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🧠 Opening Thought: Most drivers undervalue maintenance because the car often feels the same afterward—until years later when reliability proves the payoff.
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⛽ 100k vs. 200k (and 500k): Many cars can reach ~100k on oil changes alone; to reach 200k–500k, you need scheduled fluids, filters, and inspections.
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🔋 Reliability Odds: Batteries past their rated life = rolling the dice. Aviation-style, time-based service intervals make sense for cars too.
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🚗 Case Study—2017 Acura: Hesitation/clunk fixed by proper maintenance: ATF service (DW-1), rear diff dual-pump fluid, fuel-system cleaning; car drove noticeably smoother.
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💡 Maintenance Reality: Some services improve drivability immediately; others are “insurance” that prevents failures later.
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🌡️ Environment & Driving Style: Highway miles and climate dramatically affect longevity and service needs.
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🛑 Auto Stop-Start: Theoretical fuel/air benefit vs. real-world costs (starters, dual batteries) and driver confidence—especially as vehicles age.
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🛞 TPMS & Key Fobs (’12 Colorado): Relearn sensors after rotations; compare each sensor’s ID/pressure with BCM using a scan tool; watch for BCM or interference issues.
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⚙️ GM Torque Converter Shudder: Fluid maintenance matters; sometimes requires converter/trans replacement even with regular service.
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🚨 Towing Landscape: Fewer independent tow operators; have roadside assistance and a payment plan ready—tows are pricey and often cash/Venmo.
- Grab your Car Doctor gear – T-shirts & more at CarDoctorShow.com
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Follow the wrench – Instagram @ronananian for shop life & behind-the-scenes
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Watch & learn – Auto repair tips & videos on our YouTube Channel
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Got a car question? Call the Car Doctor Hotline 24/7 – (855) 560-9900
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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 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 (00:49):
What goes through your mind when you buy a new car?
Do you ever stop to think about You're gonna have
to maintain it? I wonder how you, the consumer, my
consumer's out there look at maintenance. It came to me
this week that I don't think you look at it well.
I don't think you liked doing maintenance some of you,
most of you, a lot of you, and I guess
(01:11):
it's a hard sell. I thought about it this week.
I had the realization that it must be hard to
do maintenance on a car. You know, here's the scenario, right,
you bring your car into your trusted mechanic or maybe
he's the first time guy, and they're recommending some fluids
and filters and spark plugs maybe, and fuel system cleaning
(01:33):
and cooling service and fire rotation and so on, and
you know, all of a sudden, you're spending one thousand
dollars on maintenance, and you get the car back and
it runs exactly the same it. Maybe it runs a
little smoother, Maybe the fuel system cleaning made a difference,
maybe some of the fluid changes made a difference, but
(01:54):
it still pretty much runs the same. How do you
look at that? Do you see that as what did
I spend my money on? I don't think you see
the value in maintenance until three years later when you're
still driving that same car. I don't know. Just my
two cents, just my way of looking at it, I
(02:15):
think it's very easy to ignore. I think, for the record,
I bet most cars today, most cars, not all cars,
most cars would probably go one hundred thousand miles just
doing oil changes and a couple of tire rotations and boom,
you're out of the car. You're done. I don't think
it'll go two hundred thousand. And that's the key, right
(02:36):
if you're driving that car, and if you're planning to
drive that car beyond one hundred thousand miles, I think
you got to stick to maintenance.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I also think that doing maintenance, regardless of when you're
getting rid of the car, puts the odds in your
favor of not having a failure or fault or breakdown
on the road. But then, as I say that, I
think about the people that still roll the dice on
certain things. Batteries. I can't tell you how many people
(03:05):
right now I know of personally and through the business
that are driving around on seven eight nine year old
batteries that are rated for five. It's kind of it's
kind of the oddity it is. It's it's it's more
the exception than the rule, and it happens. But what's
what's the reliability factor? You know, an aircraft maintenance, they
(03:30):
they schedule things by hours and and distance flown, and
you know, operation, and they everything's on a timeline. Everything's
on a chart, and things get checked off and okay,
sure if the plane's at twenty thousand feet it has
some sort of a component failure. Well like that always said,
you can't get out and stand on the cloud to
(03:52):
adjust the carburetor and the and the prop plane. So
I'll be sure you're right before you take off. But
I just I wonder how you look at maintenance. You know,
do you do you like doing it? I don't think
anybody does. I don't think they me personally. I like
doing maintenance. I like tweaking things and making things run
a little bit better because I will certain maintenance will
(04:12):
make a vehicle run better. We had a twenty seventeen
Accura this week that had about one hundred and thirty
thousand miles on it, and the customer complaint was clunks
on left turns from a stop, mostly cold, and there
(04:33):
was a hesitation, not all the time, sometimes going straight ahead.
And I drove the car and Danny drove the car,
and we went out together and drove the car and
we couldn't experience it. Had the customer come by, and yeah,
maybe I sort of felt this the way the trans
(04:54):
down shifted, It had a little bit of a clunk
to it. It wasn't smooth. And this particular trans is
one of those ones that it's got, you know, Honda
DW one fluid and I've seen it. They wear out
the additive package. They just they lose their ability to
shift and operate properly, they lose their friction modifiers and
(05:15):
they just wear out and you change fluid. Now, this
particular trends also has the potential, according to Acura Honda,
that if it sits a P zero seven four to
one for torque converter circuit faults, it may require and
chances are it will require a torque converter. They've extended
the warranty to eight years and one hundred and fifty
thousand miles, so they're telling you that, hey, we've got
(05:38):
a problem with these and we're you know, we're trying
to take care of it. The other thing that occurred
to us when we were driving the Accura this week
was that backing up like like like like the rear
end kind of jumped a little bit and had a
little bit of a hop to it, and you could
feel something not locking up but almost binding back there
(06:01):
for a moment when it was cold, and we realized
that this is dual pump fluid. This is a DPS
system where Honda calls for the rear and fluid to
be changed on a regular scheduled mile basis. And guess
how many times in one hundred and thirty thousand miles
this Accura had the fluid service in the rear right zero.
(06:24):
So new customer offs. So, you know, I sat down
with her and I explained everything. I walked her through it,
the ifs and the whys and the house and the
scenarios and yeah, go ahead, fix it, do it all.
And we did. And you know, it was a nice job,
and you know, nice customer. We put a car back together.
And here's a case where after the fuel system cleaning,
after the trans service, after the diff service in the back,
(06:48):
we kind of did make a difference in how that
car ran. It ran smoother, it there was a there
was a silkiness to it which had since gone away.
And I was happy to see that because it's frankly,
between the tires, the brakes and all the fluids and maintenance.
That was you know, four grand, and we spent a
lot of money, but we put the car back to
where it was supposed to be. And is that what
(07:10):
you're looking for? Are you looking for that that moment
that you get in the car and you go, wow,
it's great. I don't know that you can get that
every time. I think maintenance is just a necessary evil.
