December 6, 2025 • 35 mins
Lifetime Transmission Fluids, Cold Nissans & Beeping Volkswagens
This week on Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, Ron opens with a nod to The Sopranos and that famous Holsten’s ice cream shop before diving into the realities behind “lifetime” fluids and modern transmission service. A caller with a 2017 Ford Fusion asks about trans fluid intervals, and Ron lays out why waiting until 150,000 miles is a bad bet—and how to approach drain-and-fills vs. fluid exchanges without shocking an aging gearbox.
From there it’s a full diagnostic tour: a 2015 Nissan Rogue with no heat (airflow but no temperature), where Ron walks through heater-core flow checks, blend doors, and a cheap thermal gun/borescope game plan; a 2018 VW Tiguan plagued by an endless “keyless entry faulty” chime and a dealer pushing an $800 module, prompting a blunt discussion of broken door-jamb wiring and the “German car experience”; and a 2022 Kia Sportage owner trying to sort out backup lamp failures, recall history, and a key Kia bulletin that should keep the repair under warranty. Ron closes with a heartfelt thank-you to the listeners, a reflection on staying “relevant” after 30+ years on the air, and a quick reminder that the Car Doctor store at CardoctorShow.com is open for last-minute gifts.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally
recognized auto expert trusted by Mechanics, Weekend wrenchers and vehicle
owners Alife. Ron brings over forty years of hands on
experience and deep industry insight to help you understand your vehicle.
Join the Conversation live every Saturday from two to four
pm Eastern by calling eight five to five five six
zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five to five
(00:25):
five six zero ninety nine hundred, your direct line to
honest answers and practical advice. Looking for more, visit car
doctorshow 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
(00:47):
garage and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
You know, I'm not sure. I just every time I
hear that song, I think about Tony Soprano getting whack
in the in the in the ice cream parlor in Montclair,
New Jersey. Actually I think that's Montclair. I think it's Nutley.
But yeah, I don't know. I haven't listened to that
song in a long time, and I just think, poor Tony.
What not to be off subject here, but what a
(01:10):
crazy TV show? Right? We can actually take a ruthless
mobster and have everybody cheer for him and be depressed
when the guy ends up getting killed at the end
of the show. Oh wait, what if some of you
haven't seen the Sopranos. Whoops, I gave away the ending. Sorry.
In any event, thank you for stopping by today. I
just I tell you every time I hear that, that's
(01:30):
what I think of. So we've got a bunch of
things to go over and talk about today. I've got
an article about Automotive News talking about the six point
two liter GM engine failure and some of the other
things that are going on and what it takes to
replace those engines. We'll try and get to that. We've
got a bevy of phone calls, and let's get right
to the phones and get started at eight five five
five six oho nine to nine zero zero. Let's go
(01:51):
to Brian in the Great City of Philadelphia, twelve seventeen.
I'm sorry a seventeen Ford fusion, some questions about transfluid Brian,
come back, sir, how can I help you today?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Thank you ron real quick. The ice cream parlor was
holstoned in Bloomfield.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
That's right there, you go. I knew it's right on
the board, isn't it right on the border of Montclair.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Though, Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Montclair is like a minute away or something.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so but yeah, I actually went there.
It's kind of weird to sit in that booth. You know.
My I would go down there once in a while
to visit some people and oh, let's go to let's
let's go, we go and have ice cream. We'd sit
in that exact same booth. And you know, they've got
a little plaque there, you know, Tony Soprano was off
here or something like that, if you get exactly what
it says. But yeah, just a weird deal. So what's
(02:36):
going on today, my friend? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Well, here's the deal. I know, like we've you've talked
about this before. Unfortunately, the cars, a lot of the
cars today, the trans fluid they called you know, they
called to be changed in one hundred and fifty thousand,
which most people know is pretty you know, a pretty
long liinted time and as far as you know, minus sealed,
you can't check the fluid or anything like that. So
(03:01):
it wasn't done. My mechanics is always trying to talk
me out of it. It's like, no, no, wait till
one hundred and fifty. So I'm like, I'm saying to myself,
you know, I'd rather just, you know, get it done.
My biggest question is this is the trans service. Would
it be a drain and fill or would that be
a flush?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Good question, So, at the risk of repeating myself, let's
start at the beginning. I think certain transfluids do not
have to be changed. And I'm still debating it in
my head. Some of the Chrysler products, the jeeps with
the plastic transpan, it gets expensive, right. Some of the
jeep transpans, the filters, the fluids. I've seen them go
(03:43):
out the door of our shop. I've seen them and
go out the door of other shops. Seven to eight
hundred dollars to service a transmission. It seems exorbited. But
the fact is there's you know, eighteen twenty ball to
holding the pan up. It takes forever to get the
pan down. The fluid's not cheap. Eight nine speed transfer
fluid from Chrysler's a fortune. It's an expensive it's an
expensive repair, and you talk to Chrysler Tech Support and
(04:07):
they say there's no value in changing trans fluid because
it has no effect on the transmission. The transmission can
compensate for the varied viscosity. And what was the word
they used, tractionability. I thought that was a new word.
I looked it up at Websters. It's not there, but
I get what they're saying. They're saying as the fluid
wears out, the transcompensates for that, until the trans wears out,
(04:28):
and then you put a trans in the car for
seven grand. I still think changing that fluid at fifty
thousand miles on most of these vehicles, fifty to sixty
is probably the cheaper alternative. The question becomes, you know,
will it be cheaper? I still think at one hundred
and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand miles most carts
(04:51):
take a transmission, I just do. That seems to be
the number. I think. If I was driving your fusion
to get to get back to your exact question, I
would have changed the fluid at fifty and every fifty thereafter.
I think the one hundred and fifty thousand mile fluid service,
you know, I'm gonna get I'm gonna get a lot
of hate mail, and I'm gonna get a lot of
the you know, internet trolls that say, no, wrong, You're wrong.
(05:13):
But they're gonna tell me, Oh, Mike, trans has one
hundred and sixty eight thousand miles on it, I've never
serviced it. Yeah, great, you got the one. Uh you know,
show me, show me, show me the proportionate ratio of
how many of them go to that one hundred and
fifty thousand mile mark and beyond. You know, there's there's
more than one bulletin on certain model Lincoln mks and MX's,
(05:34):
and that trans translates into the fusion and the other
Ford models that are sys that are similar to it,
that are wiping out torque converters. Why because of trans fluid?
The trans fluid is breaking down? What does Ford have
you do? They have you put converters in, they have
you put fluid changes in? When do those failures occur?
One hundred thousand miles? So you know, where's the where's
(05:57):
one hundred and fifty thousand mile mark phenomenon?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Come from?
Speaker 6 (06:01):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Why I think marketing's involved? I think marketings involved Brian
you know, if that car puked the trans at one
hundred and thirty and it was six grand to replace
the trans, would you do it?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Absolutely not? I mean I would rather know change the fluid.
But what really It's interesting because my two thousand and
five Tauris call for the trans fluid to be drained
and filled every thirty thousand, in which I did. My
niece on Ultimate called for it. I think it's fifty
or sixty. But they always said, with that CBT you had,
there's no way around it. You must you know nis.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Absolutely how to do it. Absolutely that would fail. So
if we're talking about your fluid at one hundred and
nine thousand miles or whatever the heck you got on
it first time through it first time, first time through,
I'm going to do a drain and fill, all right,
because because I don't want to shock the system. All right.
