Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, opens the hour with Cherokee Heart from Mahwah Ford, discussing how tariffs are beginning to impact car prices—particularly for the Mach-E, Maverick, and Bronco Sport. While Ford is absorbing some of the cost increases, buyers may still see higher prices. Financing remains accessible even for those with fair credit, and although leasing has become more expensive, Ford is offering attractive incentives. Cherokee advises acting now before tariff-affected inventory hits the lots.
In the second half, Ron speaks with Isaac Nielsen of MAHLE Aftermarket about the industry’s shift to R-1234yf refrigerant, now standard in most vehicles since 2013. Unlike older A/C systems, modern machines include refrigerant identifiers and oxygen sensors to ensure at least 98% purity. DIY recharge kits can pose risks due to impure blends or excessive dye and oil. Isaac stresses the need for regular maintenance, including filter checks, hose flushing, and line cleaning. Oxygen sensors naturally degrade with air exposure and must be stored correctly. Neglecting care can result in costly equipment damage.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally
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(00:25):
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start your engines. The Car Doctor is in the garage
(00:47):
and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
The automobile plays such a big part of the American economy.
I think it Teeter totters back and forth between the
second and the third most expensive purchase you're going to
make in a lifetime and deal with in a lifetime,
and it's always fun to talk about. We've had him
back now a couple of times We're always glad to
talk to him. He's our guy on the ground in
(01:11):
the automobile industry. Cherokee Heart. He's the business manager at
Mawall four, obviously in Mahwah, New Jersey. Cherokee. Welcome back
to the car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So right off the bat, how's business.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, hasn't exactly been off the charts, but it's consistent, right, So, and.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You know, you got to make hay while the sun shines,
and you'll have busy weeks and slow weeks. And I
think I think this year, you, like a lot of
other car dealers, are in that everybody's kind of focusing
on high school graduations and college graduations and and that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Right, absolutely. And then you know, the thing's going on
in the economy as well, right changes the temple of
the business.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So, and there's a great segue. Thank you so much.
Tariffs it's on everybody's mind. I can't tell you how
many times that they count. Somebody starts, you know, should
I buy my battery now or should I buy it
in six months? Will the tariffs affect it? Will this
affect it? And then tariffs on the automobiles. How has
that you know, can you speak to how has that
(02:13):
affected the industry and then specifically how has it if
it has affected Ford.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
So it has affected and will continue to affect the
industry itself. Starting on May second, of course, the terriffs
went into the effect. There are some manufacturers that saying
that they're going to be able to absorb the majority
of the terrors and not pass it on to their customers,
but in some ways, should or form, it will get
(02:41):
passed on eventually. There's no way just to you know,
eat on the expenses over time. But one of the
things that we do know is that was Ford, the Machi,
the Maverick, and the Broncos Sport will see a slight
increase in pricing, which is up to possibly two thousand
(03:02):
dollars to the MSRP. However, Ford is starting to absorb
most of the terraffs that are being put on their vehicles,
and the terrafs.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Are affecting vehicles. It's affecting vehicles made outside of the
United States. Correct.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yes, Basically, you have kind of a system where vehicles
come into the US to get certain parts and things assembled.
Then they may go up to Canada or to Mexico
to get other parts assembled there and they come back
into the US because the US do not produce every
(03:43):
single part of a vehicle. You have some parts that
come from China, you have some parts that come from Korea, Canada, Mexico.
As we know, so the parts of the vehicles are
coming from so many different places. There's thousands of parts
that go into building one vehicle, right sure, Therefore they're
coming from so many different places.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
How has I don't know if you'll if you'll know
this answer, but you know, just mawaf FOURD alone, as
big as they are, they've been there forever, very well known,
you know, family dealership in North Jersey. Yeah, how has
the teriffs affected ability to get parts in general? Are
they do? You know if the parts department is struggling.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
The parts department has not seen the full effect just
yet of the terriffs, but they most definitely are bracing forward.
So of course we order as many parts as we
could that are regular parts that we would have shipped
from outside the country. So you get as many parts
as you know that ship from outside the country here
and you just hope and pray that you know, the
(04:49):
business doesn't slow down too much. But we've not been
affected too heavily just yet because it just kind of
started at the beginning of the month.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Do you think that the tariffs have slowed down parts
deliveries are? Do you think that some of the vendors
are playing the game of well, if I wait a
little bit longer, I may be able to charge more
for this part. Do you think that's come into it yet?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, I think that always plays into the parts manager's
hands because they have to keep pricing consistent. Right, So
if they're going to get here with tariffs as soon
as it starts, I'm quite sure the majority of the
folks in the industry are going to go ahead and
set the parts for the future, not just for now,
but also for the future. That way, it stays pretty
(05:33):
consistent across the boards, right. But parts business is doing
pretty well considering the things that are going on.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And I've got to say it affects you know, it's
it's affecting everybody, you know, the independent shops, myself, a
lot of the guys around me as we talk. You
know that that oil filter that you bought on Monday,
by Tuesday may have gone up three percent by Wednesday
five percent and by Thursday you're going, holy can it
costs me double what it cost me on Monday. And
(06:03):
it's happened a few times, and it's a tough option
to deal with. You're always looking at pricing, I will
say that, so you know, that becomes a big issue.
Let's talk about if we can. Let's talk about I'm
out here, I want to buy a new car or
a used car, and I'm going to commem in and
I want to get I don't know if my credit's
(06:24):
any good. What has the credit process changed? You know,
the industry is so upside down right now. Has the
credit gotten more stringent? We're the interest rates right now,
Let's start the conversation there. If I'm coming in to
buy a new car, finance it through forward, what's the
interest rate?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Interest rates right now are depending on certain models, certain
models for to have an interest rate for short term
financing as well as one point nine, which is something
we have not seen for long, and it's been a while.
The banking industry is starting to bounce back. Wear're starting
to see rates in the five percent and every blue moon,
(07:02):
you have a certain you know, credit union or something
for for municipal employees that maybe in the fource that's ridiculous.
But it's great to see that the financial industry is
starting to bounce back with interest rates a lot stronger
than what it has been over the last several years,
(07:22):
even though for the most part it's not been very
much movement and the interest rate reductions what with the
you know government, right, So do.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You see you know, what's the approval rate right now?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You know?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Are you know?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Is it is it? Are we seeing seventy percent get approved?
Eighty percent can approve, fifty percent get approved?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
You know?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Is the And that's always a sign of the economy, right.
How good is everybody's credit? If you were to guess
and put a number on it, what's the.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Percentage majority of the folks that come into biocar are
going to get approved as long as you have a
decent down payment credit history. I've seen credit scores as
low as a five point fifty five forty uh be
you know, approved with a car because they have the
right cash down and they have a decent job history.
