Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor – Memorial Day & Auto Advice
Ron opens the show by previewing next weekend’s Memorial Day episode, which will again feature archived interviews with his late Uncle Steve—a WWII P-51 fighter pilot. This tradition honors veterans and reminds listeners of the deeper meaning behind the holiday.
Listener Calls:
-
Frank (2019 Honda Touchscreen Issue):
Ron advises against disconnecting the battery and recommends a professional diagnostic at the dealership. Documenting the issue is key in case of future recalls or warranty updates. -
Mike (1978 Mercury Marquis Revival):
For this low-mileage classic car, Ron stresses proper prep before starting: check oil, prime the engine manually, clean the fuel system, and inspect cylinders to avoid damage. -
Bob (2008 Range Rover Transmission Issue):
With over 240,000 miles, Ron recommends a full code-based diagnosis before considering solenoid repair or full transmission replacement.
Final Thoughts:
The show blends technical advice with heartfelt reflection, as Ron uses his platform to promote careful diagnostics and meaningful Memorial Day remembrance through stories like Uncle Steve’s.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Ron Anian. When a check engine light comes on and
goes away, it means that the car saw a problem
and then the problem corrected itself.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Translus the car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I would you have thought about diagnosing that.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
Well, I would have.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I would have done I would have done what you did,
and I commend you.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
I liked I like you know. I would have looked
at fuel pressure.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I would have put a plastic tube on the fuel
pressure regulator just to see as it's spitting in fuel.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome to the radio home of ron An Aian, 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.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Up the phone and call in. The garage doors are open.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
But I am here to take your calls at eight
five five five six ninety nine hundred and.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Now he.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Running.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Hey, let's get the important stuff out of the way.
Next weekend's show is Memorial Day, is it not, Tom?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Right, I just realized this during the pause, right, that
would be correct.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
And that's a good question. Give me a second here
to look at a calendar. I haven't even thought about it.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, because I think if next weekend is Memorial Day,
and if it's not, it's the weekend after. But I
think it's next weekend. No, it's the week after week after.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Okay, so it's two weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I
take that back, I take that back.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
No, you're right, the twenty fourth, the twenty sixth is
Memorial Day.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yes, so next weekend is the Memorial Day Show, which
we all know what that means. We know who's coming,
which I think everybody looks forward to more than Santa Claus.
Uncle Steve will be here next week. Right, we'll have
to do an Uncle Steve scenario. You know, We've got
a few video a few interviews of Uncle Steve, and
we'll find one to put up and everybody, because I
(01:55):
and what got me thinking about it actually is all
of you listeners. And I thank you for that, because
more than a few of you have emailed me and said, hey,
as Memorial Day approaches, can we expect to hear an
Uncle Steve interview?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
And you know, for those of you knew to the show.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Uncle Steve was my uncle, a P fifty one fighter
pilot sixty three combat missions over Germany, and we had
him on more than a few times when he was alive, obviously,
and it's just a great, solid interview and it's very
appropriate for Memorial Day and what Memorial Day really is about,
because it's not about barbecues, and it's not about happy
(02:29):
Memorial Day, and it's not about sales with the mall.
It is a solemn occasion and Uncle Steve helps us
to understand that in a very profound, pe different way.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I miss Uncle Steve because he was just he was
just a hot ticket to talk to off the air.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, yeah, I listen. I can't tell you how many
times in my life, you know, you'd be down, you'd
be out, you'd be thinking can I do this?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Can I do this?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
And you could call Uncle Steve anytime, day or night,
and he would explain to you how you've got the
world by the short ones, and you can do this.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
You can do anything you put your mind to, because.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
He was, he was, he was, he exemplified that can
do generation. So it's always good to hear his voice.
You can actually go out to YouTube for those of
you that want to. If you go out to YouTube
and search either first Lieutenant Stephen Ananian a n A
and I a n or just uncle, not Uncle Steve,
but Stephen Ananian.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
He actually did.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
A few YouTube videos at various colleges and universities where
he talked about some of the things that transpired and
some of the stories. And he actually told a few
that I hadn't heard, And then again he retold a
few that I knew about that I had a better
understanding of what he was about, especially the one where
he dated the librarian to get That's a whole nother
(03:45):
story out in Cleveland. But that's an Uncle Steve's story.
We'll leave to YouTube.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Let's get the phones open.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Let's go to Let's go to Frank and Staten Island,
New York, nineteen Honda, Frank, Welcome to the car, doctor, sir,
how can I help?
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Thank you so much for telling nicall. So basically, about
a month or so ago, I'm driving and I'm touching
the touchscreen to change a radio station. It wasn't responding, OK.
So then then I noticed that the buying control wasn't working.
So I'm getting a little concerned here that I can't
control the entertainment system. But the little controls on the
(04:21):
stereos seemed to be working, so I didn't know what
was going on. I started poking around on the internet.
They said, well, maybe you have to disconnect the battery
to reset the thing. It's a little bit far fetched
for me to start taking the battery connectors off. Yeah,
So I parked the car and then overnight had come back.
The next morning, I thought what was going to happen now,
(04:42):
and it seemed to start working again, And it happened
a few times since that, so I'm not sure what's
going on.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
How long have you own the car? You on the
car since new, Frank.
Speaker 6 (04:53):
Yeah, I bought it new in nineteen yes, okay.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
And how many miles are on it?
Speaker 6 (04:57):
About twenty thousand, right, you know?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So what I wouldn't fool around with it.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I would go talk to the Honda dealer and I
would pay for a diagnostic hour, and I wouldn't disconnect
the battery. I would want them if there's any faults
to retrieve. I would at least get it on record.
Because those systems have been pretty bulletproof. Listen to what
I say, they've been pretty bulletproof. They tend to work
very well. So if you've got a problem, it's going
(05:25):
to be something different or unusual. To my knowledge, I
haven't seen a lot of headaches with those vehicles like
you're describing different different manufacturer. If we were talking about
a Ford, I'd tell you it's one of a half
a dozen possibilities.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
But I want to get it on record with them.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I want them and also would allow you to pick
their brain and oh, yeah, we've had a few of these.
That was this, because understand what's happening there. That screen
is just a response screen that feeds out through a
cable to a control computer that then performs the heavy lifting,
that then performs all the control changes. So, you know,
(06:00):
do we have a problem with the screen, do we
have a problem with the cable? Do we have a
problem with the control module? And that's what some of
this testing may or may not tell us because the
problem isn't active at this moment. But you may also
find walking into the Honda dealer, do the diagnostic, you know,
and if you ask them what is your best guess
see what they say. They may come back and they say, well,
(06:21):
we had twelve of these over the last two years,
and eight out of twelve was the display.
Speaker 6 (06:27):
You know, it.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Some of this, some of this is not you know,
some of this is not an exact science, because, like
I said, that system is fairly bulletproof, but I would
want to make sure. I would want to know do
we have fault codes? Understand that is that is a
perfect example of a giant computer network, and you know
it's possible disconnecting the battery may bring the system back
(06:49):
to life if it were completely locked up. You know,
have you ever had a Windows update go through and
it just didn't go through and you kind of croached
it and you pulled the plug.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
You hoped it came back.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Same idea, all right, but before we do that and
possibly hurt something. If it were me, I'd be willing
to spend whatever it is, the two hundred dollars diagnostic
charge and at least have something on record, because if
they can't find a problem and it goes on for
another four or five, six, seven months, when all of
a sudden two years from now, Honda comes out and says, hey,
(07:22):
we realize we've got a bunch of defective display modules.
We're going to extend the warranty on them. Whatever, you've
got documentation proof that you tried to solve the problem
before you know what I mean, it's a you know,
two hundred dollars and a diagnostic charge for what that
car costs. Knew, for what that car costs to replace.
