In this episode of Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor he previews a Memorial Day tradition featuring a past interview with his late Uncle Steve, a WWII pilot. He takes a call from Nancy in Wisconsin, who asks about using fuel system cleaner in her 2020 Chevy Trax. Ron approves, recommending it at every oil change or monthly as preventative care. He also advises her to check if major services like the 30,000-mile maintenance were done and to prepare for the upcoming 60,000-mile service.
He encourages staying informed and recommends resources like AutoBatteries.com and BGFindAShop.com.
Ron shares shop stories emphasizing timely oil changes and praises the new Ford Mustang GT for its performance. He invites listeners to submit old Uncle Steve interviews to build a tribute archive and reflects on his uncle’s incredible wartime journey. The episode ends with a reminder of the sacrifices made by the Greatest Generation.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Ron Anian.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
When you get a new customer, it's it's kind of
hard because you're not quite sure what they're thinking. So
here's this twelveth Cadillac that everything was original under the hood.
When I tell you everything was original, everything was original.
A lot of guys wow, like the Car Doctor that
(00:29):
ten thousand miles on the clock.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Uh forty four sixty four barrel.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
No, no, I wish you was.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It's a four hundred.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Oh, I believe it's a two barrel.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Okay, it's still not the worst thing to Welcome to
the radio home of Ron Ananian, the Car Doctor. Since
nineteen ninety one, this is where car owners the world
overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
the phone and call. The garage doors are open, but
I am here to take your call at eighty five
five five six oh ninety nine.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Hundred and now pee.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Running.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
You know, it's just great to be here with you.
I should point out that at the bottom of the hour,
First Lieutenant Stephen Andenian is in the green room. As
we say, we've got an interview with Uncle Steve from
days gone by, and it's just a goodie. We think
from circa twenty sixteen twenty seventeen. We're not quite sure
he passed in eighteen, so we think by references in there,
(01:35):
it's approximate time frame. But as always, Uncle Steve is
feisty and cranky and full of vinegars, so we'll we
look forward to that. That's down around the bottom of
the hour. But we are here to take your calls
and have conversation with you the rest of the time.
The phone numbers eight five, five, five six zero nine
nine zero zero. Let's get out to Nancy and Wisconsin
and talk to her. And Nancy, welcome to the car doctor.
(01:57):
How can I help?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Well, thank you for taking my call. I was wondering,
is it a good idea? I have a twenty twenty
tracks Chevy Tracks to put this complete fuel system, cleaner
liquid in.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What brand are you using?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Well, it's it says Techron, Chevron.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, I like Chevron, Techron That's yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I listen? We do it. We do it at the
shop every oil change for customers. We're putting. We're putting,
We're putting a fuel system and cleaner in a car
every oil change. It's a you know, think of it
like this, to have an annual fuel system cleaning where
they hook up a machine and they'll do, you know,
some sort of cleaning through the line, a B G
(02:38):
fuel system cleaning service something like that on a regular basis,
that's a you know, that's that's that's that's the physical
test of physical that's more of a physical maintenance type
of an item. But adding a fuel system cleaner to
the gas tank every every oil change, or perhaps once
(02:59):
a month depending on your driving schedule, that's the vitamin right.
Doing the doing the fuel system cleaning, you know, is
the maintenance. But the you could argue that in the
tank is maintenance also, but it's it's a lighter scaled
version of that. You do that so when you get
to do the fuel system cleaning, it's not a severe
(03:19):
or harsh or it gets the fuel system cleaning process
actually has a greater chance of survival, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Well, you said you do that for oil changes, so
perhaps are they doing that to my oil change? And
I don't know it probably not.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
You should, Yeah, you would, I would ask them about that.
I see how many miles how many miles are on
your car?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Nancy, fifty three thousand?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Bout Yeah, so you know by now fifty three thousand.
If I was making a prediction, if we were standing
at the counter talking about it, Hey, Ron, I don't
know what was done to my car. My first question
would be did you do a thirty thousand mile service?
Did you?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I don't know. I put it up. I leave it
up to them whatever they suggest.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So I always tell everybody, if you don't know, go
back and look through the checkbook. A thirty thousand mile
service is anywhere from three to five hundred dollars, depending
upon the car. So have you ever handled them, you know,
a check for that amount? The chances are that was
the thirty. A thirty would have been an oil change,
a tire rotation, probably a set of wiper blades or inserts,
aaron cabin filters, and depending upon the shop, it could
(04:24):
be a fuel system cleaning.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Right, Okay, so that goes that's all of that together,
is what you're talking.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Right, So that's a thirty, and then you know, and then.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Obviously I think I had that done yet, And then
you know.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
It's a look over peak at the brakes peak a suspension,
all that good stuff. Now you're at fifty three, so
in seven thousand miles, it's sixty is your next big service,
So it'll be a repeat of the thirty plus. Maybe
they'll consider doing some driveline fluids, depending.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Upon the vehicle TRANSMISSI wouldn't it be, It could be, It.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Could It depends. It depends on the trans but yes,
by all means.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
You know for sure, Okay, and then I should be
getting a battery. But I thought, no, Well, these tariffs
affect my battery, and I thought I'd put it off
till fall with the tariffs affect the cost of the battery.
And if I can get a battery, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I don't think so. Most of the batteries are still
made here in the States. To tell you the truth,
there's only three battery manufacturers that I know of here
in the States that are contracted to do all of
the batteries that you see out there, so brand X, Y,
Z ab D, they all come to one manufacturer. I
think there's one in Pennsylvania actually, and they're all contracted
(05:37):
and they're built to a certain spec. So I don't
I don't think so. I would encourage you though that
I would replace a battery sooner rather than later if
you get stuck, If you get stuck with a bad
battery as a woman, it could be a life and
death situation for a for a guy. Guys are a
little goofy. Sometimes we think it's an adventure. We don't.
I don't know if we mind. I don't know if
(05:57):
we mind it as much I do I do. I
tend to be battery centric, but you know, it's just
I would change it. More batteries get lost during the
course of summer than winter, believe it or not, because
the heat. Because of the heat, the heat will actually
cause a battery failure a lot faster. As crazy as.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
That sounds, I thank you. It's nice to little batteries
are made.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Here, yep, yes, ma'am. To my knowledge, they're all made here. Now.
Given the current economic situation and tariffs coming in, what's
that going to do to the rest of prices and
has everybody tries to survive and eat and you know continue.
I can't answer that question, but you have to think
about that in the back of your mind. It's not
just the tariffs and how they're going to raise the prices.
(06:41):
I think there's I don't know. I don't want to
make it political. I think there's a squeeze coming for
the short term anyway. But the bigger problem is, and
this is what I want to try and keep everybody's
eye on. I can't get a master cylinder for a
fifteen year old car that I had to scrounge parts for.
Does that? And is that? That's because for the past
(07:02):
twenty years we haven't made anything here. So are the
tariffs going to cause a change to that? And that's
the challenge question I keep in the back of my mind.
As much inconvenience as it's going to be, and even
if things are more expensive, what's the outcome on the
other side? Is it going to be better for us?
