This episode of Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor dives into the one thing most drivers overlook: the relationship with your mechanic. Ron explains why trust, honesty, and communication matter more than price-shopping or chasing second opinions—and how being a “consumer” instead of a “customer” can derail even the simplest repair.
You’ll hear real-world examples from the shop and the show: the tire-avoiding Toyota owner, the dealer who pushed a loyal buyer away, and callers whose problems were solved only after the right relationship was in place.
Ron breaks down how to fix the disconnect: share your service history, respect diagnostic time, be ready for step one before demanding step two, and judge a shop by how it handles problems—not perfection.
Auto repair isn’t just about fixing cars. It’s about the people you trust to fix them.
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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 (00:50):
Can we talk about ORTO repair your relationship with your
mechanic if you have one, and if you don't, boy,
that's a that's a glare hole. As far as I'm concerned.
You know, life is funny, right, and I think you
have to look at this as a bigger picture because
we have to learn to look at the bigger picture.
People are only concerned about things when it affects them directly.
(01:15):
I don't know how many of us look down the road.
I run to people all week long that just they're
only looking at what's two inches in front of their nose.
They don't look beyond that. They don't look a foot
down the road to see what's coming next. And I'm wondering,
you know, is that a reflection of how they approach life?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Can you see where they are or what's going on
in their lives based on how they take care of
their cars. I know it's a weird analogy, but it's
just it's how I think. Listen, it's what I observe. Observational,
you know, intelligence, I call it. At a customer walk in, Well,
he's not a customer yet, he's a consumer, right, what's
the rule. He's not a customer until he actually lets
(01:55):
you fix something and hands your money up. Until that time,
he's a consumer because he's not sure what he wants
to be. He's taking up time and he's not really
sure what he's looking for. And I actually told this
one gentleman. I said, you're a mechanic's worst nightmare, and
I didn't say it rudely, I said, but you're a
mechanic's worst nightmare because you're trying to get your car fixed.
The guy that you go to that you tell me
you trust, told you what it is, but you don't
(02:18):
want to listen to him, and you don't want to
do what he told you because you don't want to
spend six hundred dollars on tires. So now you're going
to go around and find another shop to give you
a different answer, in the hope that it's a different result.
I've never met this gentleman. I still don't know his name.
He gave it, but frankly I didn't remember it because
I was so flustered and floored by the whole approach.
(02:41):
Do you work on older cars?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yes? I do.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
What's older? I have an five Toyota. Well that's not older, dude,
that's just you know, an older is a sixty eight Camaro.
You know an O five Corolla is you know it's
still it's still a good running vehicle. It's still well
to me, it is, it's still fairly fresh. I know
it's twenty years old, but I've got this vibration, whining, humming,
(03:08):
noise driving down the road. Okay, And I always ask
the question, you know, why did you pick me? Well,
I always go buy the shop. The shop looks neat
and clean. I've heard great things about you, and I
wanted to give you a try. And I love it
when they say I wanted to give you a try.
I almost feel like I'm on. The price is right
and I get to come on down. And you know,
as long as I get within three dollars and ninety
(03:28):
eight cents of what they're looking for, I get the job. Hey,
what a bargain boy. That's great. So I always ask
the same questions. I swear you come to the shop,
you're going to get the same. And I'm not being crabby,
I'm just being real. I want to know who's been
working on the car up to this point, so and
so over at such and such. Okay, I know the shop.
(03:49):
He's competent, he's capable. Not the friendliest guy in the world,
but he's capable. He said it was tires, all right, Well,
why isn't he doing tires? Well, he doesn't do tires,
of course. That kind of made my eyes roll around
in my head. How can a repair shop today not
replace tires. But that's just I mean, that's a big
part of anybody's income based these days because of well,
(04:11):
that's a different conversation. So I said, so, what is
it you're trying to do. Well, I'm trying to, you know,
get it diagnosed. Can you come out and take a
look at it. Listen, we don't go outside look at much,
all right. We might look at it if it was
a customer, not a consumer, and we knew the car,
and we weren't going to waste time because at three
dollars a minute, that look outside adds up quickly, right,
because we've established that right, repair shops should charge by
(04:33):
the minute, not by the hour in terms of labor.
See car Doctor dated July. Yeah, you get it. We've
talked about this before. So I told him, I said, look,
I said, if it's tires and it doesn't solve the problem,
and he tells you tires will fix it, then you've
got a you know, a reason to go back and
(04:53):
question him. I said, but understand also it could be
tires and a wheelbaring, because that's his other concern. Is
it a wheelbrain? I don't know. I've got to look
at it. It's an hour of shop time to really
get involved in something, we've got to go out to
the highway. We've got to put it up in the air.
We're gonna listen to it. We're gonna take some time.
We're gonna stand at the counter and talk to you
even more detail in what we're doing right now. And
(05:14):
then we're gonna take some time and we're gonna come
up with a reason and a conclusion why the car
does what it does. But there's no guarantee that it's
only tires or only a wheel bearing, or either of
those tour or not both of those two. It's twenty
years old. We've never seen the vehicle show me all
the service, and for that matter, show me the service
done by the guy that you trust, that you think
(05:34):
is a good mechanic. And that's why he've been going
to them all these years. But now, all of a sudden,
for some reason, you don't trust them. I where can
I get a good cheeseburger? Well, you can go down
there to that place. They serve a really good cheeseburger,
But I don't eat there anymore. Why not? Well, I'm
not really sure if it's as good as I remember it,
So I'm trying to find someplace else. This maybe a
little bit cheaper, because I don't like spending that kind
of money on a cheeseburger. It's sort of like a
(05:57):
it's sort of like a bad automotive, you know, example
of who's on first. It just doesn't jive. He left.
He called me about a half hour later. When could
I look at the car? And again, I said, and
if I tell you it's tires, are you going to
let me put tires on it?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Well?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I don't know. Well, I said, if I tell you
it's tires, and that's the first step, and then I
have to go to step two for whatever step two
might be. Are you going to be okay with that?
I don't know. I said, Listen, I'm happy to take
your money, but it's not going to provide any kind
of positive conclusion. And I don't think you're going to
be thrilled, because I think I'm just going to get
(06:37):
added to the list of guys that while I let
so and so look at it, but that guy had
to pay and I'm not happy about it. So I'm
going to pass until you decide what it is you
want to do. When you get it clear in your
head order repairs about the relationship, not about taking money.
It's about earning money, it's about getting paid, but it's
(06:58):
about trying to come to positive conclusion and help people
because that's what we're here for. That's what a mechanic
is supposed to do. You've got to learn if you don't,
and I apologize if you do, because I'm not talking
just about you. I'm talking to everybody. You've got to
learn to value your relationships in life, and you do.
