December 27, 2025 • 34 mins
Ron and crew are on their way back from the North Pole this weekend.
It's a "Best Of" show from September 27, 2025. Instead of being on remote at the Annual PBA 286 Car Show, Ron and crew had to beat feet back to the studio when an equipment glitch at the time, later found out to be a Google Software update problem, caused remote equipment not to work.
Its a great hour of radio in typical Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor style. Enjoy the ride!
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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 a 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 engines. The Car Doctor is in the garage
(00:47):
and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
You know, if everything had gone its planned, I'll use
Tom's line. I'd be now looking out over ten thousand horsepower,
eight miles of chrome, and enough polished paint to make
anybody smile and be proud.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
You didn't tell me that Murphy was going to show up.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, you know, and here we are in studio by
the way, folks. So if you're expecting to find us
at the PBA two eighty six car show up here
in West Milford, technically we were there about forty five
minutes ago, well maybe a little long, maybe about an
hour and twenty five minutes ago. And then at the
last minute, the thing that talks to the thing that
(01:27):
talks to the watching McCall that makes us go out
on air, went see you, and Tom said, I think
we have to go, and I went, well, they have
little porta potties all the way, and he said, no, no, no,
we got to go. And you never saw two guys
pack up their stuff. And thank God for our support
staff today, kudos to them. We piled everything into two
(01:47):
cars and ran down Skyline Drive, which is basically you
started at the top of the hill and it's a
five mile straight drop. It's kind of like dead Man's Hill.
All right, and here we are and we're ready to go.
We're ready to do a live show and give you
guys what you need. It's just we're not at the
car show, which is a shame. It was a great show,
it really was. It looked great. You know, some of
(02:07):
the cars that I got a chance to see. There
was a seventy nine Volkswagon bus camper, right, you know,
to pop up roof.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wait wit, they were still making those in seventy ninety yeah,
oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And this guy, this thing was really cool. I was
gonna interview this guy. It had it had the Peace
signed pillow on the back. It had like a living
room couch set up with the chairs that swiveled, and
a stove and a cook top and a refrigerator and
a Volkswagen. It was the neatest thing. I was impressed
by that. They had a Type three Volkswagen, which is
basically a it's a Volkswagen mini truck.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Volkswagons were big at this show. It was. It was crazy.
There was and I forget what it's called, but it
was a nineteen ninety one Z twenty eight road racer.
It was the equivalent of a Yanko Camaro, a factory
race car modified. They only made I think he said
(03:04):
five hundred of them, four hundred and ninety one. We're
gonna do that. Guy didn't get to it. So there
was some really neat stuff. And that was the usual
combination of you know, big block this, big block that,
and some weird.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
There were some really cool things around the back. Just
see the thirty eight I think it was the Ford
and the thirty nine Chevy.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Did you see the peach colored Willies? I saw that
thing is sharp. I think that's from the neighborhood around
the shop. I really do, because I've seen that car locally.
There can't be two of them. But I couldn't find
the owner. But unfortunately Tom called me a quarter to
twelve and said, uh oh, and I know what oh means.
And I ran back to the booth and Tom was
(03:41):
sitting there and let me tell you something, folks, It's
not on Tom's shoulders. In the thirty three years i'm
on radio, in the fifteen years with Tom, Tom has
never failed to get me on the air. And today
the equipment just didn't cooperate.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Actually, it was more like the online application that would
have gotten us on the air, and it just did
not want to recognize the audio.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, and I you know, I can't wait to find
out what it is because we had a swivel at
the last minute. And you know, it's funny. That's what
order repair is about. Waited a great segue. We had
a twenty fourteen Chevy Silverado pickup in the shop this week,
and maybe it's good we came back because I've been
dying to tell you this story. So we had a
twenty fourteen Chevy Silverado in the shop this week, a
(04:22):
regular two door plane Jane Chevy pickup, eight foot bed,
four wheel drive. You know, they probably made two three
million of these things. I mean, how it's so common, right,
And we were doing axle bearings. We had to do
an axle bearing in the right rear. The axle seal
was actually leaking. When we took it apart, we could
(04:43):
see the bearing was beat up too, so we had
to change the bearing. Now, this model year, this generation
GM pickup truck mounts the tone ring for the ABS sensor,
which is a toothed collar on the inside of the bearing.
