September 13, 2025 • 33 mins
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Thermostats, Cold Misfires, Dual-Tank Gremlins & Shop Truths
Ron opens with “the good, the bad, and the ugly,” then dives into rapid-fire diagnostics: a 2019 Chevy Blazer that loses A/C and power assist when a bad thermostat skews engine temp strategy; a 2017 Ford Explorer with P0300/P0316 cold-start misfires and how to prove cause using Mode 6, freeze-frame, power balance, and residual fuel-pressure tests; a 1996 Ford F-350 dual-tank fueling issue caused by check-valve logic/recall history; a quick clutch-interlock switch hack; and a Toyota Highlander Blackstone oil-analysis follow-up. Plus: why parts updates (hello, brake pad tape) and better shop communication matter. Practical steps, scan-tool tips, and straight talk for DIYers and pros.
Chapter Markers (condensed)
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00:00 – Tease: “Good, Bad & Ugly” open; straight to the phones
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01:11 – 2019 Chevy Blazer: thermostat fault, A/C & EPS cut by strategy
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05:44 – 2017 Ford Explorer: P0300/P0316; Mode 6, freeze-frame, power balance, residual pressure plan
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17:50 – 1996 Ford F-350: dual tanks pumping into each other; check valves & recall history
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24:02 – Quick tip: clutch-interlock switch adjustment workaround
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26:14 – 2015 Toyota Highlander: Blackstone oil-report results & contamination prevention
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30:39 – Close: parts changes (pad adhesives), customer approach, and shop relationships
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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 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
pm Eastern by calling eight five to five five six
zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five to five
(00:25):
five six zero ninety nine hundred, your direct line to
honest answers and practical advice. Looking for more, visit cardoctorshow
dot com for past episodes, repair tips, and Ron's latest insights,
and be sure to subscribe to the Car Doctor YouTube
channel for exclusive videos, real repair footage and more. Now
start your enginies. The Car Doctor is in the garage
(00:47):
and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
For the record. I had a really great open about
the good, the bad, and the ugly. I was gonna
tell you something good that happened at the shop with
a customer, But because I know you never hear that
from me, I'll leave you to ponder that. Because right
now we have a lot of phone calls, So let
me get to the phones. Maybe we'll squeeze that in
this hour, Maybe it'll be next week. Chad, Louisiana, nineteen
Chevy Blazer. What's going on, Chad? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah? One day when wife came came home, she lost
her AC and her power assistance on it, and I
showed a PO code. I put my reader on it
and it's low temperature, not reaching.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The minimum right right.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
It happened again to her next week and I took
it up. I wasn't to take it to the shop,
but we didn't have it covered, so I did it myself.
We took the thermostat off and it had part of
the rubber that was curled up, so it was part
of the problem. But my question was would that cause
(01:49):
the AC to turn off and the power assistance to
go out?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yes, because it's going to go into default if it
thinks the engine is running at an incorrect temperature, it
will limit operation and of other functions. A. They're concerned
about engine survivability. B they're trying to make you uncomfortable.
See you get it fixed?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Ah, gotcha?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
All right. There's a strategy here. This is this is
this goes back to the late nineties early two thousands,
when a lot of the imports, we'll call them imports.
Now they're domestics as far as I'm concerned, but Toyota's
hondas a lot of the vehicles would turn on every
single dashboard light for a bad oh two cents or
or fault cote in the engine. They would limit the
way safety functions would operate. So yeah, that's that. We
(02:30):
call that operating strategy. I call that an attention getter.
So is it solved? Is it? Is it operating properly? Now?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah, it's it's doing good. I just didn't wanted to
come back on some curious if it would be something.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, the other the other, the other side of that
is you know, so let's let's say it comes back, right, Chad,
put a thermostat in it. I'm sure you've got a
good quality thermostat whatever you got right, Okay, Right, So
you got to nowa stat and let's say the problem
comes back, and let's say it's not related to the
rubber seal bypassing, because that's what it was doing. It
(03:06):
was allowing cool to leak past and run at a
lower end in temperature. What would you look at next,
I'm gonna make you think.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Oh I would check the sensor. Well, I was one change,
but the way they have that sensor in there, I
didn't have the tool to get it out right.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I think that's the one that's down on the head
and it's under a ledge. Yes, yeah, so nobody has
that tool.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I was thinking of a crow's foot. It might be
getting it, but I'm not too sure.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, you have to get it. What you do is
you have to sacrifice a crow's fit. Here's what you
gotta do, all right, if you want to know the truth,
you have to go to Harbor Freight. You have to
buy a crow's foot and an extension and weld the
two pieces together, or spend three times the money. Go
to your local snap on guy. Buy a crow's foot
by the extension and weld the two pieces together, and
(03:56):
you'll make a tool, or you're gonna cut a wrench.
There's no known tool. I haven't. I haven't because I
know exactly where this sensor is. I've looked at it going. God,
that's going to be horrible to change if and when
it goes bad. So, uh, you know it's it's it's
gonna be one of those. We're going to make a
tool kind of a thing. So yeah, that's but yeah,
you're right. Look, I would look at the temp censor,
(04:17):
I would look at the dashboard readings. I would take
it out for a ride with my scam tool and
monitor everything.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And the first time it happened to her, it was
only getting up to one and when I changed the
thermostatic and actually got up to above two hundred.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Right, it typically runs in the two oho five range,
which to me is mind boggling that we run cars
that hot. But it's been that way for twenty years.
So it's that's what it is, all right, kiddo.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Alright, I do appreciate it, very you're right.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Well, now listen, that's what we're here for. We're just
trying to help you guys. It's hey, listen, I I
did it this week. I called a gentleman in North
Carolina during the day from the shop. I thought that
guy was going to fall off his chair, you know.
But I mean, I'm just trying to help people fix cars. Brother,
That's all this is about.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Jack. Now, I like buying older vehicles because they're a
lot easier to work on in the newer.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
One, right, well, you know, I wonder if you're going
to say that in ten years, you know, is the
car is the twenty twenty five whatever Chevy Blazer today?
In ten years, will you say it's easier to work on?
My vote is yes, And the reason is because we've
got ten years of experience fixing it and we know
where the pattern failures are. So but you know that's
(05:28):
always be open to that. That's that's probably what's going
to happen. I gotta go, kidd a pleasure, Thank you,
you'd be well, yes, sir, Let's go to gar Let's
go to Gary, Wisconsin. Seventeen Explorer, I mean explored. Did
I say that P zero three hundred? What's going on here? Gary?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Well, like I.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Said, like you just said, I get a seventeen Explorer
with a three P three hundred code and a P
zero three sixteen as well according to the Ford Garage. Okay,
I can't get that on my code reader, but they
picked it up right.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Well, because they're picking it up on they're picking it
up under your make model, you may not be able
to get that on OBD two and they're telling you,
and they're telling you what's at fault. Yes, no, they're
they're go ahead, Gary, They're saying what's They're saying, what's
at fault? Have they diagnosed it?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yes and no. On the first visit they said, just
put in spark plugs, but the spark plugs had already
been replaced with with Ford Motor Company plugs and less
than five thousand miles. So on the second visit they said,
(06:50):
what you really need is a injector service and coil
boots for the spark plugs.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Okay, can I can I tell you stop you right
there for a quick second. This is a V six?
This is this is a V six no turbo motor right?