(08:13):
People go through struggles. Banks understand that, and we have
select banks that specialize with you know, bad credit or
or I say challenge credit, and they just continue to
build the person's profile based off of their down payment,
their job history, how long they've been able to hold,
(08:35):
you know, a credit card for so long, in decent,
you know, payment history, even though they have late payments
over the last year, have they been consistent and.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
The little things they look at that. So, if I'm
thinking of buying a car in six months, am I
better off buying that car now?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I would say most definitely. Now, if you're buying a
new car, it's the best time to buy it right now.
Why Well, majority of the cars that in inventory right now,
that are in the inventory right now, they have not
had the terrors applied to them. So if you're looking
for that Machi, the Maverick, the Broncos Sport, those are
(09:16):
the three cars for Ford that are going to be
going up for sure. However, all across the boards, majority
of the inventory that are in the dealer's inventories right
now are not you slap with terrors. So therefore, now
is a good time to purchase a vehicle. And I
(09:37):
would most definitely say instead of sitting on it, if
you have the ability to do it, go ahead and
buy now.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
If I'm leasing a car. I'll tell you what. Let's
pull over, take a pause. When we come back, I
want to talk about if I'm leasing a car and
I've got six months to go before my lease expires,
I want to talk about is it worthwhile for me
to have that conversation with my dealer because while they
get me out of the lease early, don't don't give
us the answer yet. Let's come back to it. I'm
run an Indie in the car doctor. I'm here with Cherokee.
(10:03):
Hardy's the business manager over at mawaf Ford in New Jersey,
and we're talking about tariff's cars and everything in between.
We'll both return right after this. Don't go away. So
you're thinking of getting out of your lease early? Hi,
run an Innie in the car doctor. Yep, I'm still
here and I'm here with Cherokee Heart of mawaw Ford.
We're talking about cars and tariffs and all comments and
(10:25):
points in between. When we left and pulled over and
took the pause, we were talking about leasing and when
you lease a vehicle, your your lease comes to an end.
You lease for two and a half years or three
years or whatever the leaf cycle is. And if your
lease ends early Is there a way to get out
of it if you want it to end early? Cherokee?
If I'm leasing a car and it's a three year
(10:47):
cycle or two and a half year cycle, is there
a bigger advantage now than previously or is it the same?
Are there still obstacles in place? If I want to
get out of that lease early? Can I is it?
Does it pay for me to go talk to my dealer?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
If you're several months within the time of your lease
being up, I must definitely say that it's a good
time to go in and inquire. Ford has some aggressive
rebates out there to retain customers, especially for like the
Ford Escape if you're already leasing a Ford Escape, or
even for the f one City, they have aggressive rebase
(11:22):
retaining customers bringing them back in that starts anywhere from
three to six months out ahead of the lease being due.
Almost definitely, I do say that, see the dealer and
leasing right now is for Ford has probably been most
aggressive as it's been in the last two or three years.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Give me, give me it, give us a number. I
want to come in and buy. I want to commit
and buy a new Mustang, a basic Mustang, nothing too crazy,
a V six Automatic transportation. You know, is there is
there a lease number you can give us? What's the rate?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Well, I would tell you this on a Mustang, they're
not the best vehicles, Okay, I would most definitely say
finance that instead. However, if you were to take a
look at.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Now that's a way to back up a second, why
do you say that.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Well, believe it or not, the Mustang's residuals are a
little bit lower than the regular vehicles because that's a
sporty ride, right right, It's a performance car. So the
leasing on those you typically don't have as strong as
an incentive to lease a Mustang. Whenever people do lease
those cars, and this is a rule of thumb, they
(12:33):
use and abuse those cars for three years and then
hand forward back of keys and say whatever I've left
you with, I've left you with, and the vehicle may
not have been taken good care of. So the leases
on a Mustang are typically very few and far between.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Interesting. So you're saying, if I was going to commit
and I'm looking for transportation, you know, I'm a family
of three or four and I need a small family
vehicle and I need to lease. What am I going
to lease?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'm going to bring you right over to a Ford Escape. Okay,
great for a family, you have a family of three
or four. You can fit a car seat in it
pretty well, is very gas efficient, and the payments on
them are pretty good as well average payments these days.
Whenever you put down your taxes first payment and a
(13:22):
few thousand dollars down, you can get a decent payment
between four to five hundred dollars with a four eskate.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
So will the tariffs as they pile on? Will the
tariffs effect lease rates as well as the overall purchase
price of the car?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah? So, whenever you're leasing a vehicle, depending on the
money factor. For the most part, whenever you lease a vehicle,
every thousand is different than purchase of a vehicle, which
on average would say seventeen to twenty dollars. Well, on
a lease every thousand is closer to twenty seven to
(14:00):
thirty two dollars per thousand. That spread per thousand is
going to bump up your payments roughly thirty dollars a month.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Has How has leasing change off the top of your
head in the last three years? Is it more expensive
now than it was three years ago?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Oh? Well, it's changed by almost two to three hundred
dollars on a car now is three years ago?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Is that economy related, tariff related, general cost of doing
business related? If you're gonna put your finger on it,
what would you say?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
It was all of the above. When COVID hit, it
put the automotive market and a buying and from that
point forward, it put the economy in a buying which
put production in the cost of vehicles at an all
time high. And if you go back and look at
the history from twenty nineteen or so, I say, from
(14:53):
twenty twenty to twenty twenty four, there's roughly about a
thirty three percent increase in automobiles from that time. And
that's something that we haven't seen. It's been pretty steady
across the years. But then all of a sudden twenty twenty,
twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, twenty
twenty four. Through that time is a thirty three percent
(15:16):
increase in cost of the vehicles.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
So how critical is the automobile industry to the American economy?
If you were going to put a percentage on it,
where where do we say, are we second or third
biggest expense. Is that Is that a safe Is that
a safe statement?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I would say that's about the second biggest expense. Think
about this. There's profinitely about seventy six billion cars that
were transported between Canada and Mexico. All right, seventy six
billion dollars worth of cars. That's just between Canada and Mexico,
not including here in the US. And then about one
(15:52):
hundred and two billion dollars in auto parts that was,
you know, ship between those two countries to the US.
So I would pretty much say that the automotive industry
overall is probably one of the most important sectors sectors
to the American economy. Wow, you know, And most definitely
(16:15):
it is the second most largest expense that most people
are going to have in our lives, second to their home.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Well, hey, listen real quick. In the last minute and
a half, roughly, I've got twenty grand in my pocket.
I want to come in and buy a used car.
Is that a good number to start with?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Twenty grand is pretty good number to start with. You're
probably looking at somewhere between a four to five year
old vehicle, and you can find them pretty good miles
under fifty thousand miles and you can also venture out
to add a mechanical plan to protect the vehicle as well,
so that you're not having to come out of pocket
unexpected expenses.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
So I've got I've got a ten twelve year old car.
