🚗💬 This week on Ron Ananian: The Car Doctor 🔧
Ron tackled what really matters in car repair: honesty, method, and smart business.
🛑 "Reasonable Repair" – Don’t throw money at rust buckets. Ron helped a customer with a 17-year-old Mitsubishi realize when it's time to let go—focusing on safety first, not pointless repairs.
🔍 Main Call: 1973 Opel Manta –
Paul’s classic car sputters & stalls. Ron lays out a step-by-step diagnostic plan:
✅ Spark strength
✅ Coil voltage
✅ Fuel pump vacuum test
✅ Tank restrictions
✅ Vacuum/timing check
📏 Diagnosis isn’t guesswork. It’s science + logic = results.
💡 Takeaway:
✔️ Be honest with customers
✔️ Diagnose methodically
✔️ Use slow weeks to sharpen your shop
🗣️ “No car is unfixable—only improperly diagnosed.”
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Ron Anian, I think the mechanic should know everything that
you know about that vehicle, good bit or and different.
I think you should be prepared on a first time
visit for that mechanic to look the vehicle over.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
It's run, the car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's only for like maybe a second or two, and
you're like, golly, you felt like somebody was gonna put
the handbrake on while I was.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Sing in the traffic.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
This is this is while you're driving, Mike, just out
of the blue. 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. If your mechanics giving you a busy signal,
pick up the phone and call in. The garage doors
(00:49):
are open, but.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I am here to take your calls at eight five
five five six nine.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Hundred and now he.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Running.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Before I start with reasonable repair and talk, I want
to talk about reasonable repair. Actually is where I want
to go before I get started, and I just want
to explain a situation we had at the shop this week.
And I think it's the right way to go, and
I think it's the responsibility of repair shops to do this,
and you know me, I kind of tell you the
(01:20):
way I think repair shops that operate it just seems
to be I guess I'm what you might call pushy.
So we had a gentleman come in with an eight
Mitsubishi Endeavor. Now there's two problems here. One it's an
almost seventeen year old vehicle, all right. And number two,
(01:42):
it's actually three problems. Number two, it's it's rusting out
to the point that the rust is coming up through
the rockers. When you open the driver's door, you can
see the rust pimples around that portion of the floorboard
that you step on, So you know this thing's got
rust issues. And it's it's not long for this planet.
And number three, it's a Midsubishi. So getting parts for
(02:05):
this the only thing worse in terms of getting parts
for is probably in Asuzu, all right, which has been
out of the market for twenty years, if not longer.
So how do you approach a vehicle like that? And
you have to come up with reasonable repair because I
think I think everything gets thrown out the window when
you're faced with a vehicle like this. It's got sixty
seven thousand miles on it's seventeen eighteen years young, and
(02:29):
it has it just doesn't go far. Was it going
four thousand miles a year? It goes to the grocery store,
church and back home again, and that's it. So and
I think this is the responsibility the repair shop. I
think as I as I explained to Nathan, and I
believe myself to be right that Nathan, We're going to do.
We're going to make sure the breaks are good, the
tires are good, the battery you know, is good. It'll
(02:51):
start because if you get buried too deep at a
vehicle like that, you reach a point of no return.
And even though this was our first time together, he
and I, this is his first service visit with us,
he seemed to really appreciate the fact. And I hope
he did, and I believe he did. When I said
it's time, it's time to get rid of this vehicle,
(03:12):
or you know, to start replacing it. You know you
can tell you stand on the side of the counter,
on the back side of the counter where I've been
for the past ten years. You get to recognize certain
traits and characteristics of people. And Nathan was number one,
I think looking for somebody to tell him, yeah, it's time.
And number two, someone to give him that gentle push
that say okay, what are you waiting for? Because he's
(03:34):
going to be due for tires in the fall. The
tires are a little dry rotted, and for his three
miles this way and three miles that way, he'll be okay.
But I wouldn't take it out on the highway. I
wouldn't go long distance. I wouldn't trust it in all
realistic weather conditions like we would you know, any other vehicle.
I think it's important that shops turned down work when
(03:56):
they're supposed to. I think it's important for shops to say, hey,
you know this isn't worth fixing. This is more appropriately
This money is more appropriately spent doing something else, and
I think you'll make customers that way. I think people
really appreciate that. You know, they come to us as
repair shops like they go to a doctor, and they're
looking for advice as much as they are the repair.
(04:18):
The actual physical fix and reasonable repair is just something
repair shops. I give credit to the ones that are
doing it more and more, and I think more need
to do it instead of just making people numbers and
you know, number seventeen, number twenty, you know, just standing
there just coming up with numbers and throwing out estimates
(04:40):
for ridiculous amounts that on vehicles that just aren't justified.
I think that's wrong. So just a word of caution.
Let's wander over to the phones. Let's go to where
are we going?
Speaker 5 (04:50):
First?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Let's go to Paul in Wisconsin. Paul, Wisconsin, How are
you today, sir? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Pretty good? Ron, thanks for taking a call my problem. Yeah,
I have my dad's nineteen seventy three Opal Manta rally cool.
I'm trying to get that. I'm trying to get that
car running properly. Real Briefly, last year, at the end
(05:15):
of the year, I was driving back from a car
show and the thing started sputtering, bucking. Wanted to stall.
It smoothed out after a few, you know, maybe a
minute or so, and then I proceeded on. I park it.
And I worked on a little bit last fall and
(05:37):
couldn't get it running. It just it wouldn't start and
run properly. And this well, this past spring, like the
last month, I'm at a loss to get to get
this thing running. Properly.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So give me, give me the list. What have you
done to it?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Okay? Uh, I know you hate me. I'm throwing part
that I put a new Weber thirty two slash thirty
six DGV carburetor in it, right, Okay, I put a
new condenser rotor distributor cap and cleaned checked the plugs.
(06:18):
Let's see. That's about it right now.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Okay, I'm going to make you buy tools. But you
like doing that, right, because you like you like tinkering.
It's in your nature.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, I can't help myself.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Okay, So go down to your local ot To parts
store and ask them for a spark tester. Now, the
difference between using a spark tester and the screwdriver you've
been holding upside the spark plug wire to the cylinder
head is because I know that most of the guys
that don't have spark testers tend to use a screwdriver
handle is or a screwdriver with a handle. Is that
(06:49):
when you test for spark in atmosphere, it's less pressure
than what's in the cylinder. Right. The laws of physics
dictate that if you you've done a compression test on
engines in your lifetime. Yes, how much compression did you
get out of an engine one hundred and fifty one
hundred and sixty.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
On this engine, I'm getting around one hundred and twenty Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Is one hundred and twenty psi more than the atmospheric
pressure pushing you down, holding you on the planet.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, So it is it easier for an ignition system
that's designed to operate in one hundred and twenty psi
to operate in fourteen point seven psi, which actually is
atmospheric pressure, by the way, on average, depending upon where
you are, a relation to C level fourteen five, fourteen seven.
So it's easier, right, So using a screwdriver just means
(07:44):
it's got spark. Does it have strong enough spark? Does
the coil have enough power? Does the ignition system have
the ability to produce correctly?