If this was Hey, you know, the car's got forty
(06:57):
nine thousand miles on it ron, what do I do?
I tell you, let's do a fluid exchange, all right,
not a flush, a fluid exchange, all right. We use
Mala fluid equipment at the shop. We actually use their
fluid pro at X two eighty, which is one of
their newer trans fluid machines, works really well. And basically
(07:17):
what it is, it's sort of like the go between.
You hook one side up to the cooler, in the
other side to the and you and it processes fluid
through and back and adds and you're able to exchange fluid.
It's an exchange. It's a one for one exchange. If
there's a dipstick, we could do it through a dipstick,
but it's it's not pressure. Pressure denotes you know, I'm sorry.
(07:40):
A flush denotes pressure, and I don't like pressure used
when I'm talking about transmissions because that tends to stir
up sediment and crut and create issues internally in the
trans At one hundred and nine thousand, I'm gonna do
a fluid draining fill and then I'm gonna come back
in five or ten thousand miles and do it again.
(08:00):
And it's not that hard to do, Brian, It's not impossible.
It's it's not easy for you to do it yourselfer.
But for the mechanic, once he's got the car up
in the year, he's gonna open it up. It's either
going to be a fill port and checkport in the
front of the transmission over on the left side, or
it's gonna be behind the driver's side wheel. There's gonna
be a ten millimeters eleven millimeter plug that comes out
(08:22):
and you can check fluid level there and fluid color,
quantity condition, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So I didn't think you could check it at all.
I figured, yeah, now you can't.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, now you can't. Mechanics can. If you talk to manufacturers,
they'll tell you. The reason they went to the more
difficult way of checking trans fluid is because they didn't
want consumers to add incorrect fluid to the transmissions. I
think it's a marketing I think it's a marketing thing. Brother.
I think they all sat there and they said, we're
building them so good they're not going to break. So
(08:51):
this way, if we make it so nobody can service it,
they'll drive it till it blows up and then just
go buy another one.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
My four dealer would tell me that, yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Really believe it, because it doesn't make sense. It really doesn't.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I don't know how you have my two thousand and
five tarists call for thirty thousand. This culture one fifty.
I mean that's that's a I mean, that's a big difference, right.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
You know, when you start to look at what they're
doing general motors, for example, their ten speed transmission, they
put the they put the torque converter, which is the
fluid company between the engine and the transmission. They put
it into mechanical lock for everything. Turn the air conditioning on,
lock the converter, change gears, lock the converter, downshift, lock
the converter. Why you can read the bulletins they talk
(09:37):
about for enhanced customer performance and satisfaction. So in other words,
they work the trans to death. You know, everything you
do with the transmission creates what heat, what breaks down
fluid heat because of the trans to fail heat. So
guess what we're giving you enhanced customer satisfaction and performance
until the trans blows up? And then what do you get?
(09:59):
Heat from the customer? So he's evolved in a lot
of this. Right, It's just.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
It's a lifetime transfluid. But what's how do they define
a lifetime one hundred and fifty thousands the life of
your transmission. I mean it's it's a lifetime, but.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Right, it is lifetime if the trans fails at one
hundred and nine thousand miles. That was its lifetime, right, right,
So if you if you go buy a if you
go buy a craftsman tool from Sears, I'm dating myself
and you'll live to be sixty nine years old, that
was lifetime. If I live to be one hundred and two,
that was my lifetime. Everybody's got a different lifetime, right,
(10:33):
We've all got different expectations. Brother, mechanics, I always have.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
I always have to talk him into things. It's like
I don't want you have to spend too much money.
It's like I have to talk him in to certain things.
I don't know what it is. I mean, all the
by book game this is fine, but something like this,
I'll have to talk him into doing this.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
He may be you know, he may just be afraid
of the liability, because let's face it, there is some
liability here. This This vehicle's you know, seven eight years old,
that's got higher mileageh on it. He may be concerned
changing the fluid is going to cause the trans's demise.
But I bet you, I bet you a cheese steak
if and whenever you get the Philly that you're gonna
drain that fluid out, and it's going to be blacker
(11:11):
than coal. It just is red. It's not going to
be red. I see these I see these trans fluids
start to break down. Forty fifty thousand miles. So anyway,
I gotta run. Brian, always good to talk to you.
You'd be well and have a great holiday season. Down
Philadelphia Way eight five five five six o nine nine
zero zero. I am Ronn and Andie and the car doctor,
(11:32):
and I'll be back right after this. Oh we didn't
(11:55):
hear from Santa Claus that break you know. By the way, Tom,
I need, I need often. Two weeks you get to
tell you how I telt you that I have some
place to go. In two weeks, I won't be here,
but all kinds of special stuff in the sleigh this year.
No really well, but anyway, just to let you up.
So if I'm not here in two weeks, do the
best you can. Without me, America will suffer. But I'll
(12:18):
get all your toys here on time. Let's go to
Brad and Iowa fifteen Nissan rogue and some heat issues. Brad,
we got to fix this. It's too cold in Iowa
this time of year. Sure is, Yeah, tell me the story.
What's going on?
Speaker 6 (12:32):
Well, I've got a friend of mine that's got a
twenty fifteen Nissan Rogue and it's not blowing any hot
air throughout the vents. The events are working. They're blowing
like you put it down on the floorboard or that
to the upper levels. All that works.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
But just so position, position direction works. You can direct
the air where you want it. You just don't get
hot air absolutely. Okay. Does is this a split system?
Can you make the driver's side one temperature, in the
passenger side the other temperature?
Speaker 6 (13:12):
You know what? I'm not sure on that.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Okay, which, by the way, I think is a stupid
idea because let's face it, the air comes out of
the duct unless there's a plastic well between you and
the passenger. I don't never get what good that is.
But okay, let's just complicate things anyway. So any recent
engine work, cooling system work. We woke up one day
the heat was like this, or did somebody repair attempt,
et cetera. What's the history?
Speaker 6 (13:37):
Well, I do know the car was bought from an
auction So if that tells you anything, I.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Mean somebody else couldn't fix it either, So.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Yeah, I mean so that could.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Right, So let's do this all right? What experience do
you have working on cars? Bread?
Speaker 6 (13:58):
I am an autobody to mission. I've been doing bodywork
for about thirty years, and I just get kind of
a following. You know, people do this, do that.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So let's let's do this logically, all right. First question
I've got is what are the two heater hoses going
in and out of the heater core? Are they as
one side hot uncomfortable to the touch, and the other
side cooler? And then how much cooler is it? Do
you own a heat gun, by chance, a thermal A
(14:31):
thermal gun?
Speaker 6 (14:33):
You know I don't, and I've been always wanting to
pick one up, so I'm gonna have to.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Here's the reason. Here's the reason, brother. You know what,
And I got to tell you. I was down at
Harbor Freight a couple of a couple of well last weekend.
You look at some of that stuff from Harbor Freight
and you go, how bad could it be? I just wonder,
you know, go pick up a thermal gun and it's
just got a display temperature and I would look at temp. Right,
(14:57):
if the engine is coming up, the temp if the
upper radio hose when it's hot, is uncomfortable to the touch.
And for the sake of this conversation, I'm gonna plug in.
I need an OBD two scan tool. I'm sure you
own one of those, Yes, yep, Okay, go look at COOLANTEMP.