It's part of vehicle ownership. Some vehicles, because of manufacturer design,
(07:32):
will respond to fluid replacement, will respond better to fuel
system cleaning. But a lot of what maintenance is is
just that maintenance. You're changing the filter because well, hey
it's got this number of miles on it, it's kind
of clogged. You're doing a fuel system cleaning because we've
come to learn that, you know, in sixty thousand miles
(07:53):
to do a fuel system cleaning, clean the back of
the valves, the top of the pistons. It's a good
maintenance to do. It's sort of like when you turn
sixty and you go for your first medical procedure, which
I won't to say here on radio, and sometimes it's
the right thing to do because you know you need
(08:14):
to do it. You're at that age. Maintenance is a
tough sell it. I'd like to get your thoughts on it.
If you have If you have any and it's you know,
you can either give me a call here at eight
five five five six O nine nine zero zero, or
feel free drop me a line. We're on at cardoctorshow
dot com. I think it's become part of what the
(08:35):
automobile is. And I think if you're planning to keep
that car seven eight years, nine years, drive it to
one hundred and fifty two hundred thousand miles. Yeah, I
think you got to do it. I think maintenance is
something you need to be aware of. I think I
blew everybody's mind last week. By the way, I just
want to comment on this. I got a lot of
(08:56):
email from everybody saying, Ron, you're crazy. There's no way
cars can go five one hundred thousand miles. I don't know.
I think they can. I think today's car is designed
to go the distance. If the frame doesn't rot, if
the subframe the floor, if the body stays in good shape,
keep washing the car, do your fluids, do your maintenance.
I don't know. If the car got the five hundred
(09:16):
thousand miles, could you look at the maintenance it was done,
if it was done properly, and say that it was
worth the money. I do I know what a new
car costs.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Shall we talk about my former car which went four
hundred thousand before the frame rotted?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Right? Tom had a refreshment memory.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Tom, it was a twenty fifteen Ford Escape.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Right fifteen escape. The car legitimately had three hundred and
it just shy a four hundred thousand miles and the
frame brought it out. But in all fairness to the car,
Tom drives through some pretty rough country, all kinds of weather.
He's going out to transmitter sites. He's all over the northeast,
up and down the seaboard, and he's always in a
harsh environment. But that car went four hundred thousand miles
(09:59):
with very little maintenance, and a lot of that can
be attributed to the fact that Tom's highway driving. Tom
does a lot of highway. Tom gets out on the road,
he stays at one temperature. He's doing seventy five eighty
miles an hour, zipping all over the place. And you
know what we should address that too. Environment and how
you drive will predicate how many miles you get out
of that vehicle. But the topic today is maintenance. Maintenance.
(10:24):
Is it worth it? I think so? Proved me wrong
eight five five five six oho nine nine zero zero
runnin Eating the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this,
by the way. Add on the YouTube channel two new videos,
one on oil discuss at the oil selection and why
it's important to read the back of the bottle. You'll
(10:45):
find that on the run and any in the Car
Doctor YouTube channel. And I don't know that it's published hip,
but we've got one coming up talking about sunroofs, the
importance of cleaning the sunroof trains, how to do it,
what to look for, why sunroofs can be an expensive
proposition if you're not properly maintaining them. There's that maintenance
word again. I guess maintenance does pay. It comes up
a lot, and you'll have that to look forward to.
(11:07):
That's up on our YouTube channel. And if you do
like what you see, please like our videos. Tell your friends,
tell your neighbors. We appreciate it. You know, the more
support we get, the more we can do, the further
we can go and be here for you guys. So
it's it's important spread the word. Let's go over and
talk to Donna oh Oh, Mike Keia, Donna, Mikeia how
(11:30):
can I help you today?
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (11:32):
Thanks, you're welcome.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I got I got a new car into by Kia.
And are of the computers now, all these fancy and teachers.
One of them is, well, it's not like the auto
start stop and oh I I was using it, my
husband said, And I said, I said, I had looked
(11:55):
it up and it can say guess. And my husband said, yeah,
able to kill your battery and your starter. People to
frequently starts and stop with the internet said, they make
the batteries and the starters to handle it, so it
could say gas. There's certain under certain driving conditions. But
a question is if it actually benefit or could it.
Speaker 7 (12:16):
Be detrimental to your battery.
Speaker 6 (12:20):
And your start.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Somebody's somebody's convinced that it's a benefit. I'm not Yeah,
all right, I'm not all right. You know if you
and part of the reason is, go look up the
replacement cost of a vehicle that has stopped start. Go
look up the replacement cost of the starter. Holy, Holy smolly,
it could be three times the price of a regular starter.
(12:43):
That's number one. Number two, I'm not comfortable now. When
the car is new, everything is great, but as that
car ages, you know, it gets to be five six
years old, six seven years old. Electrical system maintenance is
going to be very critical, and you know, replacing that
battery on a regular schedule, old time frame. I don't
think there's a I don't think there's any cheating in
(13:03):
a start stop vehicle. I think you have to replace
that regular battery, and there's always there's usually an auxiliary
battery that's involved. So now when you're doing a battery,
you're doing two batteries, So your cost goes up, your
cost of ownership goes up. Are we saving gasoline? Are
we cleaning up the air? You know, I'll tell you this,
(13:27):
I think that we could clean up the air better
if we were more consistent. I don't understand. I'm gonna
get out my soapbox for a minute. Down. I don't
mean to hijack the question. You know, I don't understand
why New Jersey's emissions program is different than New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland.
You know, we're all doing the plug in for clean
air thing, but there's different tolerance levels, there's different perspectives,
(13:49):
and forget safety, New Jersey is the most unsafe state
in the Union when it comes to lack of inspection procedure.
But I don't know that we're all trying to do
the same thing. And as far as I know, the
air from New Jersey blows into Pennsylvania and vice versa,
and I see other states with better inspection programs than
what we have. We need to be more consistent. We
(14:09):
also need to be more realistic. Some of these cars
going down the road with blue smoke coming out the tailpipe,
and some of these older trucks, you know, all of
that's the reason why we've still got some dirty air
going on. And I get it. They're going to say, well,
you can't clean up everybody's car because people can't afford
to fix it. Because they can't afford a car, how
would they get to work, and you know, the eels
(14:31):
of society all of a sudden, We've got all these
things on the back of our mind. But as far
as stops start and then you and I have to
pay for that, I don't know that this is I
don't know that that it's an advantage. Nobody really showed
me any calculations based on how many of them are
out there that you know it actually works, you know,
but it does. And my last thing is, you know,
(14:52):
and I think you'll probably agree with me. You're a woman, right,
You're driving along, you're out eleven twelve o'clock at night,
and the car shuts off, and you're maybe not in
the best place. Don't you kind of hope it restarts?
Speaker 7 (15:06):
Yeah, that's It always startles me when it does that,
and I actually not comfortable with it. So I you know,
I have been I listened to my husband and I
had been turning it off, but I was still on
the fence about it. Now, you don't continue to turn
it off.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You may find and I don't know that this works
on every car, but I've been in some stop start cars.
If you want to defeat the stop start, try to
putting the car in neutral, you know, just put your hold,
your foot on the brake, just nudge the shifter into neutral.
I bet your stop start doesn't work. I've seen that.