(07:21):
I've got a fireplace company, not a fireplace, firewood, right,
great company. I can call them up and so you know, hey, greater,
I need you know, a cord, Yeah, no problem, wrong,
I'll drop it off and they're great. And the wood's
always good and it's stack nice, and you know, it's
it's it's no different than the relationship I have with
my with my barber and the guy at the liquor
(07:44):
store where I buy my holiday wines, and you know,
it's about relationships. I don't necessarily look at price. I
like to know maybe ahead of time certain things, But
you know, a couple of dollars either way, I don't
care because they're meeting my need and they're really liable,
and they're honest, and they're ethical and all the things
that I look for in relationships, they're there. But a
(08:08):
lot of you don't do that with mechanics, and I
don't understand that. You think you think most of this
industry is a bunch of pirates with scabbards and one
eye patches and they're wearing bandanas around their head and
they're sailing on the on the Jolly Roger. I think
there's more incompetence than dishonesty in order to repair. But
I think there's a lot of good people in this
(08:28):
industry and you've got to give him a chance. You've
got to listen to them. If you don't, you're gonna
miss the relationships. And that's that's important. Scott came in yesterday.
I haven't seen Scott in I think it was before COVID,
so that's six years, right, And I kind of didn't
(08:52):
recognize him at first. You know, I have a battery?
Could you put a battery in my jeep? It was Friday.
I felt bad for him. You know, normally I don't
get involved in customer parts, but something about it said, yeah,
let's just put a battery in and help this guy,
because you know, we'll just you know, our good deed.
And I started talking to him, I realized who it was,
and he's not in the system anymore, because he said, yeah,
(09:13):
you have all my numbers and if I just call
me when it's done. And I looked it up and
I said, gee, Scott, it's not here anymore. And he said, well,
how can that be? And I said, well, the computer
takes you out of the system if you're in longer
than if you're if you don't return in five years,
it just automatically deletes your file because you know, it
just takes up space. And he went, wow, it's been
(09:34):
five years, kind of to the tune of how could
it be five years? You're the only mechanic I trust. Yeah,
but but where have you been?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Well?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I keep buying new cars and the dealer keeps doing
the oil changes and doing all my service under warranty,
and you know, this is the first thing I've ever
needed that's out of warranty. Well, what year is this
car to? Twenty twenty two? And I said, how can
a twenty two Jeep that's two and a half years
old with eighteen thousand miles on it how could it
a need a battery and be if it does need
(10:03):
a battery, how is the battery not under warranty? Well
it might be, but the dealership can't get me in
for ten days. I can't. They can't look at the
Carndal December fourth. You know, I got to tell you,
all right, like any business and for all my independent
business people out there, you guys are aware of this, right,
(10:23):
You've always got room for that one more. You've always
got room for that better customer, that good customer, that
person that might be in trouble. Right, maybe the guy
with the Toyota Corolla. Maybe if his approach was a
little bit different, maybe if he just said, yeah, I
just want to get it fixed, so you're not wasting time.
You know, I said, Scott, you got to go back
and yell at somebody. I said, is this the first time?
(10:46):
He said, no, Ron, he says, I've bought. He said,
I counted the other day, I've bought something like twenty
some odd vehicles over the past twenty five years, between
me and myself and my family. He's got a big family,
you know. The kids are always driving Jeeps and christ
Or products. And I said, so you're a guy that's
bought i'll call it, eighteen to twenty vehicles in a
thirty year time span, and they can't they can't find
(11:07):
a technician to give you a half hour to put
a battery in a car that. I said, Does that
seem right too? He said no. I proceeded to tell
him the story about my father, or my father told
my mother about and I won't use the word here,
but you know, he talked about how he was going
to go relay the carpet that he installed five years prior.
(11:28):
And Mom said why And dad said, because you only
get one chance to annoy a customer and make them
an old customer. And I told him that story, and
I said, you know what' Scott, I said, you're in
the vergion of becoming an old customer of that dealership
because they don't value the relationship they have with you.
And he looked at me and he said, you know,
I never thought of it like that. I said, but yeah,
that's what it's about. Water repair isn't about fixing the car.
I mean, yeah, that's it is, But it's about the relationship.
(11:51):
It's business to business, main Street, Wall Street. It doesn't
matter It's about solving the problem that you're presenting to
them and doing it in a timely man. I want
you to think about this real hard going forward, all
of you. It's about the relationship. It's what you and
I experience each weekend when I'm here with you. It's
about what you experience each time you walk into your mechanic,
(12:12):
your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer, all of it. It's
about the relationship. The product that just helps you maintain that.
Eight five five five six nine nine zero zero. Fired
up and ready to go. I'm running Ay and the
car doctor. I'll be back right after this. Hey, let's
(12:40):
fire up the phones. Eight five five six zero nine
nine zero zero. As Tom just said, let's go to
Matthew and Michigan twelve, Chevy and Palla. What's going on? Matthew.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I was leaning my break and I don't know how
I got a air in it, Okay, So I took
it down to the good Year dealer down here where
I've been going for years. I think he's a smarter
service man. He told me. He called me the next
told me to come and get the car because they
put a master cylinder on it and they still didn't
have brakes. So I called about five different Shivy dealers
(13:13):
and I read in the Hanes that you have to
do a keck one brake scan, which I never heard of.
They said, oh, two hundred and nine dollars. So I
had a record to it to this Shivy dealer, one
of the biggest ones here. They had the car for
seven days, charged me one thousand and seventy two dollars
and put a new Master cylinder on it. And those
(13:33):
two brake lines that are oval and up over them,
he bent them down in there, wedged against each other
and one is even rubbing on the engine, which I
think is poor. But I said to him, what did
you put a Master or soa My Master's cylinder worked great.
So I took the car. I got just about home
(13:55):
and the ABS light come on, so I pulled over
the side of the road, shut it off, started it.
It was out. The next morning, I'm going up to
ell of about fifty miles. I started the car. It
was like a Christmas tree stable link. Aybe every light
on that dash come on right? And what I'm asking you,
(14:16):
wasn't it the text responsibility to reset the computer or
take those codes out of there.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yes, but I think there's an additional problem. All right,
But here's here, here's what probably happened that I'm going
to take. I'm going to take a little bit of
a guess here, and we know how dangerous that is.
So first of all, they put that Master on probably
because they recognized your part as a new aftermarket part
and they didn't want to trust the brand. And I
(14:43):
get it, all right, you know, I understand that they
should have asked permission first, and they should have said, hey,
you know, Matthew, we you know, we don't recognize this
brand as something we normally use whatever we'd.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Like to, and we interrupted. Good. He took the Master
cylinder back off and put my Master cylinder back on.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Oh okay, okay, okay. Did they ask you that? Did
they tell you they were going to change the Master?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
No? No?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
All right, So you know what what sort of what
sort of authority did you allow them? I mean, you
signed a repair estimate just out of curiosity?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
No? No, I called and I called him and I asked
for the serviceman on journey said, well, why would you
want to bleed your breaks? I said, well, I've been
bleeding breaks I'm ninety now. I've been blaiding breaks all
my life because there's a chemical that absorbs moisture and
everything else. Then it lowers the boiling pain and it's
unsafe to have break through.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It absolutely spotted.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
He said, well, for two hundred and nine dollars they
would take care of it. And anyway, my two hundred
and nine dollars break Scantaign comes to a one thousand
and seventy two dollars.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Eleven hundred, let's call it what it is, eleven hundred dollars.
And the car is still not fixed.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
No, no, I have the I have the cock. Oh.
When I went to ELM, I went to an independent
grids that've been going to for twenty three years. Right,
he come out with this. I never seen one like this,
a big scan tool and he plugged it in and
he started doing things and he says, here watch this.
He clipped it. He said, that's your Tech one brake scan.
(16:20):
But I said, you didn't go around and bleed the brakes.