Or is this the four cylinder?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
No, this is a V six okay three point five.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Are they charging you for this alleged diagnosis?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Yes they charged Yeah, they charged me about two hundred
dollars so far. Okay, it's not a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I don't think they've earned their pay yet. I'm not here,
I'm not I'm not hearing. I'm not hearing anything definitive. Right,
How does how does the car run?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It runs fine after the first uh one minute, I
suppose a minute and a half somewhere in there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Okay, Sorry, first, this is this little rough So this
is a cold engine misfire. Yeah, okay, have they verified
that or is that just? Is that just Gary telling
them what he experiences?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Well, what the what? No, they have been able to
duplicate that. They just they do They haven't. Let's put
it this way. On a third visit, after looking over
more closely, they decided it must be an injector leaking, okay,
and therefore and therefore contaminating and I suppose in the
(08:22):
lower Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Uh, well it's it's it's gas washing the cylinder. Let
me let me ask you something, Gary, all right, how
how confident are you these guys know what they're doing?
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Not one hundred percent satisfied with them?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
No, But you're you're right on the same page. Here's
here's here's how I would approach this diagnosis. Okay, and
I I try not to armchair quarterback, but man, I
got to jump in on this one, all right. Customer
comes in, Hey Ron, You're you're the customer, right, Gary, Hey, Ron,
my car's got a it's got a misfire. Sure, Gary,
let me take a look at it. Gary, it's misfiring.
(09:02):
It's got a P zero three hundred which is random.
Multiple cylinder misfire doesn't have to be ignition, doesn't have
to be fuel, could be mechanical, could be a bad
harmonic balancer causing the serp belt to slip. I mean,
anything that would make the crank stutter, so to speak. Right,
So you've got a P zero three hundred and you've
got a three sixteen, which means it's detecting a misfire
(09:24):
under a thousand revolutions on startup. Okay, hey Gary, let
me go do a little deeper diagnosis. I'm gonna get
into mode six. Mode six is the binary language of
when that fault occurs. I'm also going to look a
look at freeze frame. Freeze frame is the video snapshot
of an approximation of what the engine was doing when
the fault occurred. I'm gonna see, Hey, Gary, you know
(09:46):
this happens during warm up. Once the engine gets to
one hundred and ninety five or two hundred operating degrees,
the misfire goes away. Yeah, okay, hey Gary, I'm dealing
with a cold engine misfire. That took me. That took me.
Uh yeah, I'll be I'll be lazy that day. Danny
interrupted me. And I had two cups of coffee. That
took me thirty five minutes. Where am I here? You
(10:08):
know what am I? What am I looking for? Right?
So gotta tell you what? Sit tight? Let me pull
over real fast, take this puzz and I'll come back.
We'll finish up with you real quick. But I want
to give you some amo. I'm ronning any and the
car doctor. I'll be back right after this. Gary, Wisconsin,
you're still there, sir, got Gary. I'm gonna make a
(10:29):
mechanic out of you, all right in the next seven
In the next seven minutes, I'm gonna make you smarter
than the guys at the Ford Garage. You're ready, all right? Okay,
you got a pencil and paper I do, Okay, you
can write good. You're already halfway there. So my first
thirty five minutes, I've established when the fault occurs, what
fault occurs, and I'm going to go look at mode
(10:52):
six and freeze frame to verify what engine conditions were
going on and which exact cylinders are act misfiring. Some
may misfire more than others.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I have that they did a code six and they
came up with cylinder one misfired twice in ten dive cycles,
and number two twice, number three, three times, number four,
two times number five onths number six once.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Okay, so it's spread it's spread out over all all
of the cylinders. Yes, okay, and when the car warms
up the problem goes away.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yes, all right.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Next, can we do a cylinder power balance test? Can
we see if one injector is more offensive than the rest?
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Right?
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Silver balance?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Now, Ford, and it's it's really great. A Ford Factory
scan tool gives you the ability to do a cylinder
power balance test right from the seat of the car.
You don't have to lift the hood or anything, nothing
to do. You plug in, you get to the test
and it will show you which cylinders And can I
do that test warm? Is this truly a cold problem?
(12:09):
Why not? Let's see. That'll take me fifteen minutes. I'm
done thirty five minutes for I've now got one of
my fifty minutes into the car. Right the last ten minutes,
I'm gonna hook up a fuel the last ten minutes,
I'm gonna hook up a fuel pressure gauge, verify fuel pressure,
and I'm gonna shut the car off. I'm gonna go
(12:31):
get a cup of coffee. I'm gonna come back in
twenty minutes. Has the system held residual pressure? It should
hold residual pressure for ten to twenty minutes after I
cycle the key off. If it's zero, I'm thinking I've
got an injector. That's peeing. It's okay, I can say
peeing on radio. That's not a bad word. Oh, all right?
(12:55):
And then which cylinder misfires the most when I started?
Maybe I'm gonna go to that olander. Do I have
a mechanical leak down issue? All right? But you know, well,
maybe you need spark plugs, maybe you need coil boots,
Maybe you need injectors that doesn't work. You know, a
twenty twenty two Ford f one point fifty pickup. You
(13:22):
can't buy the coil boots separately. Don't ask me how
I know. You have to buy the whole coil. So
if you think you've got bad boots on a three
year old truck, it's it's one hundred and eighty two
dollars a coil times eight. We're going to spend you know,
sixteen hundred dollars on a guess we better learn how
(13:43):
to diagnose cars. Right, yep, so, and that's my point. So, yeah,
I agree, an injector cleaning might be a wonderful thing.
It can't hurt. But you know how many miles around
this car?
Speaker 6 (14:00):
Now?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
I'm going to ask mileage? Right, if you notice I
haven't asked mileage yet? How many miles are on this car?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
One hundred and eight?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Okay? So have you ever done spark plugs?
Speaker 4 (14:12):
I did it at one hundred and five okay.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
And the problem happened after that or the problem was
going on at the time.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Yeah, what No, it happened after that?
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Right? Do we think maybe we installed a spark plug
or I'm sorry, an ignition coil?
Speaker 4 (14:30):
Wrong?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Is it possible we need boots because we didn't use
any dielectric grease to seal them? Let me ask right,
I'm speaking, I'm speaking, you know, off the top of
my head. Have these been your guys all along?
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So let me ask you. Let let's it's just it's
just you and me, Gary. We're sitting there, we're sitting
We're sitting at a soda fountain having a coke. Right, Okay,
these guys don't seem to exude a lot of confidence
from you, do they no, they don't, and they've had
one hundred thousand miles to prove themselves.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
What's that's true? Wow, there's something maybe?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
All right, So it was sixty thousand it was used.
If you were dating these guys, wouldn't you call this
a bad date? Isn't it time?
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Isn't it time to get isn't it time to get
out of the It's time for a divorce, isn't it. Yeah,
I mean this is a bad marriage, brother, and I
just I just don't see it. You know. Listen, you
come to the if I had customers this morning. I
was in the shop this weekend because we were so busy,
(15:44):
I couldn't deliver all the cars by the end of
the week on Friday, so I had to go into
the shop this morning to actually get some cars out. Right,
And we're joking and kidding around, and we're talking about
this and we're talking about that. But I can do
that because you know what, I know, the car's fixed.
