The Hidden Dangers Lurking Under Your Hood
This week on Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor:
Experience the chaos of a relentless Northeast storm that turned highways into rivers and tested every driver’s survival skills. Ron’s harrowing ride through near-zero visibility is a powerful reminder that a well-maintained vehicle isn’t just convenience—it’s a lifeline.
Dive into chilling stories of coolant leaks and disappearing oil that could silently sabotage your engine and cost you thousands—or worse, your safety. Hear a listener’s heartbreaking struggle that nearly ended in tragedy, and why Ron insists every mechanic and driver must be prepared for the unexpected.
If you care about your car, your safety, and the truth behind those warning signs, this episode is a must-listen.
Tune in. Stay safe. And remember—good mechanics aren’t expensive, they’re priceless.
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Transcript
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
recognized auto expert trusted by Mechanics, weekend wrenchers and vehicle
owners alike. 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
pm Eastern by calling eight five to five five six
zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five five five
(00:25):
six zero ninety nine hundred. Here direct line to honest
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Speaker 2 (00:44):
Now start your enginies.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
The Car Doctor is in the garage and ready to
take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I'm not sure where to begin. This week. There's a
lot I could talk about. The shop was pretty basic
this week. It was break jobs and oil changes and
the typical stuff we see. There was nothing really cool, crazier, exotic.
As I sit and think about it, I think all
the action was outside the shop this week. Monday, here
in the northeast. If you were here in New Jersey,
you got to take a shower somewhere around a quarter
(01:11):
to six till about six thirty. All you had to
do was stand outside. I was on my way to
training class in Summerset, New Jersey, at the Double Tree, Hilton,
Double Tree, Mariotte, whichever it was, I don't remember. I
got to tell you, in all the training classes I've
been to, in all the travels, it was absolutely the
(01:32):
strangest ride I've ever had in my life. Down two
eighty seven, if you know to eighty seven in New Jersey,
it's just a you know, typically a three to four
lane highway that just plows along, and it did. But
you were driving, you couldn't see. At times, you couldn't
see three feet in front of you. So you were
just traveling so cautiously. And it made me realize the
(01:53):
value of having a vehicle that's prepared for all all
sorts of conditions. If you're hesitant, Oh maybe I don't
need to do tires, Maybe I don't need to do service.
Maybe I haven't had anybody. It's okay, I can go
another two months without looking at the vehicle. Boy, let
me tell you yeah, I was never so happy to
be in a well maintained vehicle. The water was hitting
(02:15):
the windshield so hard. At times I didn't have to
turn the wipers on because the water was bouncing off
the windshield and keeping the glass clear all at the
same time. As soon as it hit, the next wave
would be behind it. It was like driving through a
car wash for forty five minutes, and the nozzle was
stuck on full and just aimed right at you. It
was the craziest weather I've got to say that I've
(02:36):
ever seen. And I made it. I almost made it
to Class the whole way on the normal route, and
then about three exits before I had to get off
at Exsit thirteen. And so the adventure continues. And all
I could keep thinking about in my head was how
I explained to people that if something bad happens to
a car and a woman is driving, it could be
life and death. You don't think that it could be
(02:57):
life and death for a guy, because guys have too
much ego. We're too stupid, sometimes I think, and yeah,
I can't be life and death and be life and
death for anybody. I got off at Eggs at thirteen
and wiggle waggled my way north until the GPS finally
told me to make a rite instead of doubling back.
And fortunately it was next with Dunkin Donuts and I
ran in and gave a cup of coffee and some munchkins.
I figured, if I'm gonna die, I might as well
(03:17):
go caffeinated and sugar it up. So uh, I got
into Brown Brook, New Jersey, and I crossed over the
steel bridge. You ever been on one of those steel
bridges When you look down there's holes in the girders,
you know, it's like an open grating kind of a bridge.
I now know why they call it bound Brook, because
I believe I was on top of the Bound Brook
(03:40):
and I'm watching the water level come up, going, oh boy,
I hope we get off this bridge soon. And I
got into south Bound Brook and then eventually I made
my way to the hotel. But getting to the hotel
for the seminar, it was eerie. You couldn't see and
there was like dim lights as if there were struggling
(04:00):
with power. It was absolutely the strangest training class drive.
Once we got into class, I was okay. We were
on the second floor, so I figured at that point
if we got flooded, the water would have to really
rise to get to us. But you know, and it
was worthwhile. Of course it was worthwhile. Automotive Training Group
they show up here in New Jersey every couple of
three months. Chris Lewis, of course, the great Chris Lewis.
(04:20):
We did a class on cylinder missfire and diagnostics, Misfire
and cylinder contribution diagnostics. Absolutely a great class if you
get a chance to take it, if you're one of
my pros out there and you get a chance to
take it. There was so much information in it and
so many different ways to look at miss fires and
how to disseminate mechanical from an ignition from a fuel
(04:41):
missfire within less than thirty minutes. Some of the tips
and tricks they gave us. Yeah, and it's good. And
this is why I go to class because it gives
me a different perspective. It allows me to look at
things and say, you know, I hadn't thought of it
that way, And by vice versa. I know I caught
Chris a couple of times and I I made him
think a little bit, as I always do, as Chris
(05:03):
and I have worked together for years and years, and
it's a good exchange of information between the two of us.
So if you get a chance and you are in
the position as a professional to take an ATG class,
by all means you should. It's really worthwhile. And then
of course the trip home was uneventful. It's just brolin
along to eighty seven ten o'clock at night, and got
(05:23):
up and did it again the next day. And by Wednesday,
I slept really well Wednesday night, just to let you
know in case you were wondering, because I was just exhausted.
And then let's see, Wednesday we did our cars, Thursday
we did our cars. Friday Danny was off. Danny went
to Baltimore to see a baseball game. I think it
was there was girlfriends running in a spartan race or
(05:43):
some such thing. I'm not sure what, but I think
the day. It's the summer. Enjoy your time. So I
was working alone on Friday, and I've got to tell you,
working alone is it's a different perspective. It just teaches
you you've got to keep going, you've got to stay on task,
can't get sidetracked. And I didn't, and I finished all
my cars and I was done, and out of there
(06:04):
by three, and fortunately Kathy came in doing her part
time thing. We count on Kathy to come in and
she was a great help and everything she did and
helped us get organized, and you know, at the end
of the week and of the door went, we went out.
We were gone at three. She think Kathy shut up
at one, you know that kind of thing. So it
was that those extra two ourselves and that's life in
a repair shop, you know, that's what you expect. I
(06:27):
think the one thing I walked away from this week
was being prepared, being prepared for the unexpected. I want
to tell you about an email, and I'm really dead
serious when I tell you this story, because I never
want to see anybody get to this point. I received
an email from a listener out in Ohio. I don't
(06:51):
want to get more specific than that, and they were
telling the story of their older van that had been
to five repair shops this person and was stuck in Ohio.
They were trying to get home since the end of
May and after five repair attempts by five different shops.