I've seen that more often than not.
Speaker 7 (15:46):
The button fortunately that yeah, then do that so and
next time I'm not gonna get it. But you know,
they put these features on and then it's hard to
not get them.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I don't think. I don't think you have a choice.
I think you know, a lot of cars today. Stop
start if it's there, it's there. I don't think it's
a it's an option. It may change with different you know, features,
engine packages, transmissions and so on, but I think it's
something that you just have. Listen, the new Chevy Colorado's
got stop starts. It's holding me back from buying one.
(16:18):
I'm just I'm just not a fan. I just I'm
just not a fan. And not just the cost of
replacing that starter, whining if it goes bad, but just
the inconvenience and the annoyance. I want a good experience
driving a car, and I don't like something that shuts
off like that when it's new. It's great when it's
five years old. And I tend to keep a car.
My Suburban's twenty two years old. You know, you know
(16:41):
what's what's that factor going to be?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
So all right, well, thank you made me, You've helped
me make up what you do.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Glad, Thank you so much, and enjoy your new car anyway,
all right, thanks, you're very welcome, You're bye. Bye. Yeah
you wonder, I don't know, not a fan of stop
start and then you know, how does that tie into
and we should talk about this? You and I you know,
I wonder what towing is like in other parts of
the country. We ran into that this week that where
(17:11):
there used to be about seven different towing operations around
us around the shop in North Jersey is now down
to two. Where have all the tow truck's gone? And why?
That's another conversation we have to have. I'm running ady
in the car, doctor. I'll be back right after.
Speaker 8 (17:27):
This promises streets to the open road tonight.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
Run.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
We'll give you a wrong and right.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
A car doctor.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Carr advice to ride. You've been busy. What the heck
was that?
Speaker 5 (17:59):
That?
Speaker 4 (18:00):
A gift from our well, from the operations manager at
our affiliate in Watertown, New York w A t N.
He plays with.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
AI.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
There's not a human on that jingle.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I think we should incorporate that into some of our breaks.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
I think we should too. I think this is why
that's why there'll be another one next next hour.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I think we should put that into the podcast.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And then we don't have the music issues?
Speaker 8 (18:29):
Right?
Speaker 2 (18:30):
If you've noticed any great, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
I.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
You always amazed me. Tom Ray, Let me go, let
me go talk to Bobby.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Don't thank me, Thank Ken Martin.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Ken Martin, I'll word of Town, New York. So thank
you so much. I appreciate it. I you know, I wow,
I'm kind of humbled, you know. Ge Whiz, I think
that's great, not because what it says, but I think
that's really kind of neat. You know, we could have
our own little theme song next thing that. You know,
we could have a television series, car Doctor Reality TV.
(19:02):
We should do that, just asn't aside, Bob Mayne, I'm coming,
you know, we should do that, right. You had to
see the shop yesterday all right, where Russell came up
from North Carolina. My buddy Russell came up, Bob was there, Danny,
Kathy me, We're all trying to get out the door
and people are picking up cars at the last minute,
and just all the It really was a cheers moment.
(19:26):
You know, when you know, Norm walks in and everybody
walks in, it's the conversational and cultural exchange of what's
going on. I dread the day when order repair shops,
the independent small shops are gone, because it's there's something
about that. There's a supercharged feeling when you're walking out
the door of a shop at the end of the week,
and everybody's picking up their cars and everything went right,
(19:46):
and it just you know, and I looked at it
and I said, this would be a television moment. I
just don't know how to transport it to there. But anyway,
Bob and Maine, I'm back, Yes, sir, how can I
help you in your twelve Colorado?
Speaker 6 (20:01):
All right? Thanks for taking a call. Yeah. Yeah, I've
been having for the last year or so. The service
TPM system light stays on in my truck, and the
low tire light too, of course, and key fobs don't work,
but I've just basically been ignoring it because, you know,
(20:22):
I figured I just always checked the tires like I've
always done. Anyway, the key fobs are an annoyance, but
they're expensive to get replaced, so well.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Hold hold on now. Did the key fobs stop working
at the same time as the TPM mislight coming on?
Speaker 6 (20:36):
I think so. I'm not one hundred percent sure the
key fobs started to get weaker. I mean they both
test Okay, I've had to test it in the battery.
I replaced the batteries and both of them they were
getting You had to be practicing next to it to
get to work. And then which seemed like the battery,
but then I changed the battery and no change. Then
they just stopped. I think at the same time the
(20:58):
service TP light was on, but I'm not one hundred
percent sure. It's been like I say, a while.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Do you have do you have something?
Speaker 6 (21:06):
I was just having some service, some routine work done
with my local mechanic inspection and some differential oil change,
and I asked him about that to check the PPM
systems in the tires. He rotated the tires too, and
he found two bad ones, so I had him replaced
the two bad ones. He said the other two were good,
(21:26):
but he couldn't get them with his tools. Couldn't get
the message to go. It would go off briefly, but
then it would come back on and the fathers didn't change.
They still don't work. So that's sort of where I
am at this point.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Any any fault codes in the system.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Not that I know, I don't think, so nod me.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So the way I would approach this is we're going
to use two pieces of diagnostic equipment. We're going to
use a tire pressure sensor reader, which is you know,
when you walk around the car and you you actually
read the signal off of each sensor, record those serial
numbers or identify our numbers, and then plug in with
a scan tool and GM they hold it in the
(22:08):
body module. We'll go into the body module and look
to see if the left front sensor is one two
three four five six. Does the scan tool recognize the
left front sensor as one two three four five six
If if not the.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Same as one of those relearned tools, is it M It.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Might be all right, it's it's got to have the
ability to read the registration number of the sensor. And
does that registration ID that's on the sensor match what
is programmed into the vehicle.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
I think I don't know if that's what my mechanic
was using or not.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
But well, if he if he didn't do this, he.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Checked his tools. He was checking it plugged into where
you normally to plug in right right.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
But he's got to compare. He's got to compare the
data he gets there with what he gets from the
registration tool. We'll call we'll use your term. All right,
If the left front registration ID read by scan read
by the tool doesn't match what the scan tool says,
that's a problem. Then we have to put the system
(23:14):
in learn mode and relearn all the sensors. Now before
we go any further. All right, there's more than a
few bulletins out there. One of them from General Motors
is PI eleven oh eight eleven oh one eight A
if I remember right, And they talk about problems with
the keyfobsed limited range, reduced range, reduced operation, and they
(23:35):
talk about problems based on if you have any aftermarket
accessories plugged into cigarette lighters or things in proximity of
in the vehicle, it will affect the key fobs on
those vehicles. It could be related to the TPMs system.