So if you were looking of this from the outside,
you've got a seal, you've got a bearing pressed into
(05:03):
the housing, and then after that, inside the housing, you've
got this toothed ring on a collar setup pressed into
the tube. So you can't use conventional bearing removal tools
because in the past, that bearing removal tool it's a
tilting head. It would slide in, you'd pull it straight
(05:24):
and would lock in behind the bearing, but there isn't
enough room now to allow it to tilt and pull
straight because the abist tooth collar is in the way. Okay, well,
you know, I guess I've never done one of these
because I didn't have the tool. I could have done
hundreds of axle bearings, but for whatever reason, I hadn't
done this particular setup. Wait, look it up. We go
(05:47):
through tooling. We need j Dash forty five eight forty
seven Kent Moore Special Axle Bearing pullar. Blah blah blah
blah blah. Great, let's go get one of those. Well
how much is that? Well that's six hundred dollars and
that isn't even the painful part. The painful part is
that JA eighty five four to twenty seven or whatever
the part number is is on International outer Space Intergalactic
(06:10):
back order, like we might see it the last week
of December after Christmas. Well that's great, but this is September,
and I've got this truck apart on the lift. Thank
God for Amazon. You know, in order repair, you really
have to swivel, you've got to be flexible, you've got to.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Be quick on your feet.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I took that JA eighty five number or that factory
tool part number, and I plugged it into Amazon. And
you know, I know, we all complain about Amazon, the
big giant that's taken over the world, the one that's
you know, keeping people from you know, shop local and
all that. But sometimes because I called on my local
guys and nobody had anything, and it turns out that
(06:53):
you know, what happened here is is Amazon converted it
to a cheap tool. I'm not going to say it
any other way. You know, one of those cheap tools
from China, right, those fifty dollars toolkits, and that's literally
what this was. It was a fifty two dollars toolkit
in a blow molded red case with all the adapters.
(07:14):
And Amazon said, well, this has got a four and
a half star rating. This one's got a five star rating.
But they were all made that cheaper tooling quality from overseas.
I didn't need it to last, I needed it to work.
Once I ordered all three, I ordered the three possibilities.
They were all like fifty to fifty one fifty two.
I spent one hundred and fifty dollars to get three tools,
(07:36):
where i'd have to spend six hundred to get one,
knowing that when I found the one that worked, if
I didn't damage the others, get them dirty, you know,
muck them up, bar them up, and so forth, I
could send them back. So I'm really spending fifty dollars
to get this truck off my lift, this bread and
butter Chevy pickup. And sure enough, with a little bit
(07:56):
of provocation and a little bit of heat, it worked.
Auto repairs about swiveling auto repairs about at the last minute,
the repair goes completely sideways, and you've got to figure
out how to get out of it. My youngest one
said to me, she said, Dad, you know what I
like about you the most. I said, what's that? She said,
(08:17):
you always think outside the box. And I really appreciated
that then and I appreciate it now. And her point was,
and she tells me all the time, she goes, you're
never stymied. You're never stumped. She said, you may not
know the answer right away, but you keep looking and
you keep picking away at it until you get to
the point of solution. That's what we did today. That's
(08:37):
what we did Friday in the shop. You know, it
was kind of it was kind of comical going back
to the car show story because remember that scene at
the end of The in Laws where Alan Arkins says
to Peter Falk they're standing and I'm dating myself. Old movie, right,
but you got to go see it. It's a great movie.
It's a funny movie. And Alan Arkin at the end,
they're blindfolded and their hands are tied behind their back
(08:58):
and are about to be shot by the firing squad
and Alan Arkin says, Okay, what's our next move? And
Peter Fox's like, no, that's it. That's all I got.
Why what do you want to try? And He's like no, No,
that was me and Tom today. Tom's like we got
to go. We can't fix this. I'm like, no, Tom,
really tell me the truth, Like what are we gonna do?
There's there's got to be away, Like Tom, you're Tom Ray,
There's got to be a way to fix this. And
we just flew down Skyline Drive where if you know
(09:19):
Skyline Drive in West Milford. I do want to apologize
to that cop and Franklin Links because I went past
him full throttle, hammered down on the fifty five and
he just I think the look in my eyes. He
knew I was late getting somewhere, so I promise I'll
slow down next time. Anyway, let's pull over, take a pause.
We're gonna come back and answer phone calls at eight
five five five six oh nine nine zero zero again
(09:40):
eight five five five six oh nine nine zero zero.