The email absolutely pointed out twice, I think I'm going
(07:14):
to commit suicide over this because I just can't take
it anymore. Yeah, that's what I said. And I read
it and I read it three times, and I you know,
is this just is this just an exaggeration? I sent
it to Tom. I said, Tom, you got to take
a look at this. Give me, you know, your unbiased viewpoint.
What do you think? And Tom Tom wrote back within
(07:35):
minutes what I was thinking. You've got to take it
to the police because you don't know. And I agree.
You know what if you if you tell me you're
going to kill yourself, I'm going to believe you. So
don't ever say that to me if you don't want
the police to show up on your doorstep. And we
worked with the local authorities here who contacted the authorities
out in Ohio. And I'm happy to say that the
(07:57):
individual is okay because I got another email on Friday
and I could tell it he was apologetic. He said, Gee,
I hope I didn't scare anybody. You know what, dude,
you tell me you're going to kill yourself over something,
I'm going to take you serious. Because the authorities came
knocking on his door and they found him. However they
found him, I'm not sure because he was staying at
(08:19):
a local hotel and he didn't give us his address,
and you know, they were able to, you know, find
his cell phone somehow and then track him down and
he's okay. You know, I tell you this, I'm not
looking for the pad on the back. I'm really not.
I tell you that because this is exactly the reason
why I do this radio show, not to save somebody
like that, but because I just think the lack of
(08:42):
information and the lack of procedure and how to repair
and how to diagnose, and it all comes back to
the training class. You know here, I am O, can't
I get it? It was it was a storm filled night,
there was a there was an state of emergency in
New Jersey. But the class, you know, but for the
potential of having twenty people, and if the class only
(09:03):
had eight the original eight that signed up. And I
don't understand how I go to training class after training
class and it's always the same eight to ten to
twelve people in it. And I get it, you know, well,
I don't get it actually because I don't understand how,
if you're going to be in this business as a professional,
how you don't go to class, how you don't attend
(09:25):
training and why it's such a struggle because it's not
just atg I hear this from a lot of shops,
a lot of shops. Just I don't have the time.
You know what, you have to make the time because
the day of reckoning is coming, is coming, where you're
just gonna have to know what you're doing. You're not
going to be able to guess anymore because it's going
(09:47):
to get to be way too expensive and you're going
to have you're not going to be able to fool
the customers any longer. So, you know, just that was
my week. You know what, I went to class. I
survived the flood. I I believe I prevented somebody from
maybe not killing themselves, but at least I got him
back on track because I think the cops, God bless
our police, and I believe they helped him find a
(10:10):
mechanic that got him squared away, because it was within
twenty four hours that I got the good news that
he's back on track and at least now the van
is partially fixed and he can get on his way.
So that was my week. I hope yours was better
because it was just so interesting if you want to
talk about it. Eight five five five six zero nine
nine zero zero again eight five five five six zero
(10:33):
nine nine zero zero. I'm running dy in the car. Doctor.
We're going to open up the phones when we get back.
Don't go away, Hey, Let's open up the phones and
go over to Rich in New York State, oait Toyota Corolla. Rich.
Welcome to the car doctor, sir, how can I help?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Okay? I have I have a problem that's been happening
now for about a year part of a year.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I get a code of P zero three, which is
it's saying there's an issue with the coil on the
number two cylinder. And I also get a twenty two
to thirty seven, which is the two sensor right, and.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Twenty two to thirty seven is more of an electrical
issue than a sense of performance issue. Okay, what parts
have been replaced already?
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Both of those have been replaced already. And what happens
is the car would run sometimes the light, the check
engine light will go out. The car will run properly
for about three days, and then all of a sudden
it acts up again. You turn the key, you start it,
and it's missing. It's very shaky. You drive up to
(11:48):
a light. You have to put it in neutral to
keep it lit. It's shaken pretty bad on the road.
It's not pulling your you're turning four thousand rpm and
you're doing twenty six miles an hour and it's not
pulling in the right lane of two eighty seven or
something like that. Which is this is?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
This is when the light is on?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Right?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Rich? Rich? Did we lose Rich?
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Uh? Uh?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Did we lose Rich? I think we lost Rich. His
coil started misfiring. So let's see we can get him back,
you know, And the way I would attack that if
I can, if I can kind of take it from there,
for everybody is and I know Tom's trying to get
him back, you know. I want to know. I want
to know what brand of part that we just put
into number two. Why don't we take number two coil,
(12:39):
move it to number four and put number four coil
in number two's hole, and let's see does the problem happen?
If the same problem happens, then I'm going to tell
you to go where I was thinking. Let's attack the wiring. Now,
this is a four wire coil. There's a hot there's
a ground which turns the coil on that just charges
the primary winding. I'm sorry, that charges the primary winding.
(13:00):
And then there's a computer control switch point with an
ignition feedback line. So the PCM is changing and modifying
dwell time or on time of the primary side of
the coil, allowing it to build charge until it gets
to the right moment, and it's looking for the response
of what it's doing on what they call the ig
(13:22):
n F line ignition feedback line on that particular car,
it's the yellow wire at the ignition coil. It's the
same wire. And the way I would look at this
is I want to see am I getting proper signal? Back?
I would scope it? Do I have a square wave signal?
And what am I looking at? Of course? Rich? Are
you there? Is Rich back?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Rich? Okay? Did you hear any of that?
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Okay? So have you moved that coil around? Have you
taken number two and put it to number four and
vice versa?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I did. Originally I moved it two and three. I
swapped right to see if it would change the.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
The position the coil, the code yeah, or the or.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
The code itself, because the two and three fifty two
is the number two filling and it did not change anything.
There was no change in the so you don't know
about performance. I didn't take the car out on the road,
but I did swap it to see if the code
would change.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Right, But you still had a three fifty two. Yes, well,
but if you didn't take it on the road, how
did you set the code? It set the code sitting
there in the driveway.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Well, I started it back up and looked to see
if it was returning a different code, and it wasn't. That.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I don't know was it misfiring at that time?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I don't recall.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Okay, it won't. It doesn't work like that, all right,
it won't work like that to that degree. Look, let's
do this, okay, let's clear codes, all right, and let's
take number two coil and number four coil and swap them.