And I have had a few of the early Colorado's
like that or that generation Colorado where we had to
put a body module in it. The body module loses
(23:57):
its base programming and you can't fix it. You have
to re place it. But yeah, that could be. But
but where we're going to get that is where like
I said, first thing I want to do is take
take my registration tool. Sometimes it makes the horn beep
as I go around and so forth. I'm gonna take
my registration tool, read each sensor. Do the sensor IDs
(24:21):
that I collect match what the scan tool, plugging in
under the dish, I'll use your term plugging in under
the dash Do the registration IDs match what the BCM
or the body computer has. That's where I get that
from plugging in under the dish. If those sensor values match,
then I'm going to compare tire pressure because it will
(24:42):
also show me tire pressure. If the sensor. If the
sensor in the left front tire shows me thirty six
psi and I measure it and it's got thirty six
psi and the scan tool reading shows me twenty five psi,
maybe there's a BCM problem that it can't interpret the
(25:02):
data or the signal correctly. Can I get Can I
get the Can I get the BCM to recognize all
four sensors and read the correct tire pressure. That's the
key you want to.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
Go after there's a position of the tires. I mean,
like I say, that was just rotated, but the problem
existed before that. He said in that model means that
he didn't think that the that Colorado didn't identify each
position of the tire necessarily.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
The scan tool. The scan tool will still look at
sensors one, two, three, four, if but the dashboard does
not give you unique values telling you the left front low,
the right rars low, and so on. It just says problem, correct,
you don't have the ability to identify through the driver
information center of the DICKA right right. It just says
(25:56):
system system you know, has a problem in it, et cetera.
You've got a problem. You've got a problem either with
a component or programming, and this is this. These are
the first steps you're going to have to go through
in order to resolve it.
Speaker 6 (26:08):
That tool you're talking about, it sounds like I'm looking
at it in the in the book on for the
for the vehicle. It has a whole process to using
a read. It's a sensor matching process, it says, and
it sounds like what you're talking about. And that's where
I'm getting this term relearned tool. I see on online
you can get relearned tools relatively cheap ten fifteen dollars.
(26:29):
I'm wondering if that would be useful for me to
do and try.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Well, do you have the ability to do you have
the ability to do? You have do you have the
ability to plug into the OBD two port with a
scan tool and look at the sensor values that are
on the body module.
Speaker 6 (26:43):
I don't personally, I don't have a scan, right, but
I think.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I would ask my mechanic to do that before we
start putting a third hand in the pot, all right.
And the other thing is for the record. When you
rotate the tires, you should be relearning the values, right.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
That's where I I asked him about that. He said,
but he was I thought he did that, but he
as he as I said, he said he didn't. Didn't
think that model vehicle.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
No, but it won't. It won't identify it on the
driver information will identify it on the display. It won't
identify it on the display, but it's going to identify
it in the processor. And that's why you need to
relearn it. It's and and number one number two. If
you relearn it every time you rotate the tires, you're
going to prove that the system works and functions as operational.
(27:34):
So do those things, Bob, call me back if you
need more. A five five five six on nine nine
zero zero run Naming the car Doctor. We'll return right
after this. Let's go to Tennessee and talk to Alex. Alex,
Welcome to the Car Doctor, sir.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
How can I help I'm doing well, Ron, How are
you doing today?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I'm cooking? Man? What's going on?
Speaker 6 (27:56):
So?
Speaker 5 (27:56):
I heard you talking about the General Mutters bulletin in
with the transmission issue with a torque.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Converter shutter right seventy two yep.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
I have a twenty twenty one Buick Enclave avenueir Uh
with a three point six I got the shutter started
about seventy thousand miles. It went away after a fluid
change farewell, just a drain and feel, and then it
came back again at about one hundred and twenty five
hundred and thirty thousand miles and the transmission.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Was replaced and it fixed it.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
Well, yeah, it's a new transmission now that's why. Yeah, Okay,
I had I had one of the aftermarket in warranty
companies and they they did the replacement.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So doesn't it doesn't it annoy you, Alex? They tell
you never to service anything, don't do any maintenance, don't
do any repair, and you have a major component fill
in the first hundred thousand miles.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
It's very annoying. Consider my father's were retired by as
president of General Motors. Really yeah, he worked for Pontiac
for thirty few years.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Does he have access to parts? Wait, wait, wait, let's
does he have access to any warehouse? Does no?
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Unfortunately not he uh you know, he was part of
what they call the old General Motors the right, Yeah,
because he he retired in two thousand and two, and
you know, unfortunately with the with THEE after the bankruptcy
and so on, you know, they look at him as
the old the old Guard. But it was very frustrating
(29:36):
for him too, knowing, you know, just like he talked about, well,
but for the longest time, these components lasted half a
million mile, you know.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, no, listen, you know, it's it's it's it's it's
it's not wrong. I remember the conversation. I was going
to GM training facilities in the eighties and we were
talking about talking about transmissions and oh yeah, and we
were talking about how they could take a turbo four hundred.
(30:06):
In nineteen sixty eight, the lifespan of a Turbo four
hundred transmission was a quarter million miles followed, and then
within seven years they had re engineered it down to
one hundred, one hundred and twenty five thousand miles. And
it's just, you know, it's mind boggling to me. But
your story with twenty three and AO seventy two, that bulletin.
(30:27):
What that's telling me is that just confirms what I've
been saying that fluid maintenance is still very critical and
still a big yeah, still a big part of the process.
You know what, Alex, I really love you for asking
this question today. You stay on the line. Tom's gonna
get your information, tell them what size we're gonna send.
Tell them both you and your dad if you like,
we're gonna send you guys out a couple of car
(30:48):
doctor t shirts.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
All right, So I'll tell you I was. I was
doing fluid changes every thirty thousand.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Miles and you didn't have any problems.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
A drain and fill, drain and filled drain and phil
right at about seven we started to get the shutter.
We did a drain and Phil put some of the
shutters stopped a little too shutter stop in and went
away for a while.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
And it came back at about one hundred and twenty
five hundred and thirty and it would not go away
at all.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That Yeah, just they can't make transmissions. It's but fluid
as everything. So stay in the line. Alex. If you're likea,
we'll send you out a couple of T shirts. We
appreciate the question, sir. You'll be well and say hi
to your dad. Enjoy's retirement eight five five five six
nine nine zero zero run any of the car doctor.
We are back right after this. I want to close
here today. I want to talk about tow trucks. Topic
(31:37):
comes up from time to time, and I think it's
I don't know, we never really talk about it. What
I've noticed is there are less tow trucks around the shop.
You know, it used to be there used to be
a pile. Now it's we're down to there's two. There's
two toe services that are within proximity of the shop.
Everything else has gone triple A. Everything else has gone
(31:58):
to some kind of car. Everything else is tied into
an insurance program of some kind. And you know, I
guess if I was writing an article, maybe the topic
of this article would be why you need roadside service.
You need to be tied into a service plan for safety,
for convenience research. Kathy brought this up because I asked
(32:19):
her for her opinion, because she's always got a good one,
and she said, you know, Ron you have to explain
to everybody that towing is expensive. So there you are.
You're stuck on the side of the road, you your
two kids, your dog at Saturday afternoon, the groceries, the
ice cream is melting, and the car doesn't start and
you got to get towed to the local garage. A
(32:39):
lot of the TOE services, you know, if you're not
with Triple A or some sort of organized TOE program,
A lot of the TOE services require cash or venmo
or some sort of payment plan. It's not credit card
or a check, and you've got to have it. A
lot of them are cash. So are you are you
(33:00):
set up like that? Do you have that? And Kathy
said not a lot of people have two three hundred
dollars in their wallet at all times. You know, this
is America today, and I get it. I think Kathy's right.