But he didn't say anything since he'd done that. I
don't have any light sign on the dash.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Right, and the pedal's good. Yes, yeah, yeah, So so
the tech at the Chevy dealership missed something, got a
call it like it is right?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
The whole idea of what that tech one scan does
is there is air in the ABS controller, all right,
And going back to when you bled the brake, somehow
you induced air into the system and it got lodged
in the ABS controller and it needed an ABS bleed
in order to be dislodged. It doesn't happen every time,
it doesn't happen all the time, but it happens, and
(16:59):
that's procedure that you have to go through.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Did you call the Chevy dealer back and say, hey,
I had a problem and I had to take it
somewhere else and get it resolved. Did they did they
offer you anything?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Let me tell you something. I was so I'm mighty.
I was so stressed out. I thought I was going
to have a heart attack or maybe my heart went
back into a FM. So I called my heart doctor
and they said he retired and take three days. So
I went to my That's why I went to Alman
by the I went to my doctor in Alman They'd
(17:31):
give me ekg and everything and said I was okay,
but I just I couldn't face going back her because
I figured if I did, they'd come up with something
else and charge me another thousand.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Dollars another possibility. Matthew, I'm sorry you went through it.
I'm glad the car's working out now. Please please please
take it easy, and you know we'll see again the
next time I'm running. Ady and the car Doctor, we're
back right after this.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Run.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Keep you right.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That, Ken, Martin Bend. I'll tell you they get better
every week. I spoke to them. I spoke to the
leader this week, and they're working on some other music.
So we have a let to look forward to. There.
Let's cover to Billy in Colorado. Billy, we've got a
new vehicle.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Hey, Ron here, Hey, so all my neighbors cars are running,
so I actually get to look at one of mine
for a change.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Okay, fun stuff.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
So it's a twenty sixteen gmc Acadia. Denali bought it
about six months ago from a reputable used car dealer
Change and one of the things they worked on under
the ninety day warranty was flaky behavior in the front doors,
particularly the passenger one loses the lock, mirror, and window
(19:16):
controls all at the same time. They replaced the the
switch control modules and both doors. They replaced the body
control module. They did not replace any of the wiring harnesses.
They didn't finish it under the ninety days because it
(19:37):
was still really intermittent at that time and I didn't
want them to make anything worse by throwing bad parts
at it. And also I kind of wanted to fix
up myself once it got solid. Well, now it's kind
of solid, and so what I'm getting is a D
three to five.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Okay, So realize what you've got there is You've got
a giant computer network. You real is that you know,
this isn't this and for everyone else's benefit, this isn't
you know, This isn't a bunch of switches and modules.
This is modules and motors, and it's it's a computer network.
It really is. You know. Does it set that B
(20:17):
thirty two oh five all by itself?
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Mostly?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yeah? Occasionally it gets a B fifteen eighty and fifteen
ninety for the driver window sorry driver mirror position sensors.
But I don't have any problems with that mirror. Occasionally
the driver's door lock stops working.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Okay, one bulletin. You may want to go get your
hands on to read because the thirty the thirty nine
oh two, I'm sorry, the thirty two oh five can
also become a thirty nine oh two. And there's a
bulletin in there that talks about if the modules were swapped,
where they swapped correctly. Do you know did they put
a new BCM in it? Did they program it? Was
(20:57):
it a used b CM where they source the b
CM from.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
I'm pretty sure it was new.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Okay, get your hands on that bolt in uh or
it's preliminary information forty six seventy and it'll it'll talk
about swapping modules around to making sure that they're programmed
because something strikes me, we had this module, let's put
it in. That's usually where I see that because gms
(21:23):
have you know, global modules, and they're specific to the vehicle.
That being said, all right, once you get past that,
go look at a wiring diagram. Go look at the
two grounds for the driver's door and the power passenger
door the one ground. Both grounds are at the bottom
of the B pillars. Cars show any sign of water
(21:44):
intrusion or rust moisture, but.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I think I haven't pulled up the carpet to look.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Okay, you know G three oh two is passenger side
and G three oh three is driver's side, and they're
at the bottom of the b pillar all right, Typically
the place where you know salt and snow and rust
and crud runs off from the boots and it collects
over time. So it just just not knowing history. I
(22:10):
just want to make sure I've got grounds, because the
rest of it's pretty straightforward. You've got to you've got
two red whites going into the passenger that's hot. You've
got the ground we talked about. You've got a computer
data line, and you've got dark blue and a brown
that powers up the motor. Now, when this doesn't work,
have you caught this in a non functioning mode yet?
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Oh yeah, it's basically almost it's like it's down the.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Time, okay, so you know, oh and the side.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Note it's it's down today, but it actually the windows
started working suddenly when I hit a bump.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Right, So we've got a we've got a connection issue somewhere,
is what I'm is what I'm thinking. In the in
the passenger door switch side, not so much the driver's side.
The passenger door switch side, there were problems with the
I believe there's a hand white. I'm trying to remember,
but there's a there's a problem with one of the
wires common where the connectors got corroded again. It was
(23:09):
a moisture problem that led to that. And the inside
the door, inside the door at the at the at
the passenger door switch module. I keep calling it a switch,
but it's not. It's it's it's actually a computer module.
It's it's it's way more complicated.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
The other question I've got is if you're catching it
in the act and you know it's dead. Whatever it
is that's working doesn't work, then how does it report
on the module? Can you still talk to that module? Right?
If you can talk to the module?
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Right?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
If you can talk to the module, but you can't
control anything that tells us the modules up. But there's
a problem in the wiring after it leaves the module
to get to that component. If you if you get
what I'm saying, you know, hey, we can we can
talk to the passenger door switch because it's there, but
it's output control on the data line going over to
the BCM aren't clear because that's how it's communicating to
(24:05):
the b CM, and the BCM is doing all the
heavy lifting, right, And.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I should have a good answer that question. But every
time it realizes I'm looking at it, it starts working.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, there's that. There's that intermittent thing again, Billy. But
those those are the things I would go attack and
take a look at. All right, and then we can
talk again next week.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
All right, cool, thanks a lot. I will check this out,
all right, Kittle, you'd be well email you for some
of those.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, I can send them over to you.
Not a prom So have a good Thanksgiving. You're welcome, sir,
You're welcome. Yeah. Billy, he gets himself into things. God
bless him. He's always trying.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I wanted to go back to Matthew before about the breaks.
You know what he was proving there is and I
said this for years. Right, we're talking about relationships and
order repair and stuff. A repair shop, I don't care
what the name is on the door. A repair shop
is only a as good as the people inside of it,
the guys that are inside those uniforms that are doing
(25:04):
the job and getting it done. So I've said it.
It's it's a little crude, but you know, having a
great name to hang over your over your shop, a
well known national name, whatever it might be, whatever brand
it might be. Hey, you know what, you just had
enough money to go buy the franchise, or you just
you went out drinking with the guy who was handing
out franchises the night before and he decided you were drinking, buddy,
(25:26):
and they were going to give you the Give you
the gig doesn't mean you're good. It's being good in
order repair means you're trying every day and there are
no slack days, there are no off days. So just
pointing contention, I would go back, Matthew, if you're still listening,
and say, hey, you didn't fix my problem. Why am
I paying eleven hundred dollars? So, you know, just a
(25:47):
just a disappointment. Hey five five, five, six, nine nine
zero zero running any of the car doctor. We are
back right after this. Kudos there was Santa there, Tom
(26:18):
that that was really great to hear his voice. I
haven't heard any while.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
You know.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
You know I should point that you're not the only
one who can talk to him. Well, but he likes me.