Speaker 5 (07:51):
No?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And understand, and I say this a thousand times. Diagnosing
isn't about what's wrong. It's proving what's right some times, okay,
And you know, you want to know what's good. You
want to know what's good. If you know what, if
you ever came to the shop and you looked around
the shop, or if you watch the videos you start
looking at the videos, look at the walls of the
(08:13):
shop where the equipment's hanging up. Some of it's hanging
up in a very specific procedure, because I would sit
there with a cup of coffee and look at the
wall and go, let's see I did this, And then
I would start to look at the tools. Did I
check vacuum, did I check timing? Did I scan it?
Did I do a fuel injector power balance test? Did
I do this? Did I do that? It's up there
because it jiggles my brain, because our brain tends to
(08:36):
get emotional, and I'm trying to be factual. You dig right,
So I want you to go to a parts house
spend twenty bucks by a spark tester. All right, look
at them. They'll probably be a couple of different choices.
There are some that's just a looks like it looks
like a spark plug with an alligator clip attached to it,
and they work. Okay. I like the black one. There's
(08:59):
a black plastic one out there. It's really simple, and
what it does is you can there's a little graduated
gauge on it that'll show you, you know, ten thousand
volts twenty thousand volts, thirty thousand vaults, and so on.
And you can clip the one end of the alligator
clip to the cylinder head, put the spark plug wire
on the other end, set it for thirty thousand vaults.
A points system in a nineteen seventy two automobile that
(09:22):
things should produce between twenty five and thirty thousand vaults.
You should get a real angry, bluish white spark, all right,
if you want to, if you've got another vehicle in
the household, start playing with it. Always learn how to
use a tool on a good vehicle before you start
using it on a bad vehicle. So you know what
good looks like, right, And let's take spark off the table.
(09:44):
Let's eliminate it, all right. You know a pick a
spark plug, crank it over. If you can get the
engine to run, missing, missing on one cylinder, don't care,
and watch the spark click click click, click, click, click
click click. Is it doing that? Or is it click
click click click click?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
You know? Is it sparking on a consistent basis? All right?
And you'll understand what I mean if you watch it
on a good engine versus the engine you're working on capeche.
So let's let's take spark off the table. We know
how to test that. Do you own a vacuum gauge?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yes? I do?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, let's let's talk about manifold vacuum add idle on
a healthy engine. Manifold vacuum on an older car. Before
we got into variable valve timing and crazy cam overlaps
and all the other things, you typically see sixteen to
eighteen inches a manifold vacuum, right, okay, where's where's manifold vacuum?
(10:43):
If it's lower than sixteen? Why do we have a
restricted exhaust? Do we have an engine that jumped time
for some reason? Do we have a mechanical valve train issue? Right?
Just just starting to break it down, and then let's
talk about the other the last part of it. Fuel pressure,
(11:05):
all right? You know where where is fuel pressure on this?
All right? And and I'm guessing that you were able
to prove that it had fuel to the carburetor.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yes, there's a steady stream going into the carburetor. The
carburetor bowl is being filled. I get a good squirt
of fuel into the carburetor. You know, when I pushed
on an accelerator pedal.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
But you're going to tell me it feels like it's
running out of gas, right, yes, okay? So have you
have you done a vacuum pull test on the mechanical
is a mechanical fuel pump? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Right?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay? Have you done a mechanical pull test? Hook your
vacuum gauge up to the inlet of the fuel pump.
Crank the engine, over watch the vacuum gauge. What does
it do? Right? And if that passes? How about what's
in the tank? Could the sock in the tank? You know,
there should be a filter in the tank on the
(12:05):
end of the tube, right right. Could we have a
clog sock? Could we have a sock that's collapsed? How
old is that? If that's the original tank set up,
not open since nineteen seventy two, UFA.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I open it up and I cleaned it. That was
probably fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Right, Think about that now, Think about that statement, Paul,
fifteen years ago?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Right?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, you know, listen to me. The hot rod is
new to me. My hot rod is new. I finished
it in twenty ten. Think about what I'm saying. I
finished it fifteen years ago. I've driven it two and
eighty three miles. I need to drive it more. It's
fifteen years old. This is the age where most of
my customers are throwing their cars away, right, you know,
(12:55):
So we get caught up in that. You see the
emotion side. Our brain is kicking in and preventing us.
So I tell you what, Sit sit tight real quick, Paul.
I'm gonna come back and finish up with you. Only
pull over and take this pause. I'm running any in
the car doctor. We'll be back right after this. He
(13:16):
drives that way.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
But when it comes to fixing cars, Ron has car
advice done right eight five five five six zero nine
to nine zero zero.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Here's Ron. Hey, let's uh, Paul, you're still there, sir Paul.
Let's see is Paul there?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah? Can you hear me?
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Yes, sir?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Okay, Let's let's let me just finish up with you. So,
you know, think of it like this. What is an engine?
An engine's a big air pump, air in air out right.
It needs ignition, it needs fuel. Attack each system individually.
How would you approach it? If you could put components
on the workbench in front of you, how would you
(13:55):
test it? Last two thoughts all right, Put a vault
met you own a vault meter, Yes, put a vault
meter on the positive side of the coil. Right, it's
got to have it's got to have a constant twelve
vaults right right, this this engine will sit there and
run correct.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Uh, it'll eventually stall out.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
All right, Well that's good. No, that's good brother. All right,
all right, let's let's let's get it to the point
where it runs. Do you do you own a setup
where you can feed propane to the engine to see
if it's a fuel issue. No, all right, you know
you may want to do that. There's a propane and
Richmond tool out there. It's made by OTC Tools. It's
in the fifty to one hundred dollars range. I forget
(14:39):
the part number seventy five fifty nine or seventy five
sixty something like that. They used it on Chrysler Lean
burn systems back in the eighties. We use it as
a propane and Richmond tool. We actually drive cars around
on the parking lot when they have fuel pumps because
Ron doesn't like pushing cars and uh, you know it works,
you know, feed it an alternate fuel source. But let's
put a vault meter on the positive side of the coil.
(15:00):
Do you have a constant twelve vaults? If that car
shuts off and it's got twelve vaults on the meter,
guess what, it's not an ignition switch. And I just
proved another component I can tick off the list. Is okay,
makes sense?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And then and then last thing. How about if we
take a five gallon gas can or a gallon gas can,
sit it on the floor next to the car, on
the ground next to the car, run a hose out
of the can up to the inlet of the fuel pump.
Let the fuel pump draw from the can. Does the
car run? If the car, if the car starts to
(15:35):
run and idols longer and runs, okay, and it doesn't
sputter and it doesn't die eventually, you now know the
problem is somewhere in the metal line going back to
the tank to the sock.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Right right between the fuel pump and the tank.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Right it's between the fuel pump and the tank. If
you're going to be a mechanic, and this is this
is Obi Wan talking to you, my son. All right,
this is the speech I give every guy I've ever hired.
If you want to be a mechanic. Your job is
to get to the middle of the problem as fast
as you can so you know which direction to go.
This way, this way. You don't have to test everything.
(16:09):
If you want to test everything, go ahead. But when
the clock's ticking and customers are counting on you to
fix their car efficiently, you got to get to the
middle of the problem. You got to get to the
eighty percent tile. And you're not even in the fifty
percent tile. You got to get to that eighty percent
tile where you can start to say, well, I know this, this,
this is good. Let's start to focus on that. All right.
Remember this it's only a car, and when it came
(16:30):
out of the factory it worked perfectly, so it's not unrepairable.
