head harder than others. And some days you kind
of laugh and shake your head, And then some days
are both the car Doctor. If it's a four twenty
four point thirty, is it that the cat is just
not doing its job or is the cat physically broken
up into pieces? It's like that scene in Beverly Hills
Cop where they stuffed the banana and the tailpipe and
the car shop so off.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We're not gonna fall for a banana and a tailpipe.
This should be my natural brother, should flow out. I
is look man, I follof a banana my tailpipe. Welcome
to the radio home of ron Anian, the Car Doctor.
Since nineteen ninety one, this is where car owners the
world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
(00:49):
the phone and call in. The garage doors.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Are open, but I am here to take your call
at eight five five five six oh ninety nine hundred
and now.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Hers running ignorant really is bliffs, especially in some cases
of auto repair.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Hello and welcome broughnan Enie and the Car Doctor here
at eight five five ninety nine hundred here to remind
you that this show is all about auto repair and
whatever you've got going on. So if you've got a
question and it needs to be answered, pick up the
phone eight five five five six oh nine nine zero zero.
That's the Car Doctor's hot line. It's twenty four to
seven where live Saturday afternoons Eastern Time two to four pm.
(01:29):
This radio show is then picked up and shot around
the country to other affiliates. We're live on We might
be live on your affiliate as you're listening right now,
So pick up the phone, give us a call. We'll
solve your automotive problem whatever it is on this radio show.
And this has been my batt'll cry of late. I
encourage you to take everything you know about cars and
throw it away. On a weekly basis, I often wonder
(01:52):
how cars get into such a state of disrepair, and
then I wonder if people like you realize the danger
you're in. And last I wonder if it matters. And
most days the answer to that last question is yes.
What's the obligation of the repair shop? I mean, if
(02:14):
you bring your vehicle in for repair, is the mechanic
obligated to decide if it's worth fixing? Good question, right,
And this is really where our story begins.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Today.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Two thousand jeep Grand Cherokee showed up on the doorstep
RI Automotive this week and it was the daughter, well,
the owner was the daughter of a fast becoming regular customer.
It was someone We've been working on their car for
about nine ten months now, and we've been hitting it
right and doing things right. And I say it like
(02:46):
that because there are some days, no matter how hard
you try, auto repair is like quicksand every move you
make just sinks. You lower and lower, and you keep
trying to make right moves and it doesn't work. Well,
we were doing it right and it was moving in
the right direction and we were happy about it. And
this regular customer now trusted us to do the right
(03:08):
thing by their daughter, which is a pretty strong indicator. Hey,
we trust you take care of our kid. The jeep
was in for a visual lookover in a four wheel
break inspection. She was a recent college grad and she
was about to begin a daily forty five minute commute
to work. Tell me what it needs, they all said, Well,
the answer was in the form of one word. A
(03:31):
lot with just over one hundred and forty thousand miles
on it. The little jeep, well, the big jeep, the
midsize jeep had really seen better days. The power steering
line was leaking, and that's kind of a critical thing
for those of you that say, ah, so it's only
power steering fluid. Yeah, but unfortunately, the power steering line
on this Va jeep was located right next to the
(03:51):
exhaust manifold, and under the right conditions, when the jeep
gets hot enough, the power steering fluid has a flash
point and all of a sudd sudden, the jeep that
was no longer is because it caught fire, and that
power steering leak is no more, along with the jeep
and possibly the owner. The trans was so low that
(04:13):
it didn't show fluid on the dipstick, but it still
seemed to shift okay, which was a marvel to me.
Of course, the leak was pretty obvious because the oil
pin for the transmission was so rusted it was actually porous,
and fluid was just starting to run down the bottom
of the trans the transfer case, and unfortunately it didn't
(04:33):
run far enough because if it had gotten out to
the lower rockers, which is that area under the driver
door sills or the door sills driver and passenger side,
it would have prevented them from rusting out. Because the
rocker panels the lower rockers were so rusted you could
drive your fist through them. There were such gaping holes there.