I'm not on the naughty list like you, and I
get that, but I'm a guy. Yeah, I get to
go see him. So but that's a whole nother story.
By the way, Tom, I'm putting in for I need
off for Christmas. I have to go north to see Santa.
I just want to wake him up. Well.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Good, at least you're telling me ahead of time this time,
so you know, Santa and the Elvis don't kidnap you
out of the studio like they did last year.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I understand that. So yeah, but the magic snow they
left behind was good, really good chocolate chip cookies. Let's
go to don and Tennessee before we go any further
and see what's going on here? Donald? How can I
help you in your thirteen escapes? Welcome to the car, doctor,
Don Don going back.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
There is I'm here this, sir, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
That's all right, bro, it happens. So what's going on?
How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (27:15):
I've got a twenty thirteen FOURD escape and it made
a popping noise when it got to zero weather about
three years ago. It's hard to imagine now, but it
took me about two months to develop confidence in the car.
Everything work fine after that, even the manual shift work fine.
(27:40):
But I just wanted to know if I had any
long term effects about it.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
You've been driving the car three years since it happened.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Yes, I have, and it homes a little bit, but
it makes it. I may have always done that noise.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Is the hump from the front of the car or
the back of.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
The car, I don't know. It seems like it's inside.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
How many miles do you think you've gone in the
three years since it made the noise?
Speaker 5 (28:09):
It's got about twenty thousand. It's got one hundred and
three thousand on it all together, right.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
I think whatever it was that popped or made noise
was a consequence of something else. I don't think it
was something inside the trans It was something in the road.
There's nothing in the drive train. And I'm quite familiar
with those cars. We've had a bunch of them in
the family. Yeah, it's a great car. One thing I
want to caution you on is have you ever changed
(28:35):
or looked at the fluid in the transfer case or
the rear differential?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
No? I haven't.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
You may want to. That rear differential holds a court
and the transfer case holds a pint, not a lot
of fluid, and they're both known to be failure items.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
And I don't wish I've got a good mechanning.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Let him do that, let him know, let him, let
him take a let him take a sample of fluid,
and possibly you know the the and frankly, I would
just change the fluid in both of them. The fluid
in the in the differential is a little tough to
get to. He's gonna need a real thin flat ratchet.
We've actually made a tool in the shop to get
the fill plug out, and we usually take that fluid
(29:21):
out and find that it's not at all, not at all, sir, No, sir,
not at all.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
I've got a six and it's it's very simple.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah, how could that be? Right, It's hard to believe
we've ever made cars like that, right, you know, it's
thee I get it. I look at I look at
some of my older Chevies, and I say, did we
ever really make these things in mass numbers? Or were
they always as complicated? And no, they you know, listen,
I still remember my father had a friend, Horace White,
(29:57):
big fella, and he he had an Austin Healey a sixty.
You're very welcome, sir, you'd be well. And he had
an old Austin Healey for everybody else that's still here.
I guess don how to go. And I remember as
a kid when he brought it by my father's rug
store and he bought it. Knew it must have been
(30:18):
like a sixty three or sixty four, And I remember
him opening up the hood and I looked inside as
a little kid. Now it must have been all seven
years old, right, the mechanical curiosity was born. And I
looked over the fender and I could see the ground.
I still remember seeing the ground because I looked at
him and I said, but, mister White, you know they
only sold you half the car. There's a big hole
(30:39):
here where he was sitting next to the engine, like
I could see that, I could see the grass that
the car was parked on. I don't understand. He goes, no, no, Ronnie.
I was Ronnie then, I'm not Ronnie now. And he said,
you know it's it's it's it's open air. That's the
way all cars are. I never noticed that before, but
I was a sixty three bug I sprite you could.
I'm sorry. In Austin here you would get away with that.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
So just.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
The memories of things gone, days gone by, So speaking
of day's gone by somebody who's asking me the other
day about carburetor cleaners and cleaning carburetors. As long as
we're talking about older vehicles. Berryman, our friends over at
Berryman have released their Berryman Chemdip carburetor and Parts cleaner.
It's it's known to be effective for cleaning carburetor parts
and throttle bodies. Its gum, varnish, fuel residue and other deposits,
(31:27):
and it's got a fast acting formula that in fifteen
to thirty minutes it'll help clean things without heat, aeration
or agitation. And it's safe for use with most plastic
and metal parts. So you know, we're always looking around
we want to rebuild carburetors on our older cars. Well,
Berryman's got the carburetor and parts cleaner, the keem Dip
as we used to call it. But Berryman's got the
(31:47):
stuff and you'll find more at Berryman Products dot com.
So just be aware of that. If you're getting ready
to restore your ride over the winter and rebuild the carburetor,
you want to get your hands on some Berryman Chemdip
A five five, five six nine zero zero run and
eighty of the Car Doctor. We're back right after this.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Ay.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
This one is from my buddy Dodge down in Delaware, Iran.
It seems to me many shops have opted for torque
sticks in lieu of a torque wrench. I've been considering
going with torque sticks, but I read in a few
articles always verified torquets with the cork wrench in that case,
that what would be the point of the torque stick,
and we're tools. I thought i'd ask for the car
doctor's perspective. Well, I'll tell you what Dodge I use both.
(32:40):
I like torque sticks. They're quick, they're fast in the shop,
all right. It gives us a base point to work from.
So for everybody that may not be familiar, a torque
stick is a calibrated socket in a sense, and they're
rated for different tightening, different different amount of fastening strength. So,
for example, most d vehicles cars not trucks, would be
(33:03):
one hundred foot pounds of torque, so it's designed to
have a twisting action that will apply approximately one hundred
foot pounds of torque. The thing I don't like about
torque sticks is I was always taught and back in
the day when they first came out, that they counted
on the boom boom boom boom boom of an air
impact gun. But in the last ten maybe fifteen years,
(33:26):
the industry has gone to electric impact guns, cordless stuff right,
no air hoses. So I've always questioned how accurate are
the torqu sticks. Doesn't matter, We've been using them with
our cordless stuff. They work well. But every time we
do it, we still do a We still do a
torque wrench. So the torque sticks at one hundred, we'll
get a torque wrench. It takes two minutes. We walk
(33:47):
around the car boom boom boom, boom boom. We know
it's tight. We know we didn't forget. The thing I
like about doing it that way from a personal point
of view, is it gives me peace of minds as
a shop owner. And does a mechanic working on the
car forget the tighten the wheel because that is a
mechanic's biggest nightmare, a wheel coming off at speed. Let
me tell you there's probably not much worse that shop
(34:11):
owners and mechanics lose sleep over at night, you know,
worrying that they didn't get distracted and they did everything.