I don't believe in the unrepairable automobile. All right. You
got to think outside the box on this one. On
that's all. And don't let the age fool you, and
don't assume anything. And don't assume because I checked it
fifteen years ago, that well it must be okay because
(16:50):
it's only fifteen years. Right, we'll both laugh about that
one for a while. So yeah, all right, all right,
so be very welcome. Let me know what happen, and
I'm kind of curious.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, and I'm gonna touch base with you again, all right, if, if,
and when I get this figured out.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yep, that's it's it's it's just numbers and physics. Good
luck to you. You're very welcome, Paul. So yes, sir,
You're very welcome. Uh, you know, this is this is
just simple stuff, guys. It's it's not hard to do.
It's a matter of going step by step by step
and you know, taking it from there. So just uh,
(17:29):
just be mindful of that. I often think about all
the cars I fixed in my lifetime that seemed impossible
to fix, and they, you know, they were just tedious
and there was always a logical answer, and that logical
answer always came back. And I reminded you that as
impossible as some cars were to fix, nothing's impossible. It
(17:51):
just takes consistency and effort. And that's just that's just
the bigger part of it. So anyway, let's pull over,
take a pause. When we come back, we're gonna go
writ the BJ and I appreciate you sitting there waiting
for us, and we'll talk about your twenty jeep Grand
Cherokee I'm ronning Indie in the car doctor eight five
five five six zero nine nine zero zeros the phone number.
We'll be back right after this.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Hey, Hey, hey, Ronnie the card doctor. We are back
and I understand we've got a phone issue right now.
So let's uh, let's wait for the phones to come
back in the meantime. It's okay, I want to tell
you this story anyway. Sometimes life in an order repair
shop it's it's it's about the inflexible. It's about being
adjustable because you never know what's going to come in.
It really is like a box of chocolates sometimes and
(19:06):
you're never quite sure what's going to happen. Every week.
I look at the numbers in the shop and it's
kind of funny how we You know, every business has
to you have to sell so many cheeseburgers in a
week in order to justify being there and to be
able to afford to be there, and it's interesting to
see how you get there sometimes. Well, this was a
(19:27):
four day work week, right because it was Memorial Day week.
We were off on Monday from a Memorial Day and
so we only had Tuesday through Friday. But yet we
still made our number in four days, which makes me
wonder why we're only open four days a week every
week anyway, But that's another story. And it was really
kind of crazy because when I broke it down beyond that,
we only saw fifteen cars this week. It was a
(19:50):
quiet week. I think a lot of people were away,
a lot of shops were telling me this, And it
was okay because listen, you know it's okay to have
a slow week once in a while. You know, you
don't want to see it, obviously for a consistent basis.
You want to sell your cheeseburgers, but you know it's
okay to have a slow week in the sense that
it gives you a chance to take a breath and
all those little things that you want to do around
(20:10):
the shop and that you have to do and that
are important to do. But when I broke the numbers
down even more, we slowly came back to we only
did eleven cars because four of those cars, two of
them were shop vehicles that we worked on. One of
them was we changed the oil on carpenter Bob's van,
(20:31):
and that's because he was five thousand miles over and
I got to yell at him, which was good for him,
and the other was I think Danny serviced his Toyota.
So we really only did eleven vehicles this week, and
yet the shop sold enough cheeseburgers in four days. And
it really makes you sit there and go, huh. You know,
(20:55):
it's funny how you get to that number. It's funny
how you do what you're supposed to do each every
week that it makes you justify why you're there. And
I guess the point of what I'm trying to say
is if you're a repair shop owner and you're having
a slow week, you can't look at, oh my gosh,
I'm having a slow week. We're gonna go out of business.
What do we do next? Because if you're thinking like that,
(21:17):
then you're thinking about it wrong in my opinion. You know,
you have to be aware of what your numbers are,
you have to be aware of what you're trying to achieve,
and you have to also embrace the downtime. We actually
we were talking about this a couple of weeks back.
I was having dinner with one of my old employees
and Chris and I were kicking it around and he
brought up the subject of how he's trying to help
(21:40):
another shop that he trains at because he's training for
the Automotive Training Group and he's teaching classes on you know, mechanics,
but he's also he still loves to manage a shop.
I think that's his second his second fiddle, so to speak.
And he explained to me how he was telling the
shop owner that he's trying to teach a efficiency too.
(22:01):
How I closed for a week once, oh somewhere, I
guess a good twenty three years ago, because we wanted
to make changes in the shop. And we made changes
in the shop, and we had the electrician come in,
and we rewired a few things, and you know, we
move toolboxes around, and we spent a week redesigning the
shop floor pan and it paid dividends because we were
(22:26):
able to work more efficiently and we were able to
do everything we were supposed to do when we were
supposed to do it. And you know, that's that's part
of what ought to repair is. It's not just the
constant grind of banging away working on cars, standing at
the fender trying to get something to go. It's how
efficient are you? I actually enjoy the quiet weeks sometimes
(22:49):
more because I finally get to do all those little
things that I want to do to the point now
where i've done in recent years. And I will do
this and I suggest you try this too, and whatever
you're doing in life to make yourself, you know, happy
and fixed cars is schedule, service, schedule, maintenance, schedule, adding
some electrical outlets, and you'll be surprised how much better
you feel because you feel like you're taking things off
(23:10):
the list, as I call it's it's just that important.
So in four days we did eleven cars and we
made the number. It doesn't always have to be about
craziness and hecticness and go, go go. It doesn't always
have to be like that. I want to talk about
Josh for a minute. Josh is a regular customer to us,
(23:33):
and he's got a ninety six F two fifty. He's
got a ninety six f two fifty that he purchased
new out of Texas, and you know he, I don't know,
he did a few things to it. But you know
what I understand from Tom that it looks like the
phones are back. So let's go to BJ and I'll
(23:54):
talk about Josh and his F two fifty later on
BJ with his twenty grand Cherokee, BJ are you there?
If I am, Hey, there, you go look at that.
Hey it worked? So yeah, technology, I know, if I
talked long enough, i'd boor somebody to death at the
phone company and they'd come back to life. Sorry, how
can I help you, sir? What's going on?
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Well, it's got the three point six pentastar the cams
field right, So now they're it's under warranty, thank god. Right,
So they're replacing the cams and a bunch of other
things in the head. But my question, one of my questions,
is they don't seem to be going to do anything
(24:31):
about cleaning the oil pan and checking the oil pump
or replacing the oil pump or anything else. And that's
my question. What how extensive should they go? They say,
there's nothing they can see, but how much can you
without taking oil pans?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
You know, normally I would ask how many miles are
on this? I'll ask. I don't think it's going to
change my answer.
Speaker 6 (24:52):
But go ahead, forty five five?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
You know, I would cut open the oil filter. I mean,
that's going to have a cartridge in between the valley
of the heads. Anyway, I would take that filter out
and look at it. Is there any metal in the
Is there any metal in the pleats? If there's If
there's metal in the pleats of the oil filter, brother,
there's metal everywhere. So how do you not take it
apart to clean it? Well? It used to be we
(25:18):
used to say that, if you know, an engine component
failed here pointing to the front of the engine, logic
would dictate the oil carried it here pointing to the
back of the engine. That would be consistent. I would
at least be curious. I would want to drop the pan.