It's not worth even thinking about because at twenty thousand
(07:42):
miles you shouldn't be having this issue, all right.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
At sixty thousand.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Miles you shouldn't be having this issue, but definitely not
at twenty. So I think it's worth at least one
shot to the dealer to see what they can do
for you.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
Those senses lastely could diagnose if there's a miscommunication between
all those different components.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
They if well, first of all, if there's a current
fault where components aren't talking to one another, it will
pick up a communication issue, all right, depending upon manufacturer
and how in depth the engineers have designed the system. Yes,
certain manufacturers, certain vehicles have the ability to show you
(08:21):
a U fault code. A U fault is a communication
between on the CAN network, which is the controlled area network,
which is the computer network. They will show you a
history communication fault, meaning it lost communication with this module.
So it's worth it just to see if it comes
back and says, hey, there's no communication faults, and that's
(08:42):
actually going to be one of your questions when they
come back to you with the report. Frank, we don't
see anything wrong with it. You're going to ask them,
does this system have the ability to show me history
communication faults? If a module or component went down, would
it at least store in memory and it if it's
If it does, it's only going to be for X
(09:02):
amount of time, so it's to your advantage to get
it in there as soon as possible after the condition occurs.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Sure?
Speaker 6 (09:10):
Definitely? Okay, all right, so that's great. Then we'll say
thank you so much for the information.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
You're very welcome. Frank, you'd be well, and thanks for
being part of the Car Doctor family. You have a
good rest of the weekend. Eight five five five six
zero nine to nine zero zero. Run an dy in
the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this. Need
(09:40):
advice on how to maintain that classic gt O.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Ron is the guy eight five five five six zero
nine nine zero zero. Here's Ron.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Hey, Let's let's take a ride to California and go
talk to Mike. Mike, welcome to the Car Doctor, sir.
How can I help?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Hey? Ron first time caller. I've been listening many years.
I love your show. I used to sale cars and
was in the auto body business and and you're you're
a wealth of information and great service to people.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I recently picked up a nineteen seventy Mercury Marquis Brome
two door, beautiful cars being garaged for forty years. That's
ten thousand miles on the clock.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Yeah, yeah, it's for four sixty four barrel.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
No, no, I wish you was. It's a four hundred.
I believe it's a two barrel.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Okay, still not the worst thing to have, but yeah, wow, well,
I mean it's one hundred percent original, nothing, nothing's going
to be worn out.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I just, uh, in the process of getting this running,
where do I start because I'm not going to just
crank it, crank it over and expect it to start.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
No, it's uh first you have to go get your
captain's license because you know it is a bit of
a land yacht. Uh you know, yeah that thinks that
things huge. You know, if you took the hood off
and donated it, we could build three toyotas out of it.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
You know, it's just huge.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
So and it's still going to look better than any
Toyota ever made. Let me tell you, you know, I.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Got to tell you some of these things you see
on social media about you know, the guy comes out
and he says, sixty five Chevelle still looks better than
any ev ever made. You know what, all that stuff
is so true. Those cars from the sixties and the seventies,
they were all just you look at him now, and
they were just you realize how advanced and how ahead
of the curve they were. Uh you know that that
(11:39):
they they just were just phenomenal the way they were
engineered and all anyway, gasoline or no gasoline left in
this marquee.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Probably probably gasolene. I imagine the old the old fellow
just parked it when he when he got sick and
had no plans to you know, he didn't know he
was going to be checking out.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, I mean, how long has it been since? Is
it forty years since it was last driven or it's
been garaged for forty years?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
It's been garaged its entire life. It has the last
registration on it was two thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Okay, so it's it's been parked twenty.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Three years minimum. Yeah, all right, so you know.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
No fuel in the tank. Just disconnect the coil wire,
make sure it doesn't kick. What's the oil look like
in the crank case?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Fine? Okay, I radiated radiator is going to have to
be recorder changed. Yeah, but I didn't see anything else
wrong with it.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
I want to know, can I get oil pressure? I would?
Speaker 1 (12:48):
You know, I don't know of any other way to
do it unless we're going to pull the distributor and
prime the oil pump by hand and prime the circuits.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I would.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I would spin it over. Does the oil light go out?
You know, obviously disconnect spark just on the chance that
somehow it doesn't fire.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
It shouldn't.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
But I just we don't pull plugs and put some
oil down in there and turn my hand.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I mean, you could, you know, listen, when I got
my I've got a seventy two money Carlo, There's no
secret about it. It was sort of the same situation
forty one thousand mile car out of Minard, Texas. When
I got it in twenty seventeen, I looked at it,
I thought about it. The card been sitting since two
thousand and four. I reached in battery good boom, boom, boom.
(13:31):
Started it up, It fired okay, and I made sure
it had oil pressure. It's the same way I'm telling you.
You know, it all depends on you know, if there's
something in those cylinders that you know, whether it's debris
or rust or something. A shot of oil is not
going to do much for it, and it just means
(13:51):
it was stored wrong. So it comes down to, in
my mind, how easily do you want to find out
if it's good or bad?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Well, the cars located in Sacramento, California, so we really
don't have any corrosion issues, right environment, right dry environment?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
I would, I would.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I would crank it around, cranking it around without fire
in the hall. It shouldn't hurt bearings because there's no load.
So all I want to know is can I can
I just get some oil to where it has to
be if we want to be if if we want
to do it one hundred percent right on the money,
the hard way. And I'll say it like that. I think,
(14:34):
See I'm an adventurous type. I think I'd crank it over.
You know, I'm going to tell you pull the distributor.
You know, come up with a drive set up on
a drill. Uh, you know, prime the pump until the
light goes out, you know, turn the key on, don't
crank it.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
You'll see the oil light on.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And if you prime the cylinders or I'm sorry, prime
the oil pump till it fills all its galleys and
then the light goes out. But that still doesn't ensure
that I'm getting oil everywhere. Sure you know I'm not
getting any oil on the walls.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Then I pulled up, then I pull the plugs, and
you know, in all my experience of playing with older cars,
I've never I've never lost an engine by doing a
dry not a dry crank, a no fire crank, get
oil pressure and then give me spark, give me fuel
and fire it up. I've never lost an engine in
(15:26):
fifty three years.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Okay, So when we when we when we crank it,
the distributors disconnected, and you expect to get oil pressure
while we're doing this this prank, right.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I'm expecting to get oil pressure in ten to twelve seconds, okay?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Or what about the what about the old fuel in
the tank?
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Well, is there fuel in the tank?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Probably?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Then i want to disconnect the line going to the
tank because I don't want that. Although by now it's
gotten up to the carb, right, I mean whatever was
in the tank was in the carb at some point.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
You know it's it's because then.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
The next the next step is going to be we're
gonna have to get at the fire. We get oil pressure,
then we've got to get at the fire. And you
know what does the inside of the tank smell like?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Now? Truth be told.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
When I fired up the manty it came out of Texas,
the tank was, the tank was empty. We put a
little we we filled. I filled a water bottle with
some gas and sprits it into the carb. It kicked,
That told me, and it sounded reasonable. I filled the
bowl of the carb.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
It ran.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I uh, then sat there and fired it up and
let it run.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
You know so so because it has fuel in it
that's twenty years old, that should I drop the tank?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, I would drop the tank and get it boiled
and cleaned, and you know, maybe they can line the tank.