It's easy enough to do. Does the problem follow the
(15:00):
cylinder or the coil? Because if you get if you
get a three fifty two back, then I'm going to
tell you it's in the wiring or at the PCM,
which is not as common. All right, it's it's not common,
I give you that, But at least it will tell
us that if you get a three fifty four. What
brand coil did you buy?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Do you remember where you got the The coil was
replaced in a garage. I had brought it to a
mechanic and they replaced it at the garage.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
So you don't know whose brand it is?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
No, I don't.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Okay. Was it a lot of money?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Uh? No, not really.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Right, So I would I would question the quality of
that part if you have no idea. But this is
how we're going to find out. As as far as
the twenty two thirty seven, let's fix the ignition problem first,
because if there's a wiring problem on the ignition, maybe
we're going to find the two centsor wiring issue at
the same time. But I want to I want to
work on the ignition. Let's work on the easier of
(16:03):
the two problems first. Do that switching around, clear the code,
call me back when you know more.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
All right, sir, okay, okay, thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
We'll take it from there. You have to watch when
you're diagnosing something. As far as procedure. All right, the
fault won't reoccur inside drive it. The fault may not
reoccur like that, sitting and sitting in the driveway and
moving things around is a standard process. Now, we could
(16:34):
go through scoping and you know, we could play that game,
but I think it's going to get expensive for the end,
for the for the you know, the private owner to
go and do that. And listen, Swapping coils and sparkplugs
is something repair shops do it. It is part of
the diagnostic routine. So let's you know, that's why I
say take it one step at a time. Uh, you know,
just just just kind of move it along and understand
(16:56):
that quality of parts. I've seen more than a few
bad parts that are new repeat the same problem. So
that's why I want to know which one we're dealing with,
and that's why I call for the swap. Eight five
five five six zero nine nine zero zero. Run a
NI the card doctor. I'll be back right after this.
Don't go away. Let's continue on. And by the way,
(17:18):
you're listening to Ron and Innie and the car doctor.
Eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero
is the phone number twenty four to seven. I don't
know if I mentioned that yet today eight five five
five six zero nine nine zero zero twenty four to seven.
You can call, leave a message and executive producer, chief
cook and bottle washer Tom Ray will call you back
and get you in Q for the next live broadcast.
Let's go talk to Linda in Florida nineteen BMW. Linda,
(17:39):
this doesn't sound good. I'm just letting you know up front,
so tell me the story.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
The story is that I was idling and by the way, Hi, Ron,
thank you, You're welcome you. I was idling after dinner
one night in a parking lot, and we've been idling
for quite a while, and all of a sudden there
was an alarm on the car, just a loud, buzzing alarm,
(18:05):
and there was an enormous amount of smoke coming from
the exhaust in the back. The smoke was white, very clear,
but but again an enormous amount. There was no indication
indicator on the there was no indication on the dash
about oil leakage or kneating oil and nothing of that sort.
(18:30):
So the car was towed, I was taken to the shop.
I did start it up the next morning and there
was a there was smoke again, but not as much
as before. Right the And let me add that a
week prior to that, the indicator light came on saying
that I needed to add coolant. Top off the coolant
(18:53):
is what it said. So I popped off.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
The coolant.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
And so this had a week later, took it to
the shop and they reported that there was no blown
head gasket, that it was excess fuel around something being
burnt or evaporation. They instructed me that it was perfectly safe.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
For me to drive the car.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Changed the spark plugs and a filter. But in the meantime,
it's it. It hasn't given me any further problems. However,
it continues to require coolant, right, so.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
If it's if it's continuing to lose coolant and it's
not an external leak, and by now you would have
seen a drip or a drop or a puddle somewhere
under the car where you park it, you've got an
internal engine consumption missue. How many miles around this car
can't be a lot.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
It's the car is twenty nineteen, but there's seventy nine
thousand minds.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
It's not a lot. It really isn't. And you know,
there's there's two ways to go. It's it's teared down
to inspect or you know, diagnose. I'd love to see,
you know, here's an example of using some diagnostic skill.
I'd love to look at die you know, misfires. For example,
does anyone particular cylinder report a misfire on startup? What
(20:26):
would happen if we pressurized the cooling system the night before,
you know, dropped it off at the shop Tuesday night,
and they pressurized the cooling system, came in Wednesday morning,
pulled plugs out, and looked into any of the cylinders.
Do they see coolant inside the cylinders with a porscope
which is just a you know, a long necked you know,
(20:46):
telescoping imaging device, which most shops have these days, because
the coolant's going somewhere, and it is even if oh,
gee wiz, Linda's got up. You know, Linda is the
air to peak anty freezing. You can pour in all
the anti free she wants, you can pour and all
the cool she wants for free. At some point you're
going to ruin catalytic converter and oxygen sensors because coolant
(21:10):
is death to both of those. So long term, it's
not good. It's ingesting. The exhaust system is ingesting something
that it's not supposed to. So not the I told
you it wasn't going to be good. I'm sorry, you know,
it's it's now, you know, if you want to try
and and I'm hesitant to suggest this just because it's
(21:31):
a newer vehicle and I don't know, you know, I
don't know what your position is as far as you know,
do you want to keep it? Do you want to
get rid of it? I have no problem using the product,
but of course I'm going to tell you that k
Seal would do would most likely do a wonderful job
sealing this. If anything would stop this coolant leak. Internally,
it's going to be case Seal. It's available, you know,
(21:52):
most auto parts stores k seal dot com to read more.
They also make a head gasket sealer, k sal Ultimate
thirty three percent more ceiling power. Just like the ad says,
not to make this a commercial, but it does work.
We've used k Sealed. As matter of fact, I just
put a video up on my YouTube channel. We used
k Seal head Ultimate on a nine F one fifty
(22:13):
that had a misfire on two cylinders and had a
coolant issue and it solved it. So it will work.
You know, It's just I don't know what your long
term plans are for the vehicle, and you know not
the case seal isn't a long term product. But you know,
people get funny about pouring you know, seilers into vehicles,
So that is a that is a possibility if they
(22:34):
if they claim they can't find anything and you're looking
for a less expensive way out that would most likely
do the job for you. Is this a BMW dealer
working on it or the corner garage?
Speaker 4 (22:46):
No? No, the BMW dealer.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Okay, you know, yeah, yeah, and that's and that's good.
I'm kind of amazed that they're not offering you the
option to go further. Is there warranty on this vehicle?
There's something wrong with this story. I can't figure it out.
You know, usually usually the dealer wants to tear the
engine apart. You know, there's there's there's got to be
a matter of curiosity here and I'm and I'm questioning
(23:09):
whether they've got it or not. How much cool and
how much coolant have you added to the car over
what period of time?
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Over I would say over two months, two months, it
would be uh a complete container a gallon.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You've put a gallon of coolant into the overflow bottle
or the coolant bottle on this BMW in a.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Month and about in about well I would I would
say about two and a half month.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Okay, eight weeks, eight weeks, and and they're telling you
that's normal.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
No, they're not.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
They're saying that. They're saying that. Actually, they didn't say
anything about the the coolant portion of it. That's why
I was calling you.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Actually, well yeah, but I'm so I'm confused there. It's
it's used a gallon of coolant in two months. Are
they the ones adding it or are you adding it?
Speaker 4 (24:12):
No? I add I add it the coolant.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Okay, have you have you been back to tell them
about the coolant consumption? No, Okay, you gotta go back.