If the thermostat is supposed to open, we'll make up
some numbers. At one hundred and ninety five degrees and
(15:18):
it's running at one to ninety this time of year,
I'm happy with that. Driving down the road. It shouldn't
go much below that. I'd like to see it maintain
a minimum of one ninety five degrees off the mark,
cause it's cold out there, right, come back. Upper hose
is hot system circulating, it's full of coolant, there's no air.
All the usual caveats that you want to go and check, okay,
(15:40):
and then shoot the heater core is Does the heater
hose match the upper hose if the upper hose is
reading one hundred and seventy degrees, because there's always a
little bit of loss, that rubber hose tends to insulate
the heat, has always been my experience. But if I'm
one hundred and seventy at the upper hose, am I
one hundred and six D at the heater hose. If
(16:02):
I am what am I coming out? I'll typically see
a twenty five to thirty degree loss if the core
has good flow and is able to radiate off its heat.
What I don't want to see is I'm one hundred
and sixty in and a hundred degrees out. Something's wrong,
I'm restricted, right, I'm not getting enough flow? Okay, So
(16:27):
and in some cases I'll get one hundred and sixty
in and one hundred and fifty out. That's like a
real good core. It's not uncommon for these cores to
be restricted, Okay. They they tend to get scally and creddy,
especially as they age. And then we're going to go
through the You call me back if that's the case,
and we'll talk about the you know, Ron's method of
a white bucket, two hoses and a garden hose, and
(16:50):
we can backflush the core safely and correctly. All right,
then I want to know, you know, are the so
the distribution is working? But is the temp door working? Right?
Can the can the you know, when I move it
from hot to cold, does the actuator physically move? Does
(17:11):
the air door motor physically move. So while you're at
Harbor Freight, you're gonna love this. You get to go
buy yourself a borscope. If you don't an own one,
take the borscope. Go right down the center ducted. You
should be able to see the doors move. It's gonna
be right there. It's not that far down the pike
(17:31):
because either that or you're gonna shove your head under
the dashboard. And that's the big a pain in the neck.
Have you been doing Have you been doing bodywork for
thirty years year old like me? So it's it's it's
hard getting under the dashboard, right. So we want to
go look at the blend doors, or we want to
use the borscope to go look at the linkages of
the actuator doors, the air temp doors. Are they physically
moving all right? If they're not physically moving, then we've
(17:53):
got a broken door, broken linkage, broken case, something along
those lines. So go buy some tools. Basic common sense, brother, buddy,
guys are always real smart, So go do what you
gotta do. Call me back next week if you need more.
I'm running ady in the car doctor eight five five
five six nine nine zero zero. We'll return right after.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
This the street to the open tonight. If you're ready
needs out, brother, keep you all right? Yeah, he's a
(18:31):
car doctor cart right.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You know that's kind of got the Hulla Blue seven
to it, right, remember Hulla Baloo nineteen sixty seven. We
get a couple of dancers in the gilded cage, the
whole thing going on, and I'll be ready when you're ready.
You know. By the way, Tom, you didn't comment, I'm
not gonna let you, but see the beard I'm growing.
I'm gonna get that Arnold Schwarzenegger thing going. So this way,
the next time I'm on the radio show, I can
(19:02):
say I'll be back. You know, that'll be you'll change
the end of the No, okay, let me get to
the phones in the meantime. Here, let me go to
Dennis in New Jersey. Dennis, I hope you have a
sense of humor. Tom's not. Tom doesn't think I'm very
funny today. How you doing today, sir?
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Hey, I have a beard.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
I have no complaints.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, I'm starting. You know, it's that little I got
that little salt and pepper thing going on. It's a
you know, I'm gonna be that Arnold Schwartzenegger of radio.
So anyways, I have.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
A twenty eighteen Volkswagen Tigu one se getting an error
message keyless entreat faulty. I brought it to the dealer
a year ago and I couldn't even have an intelligent
conversation with them.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Scary, isn't it?
Speaker 7 (19:50):
Extremely? Extremely You know.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
This is how it's funny. At the end of the
previous hour, I was talking to Brian I think it
was Brian Wisconsin about the German car experience, and here
it is so uh, you know, this is what makes
these vehicles so complex. Have you ever written in the
Space Shuttle, Dennis, No, but I've seen right, I think
you're driving one. So just just let you know where
(20:15):
this conversation is going to go. But go ahead. I
don't mean to interrupt. Ahead, you keep going, Okay.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
All right?
Speaker 7 (20:21):
Now, I bring it to the dealer, I tell him
what the problem is. I show him what the problem is.
They take the car in, the guy comes out and
says it needs a module for eight.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
Okay, right.
Speaker 7 (20:35):
Then they turn around and tell it and I asked them,
is there any codes? There gotta be some kind of
It's got a message on the dash there's got to
be some kind of body code.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
A reasonable now, Dennis, you're being reasonable, A reasonable question.
Go ahead, all right?
Speaker 7 (20:53):
So I don't think the guy even trouble shot shot it.
The door on the pass send your side with the
key fob in my pocket and the door lock. I
can go open it. It works works normally. The driver's
side door doesn't. This indicates to me that is probably
a problem with the door lock, a loose wire or
(21:15):
something like that, not an eight hundred dollars module. I
don't have any faith that this guy can actually fix it.
And a direction.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Here's the problem, right, Volkswagen, and they're infinite wisdom of
We've got all the answers and where the best there
is limits what the aftermarket can do without a serious
investment by the shop and programming equipment. So it gets
a little tricky, all right, You are you are spot
on right. If you've got a keyless entry module, aero
(21:47):
fault on the dashboard, ninety eight percent sure, and I
can prove it. You're going to see some sort of
a fault code. The fault codes for this car are
way overdone. It's not OBD two stuff. It's manufacturer specific
it's like a B one twenty two D twenty nine
or a B one twenty two B thirteen. It's it's
(22:09):
language like we're launching missiles, all right, because this is
the German car experience. So needless to say, you didn't
get any of the work done, correct.
Speaker 7 (22:20):
No, the only problem is it's not something I need.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
Six.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
The only problem is that this car beats every twenty seconds.
It's beats, and the error message pops up, the error
marriage goes away nether twenty seconds and it's just annoying
and you can't turn it off.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Right, No, you can't because it's it sees a fault,
which you know, I think you have to go back
and ask them. So in your logic, you're telling me
a car that beeps every twenty seconds and displays error
messages on the dashboard has no fault code to give
you some kind of diagnostic direction, you know, and then
we can see what kind of geniuses they are. At
that point where I would be looking all kidding around
(23:00):
the side, is you know I see cases of broken
wiring in the door jams. It's like a it's like
a sixty three Chevy, except it's not right where the doorjam,
wiring gets broken, where the wires start to break and fray.
As complicated as they make it, it's still simple stupid
stuff half the time that causes the failure. Where did
(23:23):
he Where did he come up with a module error? Well,
because he's probably looking at it on a scan tool.
I would hope he's looking at it on a scan
tool and he can't communicate with the driver's door module.
You know why the wires are broken? You know, I
mean it would be logical to me. I just you know,
it's yeah, I just you know, it's modules don't fail.