I've got a great relationship, because the relationship is the biggest,
most important part of the repair process. You've got a
(16:05):
bad relationship here. These guys are just I mean either
that of you're lying to me, Gary, and I don't
think you are. I think you're a straight shooter.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, people, these guys are kind of dopey. You're just
a number to them. You know, they're like little robots.
Nobody's explaining anything, nobody's taking the time to sit down
and talk to them. So I think it's time, you know,
it's time for you to go talk to your service
writer and say, look, you guys have been my guys
for the past sixty thousand miles X number of years.
I want you to be my mechanics. I need a mechanic.
(16:35):
I don't want to go somewhere else, but I'm not
getting a lot of warm fuzzies here. Every once in
a while, you got to have that cup of coffee
conversation with your mechanic and say, you know, if the
relationship isn't great, because it sounds like we're guessing, right.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Yeah, they've even said on the second visit they're guessing,
and that disturbed me somewhat. I you know, I mean,
I just want to find out what's the matter.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Have they tried? Have they tried? Have they tried selling
you a new car yet?
Speaker 4 (17:10):
No?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
No, that's coming all right? You call me back next week.
That's coming Gary. They're gonna say, you know what, you
need a new car. This one's eight years old. But
think about it, all right, Those are some of the
things I would look at. Those are some of the
tests they need to do. We've got an hour in
this car. Gary, We've got an hour in this car,
and we already know more than them. Go at it.
Don't be afraid. Try to get a divorce. Maybe good luck.
(17:33):
Let us know. I'm running ay in the car doctor
dating advice. I'll be back right after this. Somewhere somebody's
going what's a four barrel car? Let's go to Robert
in Nevada. Robert, Welcome to the car doctor, sir. What's
going on?
Speaker 7 (17:50):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
It's always a pleasure, Thank you, sir. What's cooking?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
I love the show?
Speaker 6 (17:55):
You know. I got a F three fifty. It's a
ninety six FLA. It's got the four to sixty, the
large motor. Right about a year ago, me and a
buddy changed the gas pump in the front tank and
because it was going out and weak, and I changed
the filter and it started pumping. When you're on the
(18:18):
front tank, it'll pump and pressure the back tank right
at the point where besides dripping, it'll shoot gas out
to take the cap off.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Right.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
So about three weeks ago I replaced the back pump well,
and so I had it in a shop for a
few other things. They redid all the breaks and stuff,
and I asked them to fix that or do whatever.
They never fixed it. I'd had it in there two
more times they were supposed to fix it. I gave
up on them, and about three weeks ago the back
(18:48):
tank started going out, so I replaced the pump in it,
and now it pumps to the front tank. And then
the other day, two days, they're three days ago.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
It hit me because I had one of your commercials
and I was.
Speaker 6 (19:01):
Like, man, I got to call the doctor because I've
been talking to people and.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Here's there's the here's the deal, the seal. All right,
if we if we built a time machine, we went
back to nineteen ninety eight, all right, that when that
vehicle was under recoil for problems with the check valves
that were built into the fuel pumps for this exact problem,
all right, because there was an install issue at the factory,
(19:28):
and they slowly developed over time. So when you say
you put a fuel pump in this. Did you put
just the pump or the whole assembly?
Speaker 6 (19:41):
Well, I had to take it, No, I had to
take it apart and then put pieces together out of
the old pump.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Okay, because see it's hard for me to answer because
I don't know if this vehicle had the recall done
to it or not. Most of them did, most of
them there was a recall where the external check valve
may be on the pressure line and each tank assembly.
If the check valves were installed, there may be one
(20:13):
in the tank where the new fuel pumps being installed,
and that causes it the pump to the opposite tank.
So and then again if it wasn't done, and now
you put in a fuel pump with a check valve,
we could be going in the wrong direction.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Holy crap.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah, that's probably the word I would use or something there.
All right, man, No, this is this is this is
a check valve related issue. So the question is the
question is what did these pumps originally have. Now, in theory,
if you change the front pump, just the pump and
(20:49):
not the assembly, and I've got a feeling you changed
the assembly, all right, if you just if you just
put an electric pump in the front unit where you
pulled out the whole module and all and just swapped
out the pump. You shouldn't have changed anything. The fact
that it changed when you put the fuel pump assembly
in it tells me that you probably put an assembly
(21:10):
with a check valve in it. And now you've got it.
And I bet there's a check valve on the frame
rail too.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
Would that be by the filter it used to be?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You know where it is after forty years any anybody's
guest brother.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
But but it never had this problem.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
So I write, put in the other pump, and it's
the exact opposite.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
But yeah, I really think that if you go back
and look, you probably put a complete pump assembly in
the front, and then who's pump did you use? I
would call that manufacturer, whoever it was, whoever's pump it was,
and I would talk to tech support and say, here's
the problem i've got. Does your pump assembly as I
(21:58):
purchased it, have a check valve built into the pump
or not?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
Right?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
And get an answer from them because they'll know how
they because I always wondered, I'm not surprised at this
question because I always wondered since Ford did an external
recall and they changed they changed the check valving on
the vehicles, I always wandered. I said, I wonder what's
gonna happen when the after market gets a hold of this.
How bad could the aftermarket screw it up? And and
what sort of fuel pumps they're gonna put out? So
(22:28):
that's what gives Yeah, I would ask the manufacturer, listen,
you know the industry hasn't gotten any smarter. I'll tell
you the ugly. All right, I'm gonna tell you the
ugly real quick. I was going to talk about the good,
the bed, and the ugly. Here's the ugly car from
this week. I had a nineteen Fusion in the shop.
I had to do front brakes. I bought the brake pads.
I bought the rotors, same brand, good brand, loved the brand,
(22:50):
always working right. And I had the same complaint that
the customer had when we did them three years ago,
where they would clunk once in a while, and I
kept thinking about it, why do I get a break
pad clunk? And I now I'm like aware of it,
I'm more dialed in. I kept going through. I had
to order four sets of brake pads sixty sixteen fifty threes,
eight twelves, eighteen fifty threes and so on, and it
(23:13):
turns out somewhere along the way. Long story short, because
we've only got an hour radio show if left today
for change the part number of the brake pad from
this to that. The new pad has a piece of
double sided sticky tape so that they actually glue the
caliber right to the bracket base so it doesn't shift around.
(23:35):
I've got a stack of brake pads in the shop
that are going back on Monday. Wow, you know, why
do we Why don't we have to go through this?
Why can't we call manufacturers and have them know what
the hell they're selling in plain English?
Speaker 6 (23:50):
Well, it's all in the engineering, right, and it's.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
All in the engineering, and it's all in the supplements,
and it all does the information, you know, work its
way downhill.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
So you got time for quick question, real truck.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Real quick two minutes.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
So when you hit the clutch and it doesn't want
to you got to really kick it sometimes, and I
believe there's an adjustment.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
What do I got to replace or deuce.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
Because it seems like it's just going out or one
of these days, it's just not going to want to
start because that clutch will what so inther words, if you.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Don't push it far enough, the starter.
Speaker 6 (24:22):
Won't engage, it won't start. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Okay, So there's going to be a switch like a
brake light switch on the clutch pedal. Okay, ninety six,
and he's slopping the linkage. Is the switch? Is the
switch worn? Is the switch sitting in the hole cock
to the side that the pedals hit it so many times?
How many millions of miles are on this truck? Watch this?