As far as are they accurate, yeah, I find that
to be fairly accurate. I gone back and tried to
replace them over and over again. And I'm told by
both of the torque wrench manufacturers that we have the
tools for They say, no, stuff's calibrated for life. It
(34:33):
never changes, it never goes out of calibration. And I've
got to say using the torque wrench always verifies. We
set it to one hundred, it clicks right away. We
know that that stick is accurate and the tire is
good to go. I'm ronning Andy in the car, doctor,
time for me to go. Good Mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless, see.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
You, doctor.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Car Advice to ride
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):
five six zero ninety nine hundred, your direct line to
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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):
Can we talk about ORTO repair your relationship with your
mechanic if you have one, and if you don't, boy,
that's a that's a glare hole. As far as I'm concerned.
You know, life is funny, right, and I think you
have to look at this as a bigger picture because
we have to learn to look at the bigger picture.
People are only concerned about things when it affects them directly.
(01:15):
I don't know how many of us look down the road.
I run to people all week long that just they're
only looking at what's two inches in front of their nose.
They don't look beyond that. They don't look a foot
down the road to see what's coming next. And I'm wondering,
you know, is that a reflection of how they approach life?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Can you see where they are or what's going on
in their lives based on how they take care of
their cars. I know it's a weird analogy, but it's
just it's how I think. Listen, it's what I observe. Observational,
you know, intelligence, I call it. At a customer walk in, Well,
he's not a customer yet, he's a consumer, right, what's
the rule. He's not a customer until he actually lets
(01:55):
you fix something and hands your money up. Until that time,
he's a consumer because he's not sure what he wants
to be. He's taking up time and he's not really
sure what he's looking for. And I actually told this
one gentleman. I said, you're a mechanic's worst nightmare, and
I didn't say it rudely, I said, but you're a
mechanic's worst nightmare because you're trying to get your car fixed.
The guy that you go to that you tell me
you trust, told you what it is, but you don't
(02:18):
want to listen to him, and you don't want to
do what he told you because you don't want to
spend six hundred dollars on tires. So now you're going
to go around and find another shop to give you
a different answer, in the hope that it's a different result.
I've never met this gentleman. I still don't know his name.
He gave it, but frankly I didn't remember it because
I was so flustered and floored by the whole approach.
(02:41):
Do you work on older cars?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yes? I do.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
What's older? I have an five Toyota. Well that's not older, dude,
that's just you know, an older is a sixty eight Camaro.
You know an O five Corolla is you know it's
still it's still a good running vehicle. It's still well
to me, it is, it's still fairly fresh. I know
it's twenty years old, but I've got this vibration, whining, humming,
(03:08):
noise driving down the road. Okay, And I always ask
the question, you know, why did you pick me? Well,
I always go buy the shop. The shop looks neat
and clean. I've heard great things about you, and I
wanted to give you a try. And I love it
when they say I wanted to give you a try.
I almost feel like I'm on. The price is right
and I get to come on down. And you know,
as long as I get within three dollars and ninety
(03:28):
eight cents of what they're looking for, I get the job. Hey,
what a bargain boy. That's great. So I always ask
the same questions. I swear you come to the shop,
you're going to get the same. And I'm not being crabby,
I'm just being real. I want to know who's been
working on the car up to this point, so and
so over at such and such. Okay, I know the shop.
(03:49):
He's competent, he's capable. Not the friendliest guy in the world,
but he's capable. He said it was tires, all right, Well,
why isn't he doing tires? Well, he doesn't do tires,
of course. That kind of made my eyes roll around
in my head. How can a repair shop today not
replace tires. But that's just I mean, that's a big
part of anybody's income based these days because of well,
(04:11):
that's a different conversation. So I said, so, what is
it you're trying to do. Well, I'm trying to, you know,
get it diagnosed. Can you come out and take a
look at it. Listen, we don't go outside look at much,
all right. We might look at it if it was
a customer, not a consumer, and we knew the car,
and we weren't going to waste time because at three
dollars a minute, that look outside adds up quickly, right,
because we've established that right, repair shops should charge by
(04:33):
the minute, not by the hour in terms of labor.
See car Doctor dated July. Yeah, you get it. We've
talked about this before. So I told him, I said, look,
I said, if it's tires and it doesn't solve the problem,
and he tells you tires will fix it, then you've
got a you know, a reason to go back and
(04:53):
question him. I said, but understand also it could be
tires and a wheelbaring, because that's his other concern. Is
it a wheelbrain? I don't know. I've got to look
at it. It's an hour of shop time to really
get involved in something, we've got to go out to
the highway. We've got to put it up in the air.
We're gonna listen to it. We're gonna take some time.
We're gonna stand at the counter and talk to you
even more detail in what we're doing right now. And
(05:14):
then we're gonna take some time and we're gonna come
up with a reason and a conclusion why the car
does what it does. But there's no guarantee that it's
only tires or only a wheel bearing, or either of
those tour or not both of those two. It's twenty
years old. We've never seen the vehicle show me all
the service, and for that matter, show me the service
done by the guy that you trust, that you think
(05:34):
is a good mechanic. And that's why he've been going
to them all these years. But now, all of a sudden,
for some reason, you don't trust them. I where can
I get a good cheeseburger? Well, you can go down
there to that place. They serve a really good cheeseburger,
But I don't eat there anymore. Why not? Well, I'm
not really sure if it's as good as I remember it,
So I'm trying to find someplace else. This maybe a
little bit cheaper, because I don't like spending that kind
of money on a cheeseburger. It's sort of like a
(05:57):
it's sort of like a bad automotive, you know, example
of who's on first. It just doesn't jive. He left.
He called me about a half hour later. When could
I look at the car? And again, I said, and
if I tell you it's tires, are you going to
let me put tires on it?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Well?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I don't know. Well, I said, if I tell you
it's tires, and that's the first step, and then I
have to go to step two for whatever step two
might be. Are you going to be okay with that?
I don't know. I said, Listen, I'm happy to take
your money, but it's not going to provide any kind
of positive conclusion. And I don't think you're going to
be thrilled, because I think I'm just going to get
(06:37):
added to the list of guys that while I let
so and so look at it, but that guy had
to pay and I'm not happy about it. So I'm
going to pass until you decide what it is you
want to do. When you get it clear in your
head order repairs about the relationship, not about taking money.
It's about earning money, it's about getting paid, but it's
(06:58):
about trying to come to positive conclusion and help people
because that's what we're here for. That's what a mechanic
is supposed to do. You've got to learn if you don't,
and I apologize if you do, because I'm not talking
just about you. I'm talking to everybody. You've got to
learn to value your relationships in life, and you do.
(07:21):
I've got a fireplace company, not a fireplace, firewood, right,
great company. I can call them up and so you know, hey, greater,
I need you know, a cord, Yeah, no problem, wrong,
I'll drop it off and they're great. And the wood's
always good and it's stack nice, and you know, it's
it's it's no different than the relationship I have with
my with my barber and the guy at the liquor
(07:44):
store where I buy my holiday wines, and you know,
it's about relationships. I don't necessarily look at price. I
like to know maybe ahead of time certain things, But
you know, a couple of dollars either way, I don't
care because they're meeting my need and they're really liable,
and they're honest, and they're ethical and all the things
that I look for in relationships, they're there. But a
(08:08):
lot of you don't do that with mechanics, and I
don't understand that. You think you think most of this
industry is a bunch of pirates with scabbards and one
eye patches and they're wearing bandanas around their head and
they're sailing on the on the Jolly Roger. I think
there's more incompetence than dishonesty in order to repair. But
I think there's a lot of good people in this
(08:28):
industry and you've got to give him a chance. You've
got to listen to them. If you don't, you're gonna
miss the relationships. And that's that's important. Scott came in yesterday.