And to everybody up in Weston Milford at the PBA
two eighty six car show, we're sorry. We're gonna try
this again next year, we promise, but for now, we'll
be back right after this to answer your questions.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And of course, as bad as Tom and I in
company felt today when we couldn't stay for the PBA
two eighty six car show, there's Brad with his BMW
calling him from Florida. Because I kind of know this story.
I saw the email came across my desk during the week. Brad,
tell America what happened to your BMW? Please welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Sir ah right, thanks for having me. So I got
tired of the dealership all changes. So I went to
a couple group bonds and you named the shops. It
doesn't really matter, Valvelene, Jeffy Lub etc. And one of
them stripped the drill pan. And when I took it
to a BMW specialist just for one of those typical
(10:48):
oil changes, he called me up and said, your prior
guy stripped the drill pin and we have to take
the engine out to replace the drill pan. And it's
a BMW. It's about a six dollar dollars charge, and
we'll do it for about four grand for you against
the sixteen BMW it's worth about twelve grands. That doesn't
seem to make sense to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So why can't they hear it? Why can't they healy
coil it.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
I don't know the answer to that. I've asked a
couple of places and they've declined to do it.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I wonder why, you know, because when I saw the email,
as a matter of fact, did Jack call you?
Speaker 6 (11:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
He did, Yeah, you know, I called. I called. I
called our BMW specialist here in the area, just to
get his two cents on it, and he said, let
me give the guy a call. And you know, his
comment was the same thought as mine, that why aren't
why isn't anybody lowering the cradle, supporting the engine and
lowering the cradle to this way the engine doesn't have
to be pulled. But you know, beyond that, the first
(11:47):
step would be why aren't we Why aren't we trying
to heally coil the pan? Is there a reason it's
an illuminum pan? Right?
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Yes? And I don't know the I don't know the
answer to that.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
If we can get clear acts to it, you know,
if we can get clear access to it, A heilly
coils as strong as anything else, would put hilly coils
a helly coil for everybody's information, It would look like
a spring and the outside of the spring would thread
into a threaded, pitched hole that would match the springs
(12:18):
outside diameter, but the inside would have matched the thread
pitch of the bolt or drain plug whatever we're screwing
into it. But we we helly coil cylinders, and you know,
spark plugs under compression and never an issue. So you know,
that would be that would be my question, of course.
My my other commentary is you know, why aren't we
going back?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Then?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I already know the answer, but I just want to
feel better saying it, why aren't we going back to
whoever stripped it? And saying, you know, what are you
going to do for me? You know, it's it's you know, listen,
and I'm not going to lecture your bread. I feel
your pain. But you've you've learned the lesson, right, it's
you get what you pay for. It's it's you know,
(12:59):
it's difficult.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
It's a hard lesson.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
Yeah, but again, it's a sixteen and it's not worth
a whole lot and I don't really see the need
to put six grand into it. And I'm trying to
find somebody to do the Healy coil the or a
vacuum oil change. I'm not sure you can do a
vacuum change on this particular model.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Well, and you know, if you're doing a vacuum style
oil change, you're.
Speaker 7 (13:20):
Just you're not getting all.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, that's not a sixty three Chevy Brother, you know,
that's a BMW. That's a rocket ship. That's you know,
there's a lot. There's a lot going on there in
terms of things that oil does, variable valve, timing, and
a bunch of other things. And I would be more
cautious and more content to you know, is there a
way to do this more economically? Have you been to
(13:43):
a BMW independent shop?
Speaker 5 (13:47):
I've been to one, and I'm going to try another
one after this call.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
You know, yeah, why isn't this you know, a why
can't we healy coil this? And I think you have
to go at this with the approach of you know what,
I'm looking for a bm I'm looking for a mechanic
for my BMW and and I know this is you
talking to them, and I know you hear this all
day long. I'm looking for somebody competent, not necessarily cheap,
(14:13):
but somebody competent, right, And that's what you are. You're
you know, it's it's not that you dislike the dealer
because of what they are. You don't mind spending the money.
You just don't know if you're getting what you really need.
Is that a fair statement?
Speaker 5 (14:25):
That's exactly why I didn't go there, exactly right.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
It's it's there's no personal interconnection communication going on. It's
it's always in the back of your mind, do I
really need this? Am I being cheated?