The engine was leaking oil. The main side left, the
(04:56):
main left side brake line that runs down the left
side of the frame rail had little rust blisters in it,
and I mean rust blisters that were so big they said, hey,
pop me, I'm a ZiT because you know that sooner
or later they're just gonna break. The left rear track arm,
which is a suspension piece. It's sort of like think
of your arm and your socket. It's a joint. It
(05:18):
connects well. The bushing that's supposed to be there was missing.
The left your axle seal was trying to rustproof the
undercarriage of the vehicle because it was spraying gear oil
everywhere in and around the wheel well and every place else.
And it really needed a lot belts, hoses, tune up parts,
(05:38):
service parts, breaks, tires in addition to everything else I
just mentioned. And that's just what I told the owner.
I brought them in, I put it back up in
the air, and I said, you really want to see this,
because I think a picture is worth a thousand words,
and I think this is my obligation. This is what
I need to do, because you need to understand when
(06:00):
when the mechanic condemns a vehicle, if the mechanic really
has your best interest at heart, he really has everybody's
best interest at heart, because it sometimes the best repair
is no repair. When you go through everything this vehicle needed,
it clearly was in need of replacement. The bottom line.
(06:23):
And I say this in every sense of the word.
It's the obligation of every vehicle owner, every one of
you out there today that owns and operates a vehicle.
It's your job to allow a mechanic to maintain the vehicle.
You've got to find the mechanic or a repair shop
you trust. And I'm not here to solve that question
of who makes up a better repair shop, the independent,
(06:46):
the dealer, the chain store. It could be the guy
working under the shade tree in the middle of nowhere.
I don't care. Somebody's got to know what they're doing,
and somebody's got to maintain that vehicle. You've got to
find a mechanic, a repair shop that you can talk
to and that talks to you because their obligation is
to keep you safe, and sometimes it's going to involve
(07:06):
telling you, the vehicle owner, hey, it's time to move on.
It's more than a question of honesty. It's a matter
of self respect and morality on the part of the
repair shop, because the road you travel with that vehicle
doesn't know self pity. You're traveling down it at sixty
miles an hour and a two ton missile and any
one of the components I just listed, if they suffered
(07:27):
a failure, it's going to become a problem for you,
and it's going to become a problem for those that
are traveling around you. However, if you choose not to
listen to the mechanics evaluation, then the road you choose
is really of your own making, and that's a horse
of an entirely different color. Hello and welcome Rod and
Ady and the car Doctor here at eight five five
(07:48):
five six oh nine nine zero zero. That's the card
Doctor's toll free number to call in and get your
questions answered. There are podcasts of this radio show that
we're all over the place. We're out on the internet
and a couple of different places. If you're looking for
the Card Doctor, you can get out to the Car doctorshow
dot com. There's podcasts there. You can also subscribe to
podcasts over at the iTunes store, over at Iheartradioiheart dot com,
(08:09):
and you can visit us out on Facebook. Ronaninie in
the Car Doctor and we spell an anie in, A
N A and ia in and I say that and
spell it because as some of you are pointing out,
and it's interesting to note, we received the letter a
couple of weeks ago. Well, we've been receiving them over time,
but the one we just received a couple of weeks
back pointed out that how come this listener As they
were driving across the country, they went through certain parts
(08:32):
of the South in Texas, that all of a sudden
there's all these repair shops called the Car Doctor and
they wanted to know if I had any relation to them,
and I said no. But I've started to realize, after
twenty three years on radio, that perhaps I'm sprouting up
my own, you know, junior business here. Everybody wants to
get into the act and cash in on the name.
So you're listening to the one and only, the original
(08:53):
Ronananie in the Car Doctor. We've got a lot going
on this hour in the way of phone calls. As
the phone bank is lit up, Let's kick open the
garage and welcome Diane from Elizabeth, New Jersey ninety four
Ford Explorer and some questions about fuel economy. Diane, Welcome
to the Car Doctor. How can I help?
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Thanks, I thank you. Yeah, I just thought to know, well,
for reasons, I won't go into I low. It's something
with a lot of room in it for right now.