I haven't seen Scott in I think it was before COVID,
so that's six years, right, And I kind of didn't
(08:52):
recognize him at first. You know, I have a battery?
Could you put a battery in my jeep? It was Friday.
I felt bad for him. You know, normally I don't
get involved in customer parts, but something about it said, yeah,
let's just put a battery in and help this guy,
because you know, we'll just you know, our good deed.
And I started talking to him, I realized who it was,
and he's not in the system anymore, because he said, yeah,
(09:13):
you have all my numbers and if I just call
me when it's done. And I looked it up and
I said, gee, Scott, it's not here anymore. And he said, well,
how can that be? And I said, well, the computer
takes you out of the system if you're in longer
than if you're if you don't return in five years,
it just automatically deletes your file because you know, it
just takes up space. And he went, wow, it's been
(09:34):
five years, kind of to the tune of how could
it be five years? You're the only mechanic I trust. Yeah,
but but where have you been?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Well?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I keep buying new cars and the dealer keeps doing
the oil changes and doing all my service under warranty,
and you know, this is the first thing I've ever
needed that's out of warranty. Well, what year is this
car to? Twenty twenty two? And I said, how can
a twenty two Jeep that's two and a half years
old with eighteen thousand miles on it how could it
a need a battery and be if it does need
(10:03):
a battery, how is the battery not under warranty? Well
it might be, but the dealership can't get me in
for ten days. I can't. They can't look at the
Carndal December fourth. You know, I got to tell you,
all right, like any business and for all my independent
business people out there, you guys are aware of this, right,
(10:23):
You've always got room for that one more. You've always
got room for that better customer, that good customer, that
person that might be in trouble. Right, maybe the guy
with the Toyota Corolla. Maybe if his approach was a
little bit different, maybe if he just said, yeah, I
just want to get it fixed, so you're not wasting time.
You know, I said, Scott, you got to go back
and yell at somebody. I said, is this the first time?
(10:46):
He said, no, Ron, he says, I've bought. He said,
I counted the other day, I've bought something like twenty
some odd vehicles over the past twenty five years, between
me and myself and my family. He's got a big family,
you know. The kids are always driving Jeeps and christ
Or products. And I said, so you're a guy that's
bought i'll call it, eighteen to twenty vehicles in a
thirty year time span, and they can't they can't find
(11:07):
a technician to give you a half hour to put
a battery in a car that. I said, Does that
seem right too? He said no. I proceeded to tell
him the story about my father, or my father told
my mother about and I won't use the word here,
but you know, he talked about how he was going
to go relay the carpet that he installed five years prior.
(11:28):
And Mom said why And dad said, because you only
get one chance to annoy a customer and make them
an old customer. And I told him that story, and
I said, you know what' Scott, I said, you're in
the vergion of becoming an old customer of that dealership
because they don't value the relationship they have with you.
And he looked at me and he said, you know,
I never thought of it like that. I said, but yeah,
that's what it's about. Water repair isn't about fixing the car.
I mean, yeah, that's it is, But it's about the relationship.
(11:51):
It's business to business, main Street, Wall Street. It doesn't
matter It's about solving the problem that you're presenting to
them and doing it in a timely man. I want
you to think about this real hard going forward, all
of you. It's about the relationship. It's what you and
I experience each weekend when I'm here with you. It's
about what you experience each time you walk into your mechanic,
(12:12):
your doctor, your dentist, your lawyer, all of it. It's
about the relationship. The product that just helps you maintain that.
Eight five five five six nine nine zero zero. Fired
up and ready to go. I'm running Ay and the
car doctor. I'll be back right after this. Hey, let's
(12:40):
fire up the phones. Eight five five six zero nine
nine zero zero. As Tom just said, let's go to
Matthew and Michigan twelve, Chevy and Palla. What's going on? Matthew.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I was leaning my break and I don't know how
I got a air in it, Okay, So I took
it down to the good Year dealer down here where
I've been going for years. I think he's a smarter
service man. He told me. He called me the next
told me to come and get the car because they
put a master cylinder on it and they still didn't
have brakes. So I called about five different Shivy dealers
(13:13):
and I read in the Hanes that you have to
do a keck one brake scan, which I never heard of.
They said, oh, two hundred and nine dollars. So I
had a record to it to this Shivy dealer, one
of the biggest ones here. They had the car for
seven days, charged me one thousand and seventy two dollars
and put a new Master cylinder on it. And those
(13:33):
two brake lines that are oval and up over them,
he bent them down in there, wedged against each other
and one is even rubbing on the engine, which I
think is poor. But I said to him, what did
you put a Master or soa My Master's cylinder worked great.
So I took the car. I got just about home
(13:55):
and the ABS light come on, so I pulled over
the side of the road, shut it off, started it.
It was out. The next morning, I'm going up to
ell of about fifty miles. I started the car. It
was like a Christmas tree stable link. Aybe every light
on that dash come on right? And what I'm asking you,
(14:16):
wasn't it the text responsibility to reset the computer or
take those codes out of there.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yes, but I think there's an additional problem. All right,
But here's here, here's what probably happened that I'm going
to take. I'm going to take a little bit of
a guess here, and we know how dangerous that is.
So first of all, they put that Master on probably
because they recognized your part as a new aftermarket part
and they didn't want to trust the brand. And I
(14:43):
get it, all right, you know, I understand that they
should have asked permission first, and they should have said, hey,
you know, Matthew, we you know, we don't recognize this
brand as something we normally use whatever we'd.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Like to, and we interrupted. Good. He took the Master
cylinder back off and put my Master cylinder back on.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Oh okay, okay, okay. Did they ask you that? Did
they tell you they were going to change the Master?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
No? No?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
All right, So you know what what sort of what
sort of authority did you allow them? I mean, you
signed a repair estimate just out of curiosity?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
No? No, I called and I called him and I asked
for the serviceman on journey said, well, why would you
want to bleed your breaks? I said, well, I've been
bleeding breaks I'm ninety now. I've been blaiding breaks all
my life because there's a chemical that absorbs moisture and
everything else. Then it lowers the boiling pain and it's
unsafe to have break through.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It absolutely spotted.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
He said, well, for two hundred and nine dollars they
would take care of it. And anyway, my two hundred
and nine dollars break Scantaign comes to a one thousand
and seventy two dollars.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Eleven hundred, let's call it what it is, eleven hundred dollars.
And the car is still not fixed.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
No, no, I have the I have the cock. Oh.
When I went to ELM, I went to an independent
grids that've been going to for twenty three years. Right,
he come out with this. I never seen one like this,
a big scan tool and he plugged it in and
he started doing things and he says, here watch this.
He clipped it. He said, that's your Tech one brake scan.
(16:20):
But I said, you didn't go around and bleed the brakes.