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Am I?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
For whatever reason? And I'm not picking on dealers. I
think there's good dealers, there's bad dealers. There's good independent shops,
there's bad independent shops. It's it's it's finding a mechanic
is probably you know, for most of us is a
very personal, uh you know, endeavor. It really is. You know, listen,
I go through it around the house. My garage door
(14:59):
broke a house. The garage doors broke at the house
over the weekend. The has a torsional spring, you know,
the two springs that wind up. One of the springs broke.
So you know, I called and left the message, Hey,
you know, this is Ron. It's such and such, and
you've been here before. It's five years. It's time to
change the torsional spring. Whenever you can get out here,
I'd appreciate it, you know. And just you know, just
(15:20):
come on out. And I just and I know they're
going to call me up and explain, well, you know
we got to charge your service. Go yeah, great, I
don't care. Come out and fix my problem because I
need this spring. You guys have been here before. We
have a relationship, right, And I think that's what we're
looking for in auto repair. We're looking for that. I
think some of us are looking for that relationship. We're
looking for that tell me what I need, not what
(15:41):
I want to hear. And and and this is the
expensive lesson because you know, I'm not going to tell
you know, you're out of your mind. You're taking a
groupon to take a BMW to a cheap oil change place,
and look what happened?
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You already know this, you know it's it's but you
know how how do we recover from it? And and
my bigger concern would be pulling the engine out of
the eight year old BMW? Do we put everything back?
What do we have to what do we bend, poke,
prod twist? What doesn't go back right? What doesn't sit right?
Will it ever be right?
Speaker 5 (16:16):
That hasn't crossed? I mean that has crossed my mind
as well, you know.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So can we helly coil it? Could we lower front suspension?
Speaker 4 (16:24):
All right?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And you're not going to hold them responsible at this
At this point, it's almost like the car's mechanically totaled
until you solve this, and and you know, is there a.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Way to do that?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
The other option is is there enough aluminum in the pan?
And I trying to remember what a sixteen looks like.
They used to make these transformer plugs. It would be
an oversized plug that would screw into the hole and
cut its own thread, and you would teflon seal them
in place, and then it just had a ball valve
(16:56):
literally like a like a plumbing ball valve. You turn
the spigot and out it would come, or would have
it would have another bolt inside that it would be
like an extension going into the into the drain plug.
Is that an option?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
All right?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I just I just kind of find that hard to
believe that it's it's gotta be this six to eight
thousand dollars repair and there's no other course of action.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
So all right, that's been very helpful. I'll keep going
down this path and I'll let you know.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
You let us know anytime. Brad, good luck to you.
That's horrible, right, and you can't just say, well, it's
a BMW. It is supposed to be expensive. Expensive is
one thing. Ridiculous is another. And you know, oh boy
eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero
running in of the car doctor. I'll be back right
after this. Don't go anywhere from the city streets to
(17:46):
the open road to now.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
If you're ready, help will.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
Keep you aroun.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
He he's a car doctor. Jar that right now? You mean,
like right now, let's go to lynnon Delaware. Lynn, Welcome
to the car doctor.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
How can I help?
Speaker 6 (18:15):
Hey? Thank you for taking my call.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
What's going on?
Speaker 6 (18:19):
Oh yeah, Oh, I have a twenty nineteen convertible Ford Mustang.
Okay it it has sixty five thousand miles on it.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
And I've been working on this for four months. I've
had like a white grayish smoke come out. Timing's off.
I got it.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
So you've got you've got a blown head. You've got
a blown head gasket which is not complete now after.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
A diagnostic testing, they took pictures of it and they
had a very detailed free page report at the cool
and scaling into the head gasket.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Well, the head gascus head, the head gaskets blown and
cool and is going into the engine apparently.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
So yeah, So I've been doing research over the last
four months. I found out there's a lot of class
action suits on Eco Boost. That's what the main problem is.