It needs six thousand dollars in repair, eight thousand dollars
in repair, and I've got the eight thousand dollars. Am
I better off buying that buying a used car for
twenty put the eight thousand down in finance? Twelve rough numbers?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Absolutely, because nine times out of ten, if a car
is that old, it may not be worth the money
that you're going to be putting in it.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Right, and then there's always that parts issue. So and
that that kind of leads us back to where we
started this conversation. Absolutely so, Jerich. If the listeners want
more information, give us the website mawafford dot com.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Cool, tend us a email. We'll be happy and help you.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
And if I want to come in and see you
in person, I know they'll see you. You're the guy
with the beard, yes, sir, yeah, all right, hey, listen,
say hi to everybody for me, and thanks for being
part of the show today. I'm ronning any and the
car doctor. We're back right after this. Auto repair is
always changing listeners and it's a constant battle in the
bays to keep up with just sometimes the equipment and
(17:54):
the procedures in the process. Air conditioning in the last
decade has gone through a renovation. You know, it used
to be one thirty four refrigerant and now we've moved
on to twelve thirty four YF and it's been out
there a little over a decade. And you know, I've
had some of my own trials and tribulations. You've heard
me talk about them here. And fortunately I have a
(18:15):
great relationship with the folks over at MALA Aftermarket, and
I've got my buddy Isaac Nilssen here with us. Today's
an engineer over there at MALA, and we're glad to
have him with us to talk about air conditioning in
twelve thirty four YF. Isaac, welcome back, sir. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Yeah, thanks for having me Ron, you know, and.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Full disclosure, right, my machine needed an oxygen sensor and
I got to talking to Isaac about it and I
got a little bit of an education that twelve thirty
four YF machines all of them in the marketplace have
to have an oxygen sensor. And at first I reacted
to this like, no, wait, the car has the oxygen sensor,
not the machine. But yet it does talk about a
(18:59):
little bit about where how do we get here?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Isaac.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You know, we've got AC machines now with oxygen sensors
and the need and this is a whole big conversation
where do we start.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Well, really, it started with the wire introduction and the
desire to limit the amount of contamination and cross contamination
of refrigerants and to ensure that the quality of the
refrigerants that are out there meet the specs that the
OEMs are looking for. So Neutronics back in the day
that they created a refrigerant identification device that was basically
(19:35):
a lab grade piece of equipment that could be put
into shrunk down to a small enough size and put
into our machine. So it actually identifies the not only
the types of gas that's passing through the system, but
the percentages of that gas to ensure the composition is
(19:55):
actually the right composition that it expects for that machine.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
So if someone were too and here's a scenario, if
someone were to try and charge their own air conditioning,
and it's a twelve thirty four YF car, and chances
are there's a lot of There's a lot of them
out there now right. We talked about this before air today.
YF has been out there since twenty thirteen, and you know,
if you're driving something newer or something between since twenty thirteen,
(20:22):
chances are you've got a YF car. You've got to
be kind of picky about what sort of refrigerant you
go out and buy. If you're going to buy one
of those single use charge kits, what's the quality of
those is? Does that become an issue, Isaac? Is it
Are there different grades of twelve thirty four YF or
is it all just the same stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
So the good news is that in the US we
have a pretty robust and quality supply chain for twelve
thirty four YF our counterparts. In Europe, though, we see
a lot of knockoff gases, stuff that's being cut with
non pure twelve thirty four YF refrigerant, and they definitely
(21:06):
have a lot of problems over there because the rejection
of the refrigerant altogether to polymerization of their system, you know,
completely destroying machines over there because of the polymerization, but
luckily in the US we haven't seen that. However, there
is a lot of replacement gases that people can buy
(21:28):
in a can in the store that aren't pure yf.
They might be a blend of maybe like a one
thirty four A or some sort of even I've seen propane.
And then also a lot of these have a lot
of extra dyes and oils in them, which is also
not great just because that can really come up systems
(21:48):
because there's oftentimes way more die or oil than what
the system really requires.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
So it's not like the old days, you know, when
people were buying I'm going to use the word bogus
bogus won thirty four refrigerant. There was you know, there
was an identifier, but they were able to fool it chemically.
It wasn't as stringent. But now we've got an oxygen
sensor built into this lab grade refrigerant identifier right in
the machine, and it'll pick up on not so great
(22:17):
quality twelve thirty four refrigerant correct.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Correct. Yeah, And it is a very stringent check. It
has to be at least ninety eight percent pure BIF
so that means only two percent of the refrigerant that's
passing through the identifier can be air or something else
other than yoff.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
So for my shop owners out there, my technicians that
are listening to the show today, they've got a twelve
thirty four YF unit, you know, and and all machines
have it right. It doesn't matter what brand. They've all
got an oxygen sensor on there. They've all got some
sort of a refrigerant identifier built in. Can you give
them some tips?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You know?
Speaker 2 (22:56):
How do they how do they prevent the problems with
that refrigeran ID unit? What are some good practices to
get in the habit of.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, So, the biggest thing is to every for ever
use is to check the filter for that refrigerant identifier.
In most machines, that's visible on the outside of the machine.
Sometimes it's on the front control panel. On our machines,
it's actually on the backside by the power switch. So
by far, the number one thing to do is check
(23:24):
to make sure that that filter is clean. If you
see any contaminants, there's a slight discoloration. If it gets
enough oil, it starts turning like a pink color. So
the first thing you need to do is to replace
that filter. But chances are if there's something reaching that filter,
there's also contaminants already in the lines going from the
(23:46):
like the manifold block to the refriger identifier. So you
should open up that machine and also double check the
lines going to that refrigerant and identifier. A lot of
times it's a clear plastic line, you'll be able to
see the contaminants away, and you should remove that along
with the restrictor fitting and clean that with isopropyle alcohol.
(24:07):
Make sure that that's fully cleaned of any disorder debris,
and obviously make sure it fully evaporates before reinstalling and
attempting to use your machine.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
So you know, if I do this examination and I
see contaminants in the filter or other debris, you know,
odd least I'm going to replace the filter. Is there
something else I can do to prevent damage to the
machine and allow me to continue moving forward to work
on the car.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
I mean, the other best practice would be to run
a hose flush on the machine, maybe like once a week,
just because there's debris that can build up inside the
low sideline. So at least of how our machines work
is that we always perform a refriger identification on the
low side unless someone selects a high side only service
(24:57):
for whatever reason, and then we normally charged only on
the high side hose. That means that typically there is
not refrigerant flushing that low side line out. So if
you collect quite a few vehicles that is especially have
recovered a lot of oil during that recovery, that can
(25:18):
build up and it can slowly migrate its way through
that restrictor fitting. So if you want to perform a
host flush every week, that's also a best practice to
try to keep that system clean.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Maybe I'm a genius Isaac, and I don't want to
check the filter because I know better, and you know,
I've kind of just taken that perspective. So all of
a sudden, oil dye and you know, other stuff just
gets past the filter. I overload the filter and it
doesn't It doesn't do its job. It can't do its job.