Speaker 6 (24:43):
Well the truck's probably four hundred and twenty thousand, but
it's got a new factory block motory.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Well yeah, but yeah, but when you change the engine block,
did you change the clutch linkage under the dash? No? No, right,
there you go. See that's what I mean. Here you go.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
So so crawl under the dash, all right, and take a
flashlight with you, and you'll see as you depress the pedal,
there's going to be a stop that has to hit
a tab that's.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
The brake light switch. All right. Now, if the linkage
is worn and you can't get it to contact the
switch any better because some infantismally obsolete part that no
longer exists on the planet isn't around, and you need
to make the pedal contact the switch sooner. Take a
vacuum cap, you know, the old days, vacuum cap, carburetors,
(25:33):
vacuum lines, that kind of thing. Find the right size
vacuum cap. Put it on the end of that switch
so it depresses the button. But you'll probably have to
trim the rubber a little bit so it can depress.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Down right, all right, better in duct tape, Right, that's.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Better than duct tape. Yeah, I'm always better than duct tape,
trust me, and see what that does. All right, that's it.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
That's all I got.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
You're very welcome. You're very welcome. Thank you, Robert. You'd
be well out there in Nevada, Nevada. I wonder if
I'm stilling billboard eight five five five six zero nine
nine zero zero. Tom's like, no, I'll be back right
after this, and we are rolling down the highway. Let's
go back to Frank an Illinois return call from a
couple of weeks ago. Frank, what's the status on this
(26:14):
fifteen highlander? What'd you find out?
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Well? I got the results backs the giversiel averages. They
call it sixty six hundred. This was done at thirty
three hundred miles. The report came back stating that the
wear materials are at the lower level the mats, a
good sign that the wearing parts of the engine are
operated in a healthy manner. No contamination turned out for
(26:38):
a few cool water dirt viscasi red in the zero
W twenty range, low in solubles in silicone show defective
oil and air filtration exit results. Over All, the only
thing I noticed on the report that might be a
little high for thirty three hundred was the calcium, magnesium, phosphorus,
(27:02):
and zinc levels for thirty three hundred. It might have
been a hair high, but it wasn't over the universal averages.
So the only thing I can assume is when it
was serviced at the dealer, I don't know how they
got all that gold speck and flakes and stuff in
that engine that kind of cut the builders open too.
At that time, nothing was in there, so it's somewhat
(27:22):
it was still a little mystery. But B six is
a running whisper quiet, so I guess I don't know
for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Well, you know, is it possible and we're assuming, which
is a dangerous word for a lot of reasons.
Speaker 7 (27:38):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
You know, one of the things I did in the
shop a good couple of years ago is I built
a funnel rack. You know what I mean by a
funnel rack. I took We took some we took some
two inch white plumber's pipe, and we basically made an
octopus and we bolted it to the wall and right,
it all comes down, It all funnels down at all
next down to one pipe and then it drips into
a pail and that's our filter. And we would take
(28:00):
you know, the oil filter because that we have we
probably have fourteen different oil filters for all the cars.
But the one thing I didn't like about that was
and of course, how else would just store all the filters?
You're tripping over them, They fall all over the ground.
No matter what you do, is you're exposing the face
or the outside of the funnel, the funnel, the atmosphere
(28:20):
shops a dirty environment. So we ended up research Kathy,
through her due diligence and research, hence the name, she
found funnel covers. So every time we do an oil change,
we take the filter down, we take the cover off,
we put it in the car, bump the oil in,
put it back in the rack, put the funnel cover
back on the lids, so it doesn't get dirty, it
doesn't get contaminated. Maybe that material got in the engine
(28:42):
because they're not careful with their funnels and raw material,
wrong material got in the engine as a result of that.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
That could be the only reason I could see, because,
like I said, other than him serving the sip. When
I initially head bought it from them, I changed on
oil and filters. Wipe all the plastic funnels. I put
in a plastic bag, seal them, and I re wipe
them when I changed the oil again. So it had
to come from them somehow before they put a lot
(29:11):
in there. I can tell you.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Either that or they had a lot of contaminant in
the air. I worry about outside contamination like that, But
that's the only way I could think oil would get
contaminated like that, or you know, did it come out
of the dealership like that? But I don't don't. I
don't see how. I don't see how their oil would
be that contaminated because it's coming out of a bag
or a box or you know, something like that. You
(29:34):
would think that would be a cataclysmic failure on that stretch.
Speaker 7 (29:38):
So yeah, well they bought it used from them, they
serviced it up and then at the first dump is
when all the flakes and the specs showed up, which
I was shocked. I called you and you said, well
that's a good place for a Blackstone oil report, and
that's how it comes back.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, let's see. You know what time will tell if
if that engine is still running in a year, and
I would expect it to be Blackstone's accurate. If not,
it's all smoking mirrors. Uh, you know you're gonna You're
gonna be our guinea pig, Frank. All right, so uh,
you keep listening. You call us in a year, you
let us know how that engine's doing.
Speaker 7 (30:15):
All right, brother, I'll let you know down the line
the results.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
You're very good, Thank you, Frank. You'd be well. You
have a great rest of the weekend. Eight five five,
five six zero nine nine zero zero running any and
the car doctor coming back right after this. I want
to finish today talking about the good and the bad. Right,
we were going to talk about the good, the bad,
and the ugly. We had so many calls, but let
me finish here, so you know the ugly. The ugly
(30:39):
was the Ford Fusion. It took four sets of brake
pads and more hours than I can count of research
to find the right set of pads. It's Ford Is
updated them over the years, and they haven't told anybody
the ugly. And I realized the ugly comes about because
people don't know. And that's a very simple statement, but
it's the truth. People don't understand order repair. They don't know,
they don't know how to interact, they don't know to
(31:00):
communicate and be social. Fellow walked into the shop one
afternoon this week about two o'clock. How much to put
eight fuel injectors in my suburban? Huh?
Speaker 3 (31:09):
You know?
Speaker 2 (31:10):
How do we get here? And I have the injectors.
I went to Rock Auto and I bought six of
these and two of this and they look the same.
And whoa time out? And it's also got high mileage
on it. I think it was three hundred thousand miles. Well,
who diagnosed it? I started asking all the questions. Who
diagnosed it? Well, a buddy of mine, he has access
to a snap on scan tool. Snap on diagnostics prove
(31:31):
this to be the repair it's got a fuel distribution
problem and so forth. How much you know, where do
you go with that? How do you approach that? That's
like walking into a doctor's office and saying, hey, I
need this knee replaced because it hurts every third Tuesday.
Can you give me a price. I don't understand that.
I don't understand how some people think that walking in
(31:54):
and asking for a repair without a diagnosis, without any
conversation is the right way to go. And I said
to Steve, you know what, I calmed them down. I
didn't throw them out. I was actually nice, which I
always am, but you know, sometimes you just get frustrated.