It's this particular engine to eco Boost. It's expected Lincoln's
Forard trucks, Ford Mustangs. There's class action suits. There's no
(19:21):
recall on any of the vehicles. They don't have enough
data or reports. I've called corporate three times. I finally
got a clean's number. They will not reimburse me of
the expense. It's going to take place until there's a
recall and then they'll replace it. But in the meantime,
(19:43):
I do have it at a dealership. They have to
tear the engine apart to figure out what parts needs
to be replaced. But this is ridiculous that so.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Let's cut to the chase. I would ask them, why
is it that on a Mustang it's not under a
recall an extended warranty, But this engine in an escape
is kind of the same problem on an escape. Escapes
went through this too, and I believe it was the
two three it was it was it was the one
to five. If you go look up history on the
(20:16):
one five escapes of this generation and the and the
or was that a two liter? Uh escape? I'm trying
to remember now too, you're a two point three leader, correct, Yeah,
I'm trying to I'm trying to remember which engine. Yeah,
I think you're right. I believe you're a two point
three liter turbo. But my point is a lot of
(20:36):
this generation it wasn't just a Mustang. And the reason
I'm trying to steer you away from the Mustang is
because if we compare the number of Mustangs built versus
the number of Escapes built. Mustang is a much smaller
volume of built vehicles, so that the pattern of failure
to create a recall is going to be smaller. But
if we look at if we look at the same
(20:58):
engine in the Escape, the same family and generation of
engine in the Escapes, the proportion of failure is much
much higher.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And we've had We've had more than a few customers
in the shop that have had the head gasket failure,
and the problem was it was porosity in the casting
of the cylinder head. As I understand, it created a
defective head and it didn't clamp the gasket correctly and
it caused the gasket to blow and leaked cooling.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
So so my question to them was, if I decided
it's cheaper to put a new engine in and buy
another car because of the cars in Pristine. In addition, but.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It's ten grand for an engine, right, same engine in.
It's ten grands for an engine right, right?
Speaker 6 (21:44):
Seriously, But I was like, are you putting the same
engine in? Yeah, the same ecopies, And I said, did
you repair that fix this situation? And they're like, you
might want to google that and find that out. Nobody
ever asked us that.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yeah, that's you know what that that that means you're
dealing with a bunch of dumbbells that don't want to
know the answers. Yeah, my friend, Yeah, I listen. I
you know, you know why I'm here after thirty three years, Lynn,
because I'm the only one that's not afraid to call
it like I say it. I would have been a
great I would have been a great baseball umpire.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
You know, it's is this the beginning of a new
you're my new best friend?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well it could be, you know, but you know and
now and now you know what, and now we're going
to play the game, right, you and I are going
to play the game, because if we were standing in
the shop, we'd be playing what's what? What next?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
What if?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And what color?
Speaker 4 (22:33):
All?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Right? What next is? What next? Is what happens if?
And then it leads into what if if we put
the engine in? What if the turbo charger fails? And
that's another six brand?
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Well, yeah, what's my warranty? What's my How many miles
am I going to get out of that?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, they'll warrantee the engine, they'll warrantee the engine. They're
not going to warranty any any of the rest of it.
Part of the problem here, Linn, I already know what
part of the problems, all right is it's a convertible,
and you love the convertible.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Right, yeah, it's about my fist on right, yep.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
You're a free spirit. You like that top down, wind
in your face and hair thing. You got that.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
Oh and guess what, my my vanity tiger.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Is, right?
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I could, I could see it.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
You can tell that. I can.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I can, I can. I can see it. I can
see it from here. And I'm in New Jersey, all right,
I'm three states away.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
You know it's away.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Well, you see, I consider I consider Central Jersey and
South Jersey state, so technically i'm three states all right. Yeah.
So so the question becomes, before we dump a bunch
of money into this, do we buy something newer with
less miles and call this the loss that it is? Right?
(23:57):
And that's the question only Lynd can answer because only
n is what her budget is. And that's the truth, right,
It's this, This was a chronic problem. Listen, full disclosure.
And for all my Ford dealers out there that advertise
on all the affiliates to carry this show. I think
Ford has a really decent product in certain aspects. I
(24:17):
think they've got their headaches like the rest of the
car companies, and this particular generation of engine is a headache.
It just is. Head gasket failures are not uncommon and
turbochargers are not uncommon. Now, you know, we need to
have a conversation about you know, quality of oil change,
frequency of oil change, regular maintenance, fuel system cleaning and
(24:40):
all that.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
I have it all backed up.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
And none of that. None of that would have prevented
the head gasket failure. Because it seems like if one
of these things is going to have a stroke, it's
going to have a stroke, no matter how many times
it goes to the gym. But once you get past that,
it's the regular maintenance that keeps it going longer. The
question for you is this is now a six almost
seven year old vehicle, and you're not putting an engine
(25:05):
into this car to drive it another year. You're putting
an engine into this car to drive it another five years, hopefully,
And what if saying here's where what if comes in?