What's going to happen to the machine? Is it going
to break.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Well?
Speaker 4 (25:51):
It will stop functioning altogether. For the fact that the
sensors will get gummed up. There are three sensors that
are critical to the identifiers FUNK inside that unit. One
of them we talked about was the oxygen sensors. So
if that gets gummed up and it can no longer
detect the presence of oxygen it's getting blocked by some
oil or something else like that, that'll fail it from
(26:13):
performing identification. There are some pressure sensors in there, and
if it can't detect enough pressure, it will again fail
the test because it needs to see a certain amount
of flow of refrigerant. And then the most critical for
the identification is the infrared sensors. And if there's oil
that are blocking lenses or d die that are blocking
(26:34):
the lenses where it can't read the gas, then again,
of course it's not going to see that it's ninety
eight percent pier yf or better, and it's going to fail.
So you're not gonna be able to do any recoveries
nor doing any bottle fills on that machine until that's replaced. Really,
I mean, you pretty much have to send that unit
off to get referred or you've got to buy a
(26:55):
new one, which, yeah, four hundred to one thousand dollars
out there on the market, right.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Right, Hey, Isaac, let's pull over. When we come back.
I want to talk a little bit about you know,
I want to go a little bit deeper into oxygen
sensors and refriger and identifiers, and they seem to be
a common and it's the industry does talk about it
a lot, and maybe we can talk about, you know,
how it works basically, and then what some of these
guys can do as a best practice. Maybe we can
save them some money in the long run. So sit tight.
(27:22):
I'm ronnin Any in the Car Doctor. I'm here with
Isaac Nilsen of Mala Aftermarket. We'll both be back right
after this. Don't go away, Okay, the pressure's on. We're
back running any of the Car Doctor at your service.
Here with Isaac Nielsen Mala Aftermarket. We're talking air conditioning machines. Isaac,
We've got a little over four and a half minutes
to do this, so I want to get this segment
in for the listeners and the texts out there. Oxygen sensors,
(27:46):
oxygen sensors for refriger and identifiers. It seems like the
industry is talking about. Boy, they sure need to be
replaced more than any other part of the machine. Why
is that? Can you give us an O two censor?
You know, lesson real quick.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Yeah, sure. The oxygen sensor that's used in these machines
actually have a finite life to them. There's actually they're
very similar to a lithium battery in the fact that
there is a cathode, anode, and electrolyte in there, and
it's actually a consumable or a sacrificial material that's inside
of these sensors that actually react with oxygen to provide
(28:27):
a small voltage like in the millivolt range, but they
provide an output at all times. So once these units
are assembled from the oxygen sensor manufacturer, time starts ticking
on its life. So the more oxygen it sees, the
quicker give up the ghosts, so they speak in its life.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So I can't, you know, if I want to try
and extend the life of it, I can't just vacuum
CELO two sensor in a plastic baggie if I'm not
using the machine. That doesn't work.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
No, not in a complete vacuum. So what these two
sensor manufacturers will do is that they'll do either a
very partial vacuum a very light vacuum. Not without the
absence of oxygen. There's still some calibrated amount of oxygen
still in there, or they apply a special red tape
over the end of them that allowed just the right
(29:16):
amount of oxygen to pass through the tape into the sensor,
because a complete lack of oxygen from this sensor in
a matter of a couple hours could severely degrade its life.
And then even with a couple of days of complete
lack of oxygen will actually kill the sensor and it
won't recover it at all.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Right now, the good news is a lot of machine manufacturers,
I know, Mala does it right, You'll tell us when
the two sensor's life is coming to an.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
End, correct, Yeah, yeah, all identifiers should be monitoring the
voltage output of that sensor and they'll have a threshold
should be telling you and expiring soon time frame in
which you know you should go buy a new sensor
and replace it. You know. The caveat being is that
(30:07):
sometimes that I'm between expiring soon and it fully expired.
It could be in that month or two that you
set the machine aside in the winter time, and you
might miss the whole expiring soon.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Right portion, right, Yeah, So my last question then is,
you know, it seems like they're going to last anywhere
from two years to seven years, depending on how it's
used in the environment. Do you buy a FRESHOW two sensor,
you know, leave it in the box and just let
it sit on the shelf, or you wait until you're
fifty percent used and then go and do that.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
You pretty much want to wait there are a couple
of years in and then maybe just preemptively just swap
out the sensor, or wait till it tells you that
it's expired. If you can get a hold of a
sensor quickly, you know, that's that would be your your
cheapest route. But buying the sensor, like I say, as
soon as it's manufactured, if you have it on the
(31:03):
on the shelf, it's it's burning through its life. So uh,
And that's what we're seeing out in the field right now,
is that people are buying oxygen sensors either through a
local parts store or through or online, and they get
them and they might only be good for a couple
of months because it's been a distribution for a year
or two already.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Right, So, so you want to buy a fresh one.
It's kind of like a steak. You want you want
a fresh steak. You want a fresh oxygen sensor correct,
no indigestion on either part. So Isaac, always informative brother.
Where can we go get more information? Send the listeners
in the text there, because I'm sure they're going to
have questions and want to learn more about all this.
What's the website from Malaya.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
All of our products are available on Service Solutions dot
mala dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Cool beans as always, sir, a great pleasure. You have
a great rest of the weekend, and we'll talk again
real soon. All right, all right, thanks, Ron, You're welcome.
I'm running any in the car. Doctor I'm back right
after this. Let me start by saying thank you to
both of our guests this hour. Cherokee Heart of malwah Ford.
We appreciate his candor and explanation of the process of
(32:09):
buying a new vehicle. What's hot, what's not? Some of
the least comments. We're very eye opening, shall we say,
and just a good time. It's just it's fun. Right
we can we go out and buy a new car.
Sometimes you need to know, you need that little bit
of extra information before you wander into the doors of
a dealership of your choice. And then let's talk about
our conversation with Isaac Nielsen of Mala. The idea that
(32:35):
you need an oxygen sensor for an air conditioning machine
is just crazy when you consider now that the machines
have gotten so complicated. They have the same parts that
the cars have, which is kind of what generated that
conversation with him in the first place. And I think
that there's a lot of repair shop owners out there
that own one of these machines, and hopefully they paid
(32:55):
attention during the sales process because they're going to find
out and it's very difficul called time. All of a sudden,
you need to count on that twelve thirty four YFAC
machine because all the brands have them, and you'll find
that you're in lockout because the O two sensor has
failed or is close to failing, or perhaps you need
a refrigerant filter. We didn't even talk about that when
(33:17):
they recover refrigerants. So I think it's a good idea,
maybe after six months of use, to put both of
those on the shelf somewhere as inventory, because it's parts
that you are going to use and as long as
you don't open up the O two the two sensor,
you should be fine. So just things to look forward to.