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Right?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
That's what we get to see.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Right, And all the batteries are pretty comparable as when
you guess earinal I.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Would do it by application. You know, you should get
out to auto batteries dot Com. Great website all right,
powered by Clarios and it talks all about batteries, how
to pick a battery, what to look for, and you'll
find a ton of information there. We use it in
the shop on a regular basis to help educate customers.
But auto Batteries dot Com has a lot going on
(07:46):
for you there in your situation. Are you going to
the dealer for your service on your vehicle?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I usually have yes, okay, and.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You plan to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I thought, so that's fine.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
No, No, that's fine, And that's the old likelihood. They're
going to sell you a Delco battery, which is you
know again, they're all made in the same places. It's
not that much different. It's branding. But I would ask
them what's the warranty, what's the Hey, I need a
jump start on the side of the road, how does
that get handled different battery manufacturers, well, for different programs.
(08:22):
So those are some of the talking points in some
of the conversations to have. But for the most part, Yeah,
a Delco is a great battery. We sell them in
the shop all day long.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
All right, thank you very much. And for the adding
of that fuel cleaner, so I think I've done it
like every five thousand miles.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's good. Yeah, that's great. No, that's great, listen to
that's that's much. No, that Nancy, that's more than most.
That's fine. And you know, make sure you're doing it
with a near full tank. All right, you don't want
to do it. You don't want to do you know,
people bring cars in for oil changes and I have
to scold them a little bit. They'll bring me a
car with less than a sixteenth of a tank of fuel,
and I'm like, how do I number one road test
(09:04):
the car safely? You know, the dashboards saying thirty nine
miles till empty? Well, what good is that? And then
if if I put a bottle a fuel system cleaner
in it and then they drive to the gas station,
half the bottle was used up trying to drive them
to the gas station. So there's no there's no real
positive effect.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
So it's okay, thank you very much, thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
You're very welcome. Nancy. You'll be well. Eight five five
five six zero nine nine zero zero. Run any of
the car, doctor. We're back right after this. Whether it's
a little red Corvette or you go. You've come to
(09:44):
the right place to get that car fixed.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Ron An Ay in the car doctor eight five five
five six zero nine nine zero zero.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Now back to on. You know, one of the things
you should never ever ever do is leave it completely
up to this show up on what should be done.
They should have advice for you. They should look at
that vehicle because every vehicle, I think is unique, Every
driving situation is a little bit unique, and a lot
of cars will fall into that general category of they
(10:12):
all need these five or six or seven items at
this particular moment. But for example, Nancy, in your case,
you want to get out to bgfind ashop dot com
and that will help you find a repair shop in
Wisconsin that uses the BG fuel System cleaning service, and
perhaps your dealer does, and you can schedule bgfuel System
(10:34):
cleaning on a regular basis and it will help the
overall life and longevity and performance of that vehicle bgfind
ashop dot com. It's important that you, you know, look
at what they're doing and how they're doing it and
have some knowledge and you know, I know it's hard
because I think it's intimidating. I think at a repair
in general gets to be very intimidating for people. And
(10:56):
I understand that there's a lot that people don't know,
and then again there's a lot that people knowing, they
choose to ignore. We I don't say it was an argument,
but we had Rich dropped off his Toyota Highlander this
week and it was seven months overdue for an oil change.
And I said, it's almost a year since the oil
(11:18):
was changed last Actually it was just about a year.
And you finally hit the mileage, I said, you know why.
They said, well, your sticker said forty thousand miles. I said, right,
but it says September. It was ding September. It says
September or forty thousand miles, and you know September was
(11:40):
ten months ago. What are we doing? You know, I
won't say, I won't say it was a big argument,
but it was something along the lines of obstinate is
the word that comes to mind. Some people just want
to argue. And he said, well, I'd just like to
make a tough one. I said, listen, don't make it
(12:00):
any tough around me than it already is, because it's
kind of tough enough standing here at the counter, talking
to people every day that just don't want to listen.
You know, it was a real conversation. Time counts in
an oil change, mileage counts in an oil change. Operating
environment counts in an oil change, type of vehicle, type
of oil used, quality, of oil used, quality of filter used.
(12:21):
It's not just this generic maintenance item. It isn't. There's
way too much going on in an engine today. The
amount of heat, the amount of activity, the way they
the way they change the mission controls, variable valve timing,
lubrication is somewhere down around fourth or fifth on the
list of what engine oil does as far as from
(12:43):
a critical point of view. And in the case of
this Toyota, you know it just it took a little
bit of explaining to get him to understand that. I
think I finally drove the point home because he left
with his tail between his legs, truthfully, and that wasn't
my joy. I just want you to understand why it's important,
(13:04):
and that's really the key here. So we dealt with that.
This week, Jeff brought in his new Mustang just gonna
love me telling this story on air. Very good customer, Jeff.
He purchased a brand new Ford Mustang GT. I've got
to tell you, Ford got it right. This car is
so neat. You know, you can actually change the sounds
(13:27):
of the exhaust through controls on the dashboard. It changes
the baffling in the exhaust, so you can go from
something loud and verbally to quiet and smooth. It's just,
you know, it's what every kid. You couldn't put a
seventeen year old in this car. They would wrap themselves around.
The Tree Factory horsepower on this car was four hundred
and eighty two I think four hundred and eighty three
(13:48):
horsepower out of the gate. So you've got to sit
there and say, wow, it's Ford really got it right,
and it's impressive the horse power you can buy that.
You have to think to yourself, this car would probably
outperformed ninety percent of the cars from the quote unquote
muscle car era. And it just does it so easily.
It's just absolutely flawless. You gotta love it. So Hey,
(14:12):
coming up next is Uncle Steve. Before we get there,
I just want to make sure I get this in
this hour. If anybody has Tom and I were talking
about it. We're trying to build an Uncle Steve library
of interviews, and we know a lot of you record
the show and you've got archives of the show. If
anybody has Uncle Steve interviews, we would really love it
if you could let us know. Drop us a line
(14:35):
ron at cardoctorshow dot com and say Hey, I've got
this for Uncle Steve. How do I get it to you?
Because we'd like to add it to our library. We've
got somewhere between three and five interviews that we're sorting through,
and we know there's more out there, and we're just
thinking if anybody's recorded anything over the past, over the
past twenty five years that you know, it would be
kind of neat to have it, so just we appreciate that.
(14:57):
So if you've got an Uncle Steve interview, by all means,
if you could get to us, we would we would
be grateful. Chat GPT this one's just for fun. I
had this idea the other day. I was sitting down
eating eating dinner, thinking and I said, I wonder what
else you could do with chat GPT. What is sort
of some of the you know, different things you can
(15:19):
do with it. You know, you can take chat GPT
dot it's chatgbt dot com, which is artificial intelligence, which
is AI. You can have AI look for the car
of your dreams. I did it. I was I was
goofing around, I was giving it cars. I had it
looked for a thirty two four to five window coop
and it found five of them for sale around me
(15:39):
that I that I wasn't able to find by other means.