Keep that in the back of your head. If if
the tank has you know, got any kind of rush
to it. There's a process where a little boil it
and then there's a there's a coating or a liner
they put inside the tank. It's basically it's sort of
like painting the inside of the tank. It's it's a
(17:08):
it's some type of I want to use the word
your thing, but I don't know if that's accurate, where
once they clean the tank out, they will pour this
in there and then just basically tumble the tank over
and over and over, because finding a tank for a
seventy eight Grand Marquis is probably going to be difficult
at best. But the idea is you'll encapsulate any contaminant, rust,
anything that's you know, burnished into the metal that you
(17:29):
don't want obviously getting into the fuel and.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Work plastic then.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Seventy eight, I don't recall. I thought they were metal.
I didn't think the plastic tanks started coming along until
the early eighties.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I can't I don't know. I can't tell you, but
I mean, finding one shouldn't be too bad because it's
it's the same as a Lincoln town Car, same as
an LTD.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Right, right, Well, let's see if let's let's let's see
if we've got that to tell you the truth, and
you bring up a good point. When you drop the
tank or lower the tank, we don't drop anything in
order to repair. When you lower the tank, it's going
to be a case of does the fuel pump I'm sorry,
does the fuel gauge work? We need to get the
fuel sending unit rebuilt. That's twenty three years old that
I had to replace on my Monty.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
So some basics to get it started. Once you get
it started, Mike, give me a call back.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
We can talk about the rest of it. I'm Rnning
Andy and the car doctor. I'll return right after this
(18:45):
and we continue repairing cars. Let's go over Bob in Virginia.
Oh wait, land Rover. Wait, the land Rover fan club
is out today. This is our second land Rover phone
call this weekend.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
So how are you, Bob?
Speaker 5 (18:56):
I'm doing great, Sorry, thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
What's going on?
Speaker 5 (19:00):
It's two thousand and eight range over sh the large
body four point four. I've got about two hundred and
forty thousand miles on it. I've had five of them,
pretty familiar with their peculiarities, and last one I got
rid of it three hundred thousand miles anyway on highway driving. Well,
(19:21):
when I start the car, they dash always says transmission malfunction,
transmission vault. So when I'm on the highway, I drive it.
If I accelerate, like going up a hill, it just
locks into a lower gear, So I have to pull off,
turn it off, turn it back on, and then keep
on going. I've done a lot of checking. Of course,
(19:44):
amcode wants to put in a rebuilt or a replacement transmission.
My mechanics say, is the same thing from what I've read?
Is it a possibility that it's sol annoids in that transmission? Sure?
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Absolutely absolutely. What fault codes are in it, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Haven't they ran it, but I don't know what they are.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Okay, So you know, not knowing fault codes, we're gonna
we're gonna, you know, make some assumptions, which is dangerous, Okay,
but you know, it's it's it's It could be solenoids.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It could be a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
If this was a fifty thousand mile transmission and it
was a solenoid fault code, and we could prove solenoids
being bad, by all means, I'm all for doing solenoids.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
This is a two hundred.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And fifty thousand mile transmission, and if I have solenoid faults.
I want to understand what the ramifications are. How hard
is it to get to those particular solenoids. What are
they going to cost versus replacing the unit? Because it's
two hundred and fifty thousand miles, I mean, none of
it's going to be cheap. It's a range rover, all right,
So you know a lot of that. You know, makes
(20:54):
the determination. Now if this is if this is a
fault code that requires transmission removal to get to the
component to repair, I think you're putting a trans in it.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Well, I do know from what I've checked, you can
reach the solenoids from underneath.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Right, Yes you can. I'm talking about something else. You know, again,
we don't know what the fault code is. If the
fault code is indicative of something else, but you know,
to jump right into a transmission without knowing what the
fault cards are codes are, it's sort of a difficult
conversation to have. It's it's you know, I think I
need brain surgery, but I'm not sure why I'm getting
(21:34):
the headache.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I don't know if it's because my wife.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
You know, my wife hit me with a brick while
I was sleeping or did I roll over and bang
my head against the headboard, right, and I got a headache?
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Which is it?
Speaker 5 (21:44):
So I need a fault code that actually shows solnoid problem, then.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Well, right, I need a fault code that gives me
a you know, gives me And again, you know, if
you live by the code, you die by the code.
We're not saying a solenoid fault code indicates a solenoid.
It gives us a direction, all right, you know, it
gives us, it gives us something to test. I can't
I can't tell you how many guys I talked to
during the week and how many shops I'll converse with
(22:12):
by email, and they're talking about, well, it's got this
particular fault and I changed what the fault code was
for in the car. Still not fixes. You live by
the code, you die by the code.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
What is it telling you? We're here to gather information?
All right?
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (22:25):
You know, so that's that's sort of first steps.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And then you know, as you say, listen, you know
the vehicle, you know the particuliarities. I like the way
you said that. Yeah, they've got more than a few
odd things going on, all right, if you name me
I'm here, give me a call back.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
Not a problem.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
I appreciate it, Thank you very well.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yeah, it's it's important.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
What's the information about I I think about this kind.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Of a scenario.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Let me find this email. I love the emails you
guys send me, by the way, I've got more than
a few, but I don't understand what some of you
are talking about. Joe rode in here's his message for
two thousand and eight f three fifty oh two centsor
I'm not sure what Joe's asking me. I'm not sure
if Joe's asking me how to replace it, Why to
(23:16):
replace it? What the fault code is. I'm not sure
if Joe's telling me he had to replace it. So,
you know, complete information is just very very important. So
let's get onto something serious. A common problem for the
RAM pro master, John writes me another John, from what
I can read, common problems water pump, hairline crack, and
the radiator or coolant reservoir.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
He's got a slow coolant leak.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I have a twenty eighteen with thirty one thousand miles
on it with the slow coolant leaking. Can I tell
where the cool is leaking. What are your thoughts about
adding kseal John, You know what, John, it's not a
bad idea. You can't lose there, all right. If it's
a hairline crack and a radiator, if it's something that's
beyond the scope of budget or repair possibility, or we
just want to see the reaction, you can't hurt it,
(24:01):
all right. Case seal will not hurt the vehicle. It
doesn't clog, it doesn't cause issues in heater cores, all right.
And that's the whole beauty and purpose of it. And
there are some older, higher mileage vehicles where we will
dump K seal in because the cooling system is best
description seepy. It will give up coolant that just mysteriously
(24:23):
goes somewhere. And it's it's a you know, higher mileage vehicle.
That is it worth the expense of tearing it apart
to find out where it's going. No bottle of K
seal if it's not seal leak related, and case sal
can do the job great.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
If it can't, it's not going to hurt anything.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
So by all means, pour a bottle in and you know,
consider it part of the diagnostic routine. You know, it's
just it's just really important. Ed writes in from New Jersey. Hey, Ron,
I just watched the GM six point two recall on
just watched on the Motor Rail Geek podcast. He went
into detail about the GM recall. The question is I
own a twenty eighteen VW that originally required VW five
(25:02):
oh eight zero forty oil there was a recall in
twenty nineteen. Then change the motor oil spec to VW
five zero twenty the Coross twenty five thousand miles on
it it as well out of warranty. Would it be
want to switch back to the VW five eight zero
forty motor oil? You know, yeah, I kind of would
want the zero forty. I think you've proven that point.
But then I I want to understand why was Volkswagen.
(25:23):
And it's interesting the way the manufacturers are playing with
oil viscosity. You know, in the old days, we used
to play with motor oil viscosity to cure knocking engines,
engines with sounds thicker, thinner viscosity, and so on. And
then as vehicles developed and got more technology in them,
we were told, don't play with viscosity because it will
(25:43):
cause engine misfires and create havoc with the onboard computer system.