What if the turbo fails, what if the transmission fails?
And before before we spend this kind of money. All right,
(25:25):
you got to play what color pick a different color car,
pick the same color car. Can you go buy this
car two or three years newer? And what will that cost?
What is this car worth? What will that new car cost?
What are you getting? I'd like to think that if
you bought something two years newer or three years newer,
you're getting a car with half the mileage and some
(25:47):
sort of extended warranty for five years. Maybe we could
put that on there and get some sort of powertrain coverage.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Right, it's.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Anytime you want to.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Ford, who I was dealing with in the service department,
made me aware that he found a program from Ford
that will cover half of the costs. Okay, so I
like that idea, but I had they then they called
me back and said that they have to tear the
engine apart before they can approach Ford with the situation.
(26:21):
I don't know. As much research as as I've done,
I've never found anything like that. Maybe you have to
be inside the corporation to know that that's available.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, they're well, the reason is is because Ford is
likely asking them. Okay, what was the point of failure?
Speaker 4 (26:37):
All right?
Speaker 2 (26:38):
They want to see proof. They want to see pictures.
They want to see the porosity of the casting. They
want to see that textbook picture of how the head
gas get failed. I think the question is, and I
like what I'm hearing that the dealer's doing. The dealer's
trying to their credit, right, I think you got to
have that conversation at their elbow with them and say, listen,
if we take the engine apart and I get it,
that's five hundred dollars I'm risking. And I turn around
(26:59):
them and I say, no, I don't want to fix this.
What will this car be worth? And what else do
you have that I can buy as a used car,
CPO certified, pre owned, two years old, three years old,
thirty thousand miles on it? What does that warranty look like,
what do those numbers look like? And if all that
makes sense, and they're willing to say, well, you know, Lynn,
if we take it apart and you don't want to
(27:20):
fix it, and we buy another car from you, it's
going to cost you this and this, and you can
make the numbers work. Then you got somebody that's working
with you, and you can ask for more than that
in this day and age. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Yeah, I got fun pickens, right, But I mean that's yeah,
there's lots of way.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
This isn't just. This just isn't just. You know, Yeah,
it's broke. How do I fix it?
Speaker 4 (27:41):
And what do I do?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
There's a lot of what if? What color? And what's
next to deal with? So go have some talks, Go
have some conversations, bring them coffee and donuts, and that'll
be your Monday Tuesday project. You give me a call back,
let me know what happens. Good luck to you, kiddo.
I'm running Andy in the car doctor. We are back
right after this.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Hey, let's go to mat in Michigan. Matt, your own
ron any and the car doctor at eight by five
five six zero nine nine zero zero.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
How can I help Matt?
Speaker 5 (28:21):
Oh Man not man?
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Oh? Okay, who's this?
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Hete Pete.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Let's talk to Pete, Pete and Michigan. Do we have
the state right?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (28:32):
Well you had the state right.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
One out of two eighth, bad brother. So what's what's
going on? How can I help?
Speaker 7 (28:37):
First off, you know, I'm I'm sixty one. You think
i'd have life figured out?
Speaker 6 (28:44):
But Ron, you.
Speaker 7 (28:47):
Set me right with my two thousand and three Cadillac
when you said, by my window regulator wasn't the problem.
It was a wiring problem. By god, it was.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Well, once in a while, I get it right. That's
why they let me do this, honest, you think, yeah, probably,
So it's you know, listen, there's there's there's just sometimes
you just you get you get lucky. You know, uh right,
some day the Mets are going to return to the
wheel series. Probably not in my lifetime, but some days
you never know what could happen. So how can how
(29:20):
can I help you today?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Buddy?
Speaker 7 (29:22):
Okay, well, I know this is going to be a shock,
but my two thousand and three Cadillac has a oil leak.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Only one, no several, but okay.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
We're going to concentrate on just one.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Well wait, do we really want to fix this, peet?
You know, if we having an oil leak on an
older car is a good thing until it hits the
rear bumper. It's just like built in rustproofing. The car
will never rode away. So you know, I consider that, I.
Speaker 7 (29:52):
Know, but it's you know, cleanup in the car problem.