I maintained my composure like I'm supposed to, and I
kind of walked them through several steps. I asked them
(32:14):
to send me an email if you have to see it,
but listen, I did my part. That's the bad. Don't
walk into a repair shop and just assume they're there
waiting for you to show up, and that you're gonna
you know, you're not gonna bring your eggs to the
diner and say here, cook them. Because when they give
somebody indigestion, somebody's got to be responsible. The good, the
good was Sean. Sean's a new customer, late model Escape
(32:37):
twenty one to fourd Escape, walked in, Hey, I need
brakes on my escape, walked out, looked at it. Yep,
you sure do you know? And I kind of walked
them through pricing because pricing is very sensitive, right, Everybody
has perceived values, and I wanted them to understand what
we're going to do and how we're going to do it,
and especially with breaks, there's no cheating on breaks. Some
repairs you can cheat at customer request. There's some things
(32:58):
you can cut, and you will and you'll explain it
to the customer to keep them informed, because it's your
obligation to keep them informed. But breaks better stop on
a dime, give you nine cents change as the saying goes, right,
And it was a pleasure talking to Sean. And Sean
was probably the best customer of the week and he
hasn't even given us any money yet. And you know,
it just made me think every week has it the good,
(33:20):
the bad, and the ugly, and that's the challenge of
order repair. Anyway, I just wanted you to hear that story.
I feel better. Thank you for the therapy. Ah, I'm
running ady in the car. Doctor, it's been an absolute
pleasure until the next time. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
See you
You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally
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(00:25):
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start your enginies. The Car Doctor is in the garage
(00:47):
and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
For the record. I had a really great open about
the good, the bad, and the ugly. I was gonna
tell you something good that happened at the shop with
a customer, But because I know you never hear that
from me, I'll leave you to ponder that. Because right
now we have a lot of phone calls, So let
me get to the phones. Maybe we'll squeeze that in
this hour, Maybe it'll be next week. Chad, Louisiana, nineteen
Chevy Blazer. What's going on, Chad? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah? One day when wife came came home, she lost
her AC and her power assistance on it, and I
showed a PO code. I put my reader on it
and it's low temperature, not reaching.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The minimum right right.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
It happened again to her next week and I took
it up. I wasn't to take it to the shop,
but we didn't have it covered, so I did it myself.
We took the thermostat off and it had part of
the rubber that was curled up, so it was part
of the problem. But my question was would that cause
(01:49):
the AC to turn off and the power assistance to
go out?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yes, because it's going to go into default if it
thinks the engine is running at an incorrect temperature, it
will limit operation and of other functions. A. They're concerned
about engine survivability. B they're trying to make you uncomfortable.
See you get it fixed?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Ah, gotcha?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
All right. There's a strategy here. This is this is
this goes back to the late nineties early two thousands,
when a lot of the imports, we'll call them imports.
Now they're domestics as far as I'm concerned, but Toyota's
hondas a lot of the vehicles would turn on every
single dashboard light for a bad oh two cents or
or fault cote in the engine. They would limit the
way safety functions would operate. So yeah, that's that. We
(02:30):
call that operating strategy. I call that an attention getter.
So is it solved? Is it? Is it operating properly? Now?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah, it's it's doing good. I just didn't wanted to
come back on some curious if it would be something.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, the other the other, the other side of that
is you know, so let's let's say it comes back, right, Chad,
put a thermostat in it. I'm sure you've got a
good quality thermostat whatever you got right, Okay, Right, So
you got to nowa stat and let's say the problem
comes back, and let's say it's not related to the
rubber seal bypassing, because that's what it was doing. It
(03:06):
was allowing cool to leak past and run at a
lower end in temperature. What would you look at next,
I'm gonna make you think.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Oh I would check the sensor. Well, I was one change,
but the way they have that sensor in there, I
didn't have the tool to get it out right.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I think that's the one that's down on the head
and it's under a ledge. Yes, yeah, so nobody has
that tool.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I was thinking of a crow's foot. It might be
getting it, but I'm not too sure.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, you have to get it. What you do is
you have to sacrifice a crow's fit. Here's what you
gotta do, all right, if you want to know the truth,
you have to go to Harbor Freight. You have to
buy a crow's foot and an extension and weld the
two pieces together, or spend three times the money. Go
to your local snap on guy. Buy a crow's foot
by the extension and weld the two pieces together, and
(03:56):
you'll make a tool, or you're gonna cut a wrench.
There's no known tool. I haven't. I haven't because I
know exactly where this sensor is. I've looked at it going. God,
that's going to be horrible to change if and when
it goes bad. So, uh, you know it's it's it's
gonna be one of those. We're going to make a
tool kind of a thing. So yeah, that's but yeah,
you're right. Look, I would look at the temp censor,
(04:17):
I would look at the dashboard readings. I would take
it out for a ride with my scam tool and
monitor everything.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And the first time it happened to her, it was
only getting up to one and when I changed the
thermostatic and actually got up to above two hundred.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Right, it typically runs in the two oho five range,
which to me is mind boggling that we run cars
that hot. But it's been that way for twenty years.
So it's that's what it is, all right, kiddo.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Alright, I do appreciate it, very you're right.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Well, now listen, that's what we're here for. We're just
trying to help you guys. It's hey, listen, I I
did it this week. I called a gentleman in North
Carolina during the day from the shop. I thought that
guy was going to fall off his chair, you know.
But I mean, I'm just trying to help people fix cars. Brother,
That's all this is about.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Jack. Now, I like buying older vehicles because they're a
lot easier to work on in the newer.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
One, right, well, you know, I wonder if you're going
to say that in ten years, you know, is the
car is the twenty twenty five whatever Chevy Blazer today?
In ten years, will you say it's easier to work on?
My vote is yes, And the reason is because we've
got ten years of experience fixing it and we know
where the pattern failures are. So but you know that's
(05:28):
always be open to that. That's that's probably what's going
to happen. I gotta go, kidd a pleasure, Thank you,
you'd be well, yes, sir, Let's go to gar Let's
go to Gary, Wisconsin. Seventeen Explorer, I mean explored. Did
I say that P zero three hundred? What's going on here? Gary?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Well, like I.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Said, like you just said, I get a seventeen Explorer
with a three P three hundred code and a P
zero three sixteen as well according to the Ford Garage. Okay,
I can't get that on my code reader, but they
picked it up right.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Well, because they're picking it up on they're picking it
up under your make model, you may not be able
to get that on OBD two and they're telling you,
and they're telling you what's at fault. Yes, no, they're
they're go ahead, Gary, They're saying what's They're saying, what's
at fault? Have they diagnosed it?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yes and no. On the first visit they said, just
put in spark plugs, but the spark plugs had already
been replaced with with Ford Motor Company plugs and less
than five thousand miles. So on the second visit they said,
(06:50):
what you really need is a injector service and coil
boots for the spark plugs.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Okay, can I can I tell you stop you right
there for a quick second. This is a V six?
This is this is a V six no turbo motor right?
Or is this the four cylinder?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
No, this is a V six okay three point five.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Are they charging you for this alleged diagnosis?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Yes they charged Yeah, they charged me about two hundred
dollars so far. Okay, it's not a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I don't think they've earned their pay yet. I'm not here,
I'm not I'm not hearing. I'm not hearing anything definitive. Right,
How does how does the car run?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It runs fine after the first uh one minute, I
suppose a minute and a half somewhere in there.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Okay, Sorry, first, this is this little rough So this
is a cold engine misfire. Yeah, okay, have they verified
that or is that just? Is that just Gary telling
them what he experiences?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Well, what the what? No, they have been able to
duplicate that. They just they do They haven't. Let's put
it this way. On a third visit, after looking over
more closely, they decided it must be an injector leaking, okay,
and therefore and therefore contaminating and I suppose in the
(08:22):
lower Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Uh, well it's it's it's gas washing the cylinder. Let
me let me ask you something, Gary, all right, how
how confident are you these guys know what they're doing?