You know, I would think and I think ed, and
I'm switching in my mind back and forth here. But
you know what, if the zero twenty is working and
it's the five O eight zero twenty that meets Volkswagen spec,
I'd stay there. Volkswagen has a reason for it. You know,
out of warranty doesn't automatically justify switching back. I think
(26:08):
Volkswagen is looking for more than just warranty issues. I
think they're looking to protect the brand and provide a good,
positive experience. So I think you need to stay with
the zero twenty option and VW five O eight. As
far as GM is concerned, they've got problems, and that
six point two liter pickup truck recall going back five
(26:28):
four or five years, five or six years is going
to be is and is going to be a major
headache for General Motors in the coming months and years ahead.
And it's sad because people ask me all the time,
what car should I buy? What trucks should I buy?
We start talking pickup trucks. It's it's hard to recommend
the GM right now unless it has that six point
six leader, because the five to three still we see
(26:51):
problems with active fuel management with lifters when they get
eight to seventy eighty ninety thousand miles on them. And
now the six to two recall well, and I will
say this, once GM gets through this, that's six to
two is probably going to be a very solid motor.
It's kind of like living in a town where you
have bad water. Once they find out the water's bad,
they do everything they have to and they correct it.
(27:12):
GM's figured out they've got a problem. They're going to
do everything they have to to correct it, and then
they'll build a great motor. But it's sad that it
has to come to this in order to solve that
particular problem. Still a big GM fan though at heart.
Eight five, five, five six zero nine nine zero zero
run on any of the car Doctor. I'll be back
right after this.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Look how America has changed, right?
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I remember twenty years ago, thirty years ago, you could
drive into a gas station and get air in the
tires and it was accurate, it was free. And now
we've evolved into where you can't get air in your
tires anymore. Micah from Maine. Buddy Micah writes in Hey Ron.
I took your advice a few years ago and purchased
a portable battery pack that I keep in the trunk
(28:04):
of my car in case I ever have a dead
battery or need to help someone. Last July, I used
to jumpstart an airplane at a fly and I was
attending that's right, and Micah's a pilot guide too. Currently,
I'm looking for something about that size that it's an
air compressor, something where I can check my tire pressure
at home rather than having to drive to a filling station.
Most places up here require you to pay to use
those air hoses that are most often unreliable, both in
(28:26):
terms of operation and not offering the correct pressures. I'm
looking for something that will clamp onto the Schrader valve
as opposed to need to be screwed on, and preferably
something about the same size as my battery pack that
has an air gauge built in, with hopefully an automatic
shut off that I can set it for the right pressure.
Do you have any suggestions. I've looked online but I
can't find very much about it. Typically I'm just topping
(28:48):
off no more than five pounds and sometimes needing to
reduce pressure by the same size depending on temperature. Basically,
my issue is temporary temperature variations from season this season.
Thanks so much, Micah anytime. I'm not sure if this
is the answer for you, Micah, but this is what
I use. I use a Milwaukee portable air inflator. I
like the Milwaukee inflator. It gives me the ability to
(29:11):
do pre set. It's a sturdy size. It's bigger than
that portable battery pack that you purchased. I know which
one you got. And the thing I like about the
Milwaukee is that the battery for that is the same
as all my other cordless power tools. So if you've
got a cordless drill around the house, or you've got
a need for a cordless drill around the house, or
a cordless circular saw or leaf blower or whatever else
(29:35):
you're going to you know, have around in a typical household.
The Milwaukee inflator does the job and you can set
it to you know, your particular temperature, i'm sorry, your
particular pressure range and walk away from it. I actually
have it set up in the shop i'm sorry, in
the garage at home, and I use it to inflate
the tires on the hot rod when I need to.
(29:57):
That's where that's my go to. As far as as
the lock on the straighter the end of the tire
valve versus a screw on method, you know, that's a
real problem. That's a headache because I understand where you're
coming from. All the air inflator, all the hoses make
it so you have to screw it on. And the
problem is you go to screw it on and you
lose one or two pounds that you just got done
(30:19):
topping up, so you have to over inflate. I solved
that problem. I purchased something called a lock in flate
lock Inflate on Amazon and then I went out and
you can buy them at any auto parts store. It
is a brass air chuck with a self gripping clamp
(30:40):
that gives you the ability and it goes that screws
on to one end of the lock and flate the
other end of the lock, and flate goes into the
end of the hose on the Milwaukee And now you've
got the best of both worlds. You've got a portable
air inflator right with a good battery. And that's the
other thing I want to talk about real fast, but
before I do, you've got to you've got a good
(31:01):
air inflator with a lock on Strader style clamp, so
it's just quick on, quick off.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
The thing I like.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
The other thing I like about the Milwaukee Mica and
for everybody else, is it takes an m a teen
or their larger battery. If you're inflating tires. Inflating tires
is you know it varies by size. It takes a
lot to pump up a flat tire. Shouldn't tire be
all the way flat or down to five pounds and
then all of a sudden you've got a aired air
I find or I found that those little because there
(31:31):
are some little inflators out there. They don't seem to
have the longevity or the juice or the pumps burnout
over time. We're talking about something you know, you get
what you pay for. We're looking about something that will
survive the long haul.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
So I like that.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
About the Milwaukee that I've had it for the better
part of I'm going to say four years, and it's
never let me down and I use it every season
working with the hot rods, so it's been a great tool.
It's done what I've needed it to do. But take
a look at the Milwaukee I think it's the Milwaukee
M eighteen aaronflator, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
(32:09):
And of course, as air inflators go, it gives you
the ability to do basketballs and air mattresses and everything
else that you know you need to do during the
course of an active lifestyle. Let's say so, Micah, always
appreciate the questions for me, kiddo, keep them coming eight
five five five six zero nine nine zero zero running
the Card Doctor coming back right after this, and let's
(32:43):
kind of wind it down this hour.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Just a real quick point that I.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Didn't mention it. But don't forget car doctor hads T shirts, sweatshirts,
long sleeves. Get out the card doctorshow dot com, click
on the merchandise button. It's all there for you. Summer
seasons heating up, and I can see by sales everybody's
enjoying them, so make sure you get yours. And uh,
you know, there's also Ri Automotive T shirts, which I
still don't understand why Ari Automotive T shirts are out
selling car Doctor T shirts.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
I guess I don't know.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I keep coming to the shop expecting to see about
four hundred people dressed the same. So I'll, uh, maybe
I'll have to feed you and give you a cup
of coffee. I don't know what that would be like.
Danny wouldn't know what the pocket. It has to be
the pocket.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
It's got to be the pocket.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Well, no, the Car Doctor T shirts have pockets too, Tom,
So we changed everything. We give everything a pocket, as.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Far as I know, one doesn't. Well, you know you're
not special. You're not special.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
So when you come down, when you come down Monday,
i'll see if I have a pocket for you, remind me.
So that's that's in the work. So get your Car
Doctor and Riotomotive T shirts merchandise button at cardoctorshow dot
com real quick. Let's I want to answer this letter
from James, because he writes it. He writes a great letter.
Hey Ron, this is from James in a two eight
one area code. I'm not sure where that is. Maybe
that's Virginia. Hey Ron, I've got a smaller SUV Toyota
(33:55):
RAV four and I'm looking to do the brakes on it.
And I'm working in the garage and I'm concerned about
health issues. What should I know? What should I not do?
What should I be concerned with? I tended to do
my own break work for the past thirty years. I
just want to keep up with the times, James, you
know what doing them just obviously it's got to be safe,
it's got to be supported, right, you want to have
the vehicle up on jack stands. I'm going to assume
(34:16):
you know how to take this breaks apart and you
know clean things. You can also be aware that you
know using break clean, you're going to use break clean there.