But he didn't say anything since he'd done that. I
don't have any light sign on the dash.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Right, and the pedal's good. Yes, yeah, yeah, So so
the tech at the Chevy dealership missed something, got a
call it like it is right?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
The whole idea of what that tech one scan does
is there is air in the ABS controller, all right,
And going back to when you bled the brake, somehow
you induced air into the system and it got lodged
in the ABS controller and it needed an ABS bleed
in order to be dislodged. It doesn't happen every time,
it doesn't happen all the time, but it happens, and
(16:59):
that's procedure that you have to go through.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Did you call the Chevy dealer back and say, hey,
I had a problem and I had to take it
somewhere else and get it resolved. Did they did they
offer you anything?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Let me tell you something. I was so I'm mighty.
I was so stressed out. I thought I was going
to have a heart attack or maybe my heart went
back into a FM. So I called my heart doctor
and they said he retired and take three days. So
I went to my That's why I went to Alman
by the I went to my doctor in Alman They'd
(17:31):
give me ekg and everything and said I was okay,
but I just I couldn't face going back her because
I figured if I did, they'd come up with something
else and charge me another thousand.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Dollars another possibility. Matthew, I'm sorry you went through it.
I'm glad the car's working out now. Please please please
take it easy, and you know we'll see again the
next time I'm running. Ady and the car Doctor, we're
back right after this.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Run.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Keep you right.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That, Ken, Martin Bend. I'll tell you they get better
every week. I spoke to them. I spoke to the
leader this week, and they're working on some other music.
So we have a let to look forward to. There.
Let's cover to Billy in Colorado. Billy, we've got a
new vehicle.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Hey, Ron here, Hey, so all my neighbors cars are running,
so I actually get to look at one of mine
for a change.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Okay, fun stuff.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
So it's a twenty sixteen gmc Acadia. Denali bought it
about six months ago from a reputable used car dealer
Change and one of the things they worked on under
the ninety day warranty was flaky behavior in the front doors,
particularly the passenger one loses the lock, mirror, and window
(19:16):
controls all at the same time. They replaced the the
switch control modules and both doors. They replaced the body
control module. They did not replace any of the wiring harnesses.
They didn't finish it under the ninety days because it
(19:37):
was still really intermittent at that time and I didn't
want them to make anything worse by throwing bad parts
at it. And also I kind of wanted to fix
up myself once it got solid. Well, now it's kind
of solid, and so what I'm getting is a D
three to five.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Okay, So realize what you've got there is You've got
a giant computer network. You real is that you know,
this isn't this and for everyone else's benefit, this isn't
you know, This isn't a bunch of switches and modules.
This is modules and motors, and it's it's a computer network.
It really is. You know. Does it set that B
(20:17):
thirty two oh five all by itself?
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Mostly?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yeah? Occasionally it gets a B fifteen eighty and fifteen
ninety for the driver window sorry driver mirror position sensors.
But I don't have any problems with that mirror. Occasionally
the driver's door lock stops working.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Okay, one bulletin. You may want to go get your
hands on to read because the thirty the thirty nine
oh two, I'm sorry, the thirty two oh five can
also become a thirty nine oh two. And there's a
bulletin in there that talks about if the modules were swapped,
where they swapped correctly. Do you know did they put
a new BCM in it? Did they program it? Was
(20:57):
it a used b CM where they source the b
CM from.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
I'm pretty sure it was new.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Okay, get your hands on that bolt in uh or
it's preliminary information forty six seventy and it'll it'll talk
about swapping modules around to making sure that they're programmed
because something strikes me, we had this module, let's put
it in. That's usually where I see that because gms
(21:23):
have you know, global modules, and they're specific to the vehicle.
That being said, all right, once you get past that,
go look at a wiring diagram. Go look at the
two grounds for the driver's door and the power passenger
door the one ground. Both grounds are at the bottom
of the B pillars. Cars show any sign of water
(21:44):
intrusion or rust moisture, but.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I think I haven't pulled up the carpet to look.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Okay, you know G three oh two is passenger side
and G three oh three is driver's side, and they're
at the bottom of the b pillar all right, Typically
the place where you know salt and snow and rust
and crud runs off from the boots and it collects
over time. So it just just not knowing history. I
(22:10):
just want to make sure I've got grounds, because the
rest of it's pretty straightforward. You've got to you've got
two red whites going into the passenger that's hot. You've
got the ground we talked about. You've got a computer
data line, and you've got dark blue and a brown
that powers up the motor. Now, when this doesn't work,
have you caught this in a non functioning mode yet?
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Oh yeah, it's basically almost it's like it's down the.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Time, okay, so you know, oh and the side.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Note it's it's down today, but it actually the windows
started working suddenly when I hit a bump.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Right, So we've got a we've got a connection issue somewhere,
is what I'm is what I'm thinking. In the in
the passenger door switch side, not so much the driver's side.
The passenger door switch side, there were problems with the
I believe there's a hand white. I'm trying to remember,
but there's a there's a problem with one of the
wires common where the connectors got corroded again. It was
(23:09):
a moisture problem that led to that. And the inside
the door, inside the door at the at the at
the passenger door switch module. I keep calling it a switch,
but it's not. It's it's it's actually a computer module.
It's it's it's way more complicated.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
The other question I've got is if you're catching it
in the act and you know it's dead. Whatever it
is that's working doesn't work, then how does it report
on the module? Can you still talk to that module? Right?
If you can talk to the module?
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Right?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
If you can talk to the module, but you can't
control anything that tells us the modules up. But there's
a problem in the wiring after it leaves the module
to get to that component. If you if you get
what I'm saying, you know, hey, we can we can
talk to the passenger door switch because it's there, but
it's output control on the data line going over to
the BCM aren't clear because that's how it's communicating to
(24:05):
the b CM, and the BCM is doing all the
heavy lifting, right, And.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I should have a good answer that question. But every
time it realizes I'm looking at it, it starts working.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yeah, there's that. There's that intermittent thing again, Billy. But
those those are the things I would go attack and
take a look at. All right, and then we can
talk again next week.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
All right, cool, thanks a lot. I will check this out,
all right, Kittle, you'd be well email you for some
of those.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, I can send them over to you.
Not a prom So have a good Thanksgiving. You're welcome, sir,
You're welcome. Yeah. Billy, he gets himself into things. God
bless him. He's always trying.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I wanted to go back to Matthew before about the breaks.
You know what he was proving there is and I
said this for years. Right, we're talking about relationships and
order repair and stuff. A repair shop, I don't care
what the name is on the door. A repair shop
is only a as good as the people inside of it,
the guys that are inside those uniforms that are doing
(25:04):
the job and getting it done. So I've said it.
It's it's a little crude, but you know, having a
great name to hang over your over your shop, a
well known national name, whatever it might be, whatever brand
it might be. Hey, you know what, you just had
enough money to go buy the franchise, or you just
you went out drinking with the guy who was handing
out franchises the night before and he decided you were drinking, buddy,
(25:26):
and they were going to give you the Give you
the gig doesn't mean you're good. It's being good in
order repair means you're trying every day and there are
no slack days, there are no off days. So just
pointing contention, I would go back, Matthew, if you're still listening,
and say, hey, you didn't fix my problem. Why am
I paying eleven hundred dollars? So, you know, just a
(25:47):
just a disappointment. Hey five five, five, six, nine nine
zero zero running any of the car doctor. We are
back right after this. Kudos there was Santa there, Tom
(26:18):
that that was really great to hear his voice. I
haven't heard any while.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
You know.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
You know I should point that you're not the only
one who can talk to him. Well, but he likes me.