But it works. Everything's beautiful on it, except the gas
miles is very bad. And I've talked to people that
will also have had it to your car, and they said,
you know, you should be They didn't get that bad
(09:29):
at gas miles because it's a big car. I figure
maybe it is as supposed to it. It's like, you know,
it comes in ten miles to a gallon, and they said, no,
you should be getting much more. So we tried several things,
something called an eg or whatever that is.
Speaker 6 (09:41):
They replaced that.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Then they tried the mass air flow, which seems to
have been replaced very recently. I thought, do you have
any ideas what else? I actually came to a conclusion
maybe the gas filter. Is that something I should check.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Out to Well, let me let me ask let me
ask you a couple of questions, Diane, this is this
is a six cylinder explorer. Yes, okay, any check engine light,
any dashboard warning lights on in the beginning.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
In the beginning again, and they dran the code on it,
and if that's what it came up with, something about
the the e g R FR flow. But actually eventually
I put some fuel injected cleaner in it and it
went walk and it never came back on again.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But they replaced something with the e g R correct. Yes,
all right, So right now it's just you're getting ten
miles to the gallon. You've got no dashboard warning lights on,
and the question is why? Right?
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Yeah? I mean, yeah, anything else I could check that?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, let's start with simple things. Has anybody checked tire pressure?
Has anybody made sure we don't have any brakes dragging?
Speaker 5 (10:47):
I just did put in the tire was a little low.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Ye, what's what's what's what's a little low?
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Well, to me, it just looked low. It didn't look
like it was full, so I put some of the
air on it.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Okay, well, Mike, listen, My point is, and I'm going
to be very upfront with you, all right, that I'm
not hearing anything about any diagnosis. I'm hearing we change
this part, we change that part. And if we're just
gonna start randomly swapping parts and we have no basis
for why we're.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Changing it, well, well, I get the part about I
get the part about they changed the e g R
because of an e g R fault code, and hopefully
they did some diagnosis to get there.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
But if they're swapping a mass airflow in and no
other diagnosis has been done, first thing I'm going to
come back to is what's fuel trim. Fuel trim is
a measurement of how efficient and in what range the
engine is trying to maintain its air fuel mixture. If
fuel trim is excessive, if it's approaching code fault area
but not enough to turn the light on, you won't
(11:49):
know that until you see the check engine light. So
i'd want to know just exactly what is fuel trim,
all right? I want to know what an exact measurement
of tire pressure is if it looks like that, what
fuel trim scan, fuel trim school using a scan tool
and using doing some data stream analysis. All right, So
a repair shop, well, let me say it like this,
(12:14):
If you have to tell them to do an analysis,
I'd be concerned about the quality of the repair shop.
All right. But you're looking for somebody that can think.
All right, you're looking for somebody that can sit there
and say, hey, I've got a car that's not running effishing,
because I agree this car should get fourteen to fifteen
miles to the gallon as a general rule. All right,
you know, is the transmission operating properly? This is an
(12:36):
overdrive trends. If overdrive isn't working, or if it's not
in the right detent even though it shows it is,
but it's not, does this have a transmission issue? So
there's a lot of areas to go here. It's just
a matter of before we continue to throw parts at it,
and then we got to talk about basics. You know,
when was the last time plugs were done? Like you said,
(12:57):
you know, when was the last time of fuel filled
or was done if you're the original owner or if
you just got it in the last year, you know,
we've seen cars that are still running. You take the
fuel filter rough, you can't blow through it, all right,
because it's so restricted, and all of these things will
will add up and affect overall vehicle fuel economy. All right,
you gotta go do some You gotta do some basics, Diane.
(13:18):
You gotta get somebody to start at the beginning and
then give me a call back in a week or
two and let me know where you are and we
can talk further.
Speaker 6 (13:24):
How's that okay, all right, I'll do that.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You're very welcome, Diane'm running ay in the car Doctor
eight five five five six so nine nine zero zero.
Stay tuned. We're coming right back just to talk to you. Hey,
(14:21):
welcome back, Ny and the car Doctor. By the way,
if you're looking for the car Doctor during the week,
it's Ron at Cardoctorshow dot com and we'll be glad
to answer your email and get back to you. I
do answer answer all my emails personally as my support
staff of well, on the weekend it's it's I've got
a couple of people, but during the week it's just
me baby, So send me an email Ron at card
Doctorshow dot com and I will get back to you.