You got it. You gotta go back. It's you know,
and you got to tell them, Look, I've used a
gallon of coolant in two months. There's something not right,
because it's only going to get worse in time, even
if even if it stays at this level, and this
(24:35):
is all that it does, is just that it consumes
and you never see white smoke again. You're slowly killing
the catalytic converters because there's more than one on that
vehicle and the oxygen sensors and it's gonna get it's
gonna get real expensive if if whatever is seeping coolant
decides to fail, if the dam bursts, it's going to
(24:55):
be a hot mess in a minute.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Yeah, And I mean, I'm not a mechanic and perform it,
but I you have to know that there is something
wrong if I'm continually adding coolant.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
If this were medical terms, I would tell you one
of your heart felves is in ceiling and we're waiting
for the heart attack to happen.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
All right, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
That's not good news.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
And that's not good news. And that's I can't stress
this enough. And you know this could happen pulling out
onto the interstate just before the eighteen wheeler. And I
want to say it like that because I want to
plant that seed of doubt in your mind that if
the head gas get word to fail at at a
critical moment where you're counting on acceleration and you don't
(25:43):
get it, oh boy.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Yeah right, So yeah, painted a grave picture.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
And yeah, it's my job. I have to I have
to keep you safe, all right, So I got to go, Linda.
I hope I worked for you. If that doesn't If
that isn't it, and they're still confused, you call me back.
I'd love to talk further about this. I want to
know what happens here. That use of it's k K
the letter K letter K seal k seal ok s
(26:15):
e A l kseal dot com. All right there, you're
very welcome.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Boy.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I'll tell you it's kind of scary what's out there.
That's why Ron keeps working. Ron can never retire. Eight
five five five six zero nine nine zero zero. I'll
be back right after this. Don't go away rolling along.
Let's go to Brenda and Louisiana. Brenda, you're own with
the car doctor. How can I help?
Speaker 5 (26:39):
I was calling about my twenty twenty five GMC Sierra.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Okay, what's going.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
On with it?
Speaker 5 (26:47):
I was coming back from a trip and it said
no all. So I pulled over and checked the dipstick
and it had no all on the dipstick.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Wow, I'll proceed.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
I proceed to put two and a half quarts back
in the truck.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Went to the car dealership.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
The next day and they're telling me it needs a
consumption test.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yes, so let me let me ask you this, which
engine is this? Brandon? Is this A? Is this A
six two or A five throw three? Five to three? Okay?
And they're telling you it needs an oil consumption test.
So what they're going to do is they're going to
give it a general once over. How many miles are
on this There can't be a lot of miles on
(27:29):
this is a twenty five?
Speaker 5 (27:30):
No, it's five thousand, four hundred and fifty five miles. Now.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Has it even had its first oil? Has it had
its first oil change?
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Well?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I guess it has now.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Yeah. When I took it to them, it was five
thousand and forty something miles on it, okay, and they
changed all but there they said they put a computer
check on it, and the car don't even show that
it was low.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
It's like, you know, but you had the warning on
the dash.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
I think there's a miscommunication there. I think they're looking
for a fault code to indicate an oil issue and
they're not seeing it. But yet the vehicle still physically
mechanically ran out of oil. Let's listen, let's stay with
what we know for the moment. All Right, it's got
an oil consumption problem. It shouldn't go through two and
a half quarts of oil in five thousand miles. And
(28:25):
they're gonna do a consumption test because they have to
follow GM protocol, as painful as it might be, and
they're gonna they're gonna fill it up to the line.
They're gonna tell you to drive it, and they're gonna
tell you to either come back in five hundred or
one thousand miles. They're going to establish a baseline of
how much oil this consumes over what period of time?
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Well, I mean, is there I hear Ford does it too?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yep? Listen right now, if you ask me what truck
to buy, I wouldn't know what to tell you. For GM, Toyota,
they're all they've all got their issues right now. There's
nothing out there that captures my imagination. Wow, it's just yeah,
it's really sad. It's what we've become and I don't
understand it now. Obviously the five to three has engine
(29:11):
recalls that, but it's only it's like model year twenty
nineteen through twenty twenty four, right. It hasn't worked its
way up through the twenty fives yet. But in all fairness,
that doesn't mean it won't. It just means that the
twenty fives haven't driven enough miles and there haven't been
enough oil consumption tests done yet. If you get what
(29:32):
I'm saying that it hasn't. It hasn't hit the magic
number where GM's gonna go, Okay, we've got two hundred
thousand trucks out there consuming oil. We got to add
twenty five model year engines to this test as well,
to this recoil as well.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
Well, I call it the factory and the factory. All
they did was past the bug.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Right, That's all they're gonna do. They're not gonna nobody's
gonna commit to anything until they get a definitive answer
on consumption. Now, they may come back and tell you
a quart of oil in one thousand miles is okay, Okay,
it's not okay.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
That's what they tell me.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That's not it's not okay in my book, because my
concern is, just like my previous caller, you're now passing
oil through the exhaust, what's the long range projected life
of that catalytic converter, Because that cat that cat oil
is oil is a carbon based product. Obviously, what does
a catalytic converter react to carbon. It's trying to it's
(30:27):
trying to reduce emissions from fuel. Right, a carbon based product,
it's gonna swallow that oil and try and do something
with it, so it's gonna have shorter catalytic converter life.
I think your only hope is GM really gets enough
of these complaints and then they finally step up and
try to figure out and rebuild and correct what's wrong
in the engine. But right now they're the ones holding
(30:47):
the cards. You got to play by their rules and
wait and see what happen.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
I'm sure, I'm sure I'm not the first.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
No, I doubt that you are. If you are, they're
gonna come up with a definitive answer relatively quick. But
I don't think they will. So would you promise me this,
Give me a call in a couple of months, Let
me know what ends up happening with this. Let us
you know, because the exposure you give it here might
help others to step forward and complain about their product,
and it might help you in the long run too.
(31:15):
All right, Kittle, You'll be well, stay in touch, You
take good care. I'm on an ay in the car. Doctor,
I'll be back right after this and there goes the hour.
So coming up this weekend, I believe it's on Sunday
at three pm. It gets released the latest video on
the YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed to the YouTube channel,
(31:37):
we suggest you do and encourage you to do so
because the videos are really starting to pile up now.
We've got a couple of them, some dandies coming up
in the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow we're going to
put the one out and it's kind of basic, but
it's effective, and obviously we did it. We're trying to
make them effective. But it's about testing a gas cap
in a vehicle using a smoke machine. And while you
(31:59):
may not have a smoke machine, it will no doubt
help you understand what it is when we talk about
leaks in the system and why the gas cap can
cause a failure, because I give a very graphic demonstration
of how to test the system using our speed smoke
from redline detection and then what to do, you know,
(32:19):
changing the cap we put up. We show good, we
show bad, and so on and so forth. But that
video will be up. It's on a twenty sixteen Kia
Kia Rio. That'll be up Sunday at three pm, so
you know you want to obviously see that. And then
next week, I think the following week we've got another video.