It's interesting, right, you could take that until it's sixty
nine Camaro SS three ninety six, three seventy five horse
car and it finds a bunch of them. It's it's
just something for fun. If you want to play with something,
use chat GPT chatgbt dot com and see what that is. Also,
(16:00):
I should point out if you go out to All
Data dot com and click on the resources tab and
go down to the newsletter, my article about improving your
repair shop efficiency regardless of size is out. It's going
to be a three part series. Part two comes out
this month's or next this month or next month, and
then part three will be after that. But from my
repair shops out there, it's a basic article about, you know,
(16:24):
my perspective on how to look at a repair shop
and how to make your shop more efficient. And that's
really the name of the game. It becomes a numbers
thing and just some of the things that I've done
over the years. So that'll that's in the current month's
edition of All Data News. Get out to All Data
dot com and click on the resources tab and you
will find it there. You know that will do it
(16:46):
for you. So I just wanted to get that off.
I can take that off my list too. Look, I'm
just I'm going through my checklist of maintenance quote unquote
things that I have to do. So coming up next
to his uncle Steve, you know, listen to his words.
Uncle Steve was larger than life to me. You know,
(17:08):
obviously he was my only uncle that I remember from childhood.
He was he was my father's brother. My father had
passed early. You guys know that I've told you that
story before. But Uncle Steve was you know, the World
War Two flying aces we called him, flew sixty three
combat missions, shot down three times, walked home, walked from Stuttgart, Germany.
(17:30):
He was shot down over Stuttgart, Germany, and he walked
from Stuttgart back to Paris. It took him two weeks.
He traveled by night, using the stars as a guide,
and you know, he got back through American lines. He
said it was a bit of a chore. I don't
know if he talks about that in this interview or not.
I know one of his interviews we got up to
talk about it, and it's just a look back from
(17:51):
one of the greatest generation and what they brought to
the world to keep us safe and free. So Uncle
Steve will be next. Like I said, if anybody's got interviews,
we would appreciate them. And here's a Memorial Day tradition.
I thank you for allowing me to step out of
my ordinary, everyday role. I know you guys enjoy this,
and that's part of the reason we still keep this going.
(18:12):
So when we come back, first Lieutenant Stephen and Aanian
reporting for duty, see you. You know, from a personal side,
(18:39):
the next gentleman that we're going to have on for
a conversation. He has been my uncle. Well he'd been
my uncle for all sixty one years and I'm here
on the planet and he's just been a great uncle
and a great inspiration. And I've got to say he's
more of an inspiration. You know. The older I get,
the more I realize what he and his generation like
him and those that have gone before him have accomplished
(19:00):
and given us. And as they say, freedom isn't free,
and listening to him, you'll understand why. As we step
out from being the car doctor talking about fixing cars
and we talk about Memorial Day and all that that entails.
(19:21):
Let's welcome aboard First Lieutenant Stephen and Ayan three thirty
nine Fighter Group, foul Mire, England. Uncle Steve, how are
you today, God love you.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I'm doing well, sir. I'm really doing well and glad
to be here with you talking about once again Memorial
Day and what it's all about. Maybe I thought we'd
coax a little couple of stories out.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
He is.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
I'm sure you have them, you know, Memorial Day, Uncle Steve.
I think it's important. You know, this is the weekend
everybody around goes around saying, hey, have a happy Memorial Day.
That's really not correct, is it.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Oh no, it's there. We have congremat all our babies
and all the things that we went through. But you
said something that made me checkle And I don't know
if you know it, but I have great grandchildren now,
(20:14):
and my great grandchildren asked me, Grandpa, what did you
do during the war? And I used to tell them, well,
I climb into my rolls was about five o'clock in
the morning, far over Germany and chase a bunch of
Germans and a full squegger's. Yes, but that's in effect
(20:40):
what it was.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Well, you know, as they get older, Uncle Steve, the
older they get, the smarter you will become, you know,
because that's that's really how it works. Because I think
for your great grandchildren at their age, it's hard to comprehend.
I mean, listen, I'm sixty one. It's hard for me
to comprehend your generation. And what all the generations that
(21:02):
march off to war do? Uh you know, to put
it all on the line.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Well, you know, you you just said it that it's
hard for anybody, no matter whether they were in a
war or not, unless you you don't know what it's like,
unless you fly and feel and shoot. Has the flat
coming up back there? Now, this isn't a picture. This
(21:27):
is a broacher still being flowed thrown up from the ground.
And boy, when you fly over that, everything in your
body fuckers up. You know, you're eating the fair follicles
on your arms collapsed because you don't want to get hurt.
And yeah, it's it's a it's a different feeling. And
(21:53):
I'm very fortunate, you know, we still have our reunions.
In fact that I think we're the only World War
two outfit that's still our meets every year and we
have our reunions there. This year will be in Milwaukee
and we will have an air show. We would have
(22:17):
a couple of Peak fifty ones, a couple of Pet
seventeens and the fellows come up and the air barracks.
Last year I flew in a back seat of the
Peak fifty one again, which is a thrill.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Yeah, what was that? What was that like to be?
Speaker 4 (22:36):
That was at the World War Two Museum in the
New Orleans. They invite me down there. They had a
World War Two air show every year abound September or October,
and I was invited down there, and they invited me
to the back seat of a P fifty one and
(22:57):
we did a couple of slow rolls and I was
nice hanging by your seat.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
And I'm sure you wanted to grab the stick of course.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Yeah, well we all the things. They didn't have one
for me. I guess right right, I'm.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Sure you wanted to. I remember a couple of years ago,
you were back up here in North Jersey, down at
Teeterborough Airport when they had the you know, uh B
seventeen there. Yeah, and they realized, you know, you had
flown and they took you up into the cockpit and
you were explaining the cockpit to them, and it was
it was. It was a great conversational exchange about you know,
(23:33):
from from old to new, so to speak about here's
how this plane worked and here's what it did. And
they listened very very intently to each and every word
as you dispensed it.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
You know, you were talking about the mechanics and you
know airplanes, well we were you had age, you know,
World War two, over twenty years old. We were a
little about cars. You know. When I flew in combat,
(24:03):
three months before I went the combat, I flew full
of reconnaissance. I flew practice every airplane you could imagine,
every plane but the P fifty one. When I got
as a combat, I had one hour flying time in
the P fifty one, and that's when I got hit
(24:24):
by antiocha fire and had to bear out into the
North Sea. So I threw that airplane, which they say
you can't five more than five minutes without oil. Well
I flew it for forty five, forty five minutes losing
oil away. And my buddy who was escorting me, he
(24:46):
saw me violently rocking in the rings and he says,
what are you doing. I said, I'm lubricating the engine.