I love the fact that the.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
Awesome, But so you.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Can't get the drain plugs out, you can't get the
bolts out for the pan or what.
Speaker 7 (30:07):
No, Here's the thing is that I was under well,
the radiators blown out, and I'm gonna replace that. But
the thing is is that I was underneath the car
and I said, you know what, maybe the oil pan
gasket just needs to be retorched back to the eighteen
foot pounds. And so I got my torque fringe under there.
(30:32):
I want to go and park it, and it just
kept going. I'm like, this is not good.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Oh you mean the bolts are stripped?
Speaker 5 (30:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Is there a wait? I can do oversize bolts.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Well, if you, if you, if you, if you've got
you're gonna have to get it up in the air
on a lift. You need full height, all right, you
can't do it's it's kind of hard to do this
on the ground, all right, And you're gonna have to
pull the pan down, which I believe you have access
to do that. And then that is that is an
aluminum block or a cast iron block.
Speaker 7 (31:08):
Everything is illuminous.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I thought it was alumininum. You're gonna heally coil it,
but you got to have a clear shot, and you've
got to have a good steady eye and a good
steady hand.
Speaker 7 (31:17):
So I got to pull everything else to do the
heating clue. And there's not like shelf snapping. I just
put into it.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Well, they got to remember, if I listen, you can
you can hack it up any way you want, all right,
I mean you can try, but chances are, Remember if
you have to put a bolt through that's so coarse
to bite into the block, that's bigger than the strip
threads in the block, that means it's gonna be bigger
than the hole in the oil pan itself. So you're gonna,
you know, snocker that up and then you're gonna make
(31:46):
the problem worse.
Speaker 7 (31:47):
So you're just breaking my heart.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Ron, Listen, brother, I'm here to tell you what you
need to know, not what you want to hear. All right,
this is it's you know what, And it's just it's
just the way it is. These are life lessons. So
God is tempering the steal. Remember that. Look, it's it's
it's got to be you. I'm just trying to, you know,
save it from yourself, because you're the guy driving the
three Cadillact, which isn't exactly a car from yesterday. So
(32:12):
the only way I know of is a healthy coil setup,
and you could maybe try a longer bolt. Where does
that whole bottom versus the length of the bolt that's
in there, would a slightly longer bolt be able to
grab some threads that are up in the block. I
would take a blowgun and clear it out with clear
out whatever you know, dirt and air and debris is
in there, clean it out and just gently snug it up.
(32:34):
Chances are that's not going to fix your oil leak anywhere,
because it's an O three cadillact that was I don't know.
They never rusted, but they always leaked. So good luck
to you, Pete, and I was always a fun time
to talk to you. You'd be well eight hundred, I'm
sorry eight hundred. I do that a lot eight five, five, five,
six nine nine zero zero. Let's take them back to
another time. I'm running ady in the car doctor. I'll
(32:55):
be back right after this. Some closing thoughts for this hour.
Had we been at the car show and managed to
stay the whole the whole day, one of the things
(33:18):
I was talking to the people that came up to us,
and again we're just so kind of bummed out because
it was such a connection with the crowd, just a
great crowd up there at the PBA two eighty six
car show in West Milford at the Wallace Homestead. And
we're coming back next year, we promised. Tom and I
are already making plans for the backup to the backup
to the backup option. Automobiles are a microcosm of history
(33:40):
and it's really that's really what you're seeing when you
go to a car show, and this show was no
exception because they had everything from brand new just off
the showroom floor corvettes to stuffed pre war There was
a couple of pre war cars there. And you look
at the manufacturing processes, you start to think about all
the little clips and bolts and crews and the way
(34:00):
vehicles were manufactured almost eighty years ago versus today, and
how today everything is injection molded and blow molded and
you know, plastic pressed, and such a microcosm of history
of manufacturing and the way the country was run and operated,
and it's just neat to look back. Cars are more
than just cars. Some cars are like well time machines
(34:22):
because they take you back, and that's what it's all about.