(23:43):
I mean they fail, But good good lord, You've got
to go through some basics, power ground, serial data? What
can I talk to? What can I talk to? And
I think your question to them is will this eight
hundred dollars module fix my problem? And and you know
that's language in any case, right Dennis, you and I
(24:04):
have talked over the years. It's a it's a matter
of you know, it's it's it's will this fix my problem? Well,
if they give you the two bitch shuffle and they
step from foot to foot, you know, and we're looking
at the ground, you know, maybe we're not you know,
maybe we're guessing here, you know, and that's what we've
got to go look at. So I think I think
(24:24):
a code scan is more than reasonable. Heck, on a Volkswagon,
we code scan on oil changes just because we don't
know what we're gonna find. You know, they're just again,
it's the Space Shuttle, brother, It's it's not a simple vehicle.
So I think if you want to get it fixed,
it's gonna be a code scan. Will this fix my problem?
(24:45):
Can you do the programming because the dealership's got to
program it. And what's the total cost gonna be? Did
you own the car since new?
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Okay, so no accidents right, the car has never hit,
No body work ever done to that driver? Yeah? Okay.
You know, you know I would start to think about,
like I said, connectors and you know, I driver's door wiring,
harness problems, and that's that's typical. That's more common than modules.
I'll say it like that.
Speaker 7 (25:13):
Do you think a body shop would be more able
to fix this than the dealer?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
No? I think a shop that is going to have
programming capability. And that's the trick. And I know where
you are in New Jersey, I don't know anybody that's
that in depth on Volkswagen other than the dealer, because
of the costs involved in the programming nature of the
of that particular repair. And I think if somebody tells
you they can do it, I'd want to see their
equipment and know that they can do it, because this
(25:41):
is this is like going to Cedar Sinai for for
open heart surgery. You want to make sure they can
complete the operation, not get halfway through and go oops,
which is a bad thing to hear from a mechanic
or a doctor. You know, Whops means a lot of
different things.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
So all right, sir, well, okay, thanks Ron, welcome to us.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Good luck and enjoy your German car. I'm sorry to say,
I'm not going to say what v W means. Tom's
dying to hear me say v W means virtually worthless,
but I'm not going to say it, not here on
radio eight five five five six nine nine zero zero.
The car Doctor's coming back right after this. Well, and
(26:30):
here we go once again. Let's uh okay, I'm done, Okay,
thank you, Let's go to uh Seanan Vermont Sean. Yes, sir,
Ron and ding of the car Doctor at your service.
How can I help?
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Ron?
Speaker 4 (26:42):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I am good, sir, I am very well. How are
things up in Vermont today?
Speaker 4 (26:47):
A lot of snow, A lot of snow, very cold?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yeah, you know how how cold is it? Make the
rest of us feel better?
Speaker 5 (26:56):
Well?
Speaker 4 (26:57):
It was four below yesterday morning, it was eleven this morning. Above.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Look at all the money, see Sean talking to you.
It's it's it's twenty eight degrees where I am, and
look at all the money. I say, I don't have
to go to Florida now, So you just make me
feel better. So how can I help you today? My friend?
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for taking my call, obviously,
and Tom is awesome, yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
One of the many one of the many reasons we
keep Tom around. As a matter of fact, if you
go to if you want to see something really neat,
if you have Facebook, go to the Ronanini and the
Car Doctor Facebook page. And I took a picture of it.
I posted today's office view the working set up Tom
put together so we can do remotes now from anywhere
in the world. And you know, we've got ideas and
(27:48):
we're talking about do we take this thing on the
road and how far out do we go? But it's
it's a pretty magnanimous view of what he created. Tom's
one of the best. Tom is the best radio engineer
in the business. I should say so. But yeah, on
to your question before I run out of time, I'll
talk about Tom. I can talk about Tom for minutes hours.
So anyway, what's going on?
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Twenty twenty two Kia Sportage.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Okay, and there it is. I knew that was coming,
so go ahead, Sean.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
So I purchased it certified pre owned, and prior to
actually buying the vehicle, I wanted to make sure all
the safety recalls were cleared up. So I had a
toe hitch recall on the vehicle, the toe hitch harness.
(28:43):
So they cleared that up, and then five thousand miles
or so later, I went in for my oil change
and they had said everything was it's good to go.
Love the vehicle, but the right rear lamp was out.
Speaker 6 (29:10):
Needed to be back up the backup lamp.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Okay, yes, the assembly which was one hundred and seventy
five dollars.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
So is the right rear lamp assembly? Is it the
backup lamp? The brake light the combination light that whole mix, yes, sir, okay.
And is it an L A D or a bulb assembly.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
It's a bulb assembly, all right. So I opted not
to get that fixed at the time, but I went
in six months later for an inspection and they said
the other one was out, so okay. So I did
(29:58):
a little, you know, research on the internet whatever that means.
But they said sometimes that can be damaged by a
technician during the toeitge recall. And I'm just wondering if.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
I get listen, anything's possible careless mechanics and so forth.
But what I would want to read and this is
why you look, this is why you love me, Sean,
and this is why you're called I've run across this.
I want to go read Kia Technical bulletin to wait,
what does that say about a company? Did you read
(30:37):
to ninety nine and they talk about the software update
and the combination lamp replacement? Yeah, yes, sir. And have
you considered that.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
I thought they had you know, uh, I'm registered with
Carfax and I thought all the recalls were taken care of.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Well, I think I think I want to specifically asked
that question because if it hasn't been done, it should
be done. And if it has been done, it was
done within the last two years, right, yes, sir. So
if it went bad again, what didn't you think it
would be under warranty?
Speaker 4 (31:17):
I would think right, because the repair was over six
hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Right. So I think your argument is this is you
talking to the service writer. So you're telling me your
three year old car that you replaced the tail lamps
in somewhere in the last two years, had a problem
with more tail lamps and the software fixed on bulletin
two ninety nine didn't work, And you think this is
a reliable car that I want to keep for the
next five years. See what he says to that, right.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Well, ask him about Bulletin two ninety nine and the right.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Because there was a software upgrade and a lamp inspection
and that was part of Bulletin two ninety nine.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
He let's sad it'd gone before I bought the vehicle.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Well you think you did? You're not sure? I would
want to make sure. Listen, because now I gotta go
Sean real quick.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Everybody gets a chance to prove who they are and
what they are in life, whether you're fixing cars, dating
or doing business in general. All right, here's the moment
where you bought a car six months ago. It's a
CPO car, certified pre owned, right you said that. That
means that they give it the utmost care and the
utmost consideration. I don't think this is a problem for
(32:30):
them to go back to key and say, hey, we
need to make Sean happy. Somebody's got to take the initiative.
If the service writer doesn't give you the right answer,
go talk to the front of the horse and find
the service manager and see what sort of answers he
gives you. But you want to inquire deeply about bulletin
two ninety nine, I'm running Indy in the car Doctor.
We're a back right after this. You know, I hate
(33:14):
this part of the show. You know why, because that
means the show is almost over. And this is where
the pressure really lines up, because I've got about two
minutes to say something really witty and enticing that makes
you want to come back for next week. Yeah, I
don't think I could do that. I will say this
(33:36):
thuff in all seriousness. I think more and more about
this radio show. Another year is about to go by,
and it's thirty plus something years we're doing this, and
of course we have those moments. You know, you don't
want to stay on too long, right You always hear
that in show business, you ever want to stay on
too long? And is it time to go? And Tom
(33:58):
and I have talked about it the last two years,
and we just keep getting those cards and letters from
all of you, and the responses, and you know, you
make us feel like we are still needed. And I
think that's reason enough. I tell my family that I
will stop doing radio when I'm no longer relevant. And
judging by the response we get from all of you,
I guess we've got a lot of relevance left. So
(34:22):
just as a thought, I wanted to really take a
moment and say a sincere thank you and let you
know we appreciate each and every one of you, even
the ones I argue with, even the ones that break
my chops. We have to go back and forth a
little bit, because that's what makes radio and life interesting.