I was trying to get the oil from the sump
upon the engine war a sidewalls so that you know,
and it worked.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I mean, yeah, so when you went on that first
combat mission, you had one hour of flying time and
off you went.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Yeah. Well the result was we did survive because of
my ability to handle the airplane. And I was in
a war for an hour and a half right the
freezing water. The week before we lost one pot. He
was down on that water for six minutes and he
(25:31):
said it is to come to the cold temperatures. When
I was able to arrive, because when I got into
the water, I just did nothing but exercise, moved my
arms and legs and kept going. And that's what kept
me going.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
How did you have the foethought, Uncle Steve? I mean,
my gosh, you're you're nineteen twenty years old, your first
combat mission, You've been shot down, You're in the English Channel,
freezing cold. There's there's high seas, right, what was it
ten foot seeds. They weren't going to send and rescue.
And here you are hanging onto a donut like a mouse,
onto a life preserver like a mouse, hanging on to
a donut, and and you know what was going through
(26:10):
your mind at that moment.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
I was playing. You never heard a guy plays a
hard in his life.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
But what the other part of that story is, well,
I was rescued by the AIRCA rescue flying boat. The
pilot saw worked by situation was and you knew I
couldn't survive. And so even though there was ten foot
seas he landed his airplane on that water, came over.
(26:44):
They pulled me up to the side of the plane.
They couldn't be threw me into the airplane because I
was a war orog and a mind sleeper that was
there in the area came over and they took me aboard.
And these guys when it's look off, they crashed the plane.
The pontum came off, and they had to be rescued themselves.
(27:09):
So what I'm saying is, you know, everybody was risking
their lives for each other without even thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Because that's the situation we were in. We had to
do that.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
And this is what's wrong. Now. What we do is
what we had of a war, we don't resolve it.
We have a ceasefire. Everybody says, Okay, it's over, but
it's not right.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
So what you're saying is, let's go finish it and
get it over with.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
You know, you'll have to go to the end. My
rast vision I had of Berlin were smoke coming up
from the rubble up to twenty five thousand feet, Flames
were up to five thousand feet, and the uh Blin
(28:01):
was nothing but a sea of rubble and the only
thing that you could see was it we rule valley
and that was where the subway, the under the Linden
had collapsed, and you could see that. And that was
my vision that I still have to this day of Berlin.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Of that's how the of that's how we've got to
finish it. Let's finish it.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
When you had that kind of devastation when the war
was over, who is who are our best friends now?
The Germans?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Right, because they wanted us to rebuild them.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Well, because we went in and after we defeated them,
we helped their economy and we helped them to grow.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yep, yep, Uncle Steve, it's it's it's you know, truer
words are never spoken. We enjoy you each and every year.
I've got a minute left. What would you like to
tell the listeners to remind them of what this weekends about.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Well, just remember one thing. Freedom is not free.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And someone made a sacrifice for us to be here
today and we should appreciate it. Yep, absolutely, Uncle Steve,
God love you, keep you safe, and then we hope
to talk to you again next year, same time.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Twenty six years.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah, twenty six years on radio. Yeah, remember when I started.
It just seems like yesterday. So I'll have some stories
on my own, Uncle Steve. I'll talk to you during
the week, and you take good care of yourself.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Thank you, everybody, take care.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You're welcome. Ron and any and the car doctor eight
five five five six zero nine nine zero zero. We're
coming back right after this, I think, And Tom, I
(29:56):
want you to mark that interview as Uncle Steve's last.
I think that was his last interview. And I think,
you know it's funny, right, It just brings back a
flood of memories inside of me. As you can imagine,
I just start to think about growing up with Uncle Steve.
But I remember in one of his interviews and even
in conversation with him, he would talk about the losses
(30:19):
that just the eighth Air Force in England alone suffered.
He always told me that in his fighter group, the
three thirty ninth, they were stationed at a Foulmere, they
lost two out of every three pilots. He said, it
got to the point where the new guy would show
up and you wouldn't even want to You'd say hello,
but you didn't really want to get to know his name,
(30:41):
because chances are he was probably gone the next day.
He went up for his first mission, and he probably
didn't come back. And he said that went on for
quite a while. And he said one of the most
chilling sights that he recalled was the stacks of foot
lockers being sent home that you know, there was just
(31:01):
just just all the personal effects and they were put
aside for shipping. And I think about that from time
to time. You know what, it makes a bad day
at the shop look pretty darn good. You know, it's
not that bad. Anytime I hear somebody complaining, I go, hey,
nobody's shooting at you, you know, and it's it's not
that bad. So, you know what, we thank Uncle Stephen,
(31:23):
that entire generation and all of our generations since then
that have kept this country safe and free. And we
remember them this Memorial Day. We realize what Memorial Day is.
It's not happy Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a solemn occasion,
and that's what you that's what's really important that you
have to remember. We honor our dead that fought and
(31:44):
protected us and all the wars that this country has had.
So let me pull over and take the last pause.
I'll be back right after this to wind it up. Thanks,
(32:06):
Let's get back to the business of fixing cars. Brian
writes in this is from February, So I apologize this
is three months old. You know, Tom and I were
talking about this at the start of the show today.
We've really got to encourage you guys to call in.
Calling in is the absolute best way we can help
you because it's so difficult for us to keep track
of all the emails and all the messages. You know,
(32:27):
one of the great things about being on social media
is that more people learn about you, and they see
you and they know who you are and what you do.
One of the bad things about being on social media
is that people learn who you are and what you do,
and they want to talk to you there and not here.
So we encourage you to call the show. That's the
whole point of all this. It just makes life easier
(32:48):
for us. And you're going to get your question answered,
You're going to get your problem solved. And you know
as always the phone numbers eight five, five, five six
zero nine nine zero zero, and that number is twenty
four to seven. That number is live to talk to
us direct Saturdays two to four pm Eastern Time. You
can leave a message the rest of the time and
we will call you back to put you up here
(33:10):
in the show. But to do it, it's just it's
a physical impossibility to answer each and every question here
to the point.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
I'd also add, yeah that when people called, nice if
you left the message, because sometimes I'm just looking at
a list of phone numbers that show up on the
call or ID, going okay, let's call these people, and
then some people think it's a scam call and hang
up on me or call me Dirney names.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah, we don't want that, but in any event, we
want to talk to you here real quick. In my
last minute. Brian from d Luth, Minnesota, Here again, I've
got a twenty seventeen Buick Lacrosse that had a service
transmission message pop up on the display. A couple of
days later, it was stating that shifting would stop soon
the check engine light went on. The code was P
zero seven Baker Edward. I took it to a GM dealer.
(33:55):
They said the code is for an update. They took
care of that and the car was good to go.
I've put maybe two hundred and fifty to three hundred
miles out. If the same message as are back along
with the code that was scanned, have you ever heard
of seen of this issue, it'd be a couple of
weeks or so before I can get back to the dealer. Yes, Brian,
that is and they are right in one sense the
P zero seven Baker Edward. There is a preliminary piece
of information out there. GM has come out with a
(34:17):
software update. This is a problem with the vehicles shifter
and if for example, and I don't know if they
explain this to you, but if you're resting your hand
on the shifter in the car and you accidentally touch
the park button without realizing it, it will set that code.