(14:43):
Let's get over and talk to Doug Holbrook, New York,
some questions about a new vehicle purchase. Doug, Welcome to
the car doctor. How can it help, sir Ron get after?
Speaker 6 (14:50):
Thanks so much for taking my call. There's three cars
mid size and compact SUVs that I've been looking at,
and I've done my homework one. Okay, you need to
get your feedback from in terms of state of reliability
and shafety. I've been looking at the Jeep Turkey four
by four limited, the twenty fourteen model, the Superfus of
(15:10):
the twenty fourteen or fifteen and the Mads the X
five touring addition to the twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Okay have you ever have you driven any of these vehicles, Doug?
Speaker 6 (15:20):
I have tested in the Subaru forest only.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What did you think of that?
Speaker 6 (15:24):
I thought it was a very smooth ride.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Okay. Did you happen to notice the way it accelerates?
Did you notice that the throttle was a little too
sensitive or did it seem okay to you?
Speaker 6 (15:33):
It seemed like it was a little sluggish.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
You know, to me and in the ones that I've
driven fourteen's and fifteen's. Now the Subaru seem as if
the electronic throttle overcompensates, and I've actually seen it both ways.
Were first it seems sluggish, and then it seems like
it's two responsive. You're afraid to step on the gas
for fear of spinning the tires, and it's It's just
(15:59):
something I don't feel feel comfortable with, and it's one
of the reasons why people ask me about Subaru. You know,
the more I look at them, the more I think
about that particular issue. I've put it on my be
careful list, and I don't recommend Subaru where I once
didn't thought more of the vehicle. I also have concerns
(16:19):
that I've noticed that some of the things Subru has done,
they've gotten so gosh darn specific in fluids and filters
and service procedures. They're a big user of the CVT
trans and it really has become, in my eyes, one
hundred thousand mile vehicle and throw it away for a
couple of reasons that I won't go into detail here,
(16:41):
but suffice it to say that if there's another choice
out there, I'd rather talk about that. Let's talk about
your second one. Is Jeep your second choice?
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (16:49):
The deep Turkey four before limited is my second choice.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Okay, have you sat in that yet?
Speaker 6 (16:55):
I have not.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Okay, when you do, get used to the shifter or
try the shift first. I sat in a fourteen jeep
about two weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago. I thought
the shifter was the strangest thing in the world.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
It was.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
It's it's stationary, but it clicks. It doesn't change position.
So the one I sat in, you know, it was
in park. You want to go to reverse, you push
the button, go click. You want to go to neutral,
you push the button, go click. You want to go
to drive, you push the button, go click. The shifter
never moves from its position. It's it's it's difficult to drive.
(17:29):
There's no sense of change, so you're sort of counting
in your head park, reverse, neutral, drive, and so on.
I actually missed drive. I hit neutral, and I'm saying,
why isn't the car going anywhere? And I kind of
think I'm competent. I can chew them and walk at
the same time, and here I am, I can't shift
the vehicle.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
And Okay. The other thing that I was wandering, cheo,
would that have you? Is the grand cherokey? You can
have that same type of shifting issue as the as
the standard Turkey does.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I believe so, yes, Okay, and the.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
G I said the G compass actually about a week
ago that seemed pretty pretty comfortable with self. Do you
have any feedback on that one?
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Jeep and Chrysler in general, Doug, I'll say it like this,
all right. I'm a long term motor repair shop owner.
All right. I've been in the business forty years now.
I've built relationships with parts guys. I have some parts
guys I've been buying parts from for the past thirty years.
My Chrysler guy, I've been buying parts from ART for
about twenty eight years now, all right. Last year Art
(18:31):
sold is Chrysler is Jeep and he purchased a Ford Mustang.
And I said, how company said, because I see the
direction that Chrysler is going in terms of parts and
availability and costs. Doug, stay on the line. I want
to come back and talk to you a little bit
more than I gotta pull over and take this pause.