I would feel really good about it if I took
(25:41):
a couple of rod caps off, if I saw those
signs of scoring, if the bearing surfaces were all I'm
going to use the word pristine, and I don't use
that word lightly or often. But if the if the
rod bearings were all pristine and looked good, Okay, I'm
fine with just doing cams up top and putting it
together and then maybe doing an early oil change, maybe
(26:02):
doing an oil change at five hundred miles again, inspecting
the oil filter pleats. But you know, how much more mind,
how much more warranty has left on this? Is it
a fifty thousand mile warranty, a sixty thousand mile warranty.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
It was eighty four hundred thousand.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Okay, so you still have time? Yeah, right now. Engines
are funny and dealerships are funny. Have they seen this
failure before? Is my first question? And that's the they've.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Got two other vehicles setting in the lot. They can't
get the cams right.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
And have they Have they repaired it this way before
and been successful?
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (26:43):
I don't know that.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
And you know, part of you got to realize part
of what the dealership is up up against is they're
up against the manufacturer, and you're you're running into the
culture of repair. You're running into what's Chrysler's philosophy. Because
I as much as manufacturers say they want you to
have more miles and more smiles in your car, I
(27:04):
don't think they care. You know what they want you
to do, come back and buy another car, just saying
So I tell.
Speaker 6 (27:12):
Them, what do I say to them? Gonna convince them
that they at least want to pull the oil filter pad?
I mean, just tell them, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Listen, listen, tell them, tell them you and I spoke.
They're gonna go, who's hey? But I don't know. Maybe
every once in a while I run into somebody that goes, oh, wow,
you're that guy. Yeah, and listen, it's it's not that
I'm a genius at this. I just try to apply
lot logic and common sense.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Well, I'm just gonna say it seems to me like
that's common sense.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I mean, right, if there's if there's metal in the
oil filter, then there's metal everywhere, right, And how can
we not do this? And at that point, if they say, well,
there's metal in the oil filter, but there's nothing we
can do about it, then I would ask to speak
to In the old days, we would hold it a
fuel rep or a customer service rep for the vehicle manufacturer. Yeah,
and you know, let's see what they have to say. Now,
(28:00):
if you can get them to sign off on it
and say, hey, we'll give you an extra you know,
two years of warranty and warranty at two one hundred
and eighty thousand miles, great, Yeah, but it would it
would just seem logical because car companies are funny. They'd
rather take it apart three times than take it apart
once and fix it.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Why no, And they they told me a price, what
this was going to cost.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Right, Oh yeah, I'm sure this is a five six
thousand dollars repair if you were if it was being
done as a cash job.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
Yeah, well they quoted me almost ten okay, And I
asked them, why don't you just replace the engines because
that also they've given me a rental that Chryst is
going to pay for right, nine dollars a day.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Ever, do you remember dating? DJ? Remember what dating was like?
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Right?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And after a while you figured out what that person
was like, and if you liked them, you're stuck around
and if you didn't, they were out. This is like dating, brother,
They're showing you who they are. Yeah, right, and you
get you know what, maybe you let them put it
back together and you get rid of it. And I
hate to say it like that, but it's and you'll
become one of those I'll never buy another Chrysler again people. Ye,
(29:12):
all right, I'll leave you with this. Tell them what
Chrysler stands for. You're ready. You're ready. Company highly recommends
you start learning engine repair. I gotta go, all right,
all right, kiddle, be well, good luck to you. I'm
running any in the card. Doctor. We're back right after this. Hey,
(29:43):
let's go on over and talk to Lynn and Maryland. Lynn,
welcome to the card doctor. How can I help?
Speaker 7 (29:47):
Thank you, Thank you. I'm trying to find out if
I may have gotten ripped off. I had started my car,
at least I think I started it, because that's what
they think that I didn't do, and I was backing
on of my driveway. My steering wouldn't work, and my
brakes were really hard. So I stopped it in that
place and my son said, we'll leave it sit for
(30:09):
a half hour, and I started it back up no problem. Oh,
and then on the dash I forgot to say. On
the dash, I had the electric power steering light with
the exclamation mark on. But I don't believe I saw
any other warning lights on. You know when you have
the key turned and you'll see lights. I don't believe
there was any other lights. I did take a picture
of it. So then I started it back up and
(30:31):
pulled back up in my driveway, and I was afraid
to drive it to the dealership because I didn't want
to lose brakes or steering, So I when I did
turn it back on and pull it in the driveway,
there was back in the driveway there was no problems,
started right up, and when the tow truck came, he
started it right up and drove it down the driveway
and positioned it to tell it. When I got to
(30:54):
the dealership, they said that there was no code that
they could look up, as well as that it was
my alternator. Does that sound I had no, absolutely no
problems with my car prior to that, except and they're
saying that I just didn't have it turned on.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
So well, so you're and if you think about it,
then you're saying two different things to me if the
alternator had failed. Right, So let's let's let's play the
scenario out. You came home from wherever you were, You
parked the car in the garage or the driveway, It started,
meaning the battery had enough power, and you started down
the driveway and the car stopped.
Speaker 7 (31:34):
Well, this car, well the car. I couldn't use my
steering and I couldn't.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Use my right.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
But I'm saying the car you came back from somewhere,
whether you know whether whether the car died on Tuesday
and you came back from somewhere on Monday, you still
came back from somewhere, parked the car in its parking spot,
and it restarted the next time you went to start it,
and it moved down the driveway, but then the steering
and the brakes got hard. You turned off the key
and let there and you you know, you went through
(32:01):
what you did with the tow truck and so forth.
It's not logical to me in my mind that the
alternator was bad because the battery had enough of a
charge in it to start the car.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
That doesn't make any sense. Now, could you have not
started the car or could the car have stalled? And
you know, listen, we all get a little confused when
cars stall. They do funny things. And did you did
you put it back in park? Or once the steering
felt tight, you just stopped what you were doing and
shut the key off and walked back in the house.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Right.
Speaker 7 (32:34):
Well, they're thinking, because there was no code whenever they
put it on the machine, that maybe I didn't have
the car on. Maybe i'd put it and you know,
reverse and was backing out with the key parsially on
or something like that.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Do you have a is your driveway a downhill or
a slant?
Speaker 7 (32:51):
It's downhill, yeah, so it would have gone down, so
it would.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Have gone, it would have gone down on its own
right right.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
But me being able to started again and then the driver.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Again rights no problem. That doesn't make any sense to me.
So I think it's a case of if you've been
going to these guys for a while, you gotta trust
their judgment. They were the attending physician, but watch them
in the future may be a warning sign of what's
to come. I wish I could give you more, LN,
but it's it's just a it's just a lot of
different information, So start to start to keep better track.
(33:23):
I appreciate the call eight hundred and five eight five
five five six nine nine zero zero running any of
the card doctor. I'll be back right after this. So
(33:46):
I want to tell you a story about Josh real
quick before I go today. So Josh, longtime customer of
the shop, purchased a ninety six f two fifty seven
point three liter power stroke diesel And you go why,
But there's actually a reason. It's a Texas truck, absolutely
spotlessly clean. The hood latch still has the is still anadized,
(34:07):
it still has the gold look to it, and the
undercarriage of the truck has no rust, no rot. And
I know why he did it, and I asked him,
but he told me the story that I knew the
answer to. He said, ron because it's it's just too
nice of a truck, you know, higher mileage, one hundred
and sixty thousand miles. I think it had one repaint,
but you can see that the truck had really good
care and it came from a good environment, and the
(34:27):
chassis just held up so well over the years. And
my point becomes, as Josh said, as I say, sometimes
the older technology is just as good as the newer,
maybe better, because we understand it. It's easier, it's more clear,
it's more concise. The problem is getting parts, and Josh
is running into that and I'm helping them source parts
(34:49):
right now for it. So if you're thinking of buying
a vehicle, maybe look for something older, something that's a
little more clearly defined in terms of what goes bad,
what goes wrong, and just maybe you look for something
in a southern state. Till the next time, I'm not
an andy in the card doctor reminding you the mechanics
aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
See, Yeah,
Ron Anian, I think the mechanic should know everything that
you know about that vehicle, good bit or and different.