You know, I don't remember what the topic was, but
(32:40):
it's something we shot in the shop real quick. And
you know, all these come from the shop is just
spur the moment stuff. So we've got that to look
forward to it. So the videos keep piling up. We're
also putting together a shorts library. We don't have enough
in there yet. We want to build up a good
two dozen before we start releasing those just sixty minute
tips from Ron and you'll see those coming out sometime
this year. Till the next time, I'm Roon and Enie
and the car Doctor reminding you good mechanics aren't expensive,
(33:04):
they're priceless. See you
You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally
recognized auto expert trusted by Mechanics, weekend wrenchers and vehicle
owners alike. 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
pm Eastern by calling eight five to five five six
zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five five five
(00:25):
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Speaker 2 (00:44):
Now start your enginies.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
The Car Doctor is in the garage and ready to
take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I'm not sure where to begin. This week. There's a
lot I could talk about. The shop was pretty basic
this week. It was break jobs and oil changes and
the typical stuff we see. There was nothing really cool, crazier, exotic.
As I sit and think about it, I think all
the action was outside the shop this week. Monday, here
in the northeast. If you were here in New Jersey,
you got to take a shower somewhere around a quarter
(01:11):
to six till about six thirty. All you had to
do was stand outside. I was on my way to
training class in Summerset, New Jersey, at the Double Tree, Hilton,
Double Tree, Mariotte, whichever it was, I don't remember. I
got to tell you, in all the training classes I've
been to, in all the travels, it was absolutely the
(01:32):
strangest ride I've ever had in my life. Down two
eighty seven, if you know to eighty seven in New Jersey,
it's just a you know, typically a three to four
lane highway that just plows along, and it did. But
you were driving, you couldn't see. At times, you couldn't
see three feet in front of you. So you were
just traveling so cautiously. And it made me realize the
(01:53):
value of having a vehicle that's prepared for all all
sorts of conditions. If you're hesitant, Oh maybe I don't
need to do tires, Maybe I don't need to do service.
Maybe I haven't had anybody. It's okay, I can go
another two months without looking at the vehicle. Boy, let
me tell you yeah, I was never so happy to
be in a well maintained vehicle. The water was hitting
(02:15):
the windshield so hard. At times I didn't have to
turn the wipers on because the water was bouncing off
the windshield and keeping the glass clear all at the
same time. As soon as it hit, the next wave
would be behind it. It was like driving through a
car wash for forty five minutes, and the nozzle was
stuck on full and just aimed right at you. It
was the craziest weather I've got to say that I've
(02:36):
ever seen. And I made it. I almost made it
to Class the whole way on the normal route, and
then about three exits before I had to get off
at Exsit thirteen. And so the adventure continues. And all
I could keep thinking about in my head was how
I explained to people that if something bad happens to
a car and a woman is driving, it could be
life and death. You don't think that it could be
(02:57):
life and death for a guy, because guys have too
much ego. We're too stupid, sometimes I think, and yeah,
I can't be life and death and be life and
death for anybody. I got off at Eggs at thirteen
and wiggle waggled my way north until the GPS finally
told me to make a rite instead of doubling back.
And fortunately it was next with Dunkin Donuts and I
ran in and gave a cup of coffee and some munchkins.
I figured, if I'm gonna die, I might as well
(03:17):
go caffeinated and sugar it up. So uh, I got
into Brown Brook, New Jersey, and I crossed over the
steel bridge. You ever been on one of those steel
bridges When you look down there's holes in the girders,
you know, it's like an open grating kind of a bridge.
I now know why they call it bound Brook, because
I believe I was on top of the Bound Brook
(03:40):
and I'm watching the water level come up, going, oh boy,
I hope we get off this bridge soon. And I
got into south Bound Brook and then eventually I made
my way to the hotel. But getting to the hotel
for the seminar, it was eerie. You couldn't see and
there was like dim lights as if there were struggling
(04:00):
with power. It was absolutely the strangest training class drive.
Once we got into class, I was okay. We were
on the second floor, so I figured at that point
if we got flooded, the water would have to really
rise to get to us. But you know, and it
was worthwhile. Of course it was worthwhile. Automotive Training Group
they show up here in New Jersey every couple of
three months. Chris Lewis, of course, the great Chris Lewis.
(04:20):
We did a class on cylinder missfire and diagnostics, Misfire
and cylinder contribution diagnostics. Absolutely a great class if you
get a chance to take it, if you're one of
my pros out there and you get a chance to
take it. There was so much information in it and
so many different ways to look at miss fires and
how to disseminate mechanical from an ignition from a fuel
(04:41):
missfire within less than thirty minutes. Some of the tips
and tricks they gave us. Yeah, and it's good. And
this is why I go to class because it gives
me a different perspective. It allows me to look at
things and say, you know, I hadn't thought of it
that way, And by vice versa. I know I caught
Chris a couple of times and I I made him
think a little bit, as I always do, as Chris
(05:03):
and I have worked together for years and years, and
it's a good exchange of information between the two of us.
So if you get a chance and you are in
the position as a professional to take an ATG class,
by all means you should. It's really worthwhile. And then
of course the trip home was uneventful. It's just brolin
along to eighty seven ten o'clock at night, and got
(05:23):
up and did it again the next day. And by Wednesday,
I slept really well Wednesday night, just to let you
know in case you were wondering, because I was just exhausted.
And then let's see, Wednesday we did our cars, Thursday
we did our cars. Friday Danny was off. Danny went
to Baltimore to see a baseball game. I think it
was there was girlfriends running in a spartan race or
(05:43):
some such thing. I'm not sure what, but I think
the day. It's the summer. Enjoy your time. So I
was working alone on Friday, and I've got to tell you,
working alone is it's a different perspective. It just teaches
you you've got to keep going, you've got to stay on task,
can't get sidetracked. And I didn't, and I finished all
my cars and I was done, and out of there
(06:04):
by three, and fortunately Kathy came in doing her part
time thing. We count on Kathy to come in and
she was a great help and everything she did and
helped us get organized, and you know, at the end
of the week and of the door went, we went out.
We were gone at three. She think Kathy shut up
at one, you know that kind of thing. So it
was that those extra two ourselves and that's life in
a repair shop, you know, that's what you expect. I
(06:27):
think the one thing I walked away from this week
was being prepared, being prepared for the unexpected. I want
to tell you about an email, and I'm really dead
serious when I tell you this story, because I never
want to see anybody get to this point. I received
an email from a listener out in Ohio. I don't
(06:51):
want to get more specific than that, and they were
telling the story of their older van that had been
to five repair shops this person and was stuck in Ohio.
They were trying to get home since the end of
May and after five repair attempts by five different shops.
The email absolutely pointed out twice, I think I'm going
(07:14):
to commit suicide over this because I just can't take
it anymore. Yeah, that's what I said. And I read
it and I read it three times, and I you know,
is this just is this just an exaggeration? I sent
it to Tom. I said, Tom, you got to take
a look at this. Give me, you know, your unbiased viewpoint.
What do you think? And Tom Tom wrote back within
(07:35):
minutes what I was thinking. You've got to take it
to the police because you don't know. And I agree.