I'm running Ady and the car doctor. We're back right
after this.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Don't go away.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
F
Ron An Aian.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Some days in auto repair you're you're sitting there scratching
your head harder than others. And some days you kind
of laugh and shake your head, And then some days
are both the car Doctor. If it's a four twenty
four point thirty, is it that the cat is just
not doing its job or is the cat physically broken
up into pieces? It's like that scene in Beverly Hills
Cop where they stuffed the banana and the tailpipe and
the car shop so off.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We're not gonna fall for a banana and a tailpipe.
This should be my natural brother, should flow out. I
is look man, I follof a banana my tailpipe. Welcome
to the radio home of ron Anian, the Car Doctor.
Since nineteen ninety one, this is where car owners the
world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
(00:49):
the phone and call in. The garage doors.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Are open, but I am here to take your call
at eight five five five six oh ninety nine hundred
and now.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Hers running ignorant really is bliffs, especially in some cases
of auto repair.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Hello and welcome broughnan Enie and the Car Doctor here
at eight five five ninety nine hundred here to remind
you that this show is all about auto repair and
whatever you've got going on. So if you've got a
question and it needs to be answered, pick up the
phone eight five five five six oh nine nine zero zero.
That's the Car Doctor's hot line. It's twenty four to
seven where live Saturday afternoons Eastern Time two to four pm.
(01:29):
This radio show is then picked up and shot around
the country to other affiliates. We're live on We might
be live on your affiliate as you're listening right now,
So pick up the phone, give us a call. We'll
solve your automotive problem whatever it is on this radio show.
And this has been my batt'll cry of late. I
encourage you to take everything you know about cars and
throw it away. On a weekly basis, I often wonder
(01:52):
how cars get into such a state of disrepair, and
then I wonder if people like you realize the danger
you're in. And last I wonder if it matters. And
most days the answer to that last question is yes.
What's the obligation of the repair shop? I mean, if
(02:14):
you bring your vehicle in for repair, is the mechanic
obligated to decide if it's worth fixing? Good question, right,
And this is really where our story begins.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Today.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Two thousand jeep Grand Cherokee showed up on the doorstep
RI Automotive this week and it was the daughter, well,
the owner was the daughter of a fast becoming regular customer.
It was someone We've been working on their car for
about nine ten months now, and we've been hitting it
right and doing things right. And I say it like
(02:46):
that because there are some days, no matter how hard
you try, auto repair is like quicksand every move you
make just sinks. You lower and lower, and you keep
trying to make right moves and it doesn't work. Well,
we were doing it right and it was moving in
the right direction and we were happy about it. And
this regular customer now trusted us to do the right
(03:08):
thing by their daughter, which is a pretty strong indicator. Hey,
we trust you take care of our kid. The jeep
was in for a visual lookover in a four wheel
break inspection. She was a recent college grad and she
was about to begin a daily forty five minute commute
to work. Tell me what it needs, they all said, Well,
the answer was in the form of one word. A
(03:31):
lot with just over one hundred and forty thousand miles
on it. The little jeep, well, the big jeep, the
midsize jeep had really seen better days. The power steering
line was leaking, and that's kind of a critical thing
for those of you that say, ah, so it's only
power steering fluid. Yeah, but unfortunately, the power steering line
on this Va jeep was located right next to the
(03:51):
exhaust manifold, and under the right conditions, when the jeep
gets hot enough, the power steering fluid has a flash
point and all of a sudd sudden, the jeep that
was no longer is because it caught fire, and that
power steering leak is no more, along with the jeep
and possibly the owner. The trans was so low that
(04:13):
it didn't show fluid on the dipstick, but it still
seemed to shift okay, which was a marvel to me.
Of course, the leak was pretty obvious because the oil
pin for the transmission was so rusted it was actually porous,
and fluid was just starting to run down the bottom
of the trans the transfer case, and unfortunately it didn't
(04:33):
run far enough because if it had gotten out to
the lower rockers, which is that area under the driver
door sills or the door sills driver and passenger side,
it would have prevented them from rusting out. Because the
rocker panels the lower rockers were so rusted you could
drive your fist through them. There were such gaping holes there.