I think she's spot on. So, you know, the holidays
are coming, maybe maybe we want to get everybody roadside,
have some sort of roadside service, some sort of roadside
(33:23):
assistant plan. It doesn't guarantee anybody's going to get there quick,
and it doesn't guarantee it's going to happen right away.
In terms of you know, where you got to go.
But somebody will get there eventually, and they should be
reliable in most cases. So just my two cents, just
an observation. So maybe you know, how are the tow
trucks in your neighborhood? Do you have? Any where? There
(33:45):
once was some, now there's none. Let me know. I'm
running ay in the car doctor, till the next time.
Good mechanics aren't expensive, 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
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zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five to five
(00:25):
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(00:47):
and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
What goes through your mind when you buy a new car?
Do you ever stop to think about You're gonna have
to maintain it? I wonder how you, the consumer, my
consumer's out there look at maintenance. It came to me
this week that I don't think you look at it well.
I don't think you liked doing maintenance some of you,
most of you, a lot of you, and I guess
(01:11):
it's a hard sell. I thought about it this week.
I had the realization that it must be hard to
do maintenance on a car. You know, here's the scenario, right,
you bring your car into your trusted mechanic or maybe
he's the first time guy, and they're recommending some fluids
and filters and spark plugs maybe, and fuel system cleaning
(01:33):
and cooling service and fire rotation and so on, and
you know, all of a sudden, you're spending one thousand
dollars on maintenance, and you get the car back and
it runs exactly the same it. Maybe it runs a
little smoother, Maybe the fuel system cleaning made a difference,
maybe some of the fluid changes made a difference, but
(01:54):
it still pretty much runs the same. How do you
look at that? Do you see that as what did
I spend my money on? I don't think you see
the value in maintenance until three years later when you're
still driving that same car. I don't know. Just my
two cents, just my way of looking at it, I
(02:15):
think it's very easy to ignore. I think, for the record,
I bet most cars today, most cars, not all cars,
most cars would probably go one hundred thousand miles just
doing oil changes and a couple of tire rotations and boom,
you're out of the car. You're done. I don't think
it'll go two hundred thousand. And that's the key, right
(02:36):
if you're driving that car, and if you're planning to
drive that car beyond one hundred thousand miles, I think
you got to stick to maintenance.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I also think that doing maintenance, regardless of when you're
getting rid of the car, puts the odds in your
favor of not having a failure or fault or breakdown
on the road. But then, as I say that, I
think about the people that still roll the dice on
certain things. Batteries. I can't tell you how many people
(03:05):
right now I know of personally and through the business
that are driving around on seven eight nine year old
batteries that are rated for five. It's kind of it's
kind of the oddity it is. It's it's it's more
the exception than the rule, and it happens. But what's
what's the reliability factor? You know, an aircraft maintenance, they
(03:30):
they schedule things by hours and and distance flown, and
you know, operation, and they everything's on a timeline. Everything's
on a chart, and things get checked off and okay,
sure if the plane's at twenty thousand feet it has
some sort of a component failure. Well like that always said,
you can't get out and stand on the cloud to
(03:52):
adjust the carburetor and the and the prop plane. So
I'll be sure you're right before you take off. But
I just I wonder how you look at maintenance. You know,
do you do you like doing it? I don't think
anybody does. I don't think they me personally. I like
doing maintenance. I like tweaking things and making things run
a little bit better because I will certain maintenance will
(04:12):
make a vehicle run better. We had a twenty seventeen
Accura this week that had about one hundred and thirty
thousand miles on it, and the customer complaint was clunks
on left turns from a stop, mostly cold, and there
(04:33):
was a hesitation, not all the time, sometimes going straight ahead.
And I drove the car and Danny drove the car,
and we went out together and drove the car and
we couldn't experience it. Had the customer come by, and yeah,
maybe I sort of felt this the way the trans
(04:54):
down shifted, It had a little bit of a clunk
to it. It wasn't smooth. And this particular trans is
one of those ones that it's got, you know, Honda
DW one fluid and I've seen it. They wear out
the additive package. They just they lose their ability to
shift and operate properly, they lose their friction modifiers and
(05:15):
they just wear out and you change fluid. Now, this
particular trends also has the potential, according to Acura Honda,
that if it sits a P zero seven four to
one for torque converter circuit faults, it may require and
chances are it will require a torque converter. They've extended
the warranty to eight years and one hundred and fifty
thousand miles, so they're telling you that, hey, we've got
(05:38):
a problem with these and we're you know, we're trying
to take care of it. The other thing that occurred
to us when we were driving the Accura this week
was that backing up like like like like the rear
end kind of jumped a little bit and had a
little bit of a hop to it, and you could
feel something not locking up but almost binding back there
(06:01):
for a moment when it was cold, and we realized
that this is dual pump fluid. This is a DPS
system where Honda calls for the rear and fluid to
be changed on a regular scheduled mile basis. And guess
how many times in one hundred and thirty thousand miles
this Accura had the fluid service in the rear right zero.
(06:24):
So new customer offs. So, you know, I sat down
with her and I explained everything. I walked her through it,
the ifs and the whys and the house and the
scenarios and yeah, go ahead, fix it, do it all.
And we did. And you know, it was a nice job,
and you know, nice customer. We put a car back together.
And here's a case where after the fuel system cleaning,
after the trans service, after the diff service in the back,
(06:48):
we kind of did make a difference in how that
car ran. It ran smoother, it there was a there
was a silkiness to it which had since gone away.
And I was happy to see that because it's frankly,
between the tires, the brakes and all the fluids and maintenance.
That was you know, four grand, and we spent a
lot of money, but we put the car back to
where it was supposed to be. And is that what
(07:10):
you're looking for? Are you looking for that that moment
that you get in the car and you go, wow,
it's great. I don't know that you can get that
every time. I think maintenance is just a necessary evil.
It's part of vehicle ownership. Some vehicles, because of manufacturer design,
(07:32):
will respond to fluid replacement, will respond better to fuel
system cleaning. But a lot of what maintenance is is
just that maintenance. You're changing the filter because well, hey
it's got this number of miles on it, it's kind
of clogged. You're doing a fuel system cleaning because we've
come to learn that, you know, in sixty thousand miles
(07:53):
to do a fuel system cleaning, clean the back of
the valves, the top of the pistons. It's a good
maintenance to do. It's sort of like when you turn
sixty and you go for your first medical procedure, which
I won't to say here on radio, and sometimes it's
the right thing to do because you know you need
(08:14):
to do it. You're at that age. Maintenance is a
tough sell it. I'd like to get your thoughts on it.