You know what if you if you tell me you're
going to kill yourself, I'm going to believe you. So
don't ever say that to me if you don't want
the police to show up on your doorstep. And we
worked with the local authorities here who contacted the authorities
out in Ohio. And I'm happy to say that the
(07:57):
individual is okay because I got another email on Friday
and I could tell it he was apologetic. He said, Gee,
I hope I didn't scare anybody. You know what, dude,
you tell me you're going to kill yourself over something,
I'm going to take you serious. Because the authorities came
knocking on his door and they found him. However they
found him, I'm not sure because he was staying at
(08:19):
a local hotel and he didn't give us his address,
and you know, they were able to, you know, find
his cell phone somehow and then track him down and
he's okay. You know, I tell you this, I'm not
looking for the pad on the back. I'm really not.
I tell you that because this is exactly the reason
why I do this radio show, not to save somebody
like that, but because I just think the lack of
(08:42):
information and the lack of procedure and how to repair
and how to diagnose, and it all comes back to
the training class. You know here, I am O, can't
I get it? It was it was a storm filled night,
there was a there was an state of emergency in
New Jersey. But the class, you know, but for the
potential of having twenty people, and if the class only
(09:03):
had eight the original eight that signed up. And I
don't understand how I go to training class after training
class and it's always the same eight to ten to
twelve people in it. And I get it, you know, well,
I don't get it actually because I don't understand how,
if you're going to be in this business as a professional,
how you don't go to class, how you don't attend
(09:25):
training and why it's such a struggle because it's not
just atg I hear this from a lot of shops,
a lot of shops. Just I don't have the time.
You know what, you have to make the time because
the day of reckoning is coming, is coming, where you're
just gonna have to know what you're doing. You're not
going to be able to guess anymore because it's going
(09:47):
to get to be way too expensive and you're going
to have you're not going to be able to fool
the customers any longer. So, you know, just that was
my week. You know what, I went to class. I
survived the flood. I I believe I prevented somebody from
maybe not killing themselves, but at least I got him
back on track because I think the cops, God bless
our police, and I believe they helped him find a
(10:10):
mechanic that got him squared away, because it was within
twenty four hours that I got the good news that
he's back on track and at least now the van
is partially fixed and he can get on his way.
So that was my week. I hope yours was better
because it was just so interesting if you want to
talk about it. Eight five five five six zero nine
nine zero zero again eight five five five six zero
(10:33):
nine nine zero zero. I'm running dy in the car. Doctor.
We're going to open up the phones when we get back.
Don't go away, Hey, Let's open up the phones and
go over to Rich in New York State, oait Toyota Corolla. Rich.
Welcome to the car doctor, sir, how can I help?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Okay? I have I have a problem that's been happening
now for about a year part of a year.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I get a code of P zero three, which is
it's saying there's an issue with the coil on the
number two cylinder. And I also get a twenty two
to thirty seven, which is the two sensor right, and.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Twenty two to thirty seven is more of an electrical
issue than a sense of performance issue. Okay, what parts
have been replaced already?
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Both of those have been replaced already. And what happens
is the car would run sometimes the light, the check
engine light will go out. The car will run properly
for about three days, and then all of a sudden
it acts up again. You turn the key, you start it,
and it's missing. It's very shaky. You drive up to
(11:48):
a light. You have to put it in neutral to
keep it lit. It's shaken pretty bad on the road.
It's not pulling your you're turning four thousand rpm and
you're doing twenty six miles an hour and it's not
pulling in the right lane of two eighty seven or
something like that. Which is this is?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
This is when the light is on?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Right?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Rich? Rich? Did we lose Rich?
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Uh? Uh?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Did we lose Rich? I think we lost Rich. His
coil started misfiring. So let's see we can get him back,
you know, And the way I would attack that if
I can, if I can kind of take it from there,
for everybody is and I know Tom's trying to get
him back, you know. I want to know. I want
to know what brand of part that we just put
into number two. Why don't we take number two coil,
(12:39):
move it to number four and put number four coil
in number two's hole, and let's see does the problem happen?
If the same problem happens, then I'm going to tell
you to go where I was thinking. Let's attack the wiring. Now,
this is a four wire coil. There's a hot there's
a ground which turns the coil on that just charges
the primary winding. I'm sorry, that charges the primary winding.
(13:00):
And then there's a computer control switch point with an
ignition feedback line. So the PCM is changing and modifying
dwell time or on time of the primary side of
the coil, allowing it to build charge until it gets
to the right moment, and it's looking for the response
of what it's doing on what they call the ig
(13:22):
n F line ignition feedback line on that particular car,
it's the yellow wire at the ignition coil. It's the
same wire. And the way I would look at this
is I want to see am I getting proper signal? Back?
I would scope it? Do I have a square wave signal?
And what am I looking at? Of course? Rich? Are
you there? Is Rich back?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Rich? Okay? Did you hear any of that?
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Okay? So have you moved that coil around? Have you
taken number two and put it to number four and
vice versa?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
I did. Originally I moved it two and three. I
swapped right to see if it would change the.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
The position the coil, the code yeah, or the or.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
The code itself, because the two and three fifty two
is the number two filling and it did not change anything.
There was no change in the so you don't know
about performance. I didn't take the car out on the road,
but I did swap it to see if the code
would change.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Right, But you still had a three fifty two. Yes, well,
but if you didn't take it on the road, how
did you set the code? It set the code sitting
there in the driveway.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Well, I started it back up and looked to see
if it was returning a different code, and it wasn't. That.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I don't know was it misfiring at that time?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I don't recall.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Okay, it won't. It doesn't work like that, all right,
it won't work like that to that degree. Look, let's
do this, okay, let's clear codes, all right, and let's
take number two coil and number four coil and swap them.
It's easy enough to do. Does the problem follow the
(15:00):
cylinder or the coil? Because if you get if you
get a three fifty two back, then I'm going to
tell you it's in the wiring or at the PCM,
which is not as common. All right, it's it's not common,
I give you that, But at least it will tell
us that if you get a three fifty four. What
brand coil did you buy?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Do you remember where you got the The coil was
replaced in a garage. I had brought it to a
mechanic and they replaced it at the garage.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
So you don't know whose brand it is?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
No, I don't.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Okay. Was it a lot of money?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Uh? No, not really.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Right, So I would I would question the quality of
that part if you have no idea. But this is
how we're going to find out. As as far as
the twenty two thirty seven, let's fix the ignition problem first,
because if there's a wiring problem on the ignition, maybe
we're going to find the two centsor wiring issue at
the same time. But I want to I want to
work on the ignition. Let's work on the easier of
(16:03):
the two problems first. Do that switching around, clear the code,
call me back when you know more.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
All right, sir, okay, okay, thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
We'll take it from there. You have to watch when
you're diagnosing something. As far as procedure. All right, the
fault won't reoccur inside drive it. The fault may not
reoccur like that, sitting and sitting in the driveway and
moving things around is a standard process. Now, we could
(16:34):
go through scoping and you know, we could play that game,
but I think it's going to get expensive for the end,
for the for the you know, the private owner to
go and do that. And listen, Swapping coils and sparkplugs
is something repair shops do it. It is part of
the diagnostic routine. So let's you know, that's why I
say take it one step at a time. Uh, you know,
just just just kind of move it along and understand
(16:56):
that quality of parts. I've seen more than a few
bad parts that are new repeat the same problem. So
that's why I want to know which one we're dealing with,
and that's why I call for the swap. Eight five
five five six zero nine nine zero zero. Run a
NI the card doctor. I'll be back right after this.