Boy it's always changing being in a repair shop. It
always is, it always will be, and I'll always be
here to help guide you along because that's what I do.
(33:38):
I'm ron An Eeny and the car Doctor, and I'm
reminding you the mechanics aren't expensive, They're priceless.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
See you
You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally
recognized auto expert trusted by Mechanics, Weekend wrenchers and vehicle
owners Alife. Ron brings over forty years of hands on
experience and deep industry insight to help you understand your vehicle.
Join the Conversation live every Saturday from two to four
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(00:25):
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start your engines. The Car Doctor is in the garage
(00:47):
and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
The automobile plays such a big part of the American economy.
I think it Teeter totters back and forth between the
second and the third most expensive purchase you're going to
make in a lifetime and deal with in a lifetime,
and it's always fun to talk about. We've had him
back now a couple of times We're always glad to
talk to him. He's our guy on the ground in
(01:11):
the automobile industry. Cherokee Heart. He's the business manager at
Mawall four, obviously in Mahwah, New Jersey. Cherokee. Welcome back
to the car Doctor.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So right off the bat, how's business.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, hasn't exactly been off the charts, but it's consistent, right, So, and.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You know, you got to make hay while the sun shines,
and you'll have busy weeks and slow weeks. And I
think I think this year, you, like a lot of
other car dealers, are in that everybody's kind of focusing
on high school graduations and college graduations and and that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Right, absolutely. And then you know, the thing's going on
in the economy as well, right changes the temple of
the business.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So, and there's a great segue. Thank you so much.
Tariffs it's on everybody's mind. I can't tell you how
many times that they count. Somebody starts, you know, should
I buy my battery now or should I buy it
in six months? Will the tariffs affect it? Will this
affect it? And then tariffs on the automobiles. How has
that you know, can you speak to how has that
(02:13):
affected the industry and then specifically how has it if
it has affected Ford.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
So it has affected and will continue to affect the
industry itself. Starting on May second, of course, the terriffs
went into the effect. There are some manufacturers that saying
that they're going to be able to absorb the majority
of the terrors and not pass it on to their customers,
but in some ways, should or form, it will get
(02:41):
passed on eventually. There's no way just to you know,
eat on the expenses over time. But one of the
things that we do know is that was Ford, the Machi,
the Maverick, and the Broncos Sport will see a slight
increase in pricing, which is up to possibly two thousand
(03:02):
dollars to the MSRP. However, Ford is starting to absorb
most of the terraffs that are being put on their vehicles,
and the terrafs.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Are affecting vehicles. It's affecting vehicles made outside of the
United States. Correct.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yes, Basically, you have kind of a system where vehicles
come into the US to get certain parts and things assembled.
Then they may go up to Canada or to Mexico
to get other parts assembled there and they come back
into the US because the US do not produce every
(03:43):
single part of a vehicle. You have some parts that
come from China, you have some parts that come from Korea, Canada, Mexico.
As we know, so the parts of the vehicles are
coming from so many different places. There's thousands of parts
that go into building one vehicle, right sure, Therefore they're
coming from so many different places.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
How has I don't know if you'll if you'll know
this answer, but you know, just mawaf FOURD alone, as
big as they are, they've been there forever, very well known,
you know, family dealership in North Jersey. Yeah, how has
the teriffs affected ability to get parts in general? Are
they do? You know if the parts department is struggling.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
The parts department has not seen the full effect just
yet of the terriffs, but they most definitely are bracing forward.
So of course we order as many parts as we
could that are regular parts that we would have shipped
from outside the country. So you get as many parts
as you know that ship from outside the country here
and you just hope and pray that you know, the
(04:49):
business doesn't slow down too much. But we've not been
affected too heavily just yet because it just kind of
started at the beginning of the month.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Do you think that the tariffs have slowed down parts
deliveries are? Do you think that some of the vendors
are playing the game of well, if I wait a
little bit longer, I may be able to charge more
for this part. Do you think that's come into it yet?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, I think that always plays into the parts manager's
hands because they have to keep pricing consistent. Right, So
if they're going to get here with tariffs as soon
as it starts, I'm quite sure the majority of the
folks in the industry are going to go ahead and
set the parts for the future, not just for now,
but also for the future. That way, it stays pretty
(05:33):
consistent across the boards, right. But parts business is doing
pretty well considering the things that are going on.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And I've got to say it affects you know, it's
it's affecting everybody, you know, the independent shops, myself, a
lot of the guys around me as we talk. You
know that that oil filter that you bought on Monday,
by Tuesday may have gone up three percent by Wednesday
five percent and by Thursday you're going, holy can it
costs me double what it cost me on Monday. And
(06:03):
it's happened a few times, and it's a tough option
to deal with. You're always looking at pricing, I will
say that, so you know, that becomes a big issue.
Let's talk about if we can. Let's talk about I'm
out here, I want to buy a new car or
a used car, and I'm going to commem in and
I want to get I don't know if my credit's
(06:24):
any good. What has the credit process changed? You know,
the industry is so upside down right now. Has the
credit gotten more stringent? We're the interest rates right now,
Let's start the conversation there. If I'm coming in to
buy a new car, finance it through forward, what's the
interest rate?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Interest rates right now are depending on certain models, certain
models for to have an interest rate for short term
financing as well as one point nine, which is something
we have not seen for long, and it's been a while.
The banking industry is starting to bounce back. Wear're starting
to see rates in the five percent and every blue moon,
(07:02):
you have a certain you know, credit union or something
for for municipal employees that maybe in the fource that's ridiculous.
But it's great to see that the financial industry is
starting to bounce back with interest rates a lot stronger
than what it has been over the last several years,
(07:22):
even though for the most part it's not been very
much movement and the interest rate reductions what with the
you know government, right, So do.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You see you know, what's the approval rate right now?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You know?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Are you know?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Is it is it? Are we seeing seventy percent get approved?
Eighty percent can approve, fifty percent get approved?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
You know?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Is the And that's always a sign of the economy, right.
How good is everybody's credit? If you were to guess
and put a number on it, what's the.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Percentage majority of the folks that come into biocar are
going to get approved as long as you have a
decent down payment credit history. I've seen credit scores as
low as a five point fifty five forty uh be
you know, approved with a car because they have the
right cash down and they have a decent job history.
(08:13):
People go through struggles. Banks understand that, and we have
select banks that specialize with you know, bad credit or
or I say challenge credit, and they just continue to
build the person's profile based off of their down payment,
their job history, how long they've been able to hold,
(08:35):
you know, a credit card for so long, in decent,
you know, payment history, even though they have late payments
over the last year, have they been consistent and.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
The little things they look at that. So, if I'm
thinking of buying a car in six months, am I
better off buying that car now?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I would say most definitely. Now, if you're buying a
new car, it's the best time to buy it right now.