I think you should be prepared on a first time
visit for that mechanic to look the vehicle over.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
It's run, the car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's only for like maybe a second or two, and
you're like, golly, you felt like somebody was gonna put
the handbrake on while I was.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Sing in the traffic.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
This is this is while you're driving, Mike, just out
of the blue. 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. If your mechanics giving you a busy signal,
pick up the phone and call in. The garage doors
(00:49):
are open, but.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I am here to take your calls at eight five
five five six nine.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Hundred and now he.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Running.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Before I start with reasonable repair and talk, I want
to talk about reasonable repair. Actually is where I want
to go before I get started, and I just want
to explain a situation we had at the shop this week.
And I think it's the right way to go, and
I think it's the responsibility of repair shops to do this,
and you know me, I kind of tell you the
(01:20):
way I think repair shops that operate it just seems
to be I guess I'm what you might call pushy.
So we had a gentleman come in with an eight
Mitsubishi Endeavor. Now there's two problems here. One it's an
almost seventeen year old vehicle, all right. And number two,
(01:42):
it's actually three problems. Number two, it's it's rusting out
to the point that the rust is coming up through
the rockers. When you open the driver's door, you can
see the rust pimples around that portion of the floorboard
that you step on, So you know this thing's got
rust issues. And it's it's not long for this planet.
And number three, it's a Midsubishi. So getting parts for
(02:05):
this the only thing worse in terms of getting parts
for is probably in Asuzu, all right, which has been
out of the market for twenty years, if not longer.
So how do you approach a vehicle like that? And
you have to come up with reasonable repair because I
think I think everything gets thrown out the window when
you're faced with a vehicle like this. It's got sixty
seven thousand miles on it's seventeen eighteen years young, and
(02:29):
it has it just doesn't go far. Was it going
four thousand miles a year? It goes to the grocery store,
church and back home again, and that's it. So and
I think this is the responsibility the repair shop. I
think as I as I explained to Nathan, and I
believe myself to be right that Nathan, We're going to do.
We're going to make sure the breaks are good, the
tires are good, the battery you know, is good. It'll
(02:51):
start because if you get buried too deep at a
vehicle like that, you reach a point of no return.
And even though this was our first time together, he
and I, this is his first service visit with us,
he seemed to really appreciate the fact. And I hope
he did, and I believe he did. When I said
it's time, it's time to get rid of this vehicle,
(03:12):
or you know, to start replacing it. You know you
can tell you stand on the side of the counter,
on the back side of the counter where I've been
for the past ten years. You get to recognize certain
traits and characteristics of people. And Nathan was number one,
I think looking for somebody to tell him, yeah, it's time.
And number two, someone to give him that gentle push
that say okay, what are you waiting for? Because he's
(03:34):
going to be due for tires in the fall. The
tires are a little dry rotted, and for his three
miles this way and three miles that way, he'll be okay.
But I wouldn't take it out on the highway. I
wouldn't go long distance. I wouldn't trust it in all
realistic weather conditions like we would you know, any other vehicle.
I think it's important that shops turned down work when
(03:56):
they're supposed to. I think it's important for shops to say, hey,
you know this isn't worth fixing. This is more appropriately
This money is more appropriately spent doing something else, and
I think you'll make customers that way. I think people
really appreciate that. You know, they come to us as
repair shops like they go to a doctor, and they're
looking for advice as much as they are the repair.
(04:18):
The actual physical fix and reasonable repair is just something
repair shops. I give credit to the ones that are
doing it more and more, and I think more need
to do it instead of just making people numbers and
you know, number seventeen, number twenty, you know, just standing
there just coming up with numbers and throwing out estimates
(04:40):
for ridiculous amounts that on vehicles that just aren't justified.
I think that's wrong. So just a word of caution.
Let's wander over to the phones. Let's go to where
are we going?
Speaker 5 (04:50):
First?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Let's go to Paul in Wisconsin. Paul, Wisconsin, How are
you today, sir? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Pretty good? Ron, thanks for taking a call my problem. Yeah,
I have my dad's nineteen seventy three Opal Manta rally cool.
I'm trying to get that. I'm trying to get that
car running properly. Real Briefly, last year, at the end
(05:15):
of the year, I was driving back from a car
show and the thing started sputtering, bucking. Wanted to stall.
It smoothed out after a few, you know, maybe a
minute or so, and then I proceeded on. I park it.
And I worked on a little bit last fall and
(05:37):
couldn't get it running. It just it wouldn't start and
run properly. And this well, this past spring, like the
last month, I'm at a loss to get to get
this thing running. Properly.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So give me, give me the list. What have you
done to it?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Okay? Uh, I know you hate me. I'm throwing part
that I put a new Weber thirty two slash thirty
six DGV carburetor in it, right, Okay, I put a
new condenser rotor distributor cap and cleaned checked the plugs.
(06:18):
Let's see. That's about it right now.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Okay, I'm going to make you buy tools. But you
like doing that, right, because you like you like tinkering.
It's in your nature.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, I can't help myself.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Okay, So go down to your local ot To parts
store and ask them for a spark tester. Now, the
difference between using a spark tester and the screwdriver you've
been holding upside the spark plug wire to the cylinder
head is because I know that most of the guys
that don't have spark testers tend to use a screwdriver
handle is or a screwdriver with a handle. Is that
(06:49):
when you test for spark in atmosphere, it's less pressure
than what's in the cylinder. Right. The laws of physics
dictate that if you you've done a compression test on
engines in your lifetime. Yes, how much compression did you
get out of an engine one hundred and fifty one
hundred and sixty.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
On this engine, I'm getting around one hundred and twenty Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Is one hundred and twenty psi more than the atmospheric
pressure pushing you down, holding you on the planet.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, So it is it easier for an ignition system
that's designed to operate in one hundred and twenty psi
to operate in fourteen point seven psi, which actually is
atmospheric pressure, by the way, on average, depending upon where
you are, a relation to C level fourteen five, fourteen seven.
So it's easier, right, So using a screwdriver just means
(07:44):
it's got spark. Does it have strong enough spark? Does
the coil have enough power? Does the ignition system have
the ability to produce correctly?
Speaker 5 (07:51):
No?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
And understand, and I say this a thousand times. Diagnosing
isn't about what's wrong. It's proving what's right some times, okay,
And you know, you want to know what's good. You
want to know what's good. If you know what, if
you ever came to the shop and you looked around
the shop, or if you watch the videos you start
looking at the videos, look at the walls of the
(08:13):
shop where the equipment's hanging up. Some of it's hanging
up in a very specific procedure, because I would sit
there with a cup of coffee and look at the
wall and go, let's see I did this, And then
I would start to look at the tools. Did I
check vacuum, did I check timing? Did I scan it?
Did I do a fuel injector power balance test? Did
I do this? Did I do that? It's up there
because it jiggles my brain, because our brain tends to
(08:36):
get emotional, and I'm trying to be factual. You dig right,
So I want you to go to a parts house
spend twenty bucks by a spark tester. All right, look
at them. They'll probably be a couple of different choices.