CRC has actually improved their break clean line. They've got
CRC Pro series break Clean. It is a non chlorinated,
low voc low volatile organic compound, which means it's better
(34:36):
for an indoor, small area. There's less harmful contaminants and pollutants,
and it's better for the environment.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
It's better for you.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
It's better for the environment. You'll find more online out
at the CRC website. And you know you'll be safe.
Be sure to use that and spray gingerly and do
it correctly, so and that'll be.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Good, all right, kittle and good luck to you live.
You know, if you need more I'm run an Indy
in the car. Doctor, we're the.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Last two hours go on radio. I don't understand till
the next time. The mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I see you
Ron Anian. When a check engine light comes on and
goes away, it means that the car saw a problem
and then the problem corrected itself.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Translus the car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I would you have thought about diagnosing that.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
Well, I would have.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I would have done I would have done what you did,
and I commend you.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
I liked I like you know. I would have looked
at fuel pressure.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I would have put a plastic tube on the fuel
pressure regulator just to see as it's spitting in fuel.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Welcome to the radio home of ron An Aian, 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.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Up the phone and call in. The garage doors are open.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
But I am here to take your calls at eight
five five five six ninety nine hundred and.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
Now he.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Running.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Hey, let's get the important stuff out of the way.
Next weekend's show is Memorial Day, is it not, Tom?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Right, I just realized this during the pause, right, that
would be correct.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
And that's a good question. Give me a second here
to look at a calendar. I haven't even thought about it.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, because I think if next weekend is Memorial Day,
and if it's not, it's the weekend after. But I
think it's next weekend. No, it's the week after week after.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Okay, so it's two weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I
take that back, I take that back.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
No, you're right, the twenty fourth, the twenty sixth is
Memorial Day.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yes, so next weekend is the Memorial Day Show, which
we all know what that means. We know who's coming,
which I think everybody looks forward to more than Santa Claus.
Uncle Steve will be here next week. Right, we'll have
to do an Uncle Steve scenario. You know, We've got
a few video a few interviews of Uncle Steve, and
we'll find one to put up and everybody, because I
(01:55):
and what got me thinking about it actually is all
of you listeners. And I thank you for that, because
more than a few of you have emailed me and said, hey,
as Memorial Day approaches, can we expect to hear an
Uncle Steve interview?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
And you know, for those of you knew to the show.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Uncle Steve was my uncle, a P fifty one fighter
pilot sixty three combat missions over Germany, and we had
him on more than a few times when he was alive, obviously,
and it's just a great, solid interview and it's very
appropriate for Memorial Day and what Memorial Day really is about,
because it's not about barbecues, and it's not about happy
(02:29):
Memorial Day, and it's not about sales with the mall.
It is a solemn occasion and Uncle Steve helps us
to understand that in a very profound, pe different way.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I miss Uncle Steve because he was just he was
just a hot ticket to talk to off the air.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, yeah, I listen. I can't tell you how many
times in my life, you know, you'd be down, you'd
be out, you'd be thinking can I do this?
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Can I do this?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
And you could call Uncle Steve anytime, day or night,
and he would explain to you how you've got the
world by the short ones, and you can do this.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
You can do anything you put your mind to, because.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
He was, he was, he was, he exemplified that can
do generation. So it's always good to hear his voice.
You can actually go out to YouTube for those of
you that want to. If you go out to YouTube
and search either first Lieutenant Stephen Ananian a n A
and I a n or just uncle, not Uncle Steve,
but Stephen Ananian.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
He actually did.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
A few YouTube videos at various colleges and universities where
he talked about some of the things that transpired and
some of the stories. And he actually told a few
that I hadn't heard, And then again he retold a
few that I knew about that I had a better
understanding of what he was about, especially the one where
he dated the librarian to get That's a whole nother
(03:45):
story out in Cleveland. But that's an Uncle Steve's story.
We'll leave to YouTube.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Let's get the phones open.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Let's go to Let's go to Frank and Staten Island,
New York, nineteen Honda, Frank, Welcome to the car, doctor, sir,
how can I help?
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Thank you so much for telling nicall. So basically, about
a month or so ago, I'm driving and I'm touching
the touchscreen to change a radio station. It wasn't responding, OK.
So then then I noticed that the buying control wasn't working.
So I'm getting a little concerned here that I can't
control the entertainment system. But the little controls on the
(04:21):
stereos seemed to be working, so I didn't know what
was going on. I started poking around on the internet.
They said, well, maybe you have to disconnect the battery
to reset the thing. It's a little bit far fetched
for me to start taking the battery connectors off. Yeah,
So I parked the car and then overnight had come back.
The next morning, I thought what was going to happen now,
(04:42):
and it seemed to start working again, And it happened
a few times since that, so I'm not sure what's
going on.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
How long have you own the car? You on the
car since new, Frank.
Speaker 6 (04:53):
Yeah, I bought it new in nineteen yes, okay.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
And how many miles are on it?
Speaker 6 (04:57):
About twenty thousand, right, you know?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So what I wouldn't fool around with it.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I would go talk to the Honda dealer and I
would pay for a diagnostic hour, and I wouldn't disconnect
the battery. I would want them if there's any faults
to retrieve. I would at least get it on record.
Because those systems have been pretty bulletproof. Listen to what
I say, they've been pretty bulletproof. They tend to work
very well. So if you've got a problem, it's going
(05:25):
to be something different or unusual. To my knowledge, I
haven't seen a lot of headaches with those vehicles like
you're describing different different manufacturer. If we were talking about
a Ford, I'd tell you it's one of a half
a dozen possibilities.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
But I want to get it on record with them.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I want them and also would allow you to pick
their brain and oh, yeah, we've had a few of these.
That was this, because understand what's happening there. That screen
is just a response screen that feeds out through a
cable to a control computer that then performs the heavy lifting,
that then performs all the control changes. So, you know,
(06:00):
do we have a problem with the screen, do we
have a problem with the cable? Do we have a
problem with the control module? And that's what some of
this testing may or may not tell us because the
problem isn't active at this moment. But you may also
find walking into the Honda dealer, do the diagnostic, you know,
and if you ask them what is your best guess
see what they say. They may come back and they say, well,
(06:21):
we had twelve of these over the last two years,
and eight out of twelve was the display.
Speaker 6 (06:27):
You know, it.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Some of this, some of this is not you know,
some of this is not an exact science, because, like
I said, that system is fairly bulletproof, but I would
want to make sure. I would want to know do
we have fault codes? Understand that is that is a
perfect example of a giant computer network, and you know
it's possible disconnecting the battery may bring the system back
(06:49):
to life if it were completely locked up. You know,
have you ever had a Windows update go through and
it just didn't go through and you kind of croached
it and you pulled the plug.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
You hoped it came back.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Same idea, all right, but before we do that and
possibly hurt something. If it were me, I'd be willing
to spend whatever it is, the two hundred dollars diagnostic
charge and at least have something on record, because if
they can't find a problem and it goes on for
another four or five, six, seven months, when all of
a sudden two years from now, Honda comes out and says, hey,
(07:22):
we realize we've got a bunch of defective display modules.
We're going to extend the warranty on them. Whatever, you've
got documentation proof that you tried to solve the problem
before you know what I mean, it's a you know,
two hundred dollars and a diagnostic charge for what that
car costs. Knew, for what that car costs to replace.
It's not worth even thinking about because at twenty thousand
(07:42):
miles you shouldn't be having this issue, all right.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
At sixty thousand.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Miles you shouldn't be having this issue, but definitely not
at twenty. So I think it's worth at least one
shot to the dealer to see what they can do
for you.