Just as a reminder, if you want don't forget cardoctorshow
dot Com, get out to the store. There's still time
(34:43):
to get Christmas gifts, coffee cups, t shirts, et cetera.
And as always, I'm ronnin Ady and the Car Doctor,
reminding you good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See Doctor
Car Advice to write
You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally
recognized auto expert trusted by Mechanics, Weekend wrenchers and vehicle
owners Alife. Ron brings over forty years of hands on
experience and deep industry insight to help you understand your vehicle.
Join the Conversation live every Saturday from two to four
pm Eastern by calling eight five to five five six
zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five to five
(00:25):
five six zero ninety nine hundred, your direct line to
honest answers and practical advice. Looking for more, visit car
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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
(00:47):
garage and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
You know, I'm not sure. I just every time I
hear that song, I think about Tony Soprano getting whack
in the in the in the ice cream parlor in Montclair,
New Jersey. Actually I think that's Montclair. I think it's Nutley.
But yeah, I don't know. I haven't listened to that
song in a long time, and I just think, poor Tony.
What not to be off subject here, but what a
(01:10):
crazy TV show? Right? We can actually take a ruthless
mobster and have everybody cheer for him and be depressed
when the guy ends up getting killed at the end
of the show. Oh wait, what if some of you
haven't seen the Sopranos. Whoops, I gave away the ending. Sorry.
In any event, thank you for stopping by today. I
just I tell you every time I hear that, that's
(01:30):
what I think of. So we've got a bunch of
things to go over and talk about today. I've got
an article about Automotive News talking about the six point
two liter GM engine failure and some of the other
things that are going on and what it takes to
replace those engines. We'll try and get to that. We've
got a bevy of phone calls, and let's get right
to the phones and get started at eight five five
five six oho nine to nine zero zero. Let's go
(01:51):
to Brian in the Great City of Philadelphia, twelve seventeen.
I'm sorry a seventeen Ford fusion, some questions about transfluid Brian,
come back, sir, how can I help you today?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Thank you ron real quick. The ice cream parlor was
holstoned in Bloomfield.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
That's right there, you go. I knew it's right on
the board, isn't it right on the border of Montclair.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Though, Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Montclair is like a minute away or something.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so but yeah, I actually went there.
It's kind of weird to sit in that booth. You know.
My I would go down there once in a while
to visit some people and oh, let's go to let's
let's go, we go and have ice cream. We'd sit
in that exact same booth. And you know, they've got
a little plaque there, you know, Tony Soprano was off
here or something like that, if you get exactly what
it says. But yeah, just a weird deal. So what's
(02:36):
going on today, my friend? How can I help?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Well, here's the deal. I know, like we've you've talked
about this before. Unfortunately, the cars, a lot of the
cars today, the trans fluid they called you know, they
called to be changed in one hundred and fifty thousand,
which most people know is pretty you know, a pretty
long liinted time and as far as you know, minus sealed,
you can't check the fluid or anything like that. So
(03:01):
it wasn't done. My mechanics is always trying to talk
me out of it. It's like, no, no, wait till
one hundred and fifty. So I'm like, I'm saying to myself,
you know, I'd rather just, you know, get it done.
My biggest question is this is the trans service. Would
it be a drain and fill or would that be
a flush?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Good question, So, at the risk of repeating myself, let's
start at the beginning. I think certain transfluids do not
have to be changed. And I'm still debating it in
my head. Some of the Chrysler products, the jeeps with
the plastic transpan, it gets expensive, right. Some of the
jeep transpans, the filters, the fluids. I've seen them go
(03:43):
out the door of our shop. I've seen them and
go out the door of other shops. Seven to eight
hundred dollars to service a transmission. It seems exorbited. But
the fact is there's you know, eighteen twenty ball to
holding the pan up. It takes forever to get the
pan down. The fluid's not cheap. Eight nine speed transfer
fluid from Chrysler's a fortune. It's an expensive it's an
expensive repair, and you talk to Chrysler Tech Support and
(04:07):
they say there's no value in changing trans fluid because
it has no effect on the transmission. The transmission can
compensate for the varied viscosity. And what was the word
they used, tractionability. I thought that was a new word.
I looked it up at Websters. It's not there, but
I get what they're saying. They're saying as the fluid
wears out, the transcompensates for that, until the trans wears out,
(04:28):
and then you put a trans in the car for
seven grand. I still think changing that fluid at fifty
thousand miles on most of these vehicles, fifty to sixty
is probably the cheaper alternative. The question becomes, you know,
will it be cheaper? I still think at one hundred
and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand miles most carts
(04:51):
take a transmission, I just do. That seems to be
the number. I think. If I was driving your fusion
to get to get back to your exact question, I
would have changed the fluid at fifty and every fifty thereafter.
I think the one hundred and fifty thousand mile fluid service,
you know, I'm gonna get I'm gonna get a lot
of hate mail, and I'm gonna get a lot of
the you know, internet trolls that say, no, wrong, You're wrong.
(05:13):
But they're gonna tell me, Oh, Mike, trans has one
hundred and sixty eight thousand miles on it, I've never
serviced it. Yeah, great, you got the one. Uh you know,
show me, show me, show me the proportionate ratio of
how many of them go to that one hundred and
fifty thousand mile mark and beyond. You know, there's there's
more than one bulletin on certain model Lincoln mks and MX's,
(05:34):
and that trans translates into the fusion and the other
Ford models that are sys that are similar to it,
that are wiping out torque converters. Why because of trans fluid?
The trans fluid is breaking down? What does Ford have
you do? They have you put converters in, they have
you put fluid changes in? When do those failures occur?
One hundred thousand miles? So you know, where's the where's
(05:57):
one hundred and fifty thousand mile mark phenomenon?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Come from?
Speaker 6 (06:01):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Why I think marketing's involved? I think marketings involved Brian
you know, if that car puked the trans at one
hundred and thirty and it was six grand to replace
the trans, would you do it?
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Absolutely not? I mean I would rather know change the fluid.
But what really It's interesting because my two thousand and
five Tauris call for the trans fluid to be drained
and filled every thirty thousand, in which I did. My
niece on Ultimate called for it. I think it's fifty
or sixty. But they always said, with that CBT you had,
there's no way around it. You must you know nis.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Absolutely how to do it. Absolutely that would fail. So
if we're talking about your fluid at one hundred and
nine thousand miles or whatever the heck you got on
it first time through it first time, first time through,
I'm going to do a drain and fill, all right,
because because I don't want to shock the system. All right.
If this was Hey, you know, the car's got forty
(06:57):
nine thousand miles on it ron, what do I do?
I tell you, let's do a fluid exchange, all right,
not a flush, a fluid exchange, all right. We use
Mala fluid equipment at the shop. We actually use their
fluid pro at X two eighty, which is one of
their newer trans fluid machines, works really well. And basically
(07:17):
what it is, it's sort of like the go between.
You hook one side up to the cooler, in the
other side to the and you and it processes fluid
through and back and adds and you're able to exchange fluid.
It's an exchange. It's a one for one exchange. If
there's a dipstick, we could do it through a dipstick,
but it's it's not pressure. Pressure denotes you know, I'm sorry.