Don't go away. Let's continue on. And by the way,
(17:18):
you're listening to Ron and Innie and the car doctor.
Eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero
is the phone number twenty four to seven. I don't
know if I mentioned that yet today eight five five
five six zero nine nine zero zero twenty four to seven.
You can call, leave a message and executive producer, chief
cook and bottle washer Tom Ray will call you back
and get you in Q for the next live broadcast.
Let's go talk to Linda in Florida nineteen BMW. Linda,
(17:39):
this doesn't sound good. I'm just letting you know up front,
so tell me the story.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
The story is that I was idling and by the way, Hi, Ron,
thank you, You're welcome you. I was idling after dinner
one night in a parking lot, and we've been idling
for quite a while, and all of a sudden there
was an alarm on the car, just a loud, buzzing alarm,
(18:05):
and there was an enormous amount of smoke coming from
the exhaust in the back. The smoke was white, very clear,
but but again an enormous amount. There was no indication
indicator on the there was no indication on the dash
about oil leakage or kneating oil and nothing of that sort.
(18:30):
So the car was towed, I was taken to the shop.
I did start it up the next morning and there
was a there was smoke again, but not as much
as before. Right the And let me add that a
week prior to that, the indicator light came on saying
that I needed to add coolant. Top off the coolant
(18:53):
is what it said. So I popped off.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
The coolant.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
And so this had a week later, took it to
the shop and they reported that there was no blown
head gasket, that it was excess fuel around something being
burnt or evaporation. They instructed me that it was perfectly safe.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
For me to drive the car.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Changed the spark plugs and a filter. But in the meantime,
it's it. It hasn't given me any further problems. However,
it continues to require coolant, right, so.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
If it's if it's continuing to lose coolant and it's
not an external leak, and by now you would have
seen a drip or a drop or a puddle somewhere
under the car where you park it, you've got an
internal engine consumption missue. How many miles around this car
can't be a lot.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
It's the car is twenty nineteen, but there's seventy nine
thousand minds.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
It's not a lot. It really isn't. And you know,
there's there's two ways to go. It's it's teared down
to inspect or you know, diagnose. I'd love to see,
you know, here's an example of using some diagnostic skill.
I'd love to look at die you know, misfires. For example,
does anyone particular cylinder report a misfire on startup? What
(20:26):
would happen if we pressurized the cooling system the night before,
you know, dropped it off at the shop Tuesday night,
and they pressurized the cooling system, came in Wednesday morning,
pulled plugs out, and looked into any of the cylinders.
Do they see coolant inside the cylinders with a porscope
which is just a you know, a long necked you know,
(20:46):
telescoping imaging device, which most shops have these days, because
the coolant's going somewhere, and it is even if oh,
gee wiz, Linda's got up. You know, Linda is the
air to peak anty freezing. You can pour in all
the anti free she wants, you can pour and all
the cool she wants for free. At some point you're
going to ruin catalytic converter and oxygen sensors because coolant
(21:10):
is death to both of those. So long term, it's
not good. It's ingesting. The exhaust system is ingesting something
that it's not supposed to. So not the I told
you it wasn't going to be good. I'm sorry, you know,
it's it's now, you know, if you want to try
and and I'm hesitant to suggest this just because it's
(21:31):
a newer vehicle and I don't know, you know, I
don't know what your position is as far as you know,
do you want to keep it? Do you want to
get rid of it? I have no problem using the product,
but of course I'm going to tell you that k
Seal would do would most likely do a wonderful job
sealing this. If anything would stop this coolant leak. Internally,
it's going to be case Seal. It's available, you know,
(21:52):
most auto parts stores k seal dot com to read more.
They also make a head gasket sealer, k sal Ultimate
thirty three percent more ceiling power. Just like the ad says,
not to make this a commercial, but it does work.
We've used k Sealed. As matter of fact, I just
put a video up on my YouTube channel. We used
k Seal head Ultimate on a nine F one fifty
(22:13):
that had a misfire on two cylinders and had a
coolant issue and it solved it. So it will work.
You know, It's just I don't know what your long
term plans are for the vehicle, and you know not
the case seal isn't a long term product. But you know,
people get funny about pouring you know, seilers into vehicles,
So that is a that is a possibility if they
(22:34):
if they claim they can't find anything and you're looking
for a less expensive way out that would most likely
do the job for you. Is this a BMW dealer
working on it or the corner garage?
Speaker 4 (22:46):
No? No, the BMW dealer.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Okay, you know, yeah, yeah, and that's and that's good.
I'm kind of amazed that they're not offering you the
option to go further. Is there warranty on this vehicle?
There's something wrong with this story. I can't figure it out.
You know, usually usually the dealer wants to tear the
engine apart. You know, there's there's there's got to be
a matter of curiosity here and I'm and I'm questioning
(23:09):
whether they've got it or not. How much cool and
how much coolant have you added to the car over
what period of time?
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Over I would say over two months, two months, it
would be uh a complete container a gallon.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You've put a gallon of coolant into the overflow bottle
or the coolant bottle on this BMW in a.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Month and about in about well I would I would
say about two and a half month.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Okay, eight weeks, eight weeks, and and they're telling you
that's normal.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
No, they're not.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
They're saying that. They're saying that. Actually, they didn't say
anything about the the coolant portion of it. That's why
I was calling you.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Actually, well yeah, but I'm so I'm confused there. It's
it's used a gallon of coolant in two months. Are
they the ones adding it or are you adding it?
Speaker 4 (24:12):
No? I add I add it the coolant.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Okay, have you have you been back to tell them
about the coolant consumption? No, Okay, you gotta go back.
You got it. You gotta go back. It's you know,
and you got to tell them, Look, I've used a
gallon of coolant in two months. There's something not right,
because it's only going to get worse in time, even
if even if it stays at this level, and this
(24:35):
is all that it does, is just that it consumes
and you never see white smoke again. You're slowly killing
the catalytic converters because there's more than one on that
vehicle and the oxygen sensors and it's gonna get it's
gonna get real expensive if if whatever is seeping coolant
decides to fail, if the dam bursts, it's going to
(24:55):
be a hot mess in a minute.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Yeah, And I mean, I'm not a mechanic and perform it,
but I you have to know that there is something
wrong if I'm continually adding coolant.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
If this were medical terms, I would tell you one
of your heart felves is in ceiling and we're waiting
for the heart attack to happen.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
All right, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
That's not good news.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
And that's not good news. And that's I can't stress
this enough. And you know this could happen pulling out
onto the interstate just before the eighteen wheeler. And I
want to say it like that because I want to
plant that seed of doubt in your mind that if
the head gas get word to fail at at a
critical moment where you're counting on acceleration and you don't
(25:43):
get it, oh boy.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Yeah right, So yeah, painted a grave picture.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
And yeah, it's my job. I have to I have
to keep you safe, all right, So I got to go, Linda.