This is an electronics shifter set up, and they're looking
to see what gear is it in. There is also
(34:38):
a procedure after the software is updated. There is a
recalibration and the learn procedure. I would assume the dealer
did that. I would ask that question, but I would
get this resolved and you know, just verify everything they've
done up to this point and get it resolved before
it gets to be bigger, because it could become a
bigger issue. But if you have any questions, call me
(35:01):
Ronalinie and the car Doctor saying reminding everybody till the
next time. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
See you
Ron Anian.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
When you get a new customer, it's it's kind of
hard because you're not quite sure what they're thinking. So
here's this twelveth Cadillac that everything was original under the hood.
When I tell you everything was original, everything was original.
A lot of guys wow, like the Car Doctor that
(00:29):
ten thousand miles on the clock.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Uh forty four sixty four barrel.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
No, no, I wish you was.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It's a four hundred.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Oh, I believe it's a two barrel.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Okay, it's still not the worst thing to Welcome to
the radio home of Ron Ananian, the Car Doctor. Since
nineteen ninety one, this is where car owners the world
overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
the phone and call. The garage doors are open, but
I am here to take your call at eighty five
five five six oh ninety nine.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Hundred and now pee.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Running.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
You know, it's just great to be here with you.
I should point out that at the bottom of the hour,
First Lieutenant Stephen Andenian is in the green room. As
we say, we've got an interview with Uncle Steve from
days gone by, and it's just a goodie. We think
from circa twenty sixteen twenty seventeen. We're not quite sure
he passed in eighteen, so we think by references in there,
(01:35):
it's approximate time frame. But as always, Uncle Steve is
feisty and cranky and full of vinegars, so we'll we
look forward to that. That's down around the bottom of
the hour. But we are here to take your calls
and have conversation with you the rest of the time.
The phone numbers eight five, five, five six zero nine
nine zero zero. Let's get out to Nancy and Wisconsin
and talk to her. And Nancy, welcome to the car doctor.
(01:57):
How can I help?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Well, thank you for taking my call. I was wondering,
is it a good idea? I have a twenty twenty
tracks Chevy Tracks to put this complete fuel system, cleaner
liquid in.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What brand are you using?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Well, it's it says Techron, Chevron.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, I like Chevron, Techron That's yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I listen? We do it. We do it at the
shop every oil change for customers. We're putting. We're putting,
We're putting a fuel system and cleaner in a car
every oil change. It's a you know, think of it
like this, to have an annual fuel system cleaning where
they hook up a machine and they'll do, you know,
some sort of cleaning through the line, a B G
(02:38):
fuel system cleaning service something like that on a regular basis,
that's a you know, that's that's that's that's the physical
test of physical that's more of a physical maintenance type
of an item. But adding a fuel system cleaner to
the gas tank every every oil change, or perhaps once
(02:59):
a month depending on your driving schedule, that's the vitamin right.
Doing the doing the fuel system cleaning, you know, is
the maintenance. But the you could argue that in the
tank is maintenance also, but it's it's a lighter scaled
version of that. You do that so when you get
to do the fuel system cleaning, it's not a severe
(03:19):
or harsh or it gets the fuel system cleaning process
actually has a greater chance of survival, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Well, you said you do that for oil changes, so
perhaps are they doing that to my oil change? And
I don't know it probably not.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
You should, Yeah, you would, I would ask them about that.
I see how many miles how many miles are on
your car?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Nancy, fifty three thousand?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Bout Yeah, so you know by now fifty three thousand.
If I was making a prediction, if we were standing
at the counter talking about it, Hey, Ron, I don't
know what was done to my car. My first question
would be did you do a thirty thousand mile service?
Did you?
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I don't know. I put it up. I leave it
up to them whatever they suggest.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So I always tell everybody, if you don't know, go
back and look through the checkbook. A thirty thousand mile
service is anywhere from three to five hundred dollars, depending
upon the car. So have you ever handled them, you know,
a check for that amount? The chances are that was
the thirty. A thirty would have been an oil change,
a tire rotation, probably a set of wiper blades or inserts,
aaron cabin filters, and depending upon the shop, it could
(04:24):
be a fuel system cleaning.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Right, Okay, so that goes that's all of that together,
is what you're talking.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Right, So that's a thirty, and then you know, and then.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Obviously I think I had that done yet, And then
you know.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
It's a look over peak at the brakes peak a suspension,
all that good stuff. Now you're at fifty three, so
in seven thousand miles, it's sixty is your next big service,
So it'll be a repeat of the thirty plus. Maybe
they'll consider doing some driveline fluids, depending.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Upon the vehicle TRANSMISSI wouldn't it be, It could be, It.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Could It depends. It depends on the trans but yes,
by all means.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
You know for sure, Okay, and then I should be
getting a battery. But I thought, no, Well, these tariffs
affect my battery, and I thought I'd put it off
till fall with the tariffs affect the cost of the battery.
And if I can get a battery, I don't think.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I don't think so. Most of the batteries are still
made here in the States. To tell you the truth,
there's only three battery manufacturers that I know of here
in the States that are contracted to do all of
the batteries that you see out there, so brand X, Y,
Z ab D, they all come to one manufacturer. I
think there's one in Pennsylvania actually, and they're all contracted
(05:37):
and they're built to a certain spec. So I don't
I don't think so. I would encourage you though that
I would replace a battery sooner rather than later if
you get stuck, If you get stuck with a bad
battery as a woman, it could be a life and
death situation for a for a guy. Guys are a
little goofy. Sometimes we think it's an adventure. We don't.
I don't know if we mind. I don't know if
(05:57):
we mind it as much I do I do. I
tend to be battery centric, but you know, it's just
I would change it. More batteries get lost during the
course of summer than winter, believe it or not, because
the heat. Because of the heat, the heat will actually
cause a battery failure a lot faster. As crazy as.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
That sounds, I thank you. It's nice to little batteries
are made.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Here, yep, yes, ma'am. To my knowledge, they're all made here. Now.
Given the current economic situation and tariffs coming in, what's
that going to do to the rest of prices and
has everybody tries to survive and eat and you know continue.
I can't answer that question, but you have to think
about that in the back of your mind. It's not
just the tariffs and how they're going to raise the prices.
(06:41):
I think there's I don't know. I don't want to
make it political. I think there's a squeeze coming for
the short term anyway. But the bigger problem is, and
this is what I want to try and keep everybody's
eye on. I can't get a master cylinder for a
fifteen year old car that I had to scrounge parts for.
Does that? And is that? That's because for the past
(07:02):
twenty years we haven't made anything here. So are the
tariffs going to cause a change to that? And that's
the challenge question I keep in the back of my mind.
As much inconvenience as it's going to be, and even
if things are more expensive, what's the outcome on the
other side? Is it going to be better for us?
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Right?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
That's what we get to see.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Right, And all the batteries are pretty comparable as when
you guess earinal I.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Would do it by application. You know, you should get
out to auto batteries dot Com. Great website all right,
powered by Clarios and it talks all about batteries, how
to pick a battery, what to look for, and you'll
find a ton of information there. We use it in
the shop on a regular basis to help educate customers.