Why Well, majority of the cars that in inventory right now,
that are in the inventory right now, they have not
had the terrors applied to them. So if you're looking
for that Machi, the Maverick, the Broncos Sport, those are
(09:16):
the three cars for Ford that are going to be
going up for sure. However, all across the boards, majority
of the inventory that are in the dealer's inventories right
now are not you slap with terrors. So therefore, now
is a good time to purchase a vehicle. And I
(09:37):
would most definitely say instead of sitting on it, if
you have the ability to do it, go ahead and
buy now.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
If I'm leasing a car. I'll tell you what. Let's
pull over, take a pause. When we come back, I
want to talk about if I'm leasing a car and
I've got six months to go before my lease expires,
I want to talk about is it worthwhile for me
to have that conversation with my dealer because while they
get me out of the lease early, don't don't give
us the answer yet. Let's come back to it. I'm
run an Indie in the car doctor. I'm here with Cherokee.
(10:03):
Hardy's the business manager over at mawaf Ford in New Jersey,
and we're talking about tariff's cars and everything in between.
We'll both return right after this. Don't go away. So
you're thinking of getting out of your lease early? Hi,
run an Innie in the car doctor. Yep, I'm still
here and I'm here with Cherokee Heart of mawaw Ford.
We're talking about cars and tariffs and all comments and
(10:25):
points in between. When we left and pulled over and
took the pause, we were talking about leasing and when
you lease a vehicle, your your lease comes to an end.
You lease for two and a half years or three
years or whatever the leaf cycle is. And if your
lease ends early Is there a way to get out
of it if you want it to end early? Cherokee?
If I'm leasing a car and it's a three year
(10:47):
cycle or two and a half year cycle, is there
a bigger advantage now than previously or is it the same?
Are there still obstacles in place? If I want to
get out of that lease early? Can I is it?
Does it pay for me to go talk to my dealer?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
If you're several months within the time of your lease
being up, I must definitely say that it's a good
time to go in and inquire. Ford has some aggressive
rebates out there to retain customers, especially for like the
Ford Escape if you're already leasing a Ford Escape, or
even for the f one City, they have aggressive rebase
(11:22):
retaining customers bringing them back in that starts anywhere from
three to six months out ahead of the lease being due.
Almost definitely, I do say that, see the dealer and
leasing right now is for Ford has probably been most
aggressive as it's been in the last two or three years.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Give me, give me it, give us a number. I
want to come in and buy. I want to commit
and buy a new Mustang, a basic Mustang, nothing too crazy,
a V six Automatic transportation. You know, is there is
there a lease number you can give us? What's the rate?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Well, I would tell you this on a Mustang, they're
not the best vehicles, Okay, I would most definitely say
finance that instead. However, if you were to take a
look at.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Now that's a way to back up a second, why
do you say that.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Well, believe it or not, the Mustang's residuals are a
little bit lower than the regular vehicles because that's a
sporty ride, right right, It's a performance car. So the
leasing on those you typically don't have as strong as
an incentive to lease a Mustang. Whenever people do lease
those cars, and this is a rule of thumb, they
(12:33):
use and abuse those cars for three years and then
hand forward back of keys and say whatever I've left
you with, I've left you with, and the vehicle may
not have been taken good care of. So the leases
on a Mustang are typically very few and far between.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Interesting. So you're saying, if I was going to commit
and I'm looking for transportation, you know, I'm a family
of three or four and I need a small family
vehicle and I need to lease. What am I going
to lease?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'm going to bring you right over to a Ford Escape. Okay,
great for a family, you have a family of three
or four. You can fit a car seat in it
pretty well, is very gas efficient, and the payments on
them are pretty good as well average payments these days.
Whenever you put down your taxes first payment and a
(13:22):
few thousand dollars down, you can get a decent payment
between four to five hundred dollars with a four eskate.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
So will the tariffs as they pile on? Will the
tariffs effect lease rates as well as the overall purchase
price of the car?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah? So, whenever you're leasing a vehicle, depending on the
money factor. For the most part, whenever you lease a vehicle,
every thousand is different than purchase of a vehicle, which
on average would say seventeen to twenty dollars. Well, on
a lease every thousand is closer to twenty seven to
(14:00):
thirty two dollars per thousand. That spread per thousand is
going to bump up your payments roughly thirty dollars a month.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Has How has leasing change off the top of your
head in the last three years? Is it more expensive
now than it was three years ago?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Oh? Well, it's changed by almost two to three hundred
dollars on a car now is three years ago?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Is that economy related, tariff related, general cost of doing
business related? If you're gonna put your finger on it,
what would you say?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
It was all of the above. When COVID hit, it
put the automotive market and a buying and from that
point forward, it put the economy in a buying which
put production in the cost of vehicles at an all
time high. And if you go back and look at
the history from twenty nineteen or so, I say, from
(14:53):
twenty twenty to twenty twenty four, there's roughly about a
thirty three percent increase in automobiles from that time. And
that's something that we haven't seen. It's been pretty steady
across the years. But then all of a sudden twenty twenty,
twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, twenty
twenty four. Through that time is a thirty three percent
(15:16):
increase in cost of the vehicles.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
So how critical is the automobile industry to the American economy?
If you were going to put a percentage on it,
where where do we say, are we second or third
biggest expense. Is that Is that a safe Is that
a safe statement?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I would say that's about the second biggest expense. Think
about this. There's profinitely about seventy six billion cars that
were transported between Canada and Mexico. All right, seventy six
billion dollars worth of cars. That's just between Canada and Mexico,
not including here in the US. And then about one
(15:52):
hundred and two billion dollars in auto parts that was,
you know, ship between those two countries to the US.
So I would pretty much say that the automotive industry
overall is probably one of the most important sectors sectors
to the American economy. Wow, you know, And most definitely
(16:15):
it is the second most largest expense that most people
are going to have in our lives, second to their home.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Well, hey, listen real quick. In the last minute and
a half, roughly, I've got twenty grand in my pocket.
I want to come in and buy a used car.
Is that a good number to start with?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Twenty grand is pretty good number to start with. You're
probably looking at somewhere between a four to five year
old vehicle, and you can find them pretty good miles
under fifty thousand miles and you can also venture out
to add a mechanical plan to protect the vehicle as well,
so that you're not having to come out of pocket
unexpected expenses.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
So I've got I've got a ten twelve year old car.