I hope I worked for you. If that doesn't If
that isn't it, and they're still confused, you call me back.
I'd love to talk further about this. I want to
know what happens here. That use of it's k K
the letter K letter K seal k seal ok s
(26:15):
e A l kseal dot com. All right there, you're
very welcome.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
Boy.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I'll tell you it's kind of scary what's out there.
That's why Ron keeps working. Ron can never retire. Eight
five five five six zero nine nine zero zero. I'll
be back right after this. Don't go away rolling along.
Let's go to Brenda and Louisiana. Brenda, you're own with
the car doctor. How can I help?
Speaker 5 (26:39):
I was calling about my twenty twenty five GMC Sierra.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Okay, what's going.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
On with it?
Speaker 5 (26:47):
I was coming back from a trip and it said
no all. So I pulled over and checked the dipstick
and it had no all on the dipstick.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Wow, I'll proceed.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
I proceed to put two and a half quarts back
in the truck.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Went to the car dealership.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
The next day and they're telling me it needs a
consumption test.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yes, so let me let me ask you this, which
engine is this? Brandon? Is this A? Is this A
six two or A five throw three? Five to three? Okay?
And they're telling you it needs an oil consumption test.
So what they're going to do is they're going to
give it a general once over. How many miles are
on this There can't be a lot of miles on
(27:29):
this is a twenty five?
Speaker 5 (27:30):
No, it's five thousand, four hundred and fifty five miles. Now.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Has it even had its first oil? Has it had
its first oil change?
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Well?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I guess it has now.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Yeah. When I took it to them, it was five
thousand and forty something miles on it, okay, and they
changed all but there they said they put a computer
check on it, and the car don't even show that
it was low.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
It's like, you know, but you had the warning on
the dash.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
I think there's a miscommunication there. I think they're looking
for a fault code to indicate an oil issue and
they're not seeing it. But yet the vehicle still physically
mechanically ran out of oil. Let's listen, let's stay with
what we know for the moment. All Right, it's got
an oil consumption problem. It shouldn't go through two and
a half quarts of oil in five thousand miles. And
(28:25):
they're gonna do a consumption test because they have to
follow GM protocol, as painful as it might be, and
they're gonna they're gonna fill it up to the line.
They're gonna tell you to drive it, and they're gonna
tell you to either come back in five hundred or
one thousand miles. They're going to establish a baseline of
how much oil this consumes over what period of time?
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Well, I mean, is there I hear Ford does it too?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yep? Listen right now, if you ask me what truck
to buy, I wouldn't know what to tell you. For GM, Toyota,
they're all they've all got their issues right now. There's
nothing out there that captures my imagination. Wow, it's just yeah,
it's really sad. It's what we've become and I don't
understand it now. Obviously the five to three has engine
(29:11):
recalls that, but it's only it's like model year twenty
nineteen through twenty twenty four, right. It hasn't worked its
way up through the twenty fives yet. But in all fairness,
that doesn't mean it won't. It just means that the
twenty fives haven't driven enough miles and there haven't been
enough oil consumption tests done yet. If you get what
(29:32):
I'm saying that it hasn't. It hasn't hit the magic
number where GM's gonna go, Okay, we've got two hundred
thousand trucks out there consuming oil. We got to add
twenty five model year engines to this test as well,
to this recoil as well.
Speaker 5 (29:46):
Well, I call it the factory and the factory. All
they did was past the bug.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Right, That's all they're gonna do. They're not gonna nobody's
gonna commit to anything until they get a definitive answer
on consumption. Now, they may come back and tell you
a quart of oil in one thousand miles is okay, Okay,
it's not okay.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
That's what they tell me.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That's not it's not okay in my book, because my
concern is, just like my previous caller, you're now passing
oil through the exhaust, what's the long range projected life
of that catalytic converter, Because that cat that cat oil
is oil is a carbon based product. Obviously, what does
a catalytic converter react to carbon. It's trying to it's
(30:27):
trying to reduce emissions from fuel. Right, a carbon based product,
it's gonna swallow that oil and try and do something
with it, so it's gonna have shorter catalytic converter life.
I think your only hope is GM really gets enough
of these complaints and then they finally step up and
try to figure out and rebuild and correct what's wrong
in the engine. But right now they're the ones holding
(30:47):
the cards. You got to play by their rules and
wait and see what happen.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
I'm sure, I'm sure I'm not the first.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
No, I doubt that you are. If you are, they're
gonna come up with a definitive answer relatively quick. But
I don't think they will. So would you promise me this,
Give me a call in a couple of months, Let
me know what ends up happening with this. Let us
you know, because the exposure you give it here might
help others to step forward and complain about their product,
and it might help you in the long run too.
(31:15):
All right, Kittle, You'll be well, stay in touch, You
take good care. I'm on an ay in the car. Doctor,
I'll be back right after this and there goes the hour.
So coming up this weekend, I believe it's on Sunday
at three pm. It gets released the latest video on
the YouTube channel. If you haven't subscribed to the YouTube channel,
(31:37):
we suggest you do and encourage you to do so
because the videos are really starting to pile up now.
We've got a couple of them, some dandies coming up
in the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow we're going to
put the one out and it's kind of basic, but
it's effective, and obviously we did it. We're trying to
make them effective. But it's about testing a gas cap
in a vehicle using a smoke machine. And while you
(31:59):
may not have a smoke machine, it will no doubt
help you understand what it is when we talk about
leaks in the system and why the gas cap can
cause a failure, because I give a very graphic demonstration
of how to test the system using our speed smoke
from redline detection and then what to do, you know,
(32:19):
changing the cap we put up. We show good, we
show bad, and so on and so forth. But that
video will be up. It's on a twenty sixteen Kia
Kia Rio. That'll be up Sunday at three pm, so
you know you want to obviously see that. And then
next week, I think the following week we've got another video.
You know, I don't remember what the topic was, but
(32:40):
it's something we shot in the shop real quick. And
you know, all these come from the shop is just
spur the moment stuff. So we've got that to look
forward to it. So the videos keep piling up. We're
also putting together a shorts library. We don't have enough
in there yet. We want to build up a good
two dozen before we start releasing those just sixty minute
tips from Ron and you'll see those coming out sometime
this year. Till the next time, I'm Roon and Enie
and the car Doctor reminding you good mechanics aren't expensive,
(33:04):
they're priceless. See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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