But auto Batteries dot Com has a lot going on
(07:46):
for you there in your situation. Are you going to
the dealer for your service on your vehicle?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I usually have yes, okay, and.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You plan to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I thought, so that's fine.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
No, No, that's fine, And that's the old likelihood. They're
going to sell you a Delco battery, which is you
know again, they're all made in the same places. It's
not that much different. It's branding. But I would ask
them what's the warranty, what's the Hey, I need a
jump start on the side of the road, how does
that get handled different battery manufacturers, well, for different programs.
(08:22):
So those are some of the talking points in some
of the conversations to have. But for the most part, Yeah,
a Delco is a great battery. We sell them in
the shop all day long.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
All right, thank you very much. And for the adding
of that fuel cleaner, so I think I've done it
like every five thousand miles.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
That's good. Yeah, that's great. No, that's great, listen to
that's that's much. No, that Nancy, that's more than most.
That's fine. And you know, make sure you're doing it
with a near full tank. All right, you don't want
to do it. You don't want to do you know,
people bring cars in for oil changes and I have
to scold them a little bit. They'll bring me a
car with less than a sixteenth of a tank of fuel,
and I'm like, how do I number one road test
(09:04):
the car safely? You know, the dashboards saying thirty nine
miles till empty? Well, what good is that? And then
if if I put a bottle a fuel system cleaner
in it and then they drive to the gas station,
half the bottle was used up trying to drive them
to the gas station. So there's no there's no real
positive effect.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
So it's okay, thank you very much, thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
You're very welcome. Nancy. You'll be well. Eight five five
five six zero nine nine zero zero. Run any of
the car, doctor. We're back right after this. Whether it's
a little red Corvette or you go. You've come to
(09:44):
the right place to get that car fixed.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Ron An Ay in the car doctor eight five five
five six zero nine nine zero zero.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Now back to on. You know, one of the things
you should never ever ever do is leave it completely
up to this show up on what should be done.
They should have advice for you. They should look at
that vehicle because every vehicle, I think is unique, Every
driving situation is a little bit unique, and a lot
of cars will fall into that general category of they
(10:12):
all need these five or six or seven items at
this particular moment. But for example, Nancy, in your case,
you want to get out to bgfind ashop dot com
and that will help you find a repair shop in
Wisconsin that uses the BG fuel System cleaning service, and
perhaps your dealer does, and you can schedule bgfuel System
(10:34):
cleaning on a regular basis and it will help the
overall life and longevity and performance of that vehicle bgfind
ashop dot com. It's important that you, you know, look
at what they're doing and how they're doing it and
have some knowledge and you know, I know it's hard
because I think it's intimidating. I think at a repair
in general gets to be very intimidating for people. And
(10:56):
I understand that there's a lot that people don't know,
and then again there's a lot that people knowing, they
choose to ignore. We I don't say it was an argument,
but we had Rich dropped off his Toyota Highlander this
week and it was seven months overdue for an oil change.
And I said, it's almost a year since the oil
(11:18):
was changed last Actually it was just about a year.
And you finally hit the mileage, I said, you know why.
They said, well, your sticker said forty thousand miles. I said, right,
but it says September. It was ding September. It says
September or forty thousand miles, and you know September was
(11:40):
ten months ago. What are we doing? You know, I
won't say, I won't say it was a big argument,
but it was something along the lines of obstinate is
the word that comes to mind. Some people just want
to argue. And he said, well, I'd just like to
make a tough one. I said, listen, don't make it
(12:00):
any tough around me than it already is, because it's
kind of tough enough standing here at the counter, talking
to people every day that just don't want to listen.
You know, it was a real conversation. Time counts in
an oil change, mileage counts in an oil change. Operating
environment counts in an oil change, type of vehicle, type
of oil used, quality, of oil used, quality of filter used.
(12:21):
It's not just this generic maintenance item. It isn't. There's
way too much going on in an engine today. The
amount of heat, the amount of activity, the way they
the way they change the mission controls, variable valve timing,
lubrication is somewhere down around fourth or fifth on the
list of what engine oil does as far as from
(12:43):
a critical point of view. And in the case of
this Toyota, you know it just it took a little
bit of explaining to get him to understand that. I
think I finally drove the point home because he left
with his tail between his legs, truthfully, and that wasn't
my joy. I just want you to understand why it's important,
(13:04):
and that's really the key here. So we dealt with that.
This week, Jeff brought in his new Mustang just gonna
love me telling this story on air. Very good customer, Jeff.
He purchased a brand new Ford Mustang GT. I've got
to tell you, Ford got it right. This car is
so neat. You know, you can actually change the sounds
(13:27):
of the exhaust through controls on the dashboard. It changes
the baffling in the exhaust, so you can go from
something loud and verbally to quiet and smooth. It's just,
you know, it's what every kid. You couldn't put a
seventeen year old in this car. They would wrap themselves around.
The Tree Factory horsepower on this car was four hundred
and eighty two I think four hundred and eighty three
(13:48):
horsepower out of the gate. So you've got to sit
there and say, wow, it's Ford really got it right,
and it's impressive the horse power you can buy that.
You have to think to yourself, this car would probably
outperformed ninety percent of the cars from the quote unquote
muscle car era. And it just does it so easily.
It's just absolutely flawless. You gotta love it. So Hey,
(14:12):
coming up next is Uncle Steve. Before we get there,
I just want to make sure I get this in
this hour. If anybody has Tom and I were talking
about it. We're trying to build an Uncle Steve library
of interviews, and we know a lot of you record
the show and you've got archives of the show. If
anybody has Uncle Steve interviews, we would really love it
if you could let us know. Drop us a line
(14:35):
ron at cardoctorshow dot com and say Hey, I've got
this for Uncle Steve. How do I get it to you?
Because we'd like to add it to our library. We've
got somewhere between three and five interviews that we're sorting through,
and we know there's more out there, and we're just
thinking if anybody's recorded anything over the past, over the
past twenty five years that you know, it would be
kind of neat to have it, so just we appreciate that.
(14:57):
So if you've got an Uncle Steve interview, by all means,
if you could get to us, we would we would
be grateful. Chat GPT this one's just for fun. I
had this idea the other day. I was sitting down
eating eating dinner, thinking and I said, I wonder what
else you could do with chat GPT. What is sort
of some of the you know, different things you can
(15:19):
do with it. You know, you can take chat GPT
dot it's chatgbt dot com, which is artificial intelligence, which
is AI. You can have AI look for the car
of your dreams. I did it. I was I was
goofing around, I was giving it cars. I had it
looked for a thirty two four to five window coop
and it found five of them for sale around me
(15:39):
that I that I wasn't able to find by other means.