It needs six thousand dollars in repair, eight thousand dollars
in repair, and I've got the eight thousand dollars. Am
I better off buying that buying a used car for
twenty put the eight thousand down in finance? Twelve rough numbers?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Absolutely, because nine times out of ten, if a car
is that old, it may not be worth the money
that you're going to be putting in it.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Right, and then there's always that parts issue. So and
that that kind of leads us back to where we
started this conversation. Absolutely so, Jerich. If the listeners want
more information, give us the website mawafford dot com.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Cool, tend us a email. We'll be happy and help you.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
And if I want to come in and see you
in person, I know they'll see you. You're the guy
with the beard, yes, sir, yeah, all right, hey, listen,
say hi to everybody for me, and thanks for being
part of the show today. I'm ronning any and the
car doctor. We're back right after this. Auto repair is
always changing listeners and it's a constant battle in the
bays to keep up with just sometimes the equipment and
(17:54):
the procedures in the process. Air conditioning in the last
decade has gone through a renovation. You know, it used
to be one thirty four refrigerant and now we've moved
on to twelve thirty four YF and it's been out
there a little over a decade. And you know, I've
had some of my own trials and tribulations. You've heard
me talk about them here. And fortunately I have a
(18:15):
great relationship with the folks over at MALA Aftermarket, and
I've got my buddy Isaac Nilssen here with us. Today's
an engineer over there at MALA, and we're glad to
have him with us to talk about air conditioning in
twelve thirty four YF. Isaac, welcome back, sir. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Yeah, thanks for having me Ron, you know, and.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Full disclosure, right, my machine needed an oxygen sensor and
I got to talking to Isaac about it and I
got a little bit of an education that twelve thirty
four YF machines all of them in the marketplace have
to have an oxygen sensor. And at first I reacted
to this like, no, wait, the car has the oxygen sensor,
not the machine. But yet it does talk about a
(18:59):
little bit about where how do we get here?
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Isaac.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You know, we've got AC machines now with oxygen sensors
and the need and this is a whole big conversation
where do we start.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Well, really, it started with the wire introduction and the
desire to limit the amount of contamination and cross contamination
of refrigerants and to ensure that the quality of the
refrigerants that are out there meet the specs that the
OEMs are looking for. So Neutronics back in the day
that they created a refrigerant identification device that was basically
(19:35):
a lab grade piece of equipment that could be put
into shrunk down to a small enough size and put
into our machine. So it actually identifies the not only
the types of gas that's passing through the system, but
the percentages of that gas to ensure the composition is
(19:55):
actually the right composition that it expects for that machine.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
So if someone were too and here's a scenario, if
someone were to try and charge their own air conditioning,
and it's a twelve thirty four YF car, and chances
are there's a lot of There's a lot of them
out there now right. We talked about this before air today.
YF has been out there since twenty thirteen, and you know,
if you're driving something newer or something between since twenty thirteen,
(20:22):
chances are you've got a YF car. You've got to
be kind of picky about what sort of refrigerant you
go out and buy. If you're going to buy one
of those single use charge kits, what's the quality of
those is? Does that become an issue, Isaac? Is it
Are there different grades of twelve thirty four YF or
is it all just the same stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
So the good news is that in the US we
have a pretty robust and quality supply chain for twelve
thirty four YF our counterparts. In Europe, though, we see
a lot of knockoff gases, stuff that's being cut with
non pure twelve thirty four YF refrigerant, and they definitely
(21:06):
have a lot of problems over there because the rejection
of the refrigerant altogether to polymerization of their system, you know,
completely destroying machines over there because of the polymerization, but
luckily in the US we haven't seen that. However, there
is a lot of replacement gases that people can buy
(21:28):
in a can in the store that aren't pure yf.
They might be a blend of maybe like a one
thirty four A or some sort of even I've seen propane.
And then also a lot of these have a lot
of extra dyes and oils in them, which is also
not great just because that can really come up systems
(21:48):
because there's oftentimes way more die or oil than what
the system really requires.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
So it's not like the old days, you know, when
people were buying I'm going to use the word bogus
bogus won thirty four refrigerant. There was you know, there
was an identifier, but they were able to fool it chemically.
It wasn't as stringent. But now we've got an oxygen
sensor built into this lab grade refrigerant identifier right in
the machine, and it'll pick up on not so great
(22:17):
quality twelve thirty four refrigerant correct.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Correct. Yeah, And it is a very stringent check. It
has to be at least ninety eight percent pure BIF
so that means only two percent of the refrigerant that's
passing through the identifier can be air or something else
other than yoff.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
So for my shop owners out there, my technicians that
are listening to the show today, they've got a twelve
thirty four YF unit, you know, and and all machines
have it right. It doesn't matter what brand. They've all
got an oxygen sensor on there. They've all got some
sort of a refrigerant identifier built in. Can you give
them some tips?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You know?
Speaker 2 (22:56):
How do they how do they prevent the problems with
that refrigeran ID unit? What are some good practices to
get in the habit of.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, So, the biggest thing is to every for ever
use is to check the filter for that refrigerant identifier.
In most machines, that's visible on the outside of the machine.
Sometimes it's on the front control panel. On our machines,
it's actually on the backside by the power switch. So
by far, the number one thing to do is check
(23:24):
to make sure that that filter is clean. If you
see any contaminants, there's a slight discoloration. If it gets
enough oil, it starts turning like a pink color. So
the first thing you need to do is to replace
that filter. But chances are if there's something reaching that filter,
there's also contaminants already in the lines going from the
(23:46):
like the manifold block to the refriger identifier. So you
should open up that machine and also double check the
lines going to that refrigerant and identifier. A lot of
times it's a clear plastic line, you'll be able to
see the contaminants away, and you should remove that along
with the restrictor fitting and clean that with isopropyle alcohol.
(24:07):
Make sure that that's fully cleaned of any disorder debris,
and obviously make sure it fully evaporates before reinstalling and
attempting to use your machine.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
So you know, if I do this examination and I
see contaminants in the filter or other debris, you know,
odd least I'm going to replace the filter. Is there
something else I can do to prevent damage to the
machine and allow me to continue moving forward to work
on the car.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
I mean, the other best practice would be to run
a hose flush on the machine, maybe like once a week,
just because there's debris that can build up inside the
low sideline. So at least of how our machines work
is that we always perform a refriger identification on the
low side unless someone selects a high side only service
(24:57):
for whatever reason, and then we normally charged only on
the high side hose. That means that typically there is
not refrigerant flushing that low side line out. So if
you collect quite a few vehicles that is especially have
recovered a lot of oil during that recovery, that can
(25:18):
build up and it can slowly migrate its way through
that restrictor fitting. So if you want to perform a
host flush every week, that's also a best practice to
try to keep that system clean.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Maybe I'm a genius Isaac, and I don't want to
check the filter because I know better, and you know,
I've kind of just taken that perspective. So all of
a sudden, oil dye and you know, other stuff just
gets past the filter. I overload the filter and it
doesn't It doesn't do its job. It can't do its job.
What's going to happen to the machine? Is it going
to break.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Well?