The engine was leaking oil. The main side left, the
(04:56):
main left side brake line that runs down the left
side of the frame rail had little rust blisters in it,
and I mean rust blisters that were so big they said, hey,
pop me, I'm a ZiT because you know that sooner
or later they're just gonna break. The left rear track arm,
which is a suspension piece. It's sort of like think
of your arm and your socket. It's a joint. It
(05:18):
connects well. The bushing that's supposed to be there was missing.
The left your axle seal was trying to rustproof the
undercarriage of the vehicle because it was spraying gear oil
everywhere in and around the wheel well and every place else.
And it really needed a lot belts, hoses, tune up parts,
(05:38):
service parts, breaks, tires in addition to everything else I
just mentioned. And that's just what I told the owner.
I brought them in, I put it back up in
the air, and I said, you really want to see this,
because I think a picture is worth a thousand words,
and I think this is my obligation. This is what
I need to do, because you need to understand when
(06:00):
when the mechanic condemns a vehicle, if the mechanic really
has your best interest at heart, he really has everybody's
best interest at heart, because it sometimes the best repair
is no repair. When you go through everything this vehicle needed,
it clearly was in need of replacement. The bottom line.
(06:23):
And I say this in every sense of the word.
It's the obligation of every vehicle owner, every one of
you out there today that owns and operates a vehicle.
It's your job to allow a mechanic to maintain the vehicle.
You've got to find the mechanic or a repair shop
you trust. And I'm not here to solve that question
of who makes up a better repair shop, the independent,
(06:46):
the dealer, the chain store. It could be the guy
working under the shade tree in the middle of nowhere.
I don't care. Somebody's got to know what they're doing,
and somebody's got to maintain that vehicle. You've got to
find a mechanic, a repair shop that you can talk
to and that talks to you because their obligation is
to keep you safe, and sometimes it's going to involve
(07:06):
telling you, the vehicle owner, hey, it's time to move on.
It's more than a question of honesty. It's a matter
of self respect and morality on the part of the
repair shop, because the road you travel with that vehicle
doesn't know self pity. You're traveling down it at sixty
miles an hour and a two ton missile and any
one of the components I just listed, if they suffered
(07:27):
a failure, it's going to become a problem for you,
and it's going to become a problem for those that
are traveling around you. However, if you choose not to
listen to the mechanics evaluation, then the road you choose
is really of your own making, and that's a horse
of an entirely different color. Hello and welcome Rod and
Ady and the car Doctor here at eight five five
(07:48):
five six oh nine nine zero zero. That's the card
Doctor's toll free number to call in and get your
questions answered. There are podcasts of this radio show that
we're all over the place. We're out on the internet
and a couple of different places. If you're looking for
the Card Doctor, you can get out to the Car doctorshow
dot com. There's podcasts there. You can also subscribe to
podcasts over at the iTunes store, over at Iheartradioiheart dot com,
(08:09):
and you can visit us out on Facebook. Ronaninie in
the Car Doctor and we spell an anie in, A
N A and ia in and I say that and
spell it because as some of you are pointing out,
and it's interesting to note, we received the letter a
couple of weeks ago. Well, we've been receiving them over time,
but the one we just received a couple of weeks
back pointed out that how come this listener As they
were driving across the country, they went through certain parts
(08:32):
of the South in Texas, that all of a sudden
there's all these repair shops called the Car Doctor and
they wanted to know if I had any relation to them,
and I said no. But I've started to realize, after
twenty three years on radio, that perhaps I'm sprouting up
my own, you know, junior business here. Everybody wants to
get into the act and cash in on the name.
So you're listening to the one and only, the original
(08:53):
Ronananie in the Car Doctor. We've got a lot going
on this hour in the way of phone calls. As
the phone bank is lit up, Let's kick open the
garage and welcome Diane from Elizabeth, New Jersey ninety four
Ford Explorer and some questions about fuel economy. Diane, Welcome
to the Car Doctor. How can I help?
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Thanks, I thank you. Yeah, I just thought to know, well,
for reasons, I won't go into I low. It's something
with a lot of room in it for right now.