It's interesting, right, you could take that until it's sixty
nine Camaro SS three ninety six, three seventy five horse
car and it finds a bunch of them. It's it's
just something for fun. If you want to play with something,
use chat GPT chatgbt dot com and see what that is. Also,
(16:00):
I should point out if you go out to All
Data dot com and click on the resources tab and
go down to the newsletter, my article about improving your
repair shop efficiency regardless of size is out. It's going
to be a three part series. Part two comes out
this month's or next this month or next month, and
then part three will be after that. But from my
repair shops out there, it's a basic article about, you know,
(16:24):
my perspective on how to look at a repair shop
and how to make your shop more efficient. And that's
really the name of the game. It becomes a numbers
thing and just some of the things that I've done
over the years. So that'll that's in the current month's
edition of All Data News. Get out to All Data
dot com and click on the resources tab and you
will find it there. You know that will do it
(16:46):
for you. So I just wanted to get that off.
I can take that off my list too. Look, I'm
just I'm going through my checklist of maintenance quote unquote
things that I have to do. So coming up next
to his uncle Steve, you know, listen to his words.
Uncle Steve was larger than life to me. You know,
(17:08):
obviously he was my only uncle that I remember from childhood.
He was he was my father's brother. My father had
passed early. You guys know that I've told you that
story before. But Uncle Steve was you know, the World
War Two flying aces we called him, flew sixty three
combat missions, shot down three times, walked home, walked from Stuttgart, Germany.
(17:30):
He was shot down over Stuttgart, Germany, and he walked
from Stuttgart back to Paris. It took him two weeks.
He traveled by night, using the stars as a guide,
and you know, he got back through American lines. He
said it was a bit of a chore. I don't
know if he talks about that in this interview or not.
I know one of his interviews we got up to
talk about it, and it's just a look back from
(17:51):
one of the greatest generation and what they brought to
the world to keep us safe and free. So Uncle
Steve will be next. Like I said, if anybody's got interviews,
we would appreciate them. And here's a Memorial Day tradition.
I thank you for allowing me to step out of
my ordinary, everyday role. I know you guys enjoy this,
and that's part of the reason we still keep this going.
(18:12):
So when we come back, first Lieutenant Stephen and Aanian
reporting for duty, see you. You know, from a personal side,
(18:39):
the next gentleman that we're going to have on for
a conversation. He has been my uncle. Well he'd been
my uncle for all sixty one years and I'm here
on the planet and he's just been a great uncle
and a great inspiration. And I've got to say he's
more of an inspiration. You know. The older I get,
the more I realize what he and his generation like
him and those that have gone before him have accomplished
(19:00):
and given us. And as they say, freedom isn't free,
and listening to him, you'll understand why. As we step
out from being the car doctor talking about fixing cars
and we talk about Memorial Day and all that that entails.
(19:21):
Let's welcome aboard First Lieutenant Stephen and Ayan three thirty
nine Fighter Group, foul Mire, England. Uncle Steve, how are
you today, God love you.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I'm doing well, sir. I'm really doing well and glad
to be here with you talking about once again Memorial
Day and what it's all about. Maybe I thought we'd
coax a little couple of stories out.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
He is.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
I'm sure you have them, you know, Memorial Day, Uncle Steve.
I think it's important. You know, this is the weekend
everybody around goes around saying, hey, have a happy Memorial Day.
That's really not correct, is it.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Oh no, it's there. We have congremat all our babies
and all the things that we went through. But you
said something that made me checkle And I don't know
if you know it, but I have great grandchildren now,
(20:14):
and my great grandchildren asked me, Grandpa, what did you
do during the war? And I used to tell them, well,
I climb into my rolls was about five o'clock in
the morning, far over Germany and chase a bunch of
Germans and a full squegger's. Yes, but that's in effect
(20:40):
what it was.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Well, you know, as they get older, Uncle Steve, the
older they get, the smarter you will become, you know,
because that's that's really how it works. Because I think
for your great grandchildren at their age, it's hard to comprehend.
I mean, listen, I'm sixty one. It's hard for me
to comprehend your generation. And what all the generations that
(21:02):
march off to war do? Uh you know, to put
it all on the line.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Well, you know, you you just said it that it's
hard for anybody, no matter whether they were in a
war or not, unless you you don't know what it's like,
unless you fly and feel and shoot. Has the flat
coming up back there? Now, this isn't a picture. This
(21:27):
is a broacher still being flowed thrown up from the ground.
And boy, when you fly over that, everything in your
body fuckers up. You know, you're eating the fair follicles
on your arms collapsed because you don't want to get hurt.
And yeah, it's it's a it's a different feeling. And
(21:53):
I'm very fortunate, you know, we still have our reunions.
In fact that I think we're the only World War
two outfit that's still our meets every year and we
have our reunions there. This year will be in Milwaukee
and we will have an air show. We would have
(22:17):
a couple of Peak fifty ones, a couple of Pet
seventeens and the fellows come up and the air barracks.
Last year I flew in a back seat of the
Peak fifty one again, which is a thrill.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Yeah, what was that? What was that like to be?
Speaker 4 (22:36):
That was at the World War Two Museum in the
New Orleans. They invite me down there. They had a
World War Two air show every year abound September or October,
and I was invited down there, and they invited me
to the back seat of a P fifty one and
(22:57):
we did a couple of slow rolls and I was
nice hanging by your seat.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
And I'm sure you wanted to grab the stick of course.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Yeah, well we all the things. They didn't have one
for me. I guess right right, I'm.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Sure you wanted to. I remember a couple of years ago,
you were back up here in North Jersey, down at
Teeterborough Airport when they had the you know, uh B
seventeen there. Yeah, and they realized, you know, you had
flown and they took you up into the cockpit and
you were explaining the cockpit to them, and it was
it was. It was a great conversational exchange about you know,
(23:33):
from from old to new, so to speak about here's
how this plane worked and here's what it did. And
they listened very very intently to each and every word
as you dispensed it.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
You know, you were talking about the mechanics and you
know airplanes, well we were you had age, you know,
World War two, over twenty years old. We were a
little about cars. You know. When I flew in combat,
(24:03):
three months before I went the combat, I flew full
of reconnaissance. I flew practice every airplane you could imagine,
every plane but the P fifty one. When I got
as a combat, I had one hour flying time in
the P fifty one, and that's when I got hit
(24:24):
by antiocha fire and had to bear out into the
North Sea. So I threw that airplane, which they say
you can't five more than five minutes without oil. Well
I flew it for forty five, forty five minutes losing
oil away. And my buddy who was escorting me, he
(24:46):
saw me violently rocking in the rings and he says,
what are you doing. I said, I'm lubricating the engine.
I was trying to get the oil from the sump
upon the engine war a sidewalls so that you know,
and it worked.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
I mean, yeah, so when you went on that first
combat mission, you had one hour of flying time and
off you went.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Yeah. Well the result was we did survive because of
my ability to handle the airplane. And I was in
a war for an hour and a half right the
freezing water. The week before we lost one pot. He
was down on that water for six minutes and he
(25:31):
said it is to come to the cold temperatures. When
I was able to arrive, because when I got into
the water, I just did nothing but exercise, moved my
arms and legs and kept going. And that's what kept
me going.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
How did you have the foethought, Uncle Steve? I mean,
my gosh, you're you're nineteen twenty years old, your first
combat mission, You've been shot down, You're in the English Channel,
freezing cold. There's there's high seas, right, what was it
ten foot seeds. They weren't going to send and rescue.