If you have If you have any and it's you know,
you can either give me a call here at eight
five five five six O nine nine zero zero, or
feel free drop me a line. We're on at cardoctorshow
dot com. I think it's become part of what the
(08:35):
automobile is. And I think if you're planning to keep
that car seven eight years, nine years, drive it to
one hundred and fifty two hundred thousand miles. Yeah, I
think you got to do it. I think maintenance is
something you need to be aware of. I think I
blew everybody's mind last week. By the way, I just
want to comment on this. I got a lot of
(08:56):
email from everybody saying, Ron, you're crazy. There's no way
cars can go five one hundred thousand miles. I don't know.
I think they can. I think today's car is designed
to go the distance. If the frame doesn't rot, if
the subframe the floor, if the body stays in good shape,
keep washing the car, do your fluids, do your maintenance.
I don't know. If the car got the five hundred
(09:16):
thousand miles, could you look at the maintenance it was done,
if it was done properly, and say that it was
worth the money. I do I know what a new
car costs.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Shall we talk about my former car which went four
hundred thousand before the frame rotted?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Right? Tom had a refreshment memory.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Tom, it was a twenty fifteen Ford Escape.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Right fifteen escape. The car legitimately had three hundred and
it just shy a four hundred thousand miles and the
frame brought it out. But in all fairness to the car,
Tom drives through some pretty rough country, all kinds of weather.
He's going out to transmitter sites. He's all over the northeast,
up and down the seaboard, and he's always in a
harsh environment. But that car went four hundred thousand miles
(09:59):
with very little maintenance, and a lot of that can
be attributed to the fact that Tom's highway driving. Tom
does a lot of highway. Tom gets out on the road,
he stays at one temperature. He's doing seventy five eighty
miles an hour, zipping all over the place. And you
know what we should address that too. Environment and how
you drive will predicate how many miles you get out
of that vehicle. But the topic today is maintenance. Maintenance.
(10:24):
Is it worth it? I think so? Proved me wrong
eight five five five six oho nine nine zero zero
runnin Eating the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this,
by the way. Add on the YouTube channel two new videos,
one on oil discuss at the oil selection and why
it's important to read the back of the bottle. You'll
(10:45):
find that on the run and any in the Car
Doctor YouTube channel. And I don't know that it's published hip,
but we've got one coming up talking about sunroofs, the
importance of cleaning the sunroof trains, how to do it,
what to look for, why sunroofs can be an expensive
proposition if you're not properly maintaining them. There's that maintenance
word again. I guess maintenance does pay. It comes up
a lot, and you'll have that to look forward to.
(11:07):
That's up on our YouTube channel. And if you do
like what you see, please like our videos. Tell your friends,
tell your neighbors. We appreciate it. You know, the more
support we get, the more we can do, the further
we can go and be here for you guys. So
it's it's important spread the word. Let's go over and
talk to Donna oh Oh, Mike Keia, Donna, Mikeia how
(11:30):
can I help you today?
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (11:32):
Thanks, you're welcome.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I got I got a new car into by Kia.
And are of the computers now, all these fancy and teachers.
One of them is, well, it's not like the auto
start stop and oh I I was using it, my
husband said, And I said, I said, I had looked
(11:55):
it up and it can say guess. And my husband said, yeah,
able to kill your battery and your starter. People to
frequently starts and stop with the internet said, they make
the batteries and the starters to handle it, so it
could say gas. There's certain under certain driving conditions. But
a question is if it actually benefit or could it.
Speaker 7 (12:16):
Be detrimental to your battery.
Speaker 6 (12:20):
And your start.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Somebody's somebody's convinced that it's a benefit. I'm not Yeah,
all right, I'm not all right. You know if you
and part of the reason is, go look up the
replacement cost of a vehicle that has stopped start. Go
look up the replacement cost of the starter. Holy, Holy smolly,
it could be three times the price of a regular starter.
(12:43):
That's number one. Number two, I'm not comfortable now. When
the car is new, everything is great, but as that
car ages, you know, it gets to be five six
years old, six seven years old. Electrical system maintenance is
going to be very critical, and you know, replacing that
battery on a regular schedule, old time frame. I don't
think there's a I don't think there's any cheating in
(13:03):
a start stop vehicle. I think you have to replace
that regular battery, and there's always there's usually an auxiliary
battery that's involved. So now when you're doing a battery,
you're doing two batteries, So your cost goes up, your
cost of ownership goes up. Are we saving gasoline? Are
we cleaning up the air? You know, I'll tell you this,
(13:27):
I think that we could clean up the air better
if we were more consistent. I don't understand. I'm gonna
get out my soapbox for a minute. Down. I don't
mean to hijack the question. You know, I don't understand
why New Jersey's emissions program is different than New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland.
You know, we're all doing the plug in for clean
air thing, but there's different tolerance levels, there's different perspectives,
(13:49):
and forget safety, New Jersey is the most unsafe state
in the Union when it comes to lack of inspection procedure.
But I don't know that we're all trying to do
the same thing. And as far as I know, the
air from New Jersey blows into Pennsylvania and vice versa,
and I see other states with better inspection programs than
what we have. We need to be more consistent. We
(14:09):
also need to be more realistic. Some of these cars
going down the road with blue smoke coming out the tailpipe,
and some of these older trucks, you know, all of
that's the reason why we've still got some dirty air
going on. And I get it. They're going to say, well,
you can't clean up everybody's car because people can't afford
to fix it. Because they can't afford a car, how
would they get to work, and you know, the eels
(14:31):
of society all of a sudden, We've got all these
things on the back of our mind. But as far
as stops start and then you and I have to
pay for that, I don't know that this is I
don't know that that it's an advantage. Nobody really showed
me any calculations based on how many of them are
out there that you know it actually works, you know,
but it does. And my last thing is, you know,
(14:52):
and I think you'll probably agree with me. You're a woman, right,
You're driving along, you're out eleven twelve o'clock at night,
and the car shuts off, and you're maybe not in
the best place. Don't you kind of hope it restarts?
Speaker 7 (15:06):
Yeah, that's It always startles me when it does that,
and I actually not comfortable with it. So I you know,
I have been I listened to my husband and I
had been turning it off, but I was still on
the fence about it. Now, you don't continue to turn
it off.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You may find and I don't know that this works
on every car, but I've been in some stop start cars.
If you want to defeat the stop start, try to
putting the car in neutral, you know, just put your hold,
your foot on the brake, just nudge the shifter into neutral.
I bet your stop start doesn't work. I've seen that.
I've seen that more often than not.
Speaker 7 (15:46):
The button fortunately that yeah, then do that so and
next time I'm not gonna get it. But you know,
they put these features on and then it's hard to
not get them.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I don't think. I don't think you have a choice.
I think you know, a lot of cars today. Stop
start if it's there, it's there. I don't think it's
a it's an option. It may change with different you know, features,
engine packages, transmissions and so on, but I think it's
something that you just have. Listen, the new Chevy Colorado's
got stop starts. It's holding me back from buying one.
(16:18):
I'm just I'm just not a fan. I just I'm
just not a fan. And not just the cost of
replacing that starter, whining if it goes bad, but just
the inconvenience and the annoyance. I want a good experience
driving a car, and I don't like something that shuts
off like that when it's new. It's great when it's
five years old. And I tend to keep a car.