Speaker 6 (07:55):
Those senses lastely could diagnose if there's a miscommunication between
all those different components.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
They if well, first of all, if there's a current
fault where components aren't talking to one another, it will
pick up a communication issue, all right, depending upon manufacturer
and how in depth the engineers have designed the system. Yes,
certain manufacturers, certain vehicles have the ability to show you
(08:21):
a U fault code. A U fault is a communication
between on the CAN network, which is the controlled area network,
which is the computer network. They will show you a
history communication fault, meaning it lost communication with this module.
So it's worth it just to see if it comes
back and says, hey, there's no communication faults, and that's
(08:42):
actually going to be one of your questions when they
come back to you with the report. Frank, we don't
see anything wrong with it. You're going to ask them,
does this system have the ability to show me history
communication faults? If a module or component went down, would
it at least store in memory and it if it's
If it does, it's only going to be for X
(09:02):
amount of time, so it's to your advantage to get
it in there as soon as possible after the condition occurs.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Sure?
Speaker 6 (09:10):
Definitely? Okay, all right, so that's great. Then we'll say
thank you so much for the information.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
You're very welcome. Frank, you'd be well, and thanks for
being part of the Car Doctor family. You have a
good rest of the weekend. Eight five five five six
zero nine to nine zero zero. Run an dy in
the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this. Need
(09:40):
advice on how to maintain that classic gt O.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Ron is the guy eight five five five six zero
nine nine zero zero. Here's Ron.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Hey, Let's let's take a ride to California and go
talk to Mike. Mike, welcome to the Car Doctor, sir.
How can I help?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Hey? Ron first time caller. I've been listening many years.
I love your show. I used to sale cars and
was in the auto body business and and you're you're
a wealth of information and great service to people.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I recently picked up a nineteen seventy Mercury Marquis Brome
two door, beautiful cars being garaged for forty years. That's
ten thousand miles on the clock.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Yeah, yeah, it's for four sixty four barrel.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
No, no, I wish you was. It's a four hundred.
I believe it's a two barrel.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Okay, still not the worst thing to have, but yeah, wow, well,
I mean it's one hundred percent original, nothing, nothing's going
to be worn out.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I just, uh, in the process of getting this running,
where do I start because I'm not going to just
crank it, crank it over and expect it to start.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
No, it's uh first you have to go get your
captain's license because you know it is a bit of
a land yacht. Uh you know, yeah that thinks that
things huge. You know, if you took the hood off
and donated it, we could build three toyotas out of it.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
You know, it's just huge.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
So and it's still going to look better than any
Toyota ever made. Let me tell you, you know, I.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Got to tell you some of these things you see
on social media about you know, the guy comes out
and he says, sixty five Chevelle still looks better than
any ev ever made. You know what, all that stuff
is so true. Those cars from the sixties and the seventies,
they were all just you look at him now, and
they were just you realize how advanced and how ahead
of the curve they were. Uh you know that that
(11:39):
they they just were just phenomenal the way they were
engineered and all anyway, gasoline or no gasoline left in
this marquee.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Probably probably gasolene. I imagine the old the old fellow
just parked it when he when he got sick and
had no plans to you know, he didn't know he
was going to be checking out.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, I mean, how long has it been since? Is
it forty years since it was last driven or it's
been garaged for forty years?
Speaker 3 (12:09):
It's been garaged its entire life. It has the last
registration on it was two thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Okay, so it's it's been parked twenty.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Three years minimum. Yeah, all right, so you know.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
No fuel in the tank. Just disconnect the coil wire,
make sure it doesn't kick. What's the oil look like
in the crank case?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Fine? Okay, I radiated radiator is going to have to
be recorder changed. Yeah, but I didn't see anything else
wrong with it.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
I want to know, can I get oil pressure? I would?
Speaker 1 (12:48):
You know, I don't know of any other way to
do it unless we're going to pull the distributor and
prime the oil pump by hand and prime the circuits.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I would.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I would spin it over. Does the oil light go out?
You know, obviously disconnect spark just on the chance that
somehow it doesn't fire.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
It shouldn't.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
But I just we don't pull plugs and put some
oil down in there and turn my hand.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I mean, you could, you know, listen, when I got
my I've got a seventy two money Carlo, There's no
secret about it. It was sort of the same situation
forty one thousand mile car out of Minard, Texas. When
I got it in twenty seventeen, I looked at it,
I thought about it. The card been sitting since two
thousand and four. I reached in battery good boom, boom, boom.
(13:31):
Started it up, It fired okay, and I made sure
it had oil pressure. It's the same way I'm telling you.
You know, it all depends on you know, if there's
something in those cylinders that you know, whether it's debris
or rust or something. A shot of oil is not
going to do much for it, and it just means
(13:51):
it was stored wrong. So it comes down to, in
my mind, how easily do you want to find out
if it's good or bad?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Well, the cars located in Sacramento, California, so we really
don't have any corrosion issues, right environment, right dry environment?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
I would, I would.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I would crank it around, cranking it around without fire
in the hall. It shouldn't hurt bearings because there's no load.
So all I want to know is can I can
I just get some oil to where it has to
be if we want to be if if we want
to do it one hundred percent right on the money,
the hard way. And I'll say it like that. I think,
(14:34):
See I'm an adventurous type. I think I'd crank it over.
You know, I'm going to tell you pull the distributor.
You know, come up with a drive set up on
a drill. Uh, you know, prime the pump until the
light goes out, you know, turn the key on, don't
crank it.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
You'll see the oil light on.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And if you prime the cylinders or I'm sorry, prime
the oil pump till it fills all its galleys and
then the light goes out. But that still doesn't ensure
that I'm getting oil everywhere. Sure you know I'm not
getting any oil on the walls.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Then I pulled up, then I pull the plugs, and
you know, in all my experience of playing with older cars,
I've never I've never lost an engine by doing a
dry not a dry crank, a no fire crank, get
oil pressure and then give me spark, give me fuel
and fire it up. I've never lost an engine in
(15:26):
fifty three years.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Okay, So when we when we when we crank it,
the distributors disconnected, and you expect to get oil pressure
while we're doing this this prank, right.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I'm expecting to get oil pressure in ten to twelve seconds, okay?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Or what about the what about the old fuel in
the tank?
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Well, is there fuel in the tank?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Probably?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Then i want to disconnect the line going to the
tank because I don't want that. Although by now it's
gotten up to the carb, right, I mean whatever was
in the tank was in the carb at some point.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
You know it's it's because then.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
The next the next step is going to be we're
gonna have to get at the fire. We get oil pressure,
then we've got to get at the fire. And you
know what does the inside of the tank smell like?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Now? Truth be told.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
When I fired up the manty it came out of Texas,
the tank was, the tank was empty. We put a
little we we filled. I filled a water bottle with
some gas and sprits it into the carb. It kicked,
That told me, and it sounded reasonable. I filled the
bowl of the carb.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
It ran.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I uh, then sat there and fired it up and
let it run.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
You know so so because it has fuel in it
that's twenty years old, that should I drop the tank?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, I would drop the tank and get it boiled
and cleaned, and you know, maybe they can line the tank.
Keep that in the back of your head. If if
the tank has you know, got any kind of rush
to it. There's a process where a little boil it
and then there's a there's a coating or a liner
they put inside the tank. It's basically it's sort of
like painting the inside of the tank. It's it's a
(17:08):
it's some type of I want to use the word
your thing, but I don't know if that's accurate, where
once they clean the tank out, they will pour this
in there and then just basically tumble the tank over
and over and over, because finding a tank for a
seventy eight Grand Marquis is probably going to be difficult
at best. But the idea is you'll encapsulate any contaminant, rust,
anything that's you know, burnished into the metal that you
(17:29):
don't want obviously getting into the fuel and.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Work plastic then.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Seventy eight, I don't recall. I thought they were metal.