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Not one hundred percent satisfied with them?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
No, But you're you're right on the same page. Here's
here's here's how I would approach this diagnosis. Okay, and
I I try not to armchair quarterback, but man, I
got to jump in on this one, all right. Customer
comes in, Hey Ron, You're you're the customer, right, Gary, Hey, Ron,
my car's got a it's got a misfire. Sure, Gary,
let me take a look at it. Gary, it's misfiring.
(09:02):
It's got a P zero three hundred which is random.
Multiple cylinder misfire doesn't have to be ignition, doesn't have
to be fuel, could be mechanical, could be a bad
harmonic balancer causing the serp belt to slip. I mean,
anything that would make the crank stutter, so to speak. Right,
So you've got a P zero three hundred and you've
got a three sixteen, which means it's detecting a misfire
(09:24):
under a thousand revolutions on startup. Okay, hey Gary, let
me go do a little deeper diagnosis. I'm gonna get
into mode six. Mode six is the binary language of
when that fault occurs. I'm also going to look a
look at freeze frame. Freeze frame is the video snapshot
of an approximation of what the engine was doing when
the fault occurred. I'm gonna see, Hey, Gary, you know
(09:46):
this happens during warm up. Once the engine gets to
one hundred and ninety five or two hundred operating degrees,
the misfire goes away. Yeah, okay, hey Gary, I'm dealing
with a cold engine misfire. That took me. That took me.
Uh yeah, I'll be I'll be lazy that day. Danny
interrupted me. And I had two cups of coffee. That
took me thirty five minutes. Where am I here? You
(10:08):
know what am I? What am I looking for? Right?
So gotta tell you what? Sit tight? Let me pull
over real fast, take this puzz and I'll come back.
We'll finish up with you real quick. But I want
to give you some amo. I'm ronning any and the
car doctor. I'll be back right after this. Gary, Wisconsin,
you're still there, sir, got Gary. I'm gonna make a
(10:29):
mechanic out of you, all right in the next seven
In the next seven minutes, I'm gonna make you smarter
than the guys at the Ford Garage. You're ready, all right? Okay,
you got a pencil and paper I do, Okay, you
can write good. You're already halfway there. So my first
thirty five minutes, I've established when the fault occurs, what
fault occurs, and I'm going to go look at mode
(10:52):
six and freeze frame to verify what engine conditions were
going on and which exact cylinders are act misfiring. Some
may misfire more than others.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I have that they did a code six and they
came up with cylinder one misfired twice in ten dive cycles,
and number two twice, number three, three times, number four,
two times number five onths number six once.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Okay, so it's spread it's spread out over all all
of the cylinders. Yes, okay, and when the car warms
up the problem goes away.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yes, all right.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Next, can we do a cylinder power balance test? Can
we see if one injector is more offensive than the rest?
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Right?
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Silver balance?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Now, Ford, and it's it's really great. A Ford Factory
scan tool gives you the ability to do a cylinder
power balance test right from the seat of the car.
You don't have to lift the hood or anything, nothing
to do. You plug in, you get to the test
and it will show you which cylinders And can I
do that test warm? Is this truly a cold problem?
(12:09):
Why not? Let's see. That'll take me fifteen minutes. I'm
done thirty five minutes for I've now got one of
my fifty minutes into the car. Right the last ten minutes,
I'm gonna hook up a fuel the last ten minutes,
I'm gonna hook up a fuel pressure gauge, verify fuel pressure,
and I'm gonna shut the car off. I'm gonna go
(12:31):
get a cup of coffee. I'm gonna come back in
twenty minutes. Has the system held residual pressure? It should
hold residual pressure for ten to twenty minutes after I
cycle the key off. If it's zero, I'm thinking I've
got an injector. That's peeing. It's okay, I can say
peeing on radio. That's not a bad word. Oh, all right?
(12:55):
And then which cylinder misfires the most when I started?
Maybe I'm gonna go to that olander. Do I have
a mechanical leak down issue? All right? But you know, well,
maybe you need spark plugs, maybe you need coil boots,
Maybe you need injectors that doesn't work. You know, a
twenty twenty two Ford f one point fifty pickup. You
(13:22):
can't buy the coil boots separately. Don't ask me how
I know. You have to buy the whole coil. So
if you think you've got bad boots on a three
year old truck, it's it's one hundred and eighty two
dollars a coil times eight. We're going to spend you know,
sixteen hundred dollars on a guess we better learn how
(13:43):
to diagnose cars. Right, yep, so, and that's my point. So, yeah,
I agree, an injector cleaning might be a wonderful thing.
It can't hurt. But you know how many miles around
this car?
Speaker 6 (14:00):
Now?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
I'm going to ask mileage? Right, if you notice I
haven't asked mileage yet? How many miles are on this car?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
One hundred and eight?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Okay? So have you ever done spark plugs?
Speaker 4 (14:12):
I did it at one hundred and five okay.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
And the problem happened after that or the problem was
going on at the time.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Yeah, what No, it happened after that?
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Right? Do we think maybe we installed a spark plug
or I'm sorry, an ignition coil?
Speaker 4 (14:30):
Wrong?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Is it possible we need boots because we didn't use
any dielectric grease to seal them? Let me ask right,
I'm speaking, I'm speaking, you know, off the top of
my head. Have these been your guys all along?
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So let me ask you. Let let's it's just it's
just you and me, Gary. We're sitting there, we're sitting
We're sitting at a soda fountain having a coke. Right, Okay,
these guys don't seem to exude a lot of confidence
from you, do they no, they don't, and they've had
one hundred thousand miles to prove themselves.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
What's that's true? Wow, there's something maybe?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
All right, So it was sixty thousand it was used.
If you were dating these guys, wouldn't you call this
a bad date? Isn't it time?
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Isn't it time to get isn't it time to get
out of the It's time for a divorce, isn't it. Yeah,
I mean this is a bad marriage, brother, and I
just I just don't see it. You know. Listen, you
come to the if I had customers this morning. I
was in the shop this weekend because we were so busy,
(15:44):
I couldn't deliver all the cars by the end of
the week on Friday, so I had to go into
the shop this morning to actually get some cars out. Right,
And we're joking and kidding around, and we're talking about
this and we're talking about that. But I can do
that because you know what, I know, the car's fixed.
I've got a great relationship, because the relationship is the biggest,
most important part of the repair process. You've got a
(16:05):
bad relationship here. These guys are just I mean either
that of you're lying to me, Gary, and I don't
think you are. I think you're a straight shooter.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah, people, these guys are kind of dopey. You're just
a number to them. You know, they're like little robots.
Nobody's explaining anything, nobody's taking the time to sit down
and talk to them. So I think it's time, you know,
it's time for you to go talk to your service
writer and say, look, you guys have been my guys
for the past sixty thousand miles X number of years.
I want you to be my mechanics. I need a mechanic.
(16:35):
I don't want to go somewhere else, but I'm not
getting a lot of warm fuzzies here. Every once in
a while, you got to have that cup of coffee
conversation with your mechanic and say, you know, if the
relationship isn't great, because it sounds like we're guessing, right.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
Yeah, they've even said on the second visit they're guessing,
and that disturbed me somewhat. I you know, I mean,
I just want to find out what's the matter.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Have they tried? Have they tried? Have they tried selling
you a new car yet?