I'm not on the naughty list like you, and I
get that, but I'm a guy. Yeah, I get to
go see him. So but that's a whole nother story.
By the way, Tom, I'm putting in for I need
off for Christmas. I have to go north to see Santa.
I just want to wake him up. Well.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Good, at least you're telling me ahead of time this time,
so you know, Santa and the Elvis don't kidnap you
out of the studio like they did last year.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I understand that. So yeah, but the magic snow they
left behind was good, really good chocolate chip cookies. Let's
go to don and Tennessee before we go any further
and see what's going on here? Donald? How can I
help you in your thirteen escapes? Welcome to the car, doctor,
Don Don going back.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
There is I'm here this, sir, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
That's all right, bro, it happens. So what's going on?
How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (27:15):
I've got a twenty thirteen FOURD escape and it made
a popping noise when it got to zero weather about
three years ago. It's hard to imagine now, but it
took me about two months to develop confidence in the car.
Everything work fine after that, even the manual shift work fine.
(27:40):
But I just wanted to know if I had any
long term effects about it.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
You've been driving the car three years since it happened.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
Yes, I have, and it homes a little bit, but
it makes it. I may have always done that noise.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Is the hump from the front of the car or
the back of.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
The car, I don't know. It seems like it's inside.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
How many miles do you think you've gone in the
three years since it made the noise?
Speaker 5 (28:09):
It's got about twenty thousand. It's got one hundred and
three thousand on it all together, right.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
I think whatever it was that popped or made noise
was a consequence of something else. I don't think it
was something inside the trans It was something in the road.
There's nothing in the drive train. And I'm quite familiar
with those cars. We've had a bunch of them in
the family. Yeah, it's a great car. One thing I
want to caution you on is have you ever changed
(28:35):
or looked at the fluid in the transfer case or
the rear differential?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
No? I haven't.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
You may want to. That rear differential holds a court
and the transfer case holds a pint, not a lot
of fluid, and they're both known to be failure items.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
And I don't wish I've got a good mechanning.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Let him do that, let him know, let him, let
him take a let him take a sample of fluid,
and possibly you know the the and frankly, I would
just change the fluid in both of them. The fluid
in the in the differential is a little tough to
get to. He's gonna need a real thin flat ratchet.
We've actually made a tool in the shop to get
the fill plug out, and we usually take that fluid
(29:21):
out and find that it's not at all, not at all, sir, No, sir,
not at all.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
I've got a six and it's it's very simple.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah, how could that be? Right, It's hard to believe
we've ever made cars like that, right, you know, it's
thee I get it. I look at I look at
some of my older Chevies, and I say, did we
ever really make these things in mass numbers? Or were
they always as complicated? And no, they you know, listen,
I still remember my father had a friend, Horace White,
(29:57):
big fella, and he he had an Austin Healey a sixty.
You're very welcome, sir, you'd be well. And he had
an old Austin Healey for everybody else that's still here.
I guess don how to go. And I remember as
a kid when he brought it by my father's rug
store and he bought it. Knew it must have been
(30:18):
like a sixty three or sixty four, And I remember
him opening up the hood and I looked inside as
a little kid. Now it must have been all seven
years old, right, the mechanical curiosity was born. And I
looked over the fender and I could see the ground.
I still remember seeing the ground because I looked at
him and I said, but, mister White, you know they
only sold you half the car. There's a big hole
(30:39):
here where he was sitting next to the engine, like
I could see that, I could see the grass that
the car was parked on. I don't understand. He goes, no, no, Ronnie.
I was Ronnie then, I'm not Ronnie now. And he said,
you know it's it's it's it's open air. That's the
way all cars are. I never noticed that before, but
I was a sixty three bug I sprite you could.
I'm sorry. In Austin here you would get away with that.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
So just.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
The memories of things gone, days gone by, So speaking
of day's gone by somebody who's asking me the other
day about carburetor cleaners and cleaning carburetors. As long as
we're talking about older vehicles. Berryman, our friends over at
Berryman have released their Berryman Chemdip carburetor and Parts cleaner.
It's it's known to be effective for cleaning carburetor parts
and throttle bodies. Its gum, varnish, fuel residue and other deposits,
(31:27):
and it's got a fast acting formula that in fifteen
to thirty minutes it'll help clean things without heat, aeration
or agitation. And it's safe for use with most plastic
and metal parts. So you know, we're always looking around
we want to rebuild carburetors on our older cars. Well,
Berryman's got the carburetor and parts cleaner, the keem Dip
as we used to call it. But Berryman's got the
(31:47):
stuff and you'll find more at Berryman Products dot com.
So just be aware of that. If you're getting ready
to restore your ride over the winter and rebuild the carburetor,
you want to get your hands on some Berryman Chemdip
A five five, five six nine zero zero run and
eighty of the Car Doctor. We're back right after this.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Ay.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
This one is from my buddy Dodge down in Delaware, Iran.
It seems to me many shops have opted for torque
sticks in lieu of a torque wrench. I've been considering
going with torque sticks, but I read in a few
articles always verified torquets with the cork wrench in that case,
that what would be the point of the torque stick,
and we're tools. I thought i'd ask for the car
doctor's perspective. Well, I'll tell you what Dodge I use both.
(32:40):
I like torque sticks. They're quick, they're fast in the shop,
all right. It gives us a base point to work from.
So for everybody that may not be familiar, a torque
stick is a calibrated socket in a sense, and they're
rated for different tightening, different different amount of fastening strength. So,
for example, most d vehicles cars not trucks, would be
(33:03):
one hundred foot pounds of torque, so it's designed to
have a twisting action that will apply approximately one hundred
foot pounds of torque. The thing I don't like about
torque sticks is I was always taught and back in
the day when they first came out, that they counted
on the boom boom boom boom boom of an air
impact gun. But in the last ten maybe fifteen years,
(33:26):
the industry has gone to electric impact guns, cordless stuff right,
no air hoses. So I've always questioned how accurate are
the torqu sticks. Doesn't matter, We've been using them with
our cordless stuff. They work well. But every time we
do it, we still do a We still do a
torque wrench. So the torque sticks at one hundred, we'll
get a torque wrench. It takes two minutes. We walk
(33:47):
around the car boom boom boom, boom boom. We know
it's tight. We know we didn't forget. The thing I
like about doing it that way from a personal point
of view, is it gives me peace of minds as
a shop owner. And does a mechanic working on the
car forget the tighten the wheel because that is a
mechanic's biggest nightmare, a wheel coming off at speed. Let
me tell you there's probably not much worse that shop
(34:11):
owners and mechanics lose sleep over at night, you know,
worrying that they didn't get distracted and they did everything.
As far as are they accurate, yeah, I find that
to be fairly accurate. I gone back and tried to
replace them over and over again. And I'm told by
both of the torque wrench manufacturers that we have the
tools for They say, no, stuff's calibrated for life. It
(34:33):
never changes, it never goes out of calibration. And I've
got to say using the torque wrench always verifies. We
set it to one hundred, it clicks right away. We
know that that stick is accurate and the tire is
good to go. I'm ronning Andy in the car, doctor,
time for me to go. Good Mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless, see.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
You, doctor.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Car Advice to ride
Host
Ron Ananian
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