I didn't think the plastic tanks started coming along until
the early eighties.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I can't I don't know. I can't tell you, but
I mean, finding one shouldn't be too bad because it's
it's the same as a Lincoln town Car, same as
an LTD.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Right, right, Well, let's see if let's let's let's see
if we've got that to tell you the truth, and
you bring up a good point. When you drop the
tank or lower the tank, we don't drop anything in
order to repair. When you lower the tank, it's going
to be a case of does the fuel pump I'm sorry,
does the fuel gauge work? We need to get the
fuel sending unit rebuilt. That's twenty three years old that
I had to replace on my Monty.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
So some basics to get it started. Once you get
it started, Mike, give me a call back.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
We can talk about the rest of it. I'm Rnning
Andy and the car doctor. I'll return right after this
(18:45):
and we continue repairing cars. Let's go over Bob in Virginia.
Oh wait, land Rover. Wait, the land Rover fan club
is out today. This is our second land Rover phone
call this weekend.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
So how are you, Bob?
Speaker 5 (18:56):
I'm doing great, Sorry, thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
What's going on?
Speaker 5 (19:00):
It's two thousand and eight range over sh the large
body four point four. I've got about two hundred and
forty thousand miles on it. I've had five of them,
pretty familiar with their peculiarities, and last one I got
rid of it three hundred thousand miles anyway on highway driving. Well,
(19:21):
when I start the car, they dash always says transmission malfunction,
transmission vault. So when I'm on the highway, I drive it.
If I accelerate, like going up a hill, it just
locks into a lower gear, So I have to pull off,
turn it off, turn it back on, and then keep
on going. I've done a lot of checking. Of course,
(19:44):
amcode wants to put in a rebuilt or a replacement transmission.
My mechanics say, is the same thing from what I've read?
Is it a possibility that it's sol annoids in that transmission? Sure?
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Absolutely absolutely. What fault codes are in it, I don't know.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Haven't they ran it, but I don't know what they are.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Okay, So you know, not knowing fault codes, we're gonna
we're gonna, you know, make some assumptions, which is dangerous, Okay,
but you know, it's it's it's It could be solenoids.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It could be a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
If this was a fifty thousand mile transmission and it
was a solenoid fault code, and we could prove solenoids
being bad, by all means, I'm all for doing solenoids.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
This is a two hundred.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And fifty thousand mile transmission, and if I have solenoid faults.
I want to understand what the ramifications are. How hard
is it to get to those particular solenoids. What are
they going to cost versus replacing the unit? Because it's
two hundred and fifty thousand miles, I mean, none of
it's going to be cheap. It's a range rover, all right,
So you know a lot of that. You know, makes
(20:54):
the determination. Now if this is if this is a
fault code that requires transmission removal to get to the
component to repair, I think you're putting a trans in it.
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Well, I do know from what I've checked, you can
reach the solenoids from underneath.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Right, Yes you can. I'm talking about something else. You know, again,
we don't know what the fault code is. If the
fault code is indicative of something else, but you know,
to jump right into a transmission without knowing what the
fault cards are codes are, it's sort of a difficult
conversation to have. It's it's you know, I think I
need brain surgery, but I'm not sure why I'm getting
(21:34):
the headache.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
I don't know if it's because my wife.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
You know, my wife hit me with a brick while
I was sleeping or did I roll over and bang
my head against the headboard, right, and I got a headache?
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Which is it?
Speaker 5 (21:44):
So I need a fault code that actually shows solnoid problem, then.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Well, right, I need a fault code that gives me
a you know, gives me And again, you know, if
you live by the code, you die by the code.
We're not saying a solenoid fault code indicates a solenoid.
It gives us a direction, all right, you know, it
gives us, it gives us something to test. I can't
I can't tell you how many guys I talked to
during the week and how many shops I'll converse with
(22:12):
by email, and they're talking about, well, it's got this
particular fault and I changed what the fault code was
for in the car. Still not fixes. You live by
the code, you die by the code.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
What is it telling you? We're here to gather information?
All right?
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (22:25):
You know, so that's that's sort of first steps.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And then you know, as you say, listen, you know
the vehicle, you know the particuliarities. I like the way
you said that. Yeah, they've got more than a few
odd things going on, all right, if you name me
I'm here, give me a call back.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
Not a problem.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
I appreciate it, Thank you very well.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yeah, it's it's important.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
What's the information about I I think about this kind.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Of a scenario.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Let me find this email. I love the emails you
guys send me, by the way, I've got more than
a few, but I don't understand what some of you
are talking about. Joe rode in here's his message for
two thousand and eight f three fifty oh two centsor
I'm not sure what Joe's asking me. I'm not sure
if Joe's asking me how to replace it, Why to
(23:16):
replace it? What the fault code is. I'm not sure
if Joe's telling me he had to replace it. So,
you know, complete information is just very very important. So
let's get onto something serious. A common problem for the
RAM pro master, John writes me another John, from what
I can read, common problems water pump, hairline crack, and
the radiator or coolant reservoir.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
He's got a slow coolant leak.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I have a twenty eighteen with thirty one thousand miles
on it with the slow coolant leaking. Can I tell
where the cool is leaking. What are your thoughts about
adding kseal John, You know what, John, it's not a
bad idea. You can't lose there, all right. If it's
a hairline crack and a radiator, if it's something that's
beyond the scope of budget or repair possibility, or we
just want to see the reaction, you can't hurt it,
(24:01):
all right. Case seal will not hurt the vehicle. It
doesn't clog, it doesn't cause issues in heater cores, all right.
And that's the whole beauty and purpose of it. And
there are some older, higher mileage vehicles where we will
dump K seal in because the cooling system is best
description seepy. It will give up coolant that just mysteriously
(24:23):
goes somewhere. And it's it's a you know, higher mileage vehicle.
That is it worth the expense of tearing it apart
to find out where it's going. No bottle of K
seal if it's not seal leak related, and case sal
can do the job great.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
If it can't, it's not going to hurt anything.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
So by all means, pour a bottle in and you know,
consider it part of the diagnostic routine. You know, it's
just it's just really important. Ed writes in from New Jersey. Hey, Ron,
I just watched the GM six point two recall on
just watched on the Motor Rail Geek podcast. He went
into detail about the GM recall. The question is I
own a twenty eighteen VW that originally required VW five
(25:02):
oh eight zero forty oil there was a recall in
twenty nineteen. Then change the motor oil spec to VW
five zero twenty the Coross twenty five thousand miles on
it it as well out of warranty. Would it be
want to switch back to the VW five eight zero
forty motor oil? You know, yeah, I kind of would
want the zero forty. I think you've proven that point.
But then I I want to understand why was Volkswagen.
(25:23):
And it's interesting the way the manufacturers are playing with
oil viscosity. You know, in the old days, we used
to play with motor oil viscosity to cure knocking engines,
engines with sounds thicker, thinner viscosity, and so on. And
then as vehicles developed and got more technology in them,
we were told, don't play with viscosity because it will
(25:43):
cause engine misfires and create havoc with the onboard computer system.
You know, I would think and I think ed, and
I'm switching in my mind back and forth here. But
you know what, if the zero twenty is working and
it's the five O eight zero twenty that meets Volkswagen spec,
I'd stay there. Volkswagen has a reason for it. You know,
out of warranty doesn't automatically justify switching back. I think
(26:08):
Volkswagen is looking for more than just warranty issues. I
think they're looking to protect the brand and provide a good,
positive experience. So I think you need to stay with
the zero twenty option and VW five O eight. As
far as GM is concerned, they've got problems, and that
six point two liter pickup truck recall going back five
(26:28):
four or five years, five or six years is going
to be is and is going to be a major
headache for General Motors in the coming months and years ahead.