(07:40):
A flush denotes pressure, and I don't like pressure used
when I'm talking about transmissions because that tends to stir
up sediment and crut and create issues internally in the
trans At one hundred and nine thousand, I'm gonna do
a fluid draining fill and then I'm gonna come back
in five or ten thousand miles and do it again.
(08:00):
And it's not that hard to do, Brian, It's not impossible.
It's it's not easy for you to do it yourselfer.
But for the mechanic, once he's got the car up
in the year, he's gonna open it up. It's either
going to be a fill port and checkport in the
front of the transmission over on the left side, or
it's gonna be behind the driver's side wheel. There's gonna
be a ten millimeters eleven millimeter plug that comes out
(08:22):
and you can check fluid level there and fluid color,
quantity condition, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So I didn't think you could check it at all.
I figured, yeah, now you can't.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, now you can't. Mechanics can. If you talk to manufacturers,
they'll tell you. The reason they went to the more
difficult way of checking trans fluid is because they didn't
want consumers to add incorrect fluid to the transmissions. I
think it's a marketing I think it's a marketing thing. Brother.
I think they all sat there and they said, we're
building them so good they're not going to break. So
(08:51):
this way, if we make it so nobody can service it,
they'll drive it till it blows up and then just
go buy another one.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
My four dealer would tell me that, yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Really believe it, because it doesn't make sense. It really doesn't.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I don't know how you have my two thousand and
five tarists call for thirty thousand. This culture one fifty.
I mean that's that's a I mean, that's a big difference, right.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
You know, when you start to look at what they're
doing general motors, for example, their ten speed transmission, they
put the they put the torque converter, which is the
fluid company between the engine and the transmission. They put
it into mechanical lock for everything. Turn the air conditioning on,
lock the converter, change gears, lock the converter, downshift, lock
the converter. Why you can read the bulletins they talk
(09:37):
about for enhanced customer performance and satisfaction. So in other words,
they work the trans to death. You know, everything you
do with the transmission creates what heat, what breaks down
fluid heat because of the trans to fail heat. So
guess what we're giving you enhanced customer satisfaction and performance
until the trans blows up? And then what do you get?
(09:59):
Heat from the customer? So he's evolved in a lot
of this. Right, It's just.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
It's a lifetime transfluid. But what's how do they define
a lifetime one hundred and fifty thousands the life of
your transmission. I mean it's it's a lifetime, but.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Right, it is lifetime if the trans fails at one
hundred and nine thousand miles. That was its lifetime, right, right,
So if you if you go buy a if you
go buy a craftsman tool from Sears, I'm dating myself
and you'll live to be sixty nine years old, that
was lifetime. If I live to be one hundred and two,
that was my lifetime. Everybody's got a different lifetime, right,
(10:33):
We've all got different expectations. Brother, mechanics, I always have.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
I always have to talk him into things. It's like
I don't want you have to spend too much money.
It's like I have to talk him in to certain things.
I don't know what it is. I mean, all the
by book game this is fine, but something like this,
I'll have to talk him into doing this.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
He may be you know, he may just be afraid
of the liability, because let's face it, there is some
liability here. This This vehicle's you know, seven eight years old,
that's got higher mileageh on it. He may be concerned
changing the fluid is going to cause the trans's demise.
But I bet you, I bet you a cheese steak
if and whenever you get the Philly that you're gonna
drain that fluid out, and it's going to be blacker
(11:11):
than coal. It just is red. It's not going to
be red. I see these I see these trans fluids
start to break down. Forty fifty thousand miles. So anyway,
I gotta run. Brian, always good to talk to you.
You'd be well and have a great holiday season. Down
Philadelphia Way eight five five five six o nine nine
zero zero. I am Ronn and Andie and the car doctor,
(11:32):
and I'll be back right after this. Oh we didn't
(11:55):
hear from Santa Claus that break you know. By the way, Tom,
I need, I need often. Two weeks you get to
tell you how I telt you that I have some
place to go. In two weeks, I won't be here,
but all kinds of special stuff in the sleigh this year.
No really well, but anyway, just to let you up.
So if I'm not here in two weeks, do the
best you can. Without me, America will suffer. But I'll
(12:18):
get all your toys here on time. Let's go to
Brad and Iowa fifteen Nissan rogue and some heat issues. Brad,
we got to fix this. It's too cold in Iowa
this time of year. Sure is, Yeah, tell me the story.
What's going on?
Speaker 6 (12:32):
Well, I've got a friend of mine that's got a
twenty fifteen Nissan Rogue and it's not blowing any hot
air throughout the vents. The events are working. They're blowing
like you put it down on the floorboard or that
to the upper levels. All that works.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
But just so position, position direction works. You can direct
the air where you want it. You just don't get
hot air absolutely. Okay. Does is this a split system?
Can you make the driver's side one temperature, in the
passenger side the other temperature?
Speaker 6 (13:12):
You know what? I'm not sure on that.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Okay, which, by the way, I think is a stupid
idea because let's face it, the air comes out of
the duct unless there's a plastic well between you and
the passenger. I don't never get what good that is.
But okay, let's just complicate things anyway. So any recent
engine work, cooling system work. We woke up one day
the heat was like this, or did somebody repair attempt,
et cetera. What's the history?
Speaker 6 (13:37):
Well, I do know the car was bought from an
auction So if that tells you anything, I.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Mean somebody else couldn't fix it either, So.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Yeah, I mean so that could.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Right, So let's do this all right? What experience do
you have working on cars? Bread?
Speaker 6 (13:58):
I am an autobody to mission. I've been doing bodywork
for about thirty years, and I just get kind of
a following. You know, people do this, do that.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So let's let's do this logically, all right. First question
I've got is what are the two heater hoses going
in and out of the heater core? Are they as
one side hot uncomfortable to the touch, and the other
side cooler? And then how much cooler is it? Do
you own a heat gun, by chance, a thermal A
(14:31):
thermal gun?
Speaker 6 (14:33):
You know I don't, and I've been always wanting to
pick one up, so I'm gonna have to.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Here's the reason. Here's the reason, brother. You know what,
And I got to tell you. I was down at
Harbor Freight a couple of a couple of well last weekend.
You look at some of that stuff from Harbor Freight
and you go, how bad could it be? I just wonder,
you know, go pick up a thermal gun and it's
just got a display temperature and I would look at temp. Right,
(14:57):
if the engine is coming up, the temp if the
upper radio hose when it's hot, is uncomfortable to the touch.
And for the sake of this conversation, I'm gonna plug in.
I need an OBD two scan tool. I'm sure you
own one of those, Yes, yep, Okay, go look at COOLANTEMP.
If the thermostat is supposed to open, we'll make up
some numbers. At one hundred and ninety five degrees and
(15:18):
it's running at one to ninety this time of year,
I'm happy with that. Driving down the road. It shouldn't
go much below that. I'd like to see it maintain
a minimum of one ninety five degrees off the mark,
cause it's cold out there, right, come back. Upper hose
is hot system circulating, it's full of coolant, there's no air.
All the usual caveats that you want to go and check, okay,
(15:40):
and then shoot the heater core is Does the heater
hose match the upper hose if the upper hose is
reading one hundred and seventy degrees, because there's always a
little bit of loss, that rubber hose tends to insulate
the heat, has always been my experience. But if I'm
one hundred and seventy at the upper hose, am I
one hundred and six D at the heater hose. If
(16:02):
I am what am I coming out? I'll typically see
a twenty five to thirty degree loss if the core
has good flow and is able to radiate off its heat.