There are some that's just a looks like it looks
like a spark plug with an alligator clip attached to it,
and they work. Okay. I like the black one. There's
(08:59):
a black plastic one out there. It's really simple, and
what it does is you can there's a little graduated
gauge on it that'll show you, you know, ten thousand
volts twenty thousand volts, thirty thousand vaults, and so on.
And you can clip the one end of the alligator
clip to the cylinder head, put the spark plug wire
on the other end, set it for thirty thousand vaults.
A points system in a nineteen seventy two automobile that
(09:22):
things should produce between twenty five and thirty thousand vaults.
You should get a real angry, bluish white spark, all right,
if you want to, if you've got another vehicle in
the household, start playing with it. Always learn how to
use a tool on a good vehicle before you start
using it on a bad vehicle. So you know what
good looks like, right, And let's take spark off the table.
(09:44):
Let's eliminate it, all right. You know a pick a
spark plug, crank it over. If you can get the
engine to run, missing, missing on one cylinder, don't care,
and watch the spark click click click, click, click, click
click click. Is it doing that? Or is it click
click click click click?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
You know? Is it sparking on a consistent basis? All right?
And you'll understand what I mean if you watch it
on a good engine versus the engine you're working on capeche.
So let's let's take spark off the table. We know
how to test that. Do you own a vacuum gauge?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yes? I do?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, let's let's talk about manifold vacuum add idle on
a healthy engine. Manifold vacuum on an older car. Before
we got into variable valve timing and crazy cam overlaps
and all the other things, you typically see sixteen to
eighteen inches a manifold vacuum, right, okay, where's where's manifold vacuum?
(10:43):
If it's lower than sixteen? Why do we have a
restricted exhaust? Do we have an engine that jumped time
for some reason? Do we have a mechanical valve train issue? Right?
Just just starting to break it down, and then let's
talk about the other the last part of it. Fuel pressure,
(11:05):
all right? You know where where is fuel pressure on this?
All right? And and I'm guessing that you were able
to prove that it had fuel to the carburetor.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yes, there's a steady stream going into the carburetor. The
carburetor bowl is being filled. I get a good squirt
of fuel into the carburetor. You know, when I pushed
on an accelerator pedal.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
But you're going to tell me it feels like it's
running out of gas, right, yes, okay? So have you
have you done a vacuum pull test on the mechanical
is a mechanical fuel pump? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Right?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay? Have you done a mechanical pull test? Hook your
vacuum gauge up to the inlet of the fuel pump.
Crank the engine, over watch the vacuum gauge. What does
it do? Right? And if that passes? How about what's
in the tank? Could the sock in the tank? You know,
there should be a filter in the tank on the
(12:05):
end of the tube, right right. Could we have a
clog sock? Could we have a sock that's collapsed? How
old is that? If that's the original tank set up,
not open since nineteen seventy two, UFA.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I open it up and I cleaned it. That was
probably fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Right, Think about that now, Think about that statement, Paul,
fifteen years ago?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Right?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, you know, listen to me. The hot rod is
new to me. My hot rod is new. I finished
it in twenty ten. Think about what I'm saying. I
finished it fifteen years ago. I've driven it two and
eighty three miles. I need to drive it more. It's
fifteen years old. This is the age where most of
my customers are throwing their cars away, right, you know,
(12:55):
So we get caught up in that. You see the
emotion side. Our brain is kicking in and preventing us.
So I tell you what, Sit sit tight real quick, Paul.
I'm gonna come back and finish up with you. Only
pull over and take this pause. I'm running any in
the car doctor. We'll be back right after this. He
(13:16):
drives that way.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
But when it comes to fixing cars, Ron has car
advice done right eight five five five six zero nine
to nine zero zero.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Here's Ron. Hey, let's uh, Paul, you're still there, sir Paul.
Let's see is Paul there?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah? Can you hear me?
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Yes, sir?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Okay, Let's let's let me just finish up with you. So,
you know, think of it like this. What is an engine?
An engine's a big air pump, air in air out right.
It needs ignition, it needs fuel. Attack each system individually.
How would you approach it? If you could put components
on the workbench in front of you, how would you
(13:55):
test it? Last two thoughts all right, Put a vault
met you own a vault meter, Yes, put a vault
meter on the positive side of the coil. Right, it's
got to have it's got to have a constant twelve
vaults right right, this this engine will sit there and
run correct.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Uh, it'll eventually stall out.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
All right, Well that's good. No, that's good brother. All right,
all right, let's let's let's get it to the point
where it runs. Do you do you own a setup
where you can feed propane to the engine to see
if it's a fuel issue. No, all right, you know
you may want to do that. There's a propane and
Richmond tool out there. It's made by OTC Tools. It's
in the fifty to one hundred dollars range. I forget
(14:39):
the part number seventy five fifty nine or seventy five
sixty something like that. They used it on Chrysler Lean
burn systems back in the eighties. We use it as
a propane and Richmond tool. We actually drive cars around
on the parking lot when they have fuel pumps because
Ron doesn't like pushing cars and uh, you know it works,
you know, feed it an alternate fuel source. But let's
put a vault meter on the positive side of the coil.
(15:00):
Do you have a constant twelve vaults? If that car
shuts off and it's got twelve vaults on the meter,
guess what, it's not an ignition switch. And I just
proved another component I can tick off the list. Is okay,
makes sense?
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And then and then last thing. How about if we
take a five gallon gas can or a gallon gas can,
sit it on the floor next to the car, on
the ground next to the car, run a hose out
of the can up to the inlet of the fuel pump.
Let the fuel pump draw from the can. Does the
car run? If the car, if the car starts to
(15:35):
run and idols longer and runs, okay, and it doesn't
sputter and it doesn't die eventually, you now know the
problem is somewhere in the metal line going back to
the tank to the sock.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Right right between the fuel pump and the tank.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Right it's between the fuel pump and the tank. If
you're going to be a mechanic, and this is this
is Obi Wan talking to you, my son. All right,
this is the speech I give every guy I've ever hired.
If you want to be a mechanic. Your job is
to get to the middle of the problem as fast
as you can so you know which direction to go.
This way, this way. You don't have to test everything.
(16:09):
If you want to test everything, go ahead. But when
the clock's ticking and customers are counting on you to
fix their car efficiently, you got to get to the
middle of the problem. You got to get to the
eighty percent tile. And you're not even in the fifty
percent tile. You got to get to that eighty percent
tile where you can start to say, well, I know this, this,
this is good. Let's start to focus on that. All right.
Remember this it's only a car, and when it came
(16:30):
out of the factory it worked perfectly, so it's not unrepairable.
I don't believe in the unrepairable automobile. All right. You
got to think outside the box on this one. On
that's all. And don't let the age fool you, and
don't assume anything. And don't assume because I checked it
fifteen years ago, that well it must be okay because
(16:50):
it's only fifteen years. Right, we'll both laugh about that
one for a while. So yeah, all right, all right,
so be very welcome. Let me know what happen, and
I'm kind of curious.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, and I'm gonna touch base with you again, all right, if, if,
and when I get this figured out.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yep, that's it's it's it's just numbers and physics. Good
luck to you. You're very welcome, Paul. So yes, sir,
You're very welcome. Uh, you know, this is this is
just simple stuff, guys. It's it's not hard to do.