And it's sad because people ask me all the time,
what car should I buy? What trucks should I buy?
We start talking pickup trucks. It's it's hard to recommend
the GM right now unless it has that six point
six leader, because the five to three still we see
(26:51):
problems with active fuel management with lifters when they get
eight to seventy eighty ninety thousand miles on them. And
now the six to two recall well, and I will
say this, once GM gets through this, that's six to
two is probably going to be a very solid motor.
It's kind of like living in a town where you
have bad water. Once they find out the water's bad,
they do everything they have to and they correct it.
(27:12):
GM's figured out they've got a problem. They're going to
do everything they have to to correct it, and then
they'll build a great motor. But it's sad that it
has to come to this in order to solve that
particular problem. Still a big GM fan though at heart.
Eight five, five, five six zero nine nine zero zero
run on any of the car Doctor. I'll be back
right after this.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Look how America has changed, right?
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I remember twenty years ago, thirty years ago, you could
drive into a gas station and get air in the
tires and it was accurate, it was free. And now
we've evolved into where you can't get air in your
tires anymore. Micah from Maine. Buddy Micah writes in Hey Ron.
I took your advice a few years ago and purchased
a portable battery pack that I keep in the trunk
(28:04):
of my car in case I ever have a dead
battery or need to help someone. Last July, I used
to jumpstart an airplane at a fly and I was
attending that's right, and Micah's a pilot guide too. Currently,
I'm looking for something about that size that it's an
air compressor, something where I can check my tire pressure
at home rather than having to drive to a filling station.
Most places up here require you to pay to use
those air hoses that are most often unreliable, both in
(28:26):
terms of operation and not offering the correct pressures. I'm
looking for something that will clamp onto the Schrader valve
as opposed to need to be screwed on, and preferably
something about the same size as my battery pack that
has an air gauge built in, with hopefully an automatic
shut off that I can set it for the right pressure.
Do you have any suggestions. I've looked online but I
can't find very much about it. Typically I'm just topping
(28:48):
off no more than five pounds and sometimes needing to
reduce pressure by the same size depending on temperature. Basically,
my issue is temporary temperature variations from season this season.
Thanks so much, Micah anytime. I'm not sure if this
is the answer for you, Micah, but this is what
I use. I use a Milwaukee portable air inflator. I
like the Milwaukee inflator. It gives me the ability to
(29:11):
do pre set. It's a sturdy size. It's bigger than
that portable battery pack that you purchased. I know which
one you got. And the thing I like about the
Milwaukee is that the battery for that is the same
as all my other cordless power tools. So if you've
got a cordless drill around the house, or you've got
a need for a cordless drill around the house, or
a cordless circular saw or leaf blower or whatever else
(29:35):
you're going to you know, have around in a typical household.
The Milwaukee inflator does the job and you can set
it to you know, your particular temperature, i'm sorry, your
particular pressure range and walk away from it. I actually
have it set up in the shop i'm sorry, in
the garage at home, and I use it to inflate
the tires on the hot rod when I need to.
(29:57):
That's where that's my go to. As far as as
the lock on the straighter the end of the tire
valve versus a screw on method, you know, that's a
real problem. That's a headache because I understand where you're
coming from. All the air inflator, all the hoses make
it so you have to screw it on. And the
problem is you go to screw it on and you
lose one or two pounds that you just got done
(30:19):
topping up, so you have to over inflate. I solved
that problem. I purchased something called a lock in flate
lock Inflate on Amazon and then I went out and
you can buy them at any auto parts store. It
is a brass air chuck with a self gripping clamp
(30:40):
that gives you the ability and it goes that screws
on to one end of the lock and flate the
other end of the lock, and flate goes into the
end of the hose on the Milwaukee And now you've
got the best of both worlds. You've got a portable
air inflator right with a good battery. And that's the
other thing I want to talk about real fast, but
before I do, you've got to you've got a good
(31:01):
air inflator with a lock on Strader style clamp, so
it's just quick on, quick off.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
The thing I like.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
The other thing I like about the Milwaukee Mica and
for everybody else, is it takes an m a teen
or their larger battery. If you're inflating tires. Inflating tires
is you know it varies by size. It takes a
lot to pump up a flat tire. Shouldn't tire be
all the way flat or down to five pounds and
then all of a sudden you've got a aired air
I find or I found that those little because there
(31:31):
are some little inflators out there. They don't seem to
have the longevity or the juice or the pumps burnout
over time. We're talking about something you know, you get
what you pay for. We're looking about something that will
survive the long haul.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
So I like that.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
About the Milwaukee that I've had it for the better
part of I'm going to say four years, and it's
never let me down and I use it every season
working with the hot rods, so it's been a great tool.
It's done what I've needed it to do. But take
a look at the Milwaukee I think it's the Milwaukee
M eighteen aaronflator, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
(32:09):
And of course, as air inflators go, it gives you
the ability to do basketballs and air mattresses and everything
else that you know you need to do during the
course of an active lifestyle. Let's say so, Micah, always
appreciate the questions for me, kiddo, keep them coming eight
five five five six zero nine nine zero zero running
the Card Doctor coming back right after this, and let's
(32:43):
kind of wind it down this hour.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Just a real quick point that I.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Didn't mention it. But don't forget car doctor hads T shirts, sweatshirts,
long sleeves. Get out the card doctorshow dot com, click
on the merchandise button. It's all there for you. Summer
seasons heating up, and I can see by sales everybody's
enjoying them, so make sure you get yours. And uh,
you know, there's also Ri Automotive T shirts, which I
still don't understand why Ari Automotive T shirts are out
selling car Doctor T shirts.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
I guess I don't know.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I keep coming to the shop expecting to see about
four hundred people dressed the same. So I'll, uh, maybe
I'll have to feed you and give you a cup
of coffee. I don't know what that would be like.
Danny wouldn't know what the pocket. It has to be
the pocket.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
It's got to be the pocket.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Well, no, the Car Doctor T shirts have pockets too, Tom,
So we changed everything. We give everything a pocket, as.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Far as I know, one doesn't. Well, you know you're
not special. You're not special.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
So when you come down, when you come down Monday,
i'll see if I have a pocket for you, remind me.
So that's that's in the work. So get your Car
Doctor and Riotomotive T shirts merchandise button at cardoctorshow dot
com real quick. Let's I want to answer this letter
from James, because he writes it. He writes a great letter.
Hey Ron, this is from James in a two eight
one area code. I'm not sure where that is. Maybe
that's Virginia. Hey Ron, I've got a smaller SUV Toyota
(33:55):
RAV four and I'm looking to do the brakes on it.
And I'm working in the garage and I'm concerned about
health issues. What should I know? What should I not do?
What should I be concerned with? I tended to do
my own break work for the past thirty years. I
just want to keep up with the times, James, you
know what doing them just obviously it's got to be safe,
it's got to be supported, right, you want to have
the vehicle up on jack stands. I'm going to assume
(34:16):
you know how to take this breaks apart and you
know clean things. You can also be aware that you
know using break clean, you're going to use break clean there.
CRC has actually improved their break clean line. They've got
CRC Pro series break Clean. It is a non chlorinated,
low voc low volatile organic compound, which means it's better
(34:36):
for an indoor, small area. There's less harmful contaminants and pollutants,
and it's better for the environment.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
It's better for you.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
It's better for the environment. You'll find more online out
at the CRC website. And you know you'll be safe.
Be sure to use that and spray gingerly and do
it correctly, so and that'll be.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Good, all right, kittle and good luck to you live.
You know, if you need more I'm run an Indy
in the car. Doctor, we're the.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Last two hours go on radio. I don't understand till
the next time. The mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I see you
Host
Ron Ananian
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