But it works. Everything's beautiful on it, except the gas
miles is very bad. And I've talked to people that
will also have had it to your car, and they said,
you know, you should be They didn't get that bad
(09:29):
at gas miles because it's a big car. I figure
maybe it is as supposed to it. It's like, you know,
it comes in ten miles to a gallon, and they said, no,
you should be getting much more. So we tried several things,
something called an eg or whatever that is.
Speaker 6 (09:41):
They replaced that.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Then they tried the mass air flow, which seems to
have been replaced very recently. I thought, do you have
any ideas what else? I actually came to a conclusion
maybe the gas filter. Is that something I should check.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Out to Well, let me let me ask let me
ask you a couple of questions, Diane, this is this
is a six cylinder explorer. Yes, okay, any check engine light,
any dashboard warning lights on in the beginning.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
In the beginning again, and they dran the code on it,
and if that's what it came up with, something about
the the e g R FR flow. But actually eventually
I put some fuel injected cleaner in it and it
went walk and it never came back on again.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But they replaced something with the e g R correct. Yes,
all right, So right now it's just you're getting ten
miles to the gallon. You've got no dashboard warning lights on,
and the question is why? Right?
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Yeah? I mean, yeah, anything else I could check that?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, let's start with simple things. Has anybody checked tire pressure?
Has anybody made sure we don't have any brakes dragging?
Speaker 5 (10:47):
I just did put in the tire was a little low.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Ye, what's what's what's what's a little low?
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Well, to me, it just looked low. It didn't look
like it was full, so I put some of the
air on it.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Okay, well, Mike, listen, My point is, and I'm going
to be very upfront with you, all right, that I'm
not hearing anything about any diagnosis. I'm hearing we change
this part, we change that part. And if we're just
gonna start randomly swapping parts and we have no basis
for why we're.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Changing it, well, well, I get the part about I
get the part about they changed the e g R
because of an e g R fault code, and hopefully
they did some diagnosis to get there.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
But if they're swapping a mass airflow in and no
other diagnosis has been done, first thing I'm going to
come back to is what's fuel trim. Fuel trim is
a measurement of how efficient and in what range the
engine is trying to maintain its air fuel mixture. If
fuel trim is excessive, if it's approaching code fault area
but not enough to turn the light on, you won't
(11:49):
know that until you see the check engine light. So
i'd want to know just exactly what is fuel trim,
all right? I want to know what an exact measurement
of tire pressure is if it looks like that, what
fuel trim scan, fuel trim school using a scan tool
and using doing some data stream analysis. All right, So
a repair shop, well, let me say it like this,
(12:14):
If you have to tell them to do an analysis,
I'd be concerned about the quality of the repair shop.
All right. But you're looking for somebody that can think.
All right, you're looking for somebody that can sit there
and say, hey, I've got a car that's not running effishing,
because I agree this car should get fourteen to fifteen
miles to the gallon as a general rule. All right,
you know, is the transmission operating properly? This is an
(12:36):
overdrive trends. If overdrive isn't working, or if it's not
in the right detent even though it shows it is,
but it's not, does this have a transmission issue? So
there's a lot of areas to go here. It's just
a matter of before we continue to throw parts at it,
and then we got to talk about basics. You know,
when was the last time plugs were done? Like you said,
(12:57):
you know, when was the last time of fuel filled
or was done if you're the original owner or if
you just got it in the last year, you know,
we've seen cars that are still running. You take the
fuel filter rough, you can't blow through it, all right,
because it's so restricted, and all of these things will
will add up and affect overall vehicle fuel economy. All right,
you gotta go do some You gotta do some basics, Diane.
(13:18):
You gotta get somebody to start at the beginning and
then give me a call back in a week or
two and let me know where you are and we
can talk further.
Speaker 6 (13:24):
How's that okay, all right, I'll do that.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You're very welcome, Diane'm running ay in the car Doctor
eight five five five six so nine nine zero zero.
Stay tuned. We're coming right back just to talk to you. Hey,
(14:21):
welcome back, Ny and the car Doctor. By the way,
if you're looking for the car Doctor during the week,
it's Ron at Cardoctorshow dot com and we'll be glad
to answer your email and get back to you. I
do answer answer all my emails personally as my support
staff of well, on the weekend it's it's I've got
a couple of people, but during the week it's just
me baby, So send me an email Ron at card
Doctorshow dot com and I will get back to you.