And here you are hanging onto a donut like a mouse,
onto a life preserver like a mouse, hanging on to
a donut, and and you know what was going through
(26:10):
your mind at that moment.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
I was playing. You never heard a guy plays a
hard in his life.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
But what the other part of that story is, well,
I was rescued by the AIRCA rescue flying boat. The
pilot saw worked by situation was and you knew I
couldn't survive. And so even though there was ten foot
seas he landed his airplane on that water, came over.
(26:44):
They pulled me up to the side of the plane.
They couldn't be threw me into the airplane because I
was a war orog and a mind sleeper that was
there in the area came over and they took me aboard.
And these guys when it's look off, they crashed the plane.
The pontum came off, and they had to be rescued themselves.
(27:09):
So what I'm saying is, you know, everybody was risking
their lives for each other without even thinking about it.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Because that's the situation we were in. We had to
do that.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
And this is what's wrong. Now. What we do is
what we had of a war, we don't resolve it.
We have a ceasefire. Everybody says, Okay, it's over, but
it's not right.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
So what you're saying is, let's go finish it and
get it over with.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
You know, you'll have to go to the end. My
rast vision I had of Berlin were smoke coming up
from the rubble up to twenty five thousand feet, Flames
were up to five thousand feet, and the uh Blin
(28:01):
was nothing but a sea of rubble and the only
thing that you could see was it we rule valley
and that was where the subway, the under the Linden
had collapsed, and you could see that. And that was
my vision that I still have to this day of Berlin.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Of that's how the of that's how we've got to
finish it. Let's finish it.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
When you had that kind of devastation when the war
was over, who is who are our best friends now?
The Germans?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Right, because they wanted us to rebuild them.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Well, because we went in and after we defeated them,
we helped their economy and we helped them to grow.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yep, yep, Uncle Steve, it's it's it's you know, truer
words are never spoken. We enjoy you each and every year.
I've got a minute left. What would you like to
tell the listeners to remind them of what this weekends about.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Well, just remember one thing. Freedom is not free.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And someone made a sacrifice for us to be here
today and we should appreciate it. Yep, absolutely, Uncle Steve,
God love you, keep you safe, and then we hope
to talk to you again next year, same time.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Twenty six years.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah, twenty six years on radio. Yeah, remember when I started.
It just seems like yesterday. So I'll have some stories
on my own, Uncle Steve. I'll talk to you during
the week, and you take good care of yourself.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Thank you, everybody, take care.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
You're welcome. Ron and any and the car doctor eight
five five five six zero nine nine zero zero. We're
coming back right after this, I think, And Tom, I
(29:56):
want you to mark that interview as Uncle Steve's last.
I think that was his last interview. And I think,
you know it's funny, right, It just brings back a
flood of memories inside of me. As you can imagine,
I just start to think about growing up with Uncle Steve.
But I remember in one of his interviews and even
in conversation with him, he would talk about the losses
(30:19):
that just the eighth Air Force in England alone suffered.
He always told me that in his fighter group, the
three thirty ninth, they were stationed at a Foulmere, they
lost two out of every three pilots. He said, it
got to the point where the new guy would show
up and you wouldn't even want to You'd say hello,
but you didn't really want to get to know his name,
(30:41):
because chances are he was probably gone the next day.
He went up for his first mission, and he probably
didn't come back. And he said that went on for
quite a while. And he said one of the most
chilling sights that he recalled was the stacks of foot
lockers being sent home that you know, there was just
(31:01):
just just all the personal effects and they were put
aside for shipping. And I think about that from time
to time. You know what, it makes a bad day
at the shop look pretty darn good. You know, it's
not that bad. Anytime I hear somebody complaining, I go, hey,
nobody's shooting at you, you know, and it's it's not
that bad. So, you know what, we thank Uncle Stephen,
(31:23):
that entire generation and all of our generations since then
that have kept this country safe and free. And we
remember them this Memorial Day. We realize what Memorial Day is.
It's not happy Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a solemn occasion,
and that's what you that's what's really important that you
have to remember. We honor our dead that fought and
(31:44):
protected us and all the wars that this country has had.
So let me pull over and take the last pause.
I'll be back right after this to wind it up. Thanks,
(32:06):
Let's get back to the business of fixing cars. Brian
writes in this is from February, So I apologize this
is three months old. You know, Tom and I were
talking about this at the start of the show today.
We've really got to encourage you guys to call in.
Calling in is the absolute best way we can help
you because it's so difficult for us to keep track
of all the emails and all the messages. You know,
(32:27):
one of the great things about being on social media
is that more people learn about you, and they see
you and they know who you are and what you do.
One of the bad things about being on social media
is that people learn who you are and what you do,
and they want to talk to you there and not here.
So we encourage you to call the show. That's the
whole point of all this. It just makes life easier
(32:48):
for us. And you're going to get your question answered,
You're going to get your problem solved. And you know
as always the phone numbers eight five, five, five six
zero nine nine zero zero, and that number is twenty
four to seven. That number is live to talk to
us direct Saturdays two to four pm Eastern Time. You
can leave a message the rest of the time and
we will call you back to put you up here
(33:10):
in the show. But to do it, it's just it's
a physical impossibility to answer each and every question here
to the point.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
I'd also add, yeah that when people called, nice if
you left the message, because sometimes I'm just looking at
a list of phone numbers that show up on the
call or ID, going okay, let's call these people, and
then some people think it's a scam call and hang
up on me or call me Dirney names.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Yeah, we don't want that, but in any event, we
want to talk to you here real quick. In my
last minute. Brian from d Luth, Minnesota, Here again, I've
got a twenty seventeen Buick Lacrosse that had a service
transmission message pop up on the display. A couple of
days later, it was stating that shifting would stop soon
the check engine light went on. The code was P
zero seven Baker Edward. I took it to a GM dealer.
(33:55):
They said the code is for an update. They took
care of that and the car was good to go.
I've put maybe two hundred and fifty to three hundred
miles out. If the same message as are back along
with the code that was scanned, have you ever heard
of seen of this issue, it'd be a couple of
weeks or so before I can get back to the dealer. Yes, Brian,
that is and they are right in one sense the
P zero seven Baker Edward. There is a preliminary piece
of information out there. GM has come out with a
(34:17):
software update. This is a problem with the vehicles shifter
and if for example, and I don't know if they
explain this to you, but if you're resting your hand
on the shifter in the car and you accidentally touch
the park button without realizing it, it will set that code.
This is an electronics shifter set up, and they're looking
to see what gear is it in. There is also
(34:38):
a procedure after the software is updated. There is a
recalibration and the learn procedure. I would assume the dealer
did that. I would ask that question, but I would
get this resolved and you know, just verify everything they've
done up to this point and get it resolved before
it gets to be bigger, because it could become a
bigger issue. But if you have any questions, call me
(35:01):
Ronalinie and the car Doctor saying reminding everybody till the
next time. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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