It's a matter of going step by step by step
and you know, taking it from there. So just uh,
(17:29):
just be mindful of that. I often think about all
the cars I fixed in my lifetime that seemed impossible
to fix, and they, you know, they were just tedious
and there was always a logical answer, and that logical
answer always came back. And I reminded you that as
impossible as some cars were to fix, nothing's impossible. It
(17:51):
just takes consistency and effort. And that's just that's just
the bigger part of it. So anyway, let's pull over,
take a pause. When we come back, we're gonna go
writ the BJ and I appreciate you sitting there waiting
for us, and we'll talk about your twenty jeep Grand
Cherokee I'm ronning Indie in the car doctor eight five
five five six zero nine nine zero zeros the phone number.
We'll be back right after this.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Hey, Hey, hey, Ronnie the card doctor. We are back
and I understand we've got a phone issue right now.
So let's uh, let's wait for the phones to come
back in the meantime. It's okay, I want to tell
you this story anyway. Sometimes life in an order repair
shop it's it's it's about the inflexible. It's about being
adjustable because you never know what's going to come in.
It really is like a box of chocolates sometimes and
(19:06):
you're never quite sure what's going to happen. Every week.
I look at the numbers in the shop and it's
kind of funny how we You know, every business has
to you have to sell so many cheeseburgers in a
week in order to justify being there and to be
able to afford to be there, and it's interesting to
see how you get there sometimes. Well, this was a
(19:27):
four day work week, right because it was Memorial Day week.
We were off on Monday from a Memorial Day and
so we only had Tuesday through Friday. But yet we
still made our number in four days, which makes me
wonder why we're only open four days a week every
week anyway, But that's another story. And it was really
kind of crazy because when I broke it down beyond that,
we only saw fifteen cars this week. It was a
(19:50):
quiet week. I think a lot of people were away,
a lot of shops were telling me this, And it
was okay because listen, you know it's okay to have
a slow week once in a while. You know, you
don't want to see it, obviously for a consistent basis.
You want to sell your cheeseburgers, but you know it's
okay to have a slow week in the sense that
it gives you a chance to take a breath and
all those little things that you want to do around
(20:10):
the shop and that you have to do and that
are important to do. But when I broke the numbers
down even more, we slowly came back to we only
did eleven cars because four of those cars, two of
them were shop vehicles that we worked on. One of
them was we changed the oil on carpenter Bob's van,
(20:31):
and that's because he was five thousand miles over and
I got to yell at him, which was good for him,
and the other was I think Danny serviced his Toyota.
So we really only did eleven vehicles this week, and
yet the shop sold enough cheeseburgers in four days. And
it really makes you sit there and go, huh. You know,
(20:55):
it's funny how you get to that number. It's funny
how you do what you're supposed to do each every
week that it makes you justify why you're there. And
I guess the point of what I'm trying to say
is if you're a repair shop owner and you're having
a slow week, you can't look at, oh my gosh,
I'm having a slow week. We're gonna go out of business.
What do we do next? Because if you're thinking like that,
(21:17):
then you're thinking about it wrong in my opinion. You know,
you have to be aware of what your numbers are,
you have to be aware of what you're trying to achieve,
and you have to also embrace the downtime. We actually
we were talking about this a couple of weeks back.
I was having dinner with one of my old employees
and Chris and I were kicking it around and he
brought up the subject of how he's trying to help
(21:40):
another shop that he trains at because he's training for
the Automotive Training Group and he's teaching classes on you know, mechanics,
but he's also he still loves to manage a shop.
I think that's his second his second fiddle, so to speak.
And he explained to me how he was telling the
shop owner that he's trying to teach a efficiency too.
(22:01):
How I closed for a week once, oh somewhere, I
guess a good twenty three years ago, because we wanted
to make changes in the shop. And we made changes
in the shop, and we had the electrician come in,
and we rewired a few things, and you know, we
move toolboxes around, and we spent a week redesigning the
shop floor pan and it paid dividends because we were
(22:26):
able to work more efficiently and we were able to
do everything we were supposed to do when we were
supposed to do it. And you know, that's that's part
of what ought to repair is. It's not just the
constant grind of banging away working on cars, standing at
the fender trying to get something to go. It's how
efficient are you? I actually enjoy the quiet weeks sometimes
(22:49):
more because I finally get to do all those little
things that I want to do to the point now
where i've done in recent years. And I will do
this and I suggest you try this too, and whatever
you're doing in life to make yourself, you know, happy
and fixed cars is schedule, service, schedule, maintenance, schedule, adding
some electrical outlets, and you'll be surprised how much better
you feel because you feel like you're taking things off
(23:10):
the list, as I call it's it's just that important.
So in four days we did eleven cars and we
made the number. It doesn't always have to be about
craziness and hecticness and go, go go. It doesn't always
have to be like that. I want to talk about
Josh for a minute. Josh is a regular customer to us,
(23:33):
and he's got a ninety six F two fifty. He's
got a ninety six f two fifty that he purchased
new out of Texas, and you know he, I don't know,
he did a few things to it. But you know
what I understand from Tom that it looks like the
phones are back. So let's go to BJ and I'll
(23:54):
talk about Josh and his F two fifty later on
BJ with his twenty grand Cherokee, BJ are you there?
If I am, Hey, there, you go look at that.
Hey it worked? So yeah, technology, I know, if I
talked long enough, i'd boor somebody to death at the
phone company and they'd come back to life. Sorry, how
can I help you, sir? What's going on?
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Well, it's got the three point six pentastar the cams
field right, So now they're it's under warranty, thank god. Right,
So they're replacing the cams and a bunch of other
things in the head. But my question, one of my questions,
is they don't seem to be going to do anything
(24:31):
about cleaning the oil pan and checking the oil pump
or replacing the oil pump or anything else. And that's
my question. What how extensive should they go? They say,
there's nothing they can see, but how much can you
without taking oil pans?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
You know, normally I would ask how many miles are
on this? I'll ask. I don't think it's going to
change my answer.
Speaker 6 (24:52):
But go ahead, forty five five?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
You know, I would cut open the oil filter. I mean,
that's going to have a cartridge in between the valley
of the heads. Anyway, I would take that filter out
and look at it. Is there any metal in the
Is there any metal in the pleats? If there's If
there's metal in the pleats of the oil filter, brother,
there's metal everywhere. So how do you not take it
apart to clean it? Well? It used to be we
(25:18):
used to say that, if you know, an engine component
failed here pointing to the front of the engine, logic
would dictate the oil carried it here pointing to the
back of the engine. That would be consistent. I would
at least be curious. I would want to drop the pan.
I would feel really good about it if I took
(25:41):
a couple of rod caps off, if I saw those
signs of scoring, if the bearing surfaces were all I'm
going to use the word pristine, and I don't use
that word lightly or often. But if the if the
rod bearings were all pristine and looked good, Okay, I'm
fine with just doing cams up top and putting it
together and then maybe doing an early oil change, maybe
(26:02):
doing an oil change at five hundred miles again, inspecting
the oil filter pleats. But you know, how much more mind,
how much more warranty has left on this? Is it
a fifty thousand mile warranty, a sixty thousand mile warranty.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
It was eighty four hundred thousand.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Okay, so you still have time? Yeah, right now. Engines
are funny and dealerships are funny. Have they seen this
failure before? Is my first question? And that's the they've.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Got two other vehicles setting in the lot. They can't
get the cams right.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
And have they Have they repaired it this way before
and been successful?