What I don't want to see is I'm one hundred
and sixty in and a hundred degrees out. Something's wrong,
I'm restricted, right, I'm not getting enough flow? Okay, So
(16:27):
and in some cases I'll get one hundred and sixty
in and one hundred and fifty out. That's like a
real good core. It's not uncommon for these cores to
be restricted, Okay. They they tend to get scally and creddy,
especially as they age. And then we're going to go
through the You call me back if that's the case,
and we'll talk about the you know, Ron's method of
a white bucket, two hoses and a garden hose, and
(16:50):
we can backflush the core safely and correctly. All right,
then I want to know, you know, are the so
the distribution is working? But is the temp door working? Right?
Can the can the you know, when I move it
from hot to cold, does the actuator physically move? Does
(17:11):
the air door motor physically move. So while you're at
Harbor Freight, you're gonna love this. You get to go
buy yourself a borscope. If you don't an own one,
take the borscope. Go right down the center ducted. You
should be able to see the doors move. It's gonna
be right there. It's not that far down the pike
(17:31):
because either that or you're gonna shove your head under
the dashboard. And that's the big a pain in the neck.
Have you been doing Have you been doing bodywork for
thirty years year old like me? So it's it's it's
hard getting under the dashboard, right. So we want to
go look at the blend doors, or we want to
use the borscope to go look at the linkages of
the actuator doors, the air temp doors. Are they physically
moving all right? If they're not physically moving, then we've
(17:53):
got a broken door, broken linkage, broken case, something along
those lines. So go buy some tools. Basic common sense, brother, buddy,
guys are always real smart, So go do what you
gotta do. Call me back next week if you need more.
I'm running ady in the car doctor eight five five
five six nine nine zero zero. We'll return right after.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
This the street to the open tonight. If you're ready
needs out, brother, keep you all right? Yeah, he's a
(18:31):
car doctor cart right.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You know that's kind of got the Hulla Blue seven
to it, right, remember Hulla Baloo nineteen sixty seven. We
get a couple of dancers in the gilded cage, the
whole thing going on, and I'll be ready when you're ready.
You know. By the way, Tom, you didn't comment, I'm
not gonna let you, but see the beard I'm growing.
I'm gonna get that Arnold Schwarzenegger thing going. So this way,
the next time I'm on the radio show, I can
(19:02):
say I'll be back. You know, that'll be you'll change
the end of the No, okay, let me get to
the phones in the meantime. Here, let me go to
Dennis in New Jersey. Dennis, I hope you have a
sense of humor. Tom's not. Tom doesn't think I'm very
funny today. How you doing today, sir?
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Hey, I have a beard.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
I have no complaints.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, I'm starting. You know, it's that little I got
that little salt and pepper thing going on. It's a
you know, I'm gonna be that Arnold Schwartzenegger of radio.
So anyways, I have.
Speaker 7 (19:30):
A twenty eighteen Volkswagen Tigu one se getting an error
message keyless entreat faulty. I brought it to the dealer
a year ago and I couldn't even have an intelligent
conversation with them.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Scary, isn't it?
Speaker 7 (19:50):
Extremely? Extremely You know.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
This is how it's funny. At the end of the
previous hour, I was talking to Brian I think it
was Brian Wisconsin about the German car experience, and here
it is so uh, you know, this is what makes
these vehicles so complex. Have you ever written in the
Space Shuttle, Dennis, No, but I've seen right, I think
you're driving one. So just just let you know where
(20:15):
this conversation is going to go. But go ahead. I
don't mean to interrupt. Ahead, you keep going, Okay.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
All right?
Speaker 7 (20:21):
Now, I bring it to the dealer, I tell him
what the problem is. I show him what the problem is.
They take the car in, the guy comes out and
says it needs a module for eight.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
Okay, right.
Speaker 7 (20:35):
Then they turn around and tell it and I asked them,
is there any codes? There gotta be some kind of
It's got a message on the dash there's got to
be some kind of body code.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
A reasonable now, Dennis, you're being reasonable, A reasonable question.
Go ahead, all right?
Speaker 7 (20:53):
So I don't think the guy even trouble shot shot it.
The door on the pass send your side with the
key fob in my pocket and the door lock. I
can go open it. It works works normally. The driver's
side door doesn't. This indicates to me that is probably
a problem with the door lock, a loose wire or
(21:15):
something like that, not an eight hundred dollars module. I
don't have any faith that this guy can actually fix it.
And a direction.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Here's the problem, right, Volkswagen, and they're infinite wisdom of
We've got all the answers and where the best there
is limits what the aftermarket can do without a serious
investment by the shop and programming equipment. So it gets
a little tricky, all right, You are you are spot
on right. If you've got a keyless entry module, aero
(21:47):
fault on the dashboard, ninety eight percent sure, and I
can prove it. You're going to see some sort of
a fault code. The fault codes for this car are
way overdone. It's not OBD two stuff. It's manufacturer specific
it's like a B one twenty two D twenty nine
or a B one twenty two B thirteen. It's it's
(22:09):
language like we're launching missiles, all right, because this is
the German car experience. So needless to say, you didn't
get any of the work done, correct.
Speaker 7 (22:20):
No, the only problem is it's not something I need.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
Six.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
The only problem is that this car beats every twenty seconds.
It's beats, and the error message pops up, the error
marriage goes away nether twenty seconds and it's just annoying
and you can't turn it off.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Right, No, you can't because it's it sees a fault,
which you know, I think you have to go back
and ask them. So in your logic, you're telling me
a car that beeps every twenty seconds and displays error
messages on the dashboard has no fault code to give
you some kind of diagnostic direction, you know, and then
we can see what kind of geniuses they are. At
that point where I would be looking all kidding around
(23:00):
the side, is you know I see cases of broken
wiring in the door jams. It's like a it's like
a sixty three Chevy, except it's not right where the doorjam,
wiring gets broken, where the wires start to break and fray.
As complicated as they make it, it's still simple stupid
stuff half the time that causes the failure. Where did
(23:23):
he Where did he come up with a module error? Well,
because he's probably looking at it on a scan tool.
I would hope he's looking at it on a scan
tool and he can't communicate with the driver's door module.
You know why the wires are broken? You know, I
mean it would be logical to me. I just you know,
it's yeah, I just you know, it's modules don't fail.
(23:43):
I mean they fail, But good good lord, You've got
to go through some basics, power ground, serial data? What
can I talk to? What can I talk to? And
I think your question to them is will this eight
hundred dollars module fix my problem? And and you know
that's language in any case, right Dennis, you and I
(24:04):
have talked over the years. It's a it's a matter
of you know, it's it's it's will this fix my problem? Well,
if they give you the two bitch shuffle and they
step from foot to foot, you know, and we're looking
at the ground, you know, maybe we're not you know,
maybe we're guessing here, you know, and that's what we've
got to go look at. So I think I think
(24:24):
a code scan is more than reasonable. Heck, on a Volkswagon,
we code scan on oil changes just because we don't
know what we're gonna find. You know, they're just again,
it's the Space Shuttle, brother, It's it's not a simple vehicle.
So I think if you want to get it fixed,
it's gonna be a code scan. Will this fix my problem?