(14:43):
Let's get over and talk to Doug Holbrook, New York,
some questions about a new vehicle purchase. Doug, Welcome to
the car doctor. How can it help, sir Ron get after?
Speaker 6 (14:50):
Thanks so much for taking my call. There's three cars
mid size and compact SUVs that I've been looking at,
and I've done my homework one. Okay, you need to
get your feedback from in terms of state of reliability
and shafety. I've been looking at the Jeep Turkey four
by four limited, the twenty fourteen model, the Superfus of
(15:10):
the twenty fourteen or fifteen and the Mads the X
five touring addition to the twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Okay have you ever have you driven any of these vehicles, Doug?
Speaker 6 (15:20):
I have tested in the Subaru forest only.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What did you think of that?
Speaker 6 (15:24):
I thought it was a very smooth ride.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Okay. Did you happen to notice the way it accelerates?
Did you notice that the throttle was a little too
sensitive or did it seem okay to you?
Speaker 6 (15:33):
It seemed like it was a little sluggish.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
You know, to me and in the ones that I've
driven fourteen's and fifteen's. Now the Subaru seem as if
the electronic throttle overcompensates, and I've actually seen it both ways.
Were first it seems sluggish, and then it seems like
it's two responsive. You're afraid to step on the gas
for fear of spinning the tires, and it's It's just
(15:59):
something I don't feel feel comfortable with, and it's one
of the reasons why people ask me about Subaru. You know,
the more I look at them, the more I think
about that particular issue. I've put it on my be
careful list, and I don't recommend Subaru where I once
didn't thought more of the vehicle. I also have concerns
(16:19):
that I've noticed that some of the things Subru has done,
they've gotten so gosh darn specific in fluids and filters
and service procedures. They're a big user of the CVT
trans and it really has become, in my eyes, one
hundred thousand mile vehicle and throw it away for a
couple of reasons that I won't go into detail here,
(16:41):
but suffice it to say that if there's another choice
out there, I'd rather talk about that. Let's talk about
your second one. Is Jeep your second choice?
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (16:49):
The deep Turkey four before limited is my second choice.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Okay, have you sat in that yet?
Speaker 6 (16:55):
I have not.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Okay, when you do, get used to the shifter or
try the shift first. I sat in a fourteen jeep
about two weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago. I thought
the shifter was the strangest thing in the world.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
It was.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
It's it's stationary, but it clicks. It doesn't change position.
So the one I sat in, you know, it was
in park. You want to go to reverse, you push
the button, go click. You want to go to neutral,
you push the button, go click. You want to go
to drive, you push the button, go click. The shifter
never moves from its position. It's it's it's difficult to drive.
(17:29):
There's no sense of change, so you're sort of counting
in your head park, reverse, neutral, drive, and so on.
I actually missed drive. I hit neutral, and I'm saying,
why isn't the car going anywhere? And I kind of
think I'm competent. I can chew them and walk at
the same time, and here I am, I can't shift
the vehicle.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
And Okay. The other thing that I was wandering, cheo,
would that have you? Is the grand cherokey? You can
have that same type of shifting issue as the as
the standard Turkey does.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I believe so, yes, Okay, and the.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
G I said the G compass actually about a week
ago that seemed pretty pretty comfortable with self. Do you
have any feedback on that one?
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Jeep and Chrysler in general, Doug, I'll say it like this,
all right. I'm a long term motor repair shop owner.
All right. I've been in the business forty years now.
I've built relationships with parts guys. I have some parts
guys I've been buying parts from for the past thirty years.
My Chrysler guy, I've been buying parts from ART for
about twenty eight years now, all right. Last year Art
(18:31):
sold is Chrysler is Jeep and he purchased a Ford Mustang.
And I said, how company said, because I see the
direction that Chrysler is going in terms of parts and
availability and costs. Doug, stay on the line. I want
to come back and talk to you a little bit
more than I gotta pull over and take this pause.
I'm running Ady and the car doctor. We're back right
after this.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Don't go away.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
F
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