Speaker 4 (25:51):
It will stop functioning altogether. For the fact that the
sensors will get gummed up. There are three sensors that
are critical to the identifiers FUNK inside that unit. One
of them we talked about was the oxygen sensors. So
if that gets gummed up and it can no longer
detect the presence of oxygen it's getting blocked by some
oil or something else like that, that'll fail it from
(26:13):
performing identification. There are some pressure sensors in there, and
if it can't detect enough pressure, it will again fail
the test because it needs to see a certain amount
of flow of refrigerant. And then the most critical for
the identification is the infrared sensors. And if there's oil
that are blocking lenses or d die that are blocking
(26:34):
the lenses where it can't read the gas, then again,
of course it's not going to see that it's ninety
eight percent pier yf or better, and it's going to fail.
So you're not gonna be able to do any recoveries
nor doing any bottle fills on that machine until that's replaced. Really,
I mean, you pretty much have to send that unit
off to get referred or you've got to buy a
(26:55):
new one, which, yeah, four hundred to one thousand dollars
out there on the market, right.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Right, Hey, Isaac, let's pull over. When we come back.
I want to talk a little bit about you know,
I want to go a little bit deeper into oxygen
sensors and refriger and identifiers, and they seem to be
a common and it's the industry does talk about it
a lot, and maybe we can talk about, you know,
how it works basically, and then what some of these
guys can do as a best practice. Maybe we can
save them some money in the long run. So sit tight.
(27:22):
I'm ronnin Any in the Car Doctor. I'm here with
Isaac Nilsen of Mala Aftermarket. We'll both be back right
after this. Don't go away, Okay, the pressure's on. We're
back running any of the Car Doctor at your service.
Here with Isaac Nielsen Mala Aftermarket. We're talking air conditioning machines. Isaac,
We've got a little over four and a half minutes
to do this, so I want to get this segment
in for the listeners and the texts out there. Oxygen sensors,
(27:46):
oxygen sensors for refriger and identifiers. It seems like the
industry is talking about. Boy, they sure need to be
replaced more than any other part of the machine. Why
is that? Can you give us an O two censor?
You know, lesson real quick.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Yeah, sure. The oxygen sensor that's used in these machines
actually have a finite life to them. There's actually they're
very similar to a lithium battery in the fact that
there is a cathode, anode, and electrolyte in there, and
it's actually a consumable or a sacrificial material that's inside
of these sensors that actually react with oxygen to provide
(28:27):
a small voltage like in the millivolt range, but they
provide an output at all times. So once these units
are assembled from the oxygen sensor manufacturer, time starts ticking
on its life. So the more oxygen it sees, the
quicker give up the ghosts, so they speak in its life.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So I can't, you know, if I want to try
and extend the life of it, I can't just vacuum
CELO two sensor in a plastic baggie if I'm not
using the machine. That doesn't work.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
No, not in a complete vacuum. So what these two
sensor manufacturers will do is that they'll do either a
very partial vacuum a very light vacuum. Not without the
absence of oxygen. There's still some calibrated amount of oxygen
still in there, or they apply a special red tape
over the end of them that allowed just the right
(29:16):
amount of oxygen to pass through the tape into the sensor,
because a complete lack of oxygen from this sensor in
a matter of a couple hours could severely degrade its life.
And then even with a couple of days of complete
lack of oxygen will actually kill the sensor and it
won't recover it at all.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Right now, the good news is a lot of machine manufacturers,
I know, Mala does it right, You'll tell us when
the two sensor's life is coming to an.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
End, correct, Yeah, yeah, all identifiers should be monitoring the
voltage output of that sensor and they'll have a threshold
should be telling you and expiring soon time frame in
which you know you should go buy a new sensor
and replace it. You know. The caveat being is that
(30:07):
sometimes that I'm between expiring soon and it fully expired.
It could be in that month or two that you
set the machine aside in the winter time, and you
might miss the whole expiring soon.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Right portion, right, Yeah, So my last question then is,
you know, it seems like they're going to last anywhere
from two years to seven years, depending on how it's
used in the environment. Do you buy a FRESHOW two sensor,
you know, leave it in the box and just let
it sit on the shelf, or you wait until you're
fifty percent used and then go and do that.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
You pretty much want to wait there are a couple
of years in and then maybe just preemptively just swap
out the sensor, or wait till it tells you that
it's expired. If you can get a hold of a
sensor quickly, you know, that's that would be your your
cheapest route. But buying the sensor, like I say, as
soon as it's manufactured, if you have it on the
(31:03):
on the shelf, it's it's burning through its life. So uh,
And that's what we're seeing out in the field right now,
is that people are buying oxygen sensors either through a
local parts store or through or online, and they get
them and they might only be good for a couple
of months because it's been a distribution for a year
or two already.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Right, So, so you want to buy a fresh one.
It's kind of like a steak. You want you want
a fresh steak. You want a fresh oxygen sensor correct,
no indigestion on either part. So Isaac, always informative brother.
Where can we go get more information? Send the listeners
in the text there, because I'm sure they're going to
have questions and want to learn more about all this.
What's the website from Malaya.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
All of our products are available on Service Solutions dot
mala dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Cool beans as always, sir, a great pleasure. You have
a great rest of the weekend, and we'll talk again
real soon. All right, all right, thanks, Ron, You're welcome.
I'm running any in the car. Doctor I'm back right
after this. Let me start by saying thank you to
both of our guests this hour. Cherokee Heart of malwah Ford.
We appreciate his candor and explanation of the process of
(32:09):
buying a new vehicle. What's hot, what's not? Some of
the least comments. We're very eye opening, shall we say,
and just a good time. It's just it's fun. Right
we can we go out and buy a new car.
Sometimes you need to know, you need that little bit
of extra information before you wander into the doors of
a dealership of your choice. And then let's talk about
our conversation with Isaac Nielsen of Mala. The idea that
(32:35):
you need an oxygen sensor for an air conditioning machine
is just crazy when you consider now that the machines
have gotten so complicated. They have the same parts that
the cars have, which is kind of what generated that
conversation with him in the first place. And I think
that there's a lot of repair shop owners out there
that own one of these machines, and hopefully they paid
(32:55):
attention during the sales process because they're going to find
out and it's very difficul called time. All of a sudden,
you need to count on that twelve thirty four YFAC
machine because all the brands have them, and you'll find
that you're in lockout because the O two sensor has
failed or is close to failing, or perhaps you need
a refrigerant filter. We didn't even talk about that when
(33:17):
they recover refrigerants. So I think it's a good idea,
maybe after six months of use, to put both of
those on the shelf somewhere as inventory, because it's parts
that you are going to use and as long as
you don't open up the O two the two sensor,
you should be fine. So just things to look forward to.
Boy it's always changing being in a repair shop. It
always is, it always will be, and I'll always be
here to help guide you along because that's what I do.
(33:38):
I'm ron An Eeny and the car Doctor, and I'm
reminding you the mechanics aren't expensive, They're priceless.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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