My Suburban's twenty two years old. You know, you know
(16:41):
what's what's that factor going to be?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
So all right, well, thank you made me, You've helped
me make up what you do.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Glad, Thank you so much, and enjoy your new car anyway,
all right, thanks, you're very welcome, You're bye. Bye. Yeah
you wonder, I don't know, not a fan of stop
start and then you know, how does that tie into
and we should talk about this? You and I you know,
I wonder what towing is like in other parts of
the country. We ran into that this week that where
(17:11):
there used to be about seven different towing operations around
us around the shop in North Jersey is now down
to two. Where have all the tow truck's gone? And why?
That's another conversation we have to have. I'm running ady
in the car, doctor. I'll be back right after.
Speaker 8 (17:27):
This promises streets to the open road tonight.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
Run.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
We'll give you a wrong and right.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
A car doctor.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Carr advice to ride. You've been busy. What the heck
was that?
Speaker 5 (17:59):
That?
Speaker 4 (18:00):
A gift from our well, from the operations manager at
our affiliate in Watertown, New York w A t N.
He plays with.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
AI.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
There's not a human on that jingle.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I think we should incorporate that into some of our breaks.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
I think we should too. I think this is why
that's why there'll be another one next next hour.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I think we should put that into the podcast.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And then we don't have the music issues?
Speaker 8 (18:29):
Right?
Speaker 2 (18:30):
If you've noticed any great, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
I.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
You always amazed me. Tom Ray, Let me go, let
me go talk to Bobby.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Don't thank me, Thank Ken Martin.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Ken Martin, I'll word of Town, New York. So thank
you so much. I appreciate it. I you know, I wow,
I'm kind of humbled, you know. Ge Whiz, I think
that's great, not because what it says, but I think
that's really kind of neat. You know, we could have
our own little theme song next thing that. You know,
we could have a television series, car Doctor Reality TV.
(19:02):
We should do that, just asn't aside, Bob Mayne, I'm coming,
you know, we should do that, right. You had to
see the shop yesterday all right, where Russell came up
from North Carolina. My buddy Russell came up, Bob was there, Danny,
Kathy me, We're all trying to get out the door
and people are picking up cars at the last minute,
and just all the It really was a cheers moment.
(19:26):
You know, when you know, Norm walks in and everybody
walks in, it's the conversational and cultural exchange of what's
going on. I dread the day when order repair shops,
the independent small shops are gone, because it's there's something
about that. There's a supercharged feeling when you're walking out
the door of a shop at the end of the week,
and everybody's picking up their cars and everything went right,
(19:46):
and it just you know, and I looked at it
and I said, this would be a television moment. I
just don't know how to transport it to there. But anyway,
Bob and Maine, I'm back, Yes, sir, how can I
help you in your twelve Colorado?
Speaker 6 (20:01):
All right? Thanks for taking a call. Yeah. Yeah, I've
been having for the last year or so. The service
TPM system light stays on in my truck, and the
low tire light too, of course, and key fobs don't work,
but I've just basically been ignoring it because, you know,
(20:22):
I figured I just always checked the tires like I've
always done. Anyway, the key fobs are an annoyance, but
they're expensive to get replaced, so well.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Hold hold on now. Did the key fobs stop working
at the same time as the TPM mislight coming on?
Speaker 6 (20:36):
I think so. I'm not one hundred percent sure the
key fobs started to get weaker. I mean they both
test Okay, I've had to test it in the battery.
I replaced the batteries and both of them they were
getting You had to be practicing next to it to
get to work. And then which seemed like the battery,
but then I changed the battery and no change. Then
they just stopped. I think at the same time the
(20:58):
service TP light was on, but I'm not one hundred
percent sure. It's been like I say, a while.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Do you have do you have something?
Speaker 6 (21:06):
I was just having some service, some routine work done
with my local mechanic inspection and some differential oil change,
and I asked him about that to check the PPM
systems in the tires. He rotated the tires too, and
he found two bad ones, so I had him replaced
the two bad ones. He said the other two were good,
(21:26):
but he couldn't get them with his tools. Couldn't get
the message to go. It would go off briefly, but
then it would come back on and the fathers didn't change.
They still don't work. So that's sort of where I
am at this point.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Any any fault codes in the system.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Not that I know, I don't think, so nod me.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So the way I would approach this is we're going
to use two pieces of diagnostic equipment. We're going to
use a tire pressure sensor reader, which is you know,
when you walk around the car and you you actually
read the signal off of each sensor, record those serial
numbers or identify our numbers, and then plug in with
a scan tool and GM they hold it in the
(22:08):
body module. We'll go into the body module and look
to see if the left front sensor is one two
three four five six. Does the scan tool recognize the
left front sensor as one two three four five six
If if not the.
Speaker 6 (22:22):
Same as one of those relearned tools, is it M It.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Might be all right, it's it's got to have the
ability to read the registration number of the sensor. And
does that registration ID that's on the sensor match what
is programmed into the vehicle.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
I think I don't know if that's what my mechanic
was using or not.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
But well, if he if he didn't do this, he.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Checked his tools. He was checking it plugged into where
you normally to plug in right right.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
But he's got to compare. He's got to compare the
data he gets there with what he gets from the
registration tool. We'll call we'll use your term. All right,
If the left front registration ID read by scan read
by the tool doesn't match what the scan tool says,
that's a problem. Then we have to put the system
(23:14):
in learn mode and relearn all the sensors. Now before
we go any further. All right, there's more than a
few bulletins out there. One of them from General Motors
is PI eleven oh eight eleven oh one eight A
if I remember right, And they talk about problems with
the keyfobsed limited range, reduced range, reduced operation, and they
(23:35):
talk about problems based on if you have any aftermarket
accessories plugged into cigarette lighters or things in proximity of
in the vehicle, it will affect the key fobs on
those vehicles. It could be related to the TPMs system.
And I have had a few of the early Colorado's
like that or that generation Colorado where we had to
put a body module in it. The body module loses
(23:57):
its base programming and you can't fix it. You have
to re place it. But yeah, that could be. But
but where we're going to get that is where like
I said, first thing I want to do is take
take my registration tool. Sometimes it makes the horn beep
as I go around and so forth. I'm gonna take
my registration tool, read each sensor. Do the sensor IDs
(24:21):
that I collect match what the scan tool, plugging in
under the dish, I'll use your term plugging in under
the dash Do the registration IDs match what the BCM
or the body computer has. That's where I get that
from plugging in under the dish. If those sensor values match,
then I'm going to compare tire pressure because it will
(24:42):
also show me tire pressure. If the sensor. If the
sensor in the left front tire shows me thirty six
psi and I measure it and it's got thirty six
psi and the scan tool reading shows me twenty five psi,
maybe there's a BCM problem that it can't interpret the
(25:02):
data or the signal correctly. Can I get Can I
get the Can I get the BCM to recognize all
four sensors and read the correct tire pressure. That's the
key you want to.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
Go after there's a position of the tires. I mean,
like I say, that was just rotated, but the problem
existed before that. He said in that model means that
he didn't think that the that Colorado didn't identify each
position of the tire necessarily.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
The scan tool. The scan tool will still look at
sensors one, two, three, four, if but the dashboard does
not give you unique values telling you the left front low,
the right rars low, and so on. It just says problem, correct,
you don't have the ability to identify through the driver
information center of the DICKA right right. It just says
(25:56):
system system you know, has a problem in it, et cetera.