Speaker 4 (17:10):
No?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
No, that's coming all right? You call me back next week.
That's coming Gary. They're gonna say, you know what, you
need a new car. This one's eight years old. But
think about it, all right, Those are some of the
things I would look at. Those are some of the
tests they need to do. We've got an hour in
this car. Gary, We've got an hour in this car,
and we already know more than them. Go at it.
Don't be afraid. Try to get a divorce. Maybe good luck.
(17:33):
Let us know. I'm running ay in the car doctor
dating advice. I'll be back right after this. Somewhere somebody's
going what's a four barrel car? Let's go to Robert
in Nevada. Robert, Welcome to the car doctor, sir. What's
going on?
Speaker 7 (17:50):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
It's always a pleasure, Thank you, sir. What's cooking?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
I love the show?
Speaker 6 (17:55):
You know. I got a F three fifty. It's a
ninety six FLA. It's got the four to sixty, the
large motor. Right about a year ago, me and a
buddy changed the gas pump in the front tank and
because it was going out and weak, and I changed
the filter and it started pumping. When you're on the
(18:18):
front tank, it'll pump and pressure the back tank right
at the point where besides dripping, it'll shoot gas out
to take the cap off.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Right.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
So about three weeks ago I replaced the back pump well,
and so I had it in a shop for a
few other things. They redid all the breaks and stuff,
and I asked them to fix that or do whatever.
They never fixed it. I'd had it in there two
more times they were supposed to fix it. I gave
up on them, and about three weeks ago the back
(18:48):
tank started going out, so I replaced the pump in it,
and now it pumps to the front tank. And then
the other day, two days, they're three days ago.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
It hit me because I had one of your commercials
and I was.
Speaker 6 (19:01):
Like, man, I got to call the doctor because I've
been talking to people and.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Here's there's the here's the deal, the seal. All right,
if we if we built a time machine, we went
back to nineteen ninety eight, all right, that when that
vehicle was under recoil for problems with the check valves
that were built into the fuel pumps for this exact problem,
all right, because there was an install issue at the factory,
(19:28):
and they slowly developed over time. So when you say
you put a fuel pump in this. Did you put
just the pump or the whole assembly?
Speaker 6 (19:41):
Well, I had to take it, No, I had to
take it apart and then put pieces together out of
the old pump.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Okay, because see it's hard for me to answer because
I don't know if this vehicle had the recall done
to it or not. Most of them did, most of
them there was a recall where the external check valve
may be on the pressure line and each tank assembly.
If the check valves were installed, there may be one
(20:13):
in the tank where the new fuel pumps being installed,
and that causes it the pump to the opposite tank.
So and then again if it wasn't done, and now
you put in a fuel pump with a check valve,
we could be going in the wrong direction.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Holy crap.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah, that's probably the word I would use or something there.
All right, man, No, this is this is this is
a check valve related issue. So the question is the
question is what did these pumps originally have. Now, in theory,
if you change the front pump, just the pump and
(20:49):
not the assembly, and I've got a feeling you changed
the assembly, all right, if you just if you just
put an electric pump in the front unit where you
pulled out the whole module and all and just swapped
out the pump. You shouldn't have changed anything. The fact
that it changed when you put the fuel pump assembly
in it tells me that you probably put an assembly
(21:10):
with a check valve in it. And now you've got it.
And I bet there's a check valve on the frame
rail too.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
Would that be by the filter it used to be?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You know where it is after forty years any anybody's
guest brother.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
But but it never had this problem.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
So I write, put in the other pump, and it's
the exact opposite.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
But yeah, I really think that if you go back
and look, you probably put a complete pump assembly in
the front, and then who's pump did you use? I
would call that manufacturer, whoever it was, whoever's pump it was,
and I would talk to tech support and say, here's
the problem i've got. Does your pump assembly as I
(21:58):
purchased it, have a check valve built into the pump
or not?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
Right?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
And get an answer from them because they'll know how
they because I always wondered, I'm not surprised at this
question because I always wondered since Ford did an external
recall and they changed they changed the check valving on
the vehicles, I always wandered. I said, I wonder what's
gonna happen when the after market gets a hold of this.
How bad could the aftermarket screw it up? And and
what sort of fuel pumps they're gonna put out? So
(22:28):
that's what gives Yeah, I would ask the manufacturer, listen,
you know the industry hasn't gotten any smarter. I'll tell
you the ugly. All right, I'm gonna tell you the
ugly real quick. I was going to talk about the good,
the bed, and the ugly. Here's the ugly car from
this week. I had a nineteen Fusion in the shop.
I had to do front brakes. I bought the brake pads.
I bought the rotors, same brand, good brand, loved the brand,
(22:50):
always working right. And I had the same complaint that
the customer had when we did them three years ago,
where they would clunk once in a while, and I
kept thinking about it, why do I get a break
pad clunk? And I now I'm like aware of it,
I'm more dialed in. I kept going through. I had
to order four sets of brake pads sixty sixteen fifty threes,
eight twelves, eighteen fifty threes and so on, and it
(23:13):
turns out somewhere along the way. Long story short, because
we've only got an hour radio show if left today
for change the part number of the brake pad from
this to that. The new pad has a piece of
double sided sticky tape so that they actually glue the
caliber right to the bracket base so it doesn't shift around.
(23:35):
I've got a stack of brake pads in the shop
that are going back on Monday. Wow, you know, why
do we Why don't we have to go through this?
Why can't we call manufacturers and have them know what
the hell they're selling in plain English?
Speaker 6 (23:50):
Well, it's all in the engineering, right, and it's.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
All in the engineering, and it's all in the supplements,
and it all does the information, you know, work its
way downhill.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
So you got time for quick question, real truck.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Real quick two minutes.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
So when you hit the clutch and it doesn't want
to you got to really kick it sometimes, and I
believe there's an adjustment.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
What do I got to replace or deuce.
Speaker 6 (24:13):
Because it seems like it's just going out or one
of these days, it's just not going to want to
start because that clutch will what so inther words, if you.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Don't push it far enough, the starter.
Speaker 6 (24:22):
Won't engage, it won't start. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Okay, So there's going to be a switch like a
brake light switch on the clutch pedal. Okay, ninety six,
and he's slopping the linkage. Is the switch? Is the
switch worn? Is the switch sitting in the hole cock
to the side that the pedals hit it so many times?
How many millions of miles are on this truck? Watch this?
Speaker 6 (24:43):
Well the truck's probably four hundred and twenty thousand, but
it's got a new factory block motory.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Well yeah, but yeah, but when you change the engine block,
did you change the clutch linkage under the dash? No? No, right,
there you go. See that's what I mean. Here you go.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
So so crawl under the dash, all right, and take a
flashlight with you, and you'll see as you depress the pedal,
there's going to be a stop that has to hit
a tab that's.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
The brake light switch. All right. Now, if the linkage
is worn and you can't get it to contact the
switch any better because some infantismally obsolete part that no
longer exists on the planet isn't around, and you need
to make the pedal contact the switch sooner. Take a
vacuum cap, you know, the old days, vacuum cap, carburetors,
(25:33):
vacuum lines, that kind of thing. Find the right size
vacuum cap. Put it on the end of that switch
so it depresses the button. But you'll probably have to
trim the rubber a little bit so it can depress.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Down right, all right, better in duct tape, Right, that's.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Better than duct tape. Yeah, I'm always better than duct tape,
trust me, and see what that does. All right, that's it.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
That's all I got.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
You're very welcome. You're very welcome. Thank you, Robert. You'd
be well out there in Nevada, Nevada. I wonder if
I'm stilling billboard eight five five five six zero nine
nine zero zero. Tom's like, no, I'll be back right
after this, and we are rolling down the highway. Let's
go back to Frank an Illinois return call from a
couple of weeks ago. Frank, what's the status on this
(26:14):
fifteen highlander? What'd you find out?