(24:45):
Can you do the programming because the dealership's got to
program it. And what's the total cost gonna be? Did
you own the car since new?
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Okay, so no accidents right, the car has never hit,
No body work ever done to that driver? Yeah? Okay.
You know, you know I would start to think about,
like I said, connectors and you know, I driver's door wiring,
harness problems, and that's that's typical. That's more common than modules.
I'll say it like that.
Speaker 7 (25:13):
Do you think a body shop would be more able
to fix this than the dealer?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
No? I think a shop that is going to have
programming capability. And that's the trick. And I know where
you are in New Jersey, I don't know anybody that's
that in depth on Volkswagen other than the dealer, because
of the costs involved in the programming nature of the
of that particular repair. And I think if somebody tells
you they can do it, I'd want to see their
equipment and know that they can do it, because this
(25:41):
is this is like going to Cedar Sinai for for
open heart surgery. You want to make sure they can
complete the operation, not get halfway through and go oops,
which is a bad thing to hear from a mechanic
or a doctor. You know, Whops means a lot of
different things.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
So all right, sir, well, okay, thanks Ron, welcome to us.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Good luck and enjoy your German car. I'm sorry to say,
I'm not going to say what v W means. Tom's
dying to hear me say v W means virtually worthless,
but I'm not going to say it, not here on
radio eight five five five six nine nine zero zero.
The car Doctor's coming back right after this. Well, and
(26:30):
here we go once again. Let's uh okay, I'm done, Okay,
thank you, Let's go to uh Seanan Vermont Sean. Yes, sir,
Ron and ding of the car Doctor at your service.
How can I help?
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Ron?
Speaker 4 (26:42):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I am good, sir, I am very well. How are
things up in Vermont today?
Speaker 4 (26:47):
A lot of snow, A lot of snow, very cold?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yeah, you know how how cold is it? Make the
rest of us feel better?
Speaker 5 (26:56):
Well?
Speaker 4 (26:57):
It was four below yesterday morning, it was eleven this morning. Above.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Look at all the money, see Sean talking to you.
It's it's it's twenty eight degrees where I am, and
look at all the money. I say, I don't have
to go to Florida now, So you just make me
feel better. So how can I help you today? My friend?
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for taking my call, obviously,
and Tom is awesome, yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
One of the many one of the many reasons we
keep Tom around. As a matter of fact, if you
go to if you want to see something really neat,
if you have Facebook, go to the Ronanini and the
Car Doctor Facebook page. And I took a picture of it.
I posted today's office view the working set up Tom
put together so we can do remotes now from anywhere
in the world. And you know, we've got ideas and
(27:48):
we're talking about do we take this thing on the
road and how far out do we go? But it's
it's a pretty magnanimous view of what he created. Tom's
one of the best. Tom is the best radio engineer
in the business. I should say so. But yeah, on
to your question before I run out of time, I'll
talk about Tom. I can talk about Tom for minutes hours.
So anyway, what's going on?
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Twenty twenty two Kia Sportage.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Okay, and there it is. I knew that was coming,
so go ahead, Sean.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
So I purchased it certified pre owned, and prior to
actually buying the vehicle, I wanted to make sure all
the safety recalls were cleared up. So I had a
toe hitch recall on the vehicle, the toe hitch harness.
(28:43):
So they cleared that up, and then five thousand miles
or so later, I went in for my oil change
and they had said everything was it's good to go.
Love the vehicle, but the right rear lamp was out.
Speaker 6 (29:10):
Needed to be back up the backup lamp.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Okay, yes, the assembly which was one hundred and seventy
five dollars.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
So is the right rear lamp assembly? Is it the
backup lamp? The brake light the combination light that whole mix, yes, sir, okay.
And is it an L A D or a bulb assembly.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
It's a bulb assembly, all right. So I opted not
to get that fixed at the time, but I went
in six months later for an inspection and they said
the other one was out, so okay. So I did
(29:58):
a little, you know, research on the internet whatever that means.
But they said sometimes that can be damaged by a
technician during the toeitge recall. And I'm just wondering if.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
I get listen, anything's possible careless mechanics and so forth.
But what I would want to read and this is
why you look, this is why you love me, Sean,
and this is why you're called I've run across this.
I want to go read Kia Technical bulletin to wait,
what does that say about a company? Did you read
(30:37):
to ninety nine and they talk about the software update
and the combination lamp replacement? Yeah, yes, sir. And have
you considered that.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
I thought they had you know, uh, I'm registered with
Carfax and I thought all the recalls were taken care of.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Well, I think I think I want to specifically asked
that question because if it hasn't been done, it should
be done. And if it has been done, it was
done within the last two years, right, yes, sir. So
if it went bad again, what didn't you think it
would be under warranty?
Speaker 4 (31:17):
I would think right, because the repair was over six
hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Right. So I think your argument is this is you
talking to the service writer. So you're telling me your
three year old car that you replaced the tail lamps
in somewhere in the last two years, had a problem
with more tail lamps and the software fixed on bulletin
two ninety nine didn't work, And you think this is
a reliable car that I want to keep for the
next five years. See what he says to that, right.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Well, ask him about Bulletin two ninety nine and the right.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Because there was a software upgrade and a lamp inspection
and that was part of Bulletin two ninety nine.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
He let's sad it'd gone before I bought the vehicle.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Well you think you did? You're not sure? I would
want to make sure. Listen, because now I gotta go
Sean real quick.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Everybody gets a chance to prove who they are and
what they are in life, whether you're fixing cars, dating
or doing business in general. All right, here's the moment
where you bought a car six months ago. It's a
CPO car, certified pre owned, right you said that. That
means that they give it the utmost care and the
utmost consideration. I don't think this is a problem for
(32:30):
them to go back to key and say, hey, we
need to make Sean happy. Somebody's got to take the initiative.
If the service writer doesn't give you the right answer,
go talk to the front of the horse and find
the service manager and see what sort of answers he
gives you. But you want to inquire deeply about bulletin
two ninety nine, I'm running Indy in the car Doctor.
We're a back right after this. You know, I hate
(33:14):
this part of the show. You know why, because that
means the show is almost over. And this is where
the pressure really lines up, because I've got about two
minutes to say something really witty and enticing that makes
you want to come back for next week. Yeah, I
don't think I could do that. I will say this
(33:36):
thuff in all seriousness. I think more and more about
this radio show. Another year is about to go by,
and it's thirty plus something years we're doing this, and
of course we have those moments. You know, you don't
want to stay on too long, right You always hear
that in show business, you ever want to stay on
too long? And is it time to go? And Tom
(33:58):
and I have talked about it the last two years,
and we just keep getting those cards and letters from
all of you, and the responses, and you know, you
make us feel like we are still needed. And I
think that's reason enough. I tell my family that I
will stop doing radio when I'm no longer relevant. And
judging by the response we get from all of you,
I guess we've got a lot of relevance left. So
(34:22):
just as a thought, I wanted to really take a
moment and say a sincere thank you and let you
know we appreciate each and every one of you, even
the ones I argue with, even the ones that break
my chops. We have to go back and forth a
little bit, because that's what makes radio and life interesting.
Just as a reminder, if you want don't forget cardoctorshow
dot Com, get out to the store. There's still time
(34:43):
to get Christmas gifts, coffee cups, t shirts, et cetera.
And as always, I'm ronnin Ady and the Car Doctor,
reminding you good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See Doctor
Car Advice to write
Host
Ron Ananian
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