You've got a problem. You've got a problem either with
a component or programming, and this is this. These are
the first steps you're going to have to go through
in order to resolve it.
Speaker 6 (26:08):
That tool you're talking about, it sounds like I'm looking
at it in the in the book on for the
for the vehicle. It has a whole process to using
a read. It's a sensor matching process, it says, and
it sounds like what you're talking about. And that's where
I'm getting this term relearned tool. I see on online
you can get relearned tools relatively cheap ten fifteen dollars.
(26:29):
I'm wondering if that would be useful for me to
do and try.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Well, do you have the ability to do you have
the ability to do? You have do you have the
ability to plug into the OBD two port with a
scan tool and look at the sensor values that are
on the body module.
Speaker 6 (26:43):
I don't personally, I don't have a scan, right, but
I think.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I would ask my mechanic to do that before we
start putting a third hand in the pot, all right.
And the other thing is for the record. When you
rotate the tires, you should be relearning the values, right.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
That's where I I asked him about that. He said,
but he was I thought he did that, but he
as he as I said, he said he didn't. Didn't
think that model vehicle.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
No, but it won't. It won't identify it on the
driver information will identify it on the display. It won't
identify it on the display, but it's going to identify
it in the processor. And that's why you need to
relearn it. It's and and number one number two. If
you relearn it every time you rotate the tires, you're
going to prove that the system works and functions as operational.
(27:34):
So do those things, Bob, call me back if you
need more. A five five five six on nine nine
zero zero run Naming the car Doctor. We'll return right
after this. Let's go to Tennessee and talk to Alex. Alex,
Welcome to the Car Doctor, sir.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
How can I help I'm doing well, Ron, How are
you doing today?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I'm cooking? Man? What's going on?
Speaker 6 (27:56):
So?
Speaker 5 (27:56):
I heard you talking about the General Mutters bulletin in
with the transmission issue with a torque.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Converter shutter right seventy two yep.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
I have a twenty twenty one Buick Enclave avenueir Uh
with a three point six I got the shutter started
about seventy thousand miles. It went away after a fluid
change farewell, just a drain and feel, and then it
came back again at about one hundred and twenty five
hundred and thirty thousand miles and the transmission.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Was replaced and it fixed it.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
Well, yeah, it's a new transmission now that's why. Yeah, Okay,
I had I had one of the aftermarket in warranty
companies and they they did the replacement.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
So doesn't it doesn't it annoy you, Alex? They tell
you never to service anything, don't do any maintenance, don't
do any repair, and you have a major component fill
in the first hundred thousand miles.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
It's very annoying. Consider my father's were retired by as
president of General Motors. Really yeah, he worked for Pontiac
for thirty few years.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Does he have access to parts? Wait, wait, wait, let's
does he have access to any warehouse? Does no?
Speaker 5 (29:13):
Unfortunately not he uh you know, he was part of
what they call the old General Motors the right, Yeah,
because he he retired in two thousand and two, and
you know, unfortunately with the with THEE after the bankruptcy
and so on, you know, they look at him as
the old the old Guard. But it was very frustrating
(29:36):
for him too, knowing, you know, just like he talked about, well,
but for the longest time, these components lasted half a
million mile, you know.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, no, listen, you know, it's it's it's it's it's
it's not wrong. I remember the conversation. I was going
to GM training facilities in the eighties and we were
talking about talking about transmissions and oh yeah, and we
were talking about how they could take a turbo four hundred.
(30:06):
In nineteen sixty eight, the lifespan of a Turbo four
hundred transmission was a quarter million miles followed, and then
within seven years they had re engineered it down to
one hundred, one hundred and twenty five thousand miles. And
it's just, you know, it's mind boggling to me. But
your story with twenty three and AO seventy two, that bulletin.
(30:27):
What that's telling me is that just confirms what I've
been saying that fluid maintenance is still very critical and
still a big yeah, still a big part of the process.
You know what, Alex, I really love you for asking
this question today. You stay on the line. Tom's gonna
get your information, tell them what size we're gonna send.
Tell them both you and your dad if you like,
we're gonna send you guys out a couple of car
(30:48):
doctor t shirts.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
All right, So I'll tell you I was. I was
doing fluid changes every thirty thousand.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Miles and you didn't have any problems.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
A drain and fill, drain and filled drain and phil
right at about seven we started to get the shutter.
We did a drain and Phil put some of the
shutters stopped a little too shutter stop in and went
away for a while.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (31:09):
And it came back at about one hundred and twenty
five hundred and thirty and it would not go away
at all.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That Yeah, just they can't make transmissions. It's but fluid
as everything. So stay in the line. Alex. If you're likea,
we'll send you out a couple of T shirts. We
appreciate the question, sir. You'll be well and say hi
to your dad. Enjoy's retirement eight five five five six
nine nine zero zero run any of the car doctor.
We are back right after this. I want to close
here today. I want to talk about tow trucks. Topic
(31:37):
comes up from time to time, and I think it's
I don't know, we never really talk about it. What
I've noticed is there are less tow trucks around the shop.
You know, it used to be there used to be
a pile. Now it's we're down to there's two. There's
two toe services that are within proximity of the shop.
Everything else has gone triple A. Everything else has gone
(31:58):
to some kind of car. Everything else is tied into
an insurance program of some kind. And you know, I
guess if I was writing an article, maybe the topic
of this article would be why you need roadside service.
You need to be tied into a service plan for safety,
for convenience research. Kathy brought this up because I asked
(32:19):
her for her opinion, because she's always got a good one,
and she said, you know, Ron you have to explain
to everybody that towing is expensive. So there you are.
You're stuck on the side of the road, you your
two kids, your dog at Saturday afternoon, the groceries, the
ice cream is melting, and the car doesn't start and
you got to get towed to the local garage. A
(32:39):
lot of the TOE services, you know, if you're not
with Triple A or some sort of organized TOE program,
A lot of the TOE services require cash or venmo
or some sort of payment plan. It's not credit card
or a check, and you've got to have it. A
lot of them are cash. So are you are you
(33:00):
set up like that? Do you have that? And Kathy
said not a lot of people have two three hundred
dollars in their wallet at all times. You know, this
is America today, and I get it. I think Kathy's right.
I think she's spot on. So, you know, the holidays
are coming, maybe maybe we want to get everybody roadside,
have some sort of roadside service, some sort of roadside
(33:23):
assistant plan. It doesn't guarantee anybody's going to get there quick,
and it doesn't guarantee it's going to happen right away.
In terms of you know, where you got to go.
But somebody will get there eventually, and they should be
reliable in most cases. So just my two cents, just
an observation. So maybe you know, how are the tow
trucks in your neighborhood? Do you have? Any where? There
(33:45):
once was some, now there's none. Let me know. I'm
running ay in the car doctor, till the next time.
Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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