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Well? I got the results backs the giversiel averages. They
call it sixty six hundred. This was done at thirty
three hundred miles. The report came back stating that the
wear materials are at the lower level the mats, a
good sign that the wearing parts of the engine are
operated in a healthy manner. No contamination turned out for
(26:38):
a few cool water dirt viscasi red in the zero
W twenty range, low in solubles in silicone show defective
oil and air filtration exit results. Over All, the only
thing I noticed on the report that might be a
little high for thirty three hundred was the calcium, magnesium, phosphorus,
(27:02):
and zinc levels for thirty three hundred. It might have
been a hair high, but it wasn't over the universal averages.
So the only thing I can assume is when it
was serviced at the dealer, I don't know how they
got all that gold speck and flakes and stuff in
that engine that kind of cut the builders open too.
At that time, nothing was in there, so it's somewhat
(27:22):
it was still a little mystery. But B six is
a running whisper quiet, so I guess I don't know
for sure.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Well, you know, is it possible and we're assuming, which
is a dangerous word for a lot of reasons.
Speaker 7 (27:38):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
You know, one of the things I did in the
shop a good couple of years ago is I built
a funnel rack. You know what I mean by a
funnel rack. I took We took some we took some
two inch white plumber's pipe, and we basically made an
octopus and we bolted it to the wall and right,
it all comes down, It all funnels down at all
next down to one pipe and then it drips into
a pail and that's our filter. And we would take
(28:00):
you know, the oil filter because that we have we
probably have fourteen different oil filters for all the cars.
But the one thing I didn't like about that was
and of course, how else would just store all the filters?
You're tripping over them, They fall all over the ground.
No matter what you do, is you're exposing the face
or the outside of the funnel, the funnel, the atmosphere
(28:20):
shops a dirty environment. So we ended up research Kathy,
through her due diligence and research, hence the name, she
found funnel covers. So every time we do an oil change,
we take the filter down, we take the cover off,
we put it in the car, bump the oil in,
put it back in the rack, put the funnel cover
back on the lids, so it doesn't get dirty, it
doesn't get contaminated. Maybe that material got in the engine
(28:42):
because they're not careful with their funnels and raw material,
wrong material got in the engine as a result of that.
Speaker 7 (28:50):
That could be the only reason I could see, because,
like I said, other than him serving the sip. When
I initially head bought it from them, I changed on
oil and filters. Wipe all the plastic funnels. I put
in a plastic bag, seal them, and I re wipe
them when I changed the oil again. So it had
to come from them somehow before they put a lot
(29:11):
in there. I can tell you.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Either that or they had a lot of contaminant in
the air. I worry about outside contamination like that, But
that's the only way I could think oil would get
contaminated like that, or you know, did it come out
of the dealership like that? But I don't don't. I
don't see how. I don't see how their oil would
be that contaminated because it's coming out of a bag
or a box or you know, something like that. You
(29:34):
would think that would be a cataclysmic failure on that stretch.
Speaker 7 (29:38):
So yeah, well they bought it used from them, they
serviced it up and then at the first dump is
when all the flakes and the specs showed up, which
I was shocked. I called you and you said, well
that's a good place for a Blackstone oil report, and
that's how it comes back.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, let's see. You know what time will tell if
if that engine is still running in a year, and
I would expect it to be Blackstone's accurate. If not,
it's all smoking mirrors. Uh, you know you're gonna You're
gonna be our guinea pig, Frank. All right, so uh,
you keep listening. You call us in a year, you
let us know how that engine's doing.
Speaker 7 (30:15):
All right, brother, I'll let you know down the line
the results.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
You're very good, Thank you, Frank. You'd be well. You
have a great rest of the weekend. Eight five five,
five six zero nine nine zero zero running any and
the car doctor coming back right after this. I want
to finish today talking about the good and the bad. Right,
we were going to talk about the good, the bad,
and the ugly. We had so many calls, but let
me finish here, so you know the ugly. The ugly
(30:39):
was the Ford Fusion. It took four sets of brake
pads and more hours than I can count of research
to find the right set of pads. It's Ford Is
updated them over the years, and they haven't told anybody
the ugly. And I realized the ugly comes about because
people don't know. And that's a very simple statement, but
it's the truth. People don't understand order repair. They don't know,
they don't know how to interact, they don't know to
(31:00):
communicate and be social. Fellow walked into the shop one
afternoon this week about two o'clock. How much to put
eight fuel injectors in my suburban? Huh?
Speaker 3 (31:09):
You know?
Speaker 2 (31:10):
How do we get here? And I have the injectors.
I went to Rock Auto and I bought six of
these and two of this and they look the same.
And whoa time out? And it's also got high mileage
on it. I think it was three hundred thousand miles. Well,
who diagnosed it? I started asking all the questions. Who
diagnosed it? Well, a buddy of mine, he has access
to a snap on scan tool. Snap on diagnostics prove
(31:31):
this to be the repair it's got a fuel distribution
problem and so forth. How much you know, where do
you go with that? How do you approach that? That's
like walking into a doctor's office and saying, hey, I
need this knee replaced because it hurts every third Tuesday.
Can you give me a price. I don't understand that.
I don't understand how some people think that walking in
(31:54):
and asking for a repair without a diagnosis, without any
conversation is the right way to go. And I said
to Steve, you know what, I calmed them down. I
didn't throw them out. I was actually nice, which I
always am, but you know, sometimes you just get frustrated.
I maintained my composure like I'm supposed to, and I
kind of walked them through several steps. I asked them
(32:14):
to send me an email if you have to see it,
but listen, I did my part. That's the bad. Don't
walk into a repair shop and just assume they're there
waiting for you to show up, and that you're gonna
you know, you're not gonna bring your eggs to the
diner and say here, cook them. Because when they give
somebody indigestion, somebody's got to be responsible. The good, the
good was Sean. Sean's a new customer, late model Escape
(32:37):
twenty one to fourd Escape, walked in, Hey, I need
brakes on my escape, walked out, looked at it. Yep,
you sure do you know? And I kind of walked
them through pricing because pricing is very sensitive, right, Everybody
has perceived values, and I wanted them to understand what
we're going to do and how we're going to do it,
and especially with breaks, there's no cheating on breaks. Some
repairs you can cheat at customer request. There's some things
(32:58):
you can cut, and you will and you'll explain it
to the customer to keep them informed, because it's your
obligation to keep them informed. But breaks better stop on
a dime, give you nine cents change as the saying goes, right,
And it was a pleasure talking to Sean. And Sean
was probably the best customer of the week and he
hasn't even given us any money yet. And you know,
it just made me think every week has it the good,
(33:20):
the bad, and the ugly, and that's the challenge of
order repair. Anyway, I just wanted you to hear that story.
I feel better. Thank you for the therapy. Ah, I'm
running ady in the car. Doctor, it's been an absolute
pleasure until the next time. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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