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (26:43):
I don't know that.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
And you know, part of you got to realize part
of what the dealership is up up against is they're
up against the manufacturer, and you're you're running into the
culture of repair. You're running into what's Chrysler's philosophy. Because
I as much as manufacturers say they want you to
have more miles and more smiles in your car, I
(27:04):
don't think they care. You know what they want you
to do, come back and buy another car, just saying
So I tell.
Speaker 6 (27:12):
Them, what do I say to them? Gonna convince them
that they at least want to pull the oil filter pad?
I mean, just tell them, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Listen, listen, tell them, tell them you and I spoke.
They're gonna go, who's hey? But I don't know. Maybe
every once in a while I run into somebody that goes, oh, wow,
you're that guy. Yeah, and listen, it's it's not that
I'm a genius at this. I just try to apply
lot logic and common sense.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Well, I'm just gonna say it seems to me like
that's common sense.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I mean, right, if there's if there's metal in the
oil filter, then there's metal everywhere, right, And how can
we not do this? And at that point, if they say, well,
there's metal in the oil filter, but there's nothing we
can do about it, then I would ask to speak
to In the old days, we would hold it a
fuel rep or a customer service rep for the vehicle manufacturer. Yeah,
and you know, let's see what they have to say. Now,
(28:00):
if you can get them to sign off on it
and say, hey, we'll give you an extra you know,
two years of warranty and warranty at two one hundred
and eighty thousand miles, great, Yeah, but it would it
would just seem logical because car companies are funny. They'd
rather take it apart three times than take it apart
once and fix it.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
Why no, And they they told me a price, what
this was going to cost.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Right, Oh yeah, I'm sure this is a five six
thousand dollars repair if you were if it was being
done as a cash job.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
Yeah, well they quoted me almost ten okay, And I
asked them, why don't you just replace the engines because
that also they've given me a rental that Chryst is
going to pay for right, nine dollars a day.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Ever, do you remember dating? DJ? Remember what dating was like?
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Right?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And after a while you figured out what that person
was like, and if you liked them, you're stuck around
and if you didn't, they were out. This is like dating, brother,
They're showing you who they are. Yeah, right, and you
get you know what, maybe you let them put it
back together and you get rid of it. And I
hate to say it like that, but it's and you'll
become one of those I'll never buy another Chrysler again people. Ye,
(29:12):
all right, I'll leave you with this. Tell them what
Chrysler stands for. You're ready. You're ready. Company highly recommends
you start learning engine repair. I gotta go, all right,
all right, kiddle, be well, good luck to you. I'm
running any in the card. Doctor. We're back right after this. Hey,
(29:43):
let's go on over and talk to Lynn and Maryland. Lynn,
welcome to the card doctor. How can I help?
Speaker 7 (29:47):
Thank you, Thank you. I'm trying to find out if
I may have gotten ripped off. I had started my car,
at least I think I started it, because that's what
they think that I didn't do, and I was backing
on of my driveway. My steering wouldn't work, and my
brakes were really hard. So I stopped it in that
place and my son said, we'll leave it sit for
(30:09):
a half hour, and I started it back up no problem. Oh,
and then on the dash I forgot to say. On
the dash, I had the electric power steering light with
the exclamation mark on. But I don't believe I saw
any other warning lights on. You know when you have
the key turned and you'll see lights. I don't believe
there was any other lights. I did take a picture
of it. So then I started it back up and
(30:31):
pulled back up in my driveway, and I was afraid
to drive it to the dealership because I didn't want
to lose brakes or steering, So I when I did
turn it back on and pull it in the driveway,
there was back in the driveway there was no problems,
started right up, and when the tow truck came, he
started it right up and drove it down the driveway
and positioned it to tell it. When I got to
(30:54):
the dealership, they said that there was no code that
they could look up, as well as that it was
my alternator. Does that sound I had no, absolutely no
problems with my car prior to that, except and they're
saying that I just didn't have it turned on.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
So well, so you're and if you think about it,
then you're saying two different things to me if the
alternator had failed. Right, So let's let's let's play the
scenario out. You came home from wherever you were, You
parked the car in the garage or the driveway, It started,
meaning the battery had enough power, and you started down
the driveway and the car stopped.
Speaker 7 (31:34):
Well, this car, well the car. I couldn't use my
steering and I couldn't.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Use my right.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
But I'm saying the car you came back from somewhere,
whether you know whether whether the car died on Tuesday
and you came back from somewhere on Monday, you still
came back from somewhere, parked the car in its parking spot,
and it restarted the next time you went to start it,
and it moved down the driveway, but then the steering
and the brakes got hard. You turned off the key
and let there and you you know, you went through
(32:01):
what you did with the tow truck and so forth.
It's not logical to me in my mind that the
alternator was bad because the battery had enough of a
charge in it to start the car.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
That doesn't make any sense. Now, could you have not
started the car or could the car have stalled? And
you know, listen, we all get a little confused when
cars stall. They do funny things. And did you did
you put it back in park? Or once the steering
felt tight, you just stopped what you were doing and
shut the key off and walked back in the house.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Right.
Speaker 7 (32:34):
Well, they're thinking, because there was no code whenever they
put it on the machine, that maybe I didn't have
the car on. Maybe i'd put it and you know,
reverse and was backing out with the key parsially on
or something like that.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Do you have a is your driveway a downhill or
a slant?
Speaker 7 (32:51):
It's downhill, yeah, so it would have gone down, so
it would.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Have gone, it would have gone down on its own
right right.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
But me being able to started again and then the driver.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Again rights no problem. That doesn't make any sense to me.
So I think it's a case of if you've been
going to these guys for a while, you gotta trust
their judgment. They were the attending physician, but watch them
in the future may be a warning sign of what's
to come. I wish I could give you more, LN,
but it's it's just a it's just a lot of
different information, So start to start to keep better track.
(33:23):
I appreciate the call eight hundred and five eight five
five five six nine nine zero zero running any of
the card doctor. I'll be back right after this. So
(33:46):
I want to tell you a story about Josh real
quick before I go today. So Josh, longtime customer of
the shop, purchased a ninety six f two fifty seven
point three liter power stroke diesel And you go why,
But there's actually a reason. It's a Texas truck, absolutely
spotlessly clean. The hood latch still has the is still anadized,
(34:07):
it still has the gold look to it, and the
undercarriage of the truck has no rust, no rot. And
I know why he did it, and I asked him,
but he told me the story that I knew the
answer to. He said, ron because it's it's just too
nice of a truck, you know, higher mileage, one hundred
and sixty thousand miles. I think it had one repaint,
but you can see that the truck had really good
care and it came from a good environment, and the
(34:27):
chassis just held up so well over the years. And
my point becomes, as Josh said, as I say, sometimes
the older technology is just as good as the newer,
maybe better, because we understand it. It's easier, it's more clear,
it's more concise. The problem is getting parts, and Josh
is running into that and I'm helping them source parts
(34:49):
right now for it. So if you're thinking of buying
a vehicle, maybe look for something older, something that's a
little more clearly defined in terms of what goes bad,
what goes wrong, and just maybe you look for something
in a southern state. Till the next time, I'm not
an andy in the card doctor reminding you the mechanics
aren't expensive, they're priceless.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
See, Yeah,
Host
Ron Ananian
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