It's been a pleasure this hour, as always till the
next time. I'm Ronning Ay and the Car Doctor, and
I'm reminding you good mechanics aren't expensive. They're priceless. See you, hey,
Car 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 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 a five to five
(00:25):
five six zero ninety nine hundred, your direct line to
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and be sure to subscribe to the Car Doctor YouTube
channel for exclusive videos, real repair footage and more. Now
start your engines. The Car Doctor is in the garage
(00:47):
and ready to take your call.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
You know, if everything had gone its planned, I'll use
Tom's line. I'd be now looking out over ten thousand horsepower,
eight miles of chrome, and enough polished paint to make
anybody smile and be proud.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
You didn't tell me that Murphy was going to show up.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, you know, and here we are in studio by
the way, folks. So if you're expecting to find us
at the PBA two eighty six car show up here
in West Milford, technically we were there about forty five
minutes ago, well maybe a little long, maybe about an
hour and twenty five minutes ago. And then at the
last minute, the thing that talks to the thing that
(01:27):
talks to the watching McCall that makes us go out
on air, went see you, and Tom said, I think
we have to go, and I went, well, they have
little porta potties all the way, and he said, no, no, no,
we got to go. And you never saw two guys
pack up their stuff. And thank God for our support
staff today, kudos to them. We piled everything into two
(01:47):
cars and ran down Skyline Drive, which is basically you
started at the top of the hill and it's a
five mile straight drop. It's kind of like dead Man's Hill.
All right, and here we are and we're ready to go.
We're ready to do a live show and give you
guys what you need. It's just we're not at the
car show, which is a shame. It was a great show,
it really was. It looked great. You know, some of
(02:07):
the cars that I got a chance to see. There
was a seventy nine Volkswagon bus camper, right, you know,
to pop up roof.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wait wit, they were still making those in seventy ninety yeah,
oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And this guy, this thing was really cool. I was
gonna interview this guy. It had it had the Peace
signed pillow on the back. It had like a living
room couch set up with the chairs that swiveled, and
a stove and a cook top and a refrigerator and
a Volkswagen. It was the neatest thing. I was impressed
by that. They had a Type three Volkswagen, which is
basically a it's a Volkswagen mini truck.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Volkswagons were big at this show. It was. It was crazy.
There was and I forget what it's called, but it
was a nineteen ninety one Z twenty eight road racer.
It was the equivalent of a Yanko Camaro, a factory
race car modified. They only made I think he said
(03:04):
five hundred of them, four hundred and ninety one. We're
gonna do that. Guy didn't get to it. So there
was some really neat stuff. And that was the usual
combination of you know, big block this, big block that,
and some weird.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
There were some really cool things around the back. Just
see the thirty eight I think it was the Ford
and the thirty nine Chevy.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Did you see the peach colored Willies? I saw that
thing is sharp. I think that's from the neighborhood around
the shop. I really do, because I've seen that car locally.
There can't be two of them. But I couldn't find
the owner. But unfortunately Tom called me a quarter to
twelve and said, uh oh, and I know what oh means.
And I ran back to the booth and Tom was
(03:41):
sitting there and let me tell you something, folks, It's
not on Tom's shoulders. In the thirty three years i'm
on radio, in the fifteen years with Tom, Tom has
never failed to get me on the air. And today
the equipment just didn't cooperate.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Actually, it was more like the online application that would
have gotten us on the air, and it just did
not want to recognize the audio.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, and I you know, I can't wait to find
out what it is because we had a swivel at
the last minute. And you know, it's funny. That's what
order repair is about. Waited a great segue. We had
a twenty fourteen Chevy Silverado pickup in the shop this week,
and maybe it's good we came back because I've been
dying to tell you this story. So we had a
twenty fourteen Chevy Silverado in the shop this week, a
(04:22):
regular two door plane Jane Chevy pickup, eight foot bed,
four wheel drive. You know, they probably made two three
million of these things. I mean, how it's so common, right,
And we were doing axle bearings. We had to do
an axle bearing in the right rear. The axle seal
was actually leaking. When we took it apart, we could
(04:43):
see the bearing was beat up too, so we had
to change the bearing. Now, this model year, this generation
GM pickup truck mounts the tone ring for the ABS sensor,
which is a toothed collar on the inside of the bearing.
So if you were looking of this from the outside,
you've got a seal, you've got a bearing pressed into
(05:03):
the housing, and then after that, inside the housing, you've
got this toothed ring on a collar setup pressed into
the tube. So you can't use conventional bearing removal tools
because in the past, that bearing removal tool it's a
tilting head. It would slide in, you'd pull it straight
(05:24):
and would lock in behind the bearing, but there isn't
enough room now to allow it to tilt and pull
straight because the abist tooth collar is in the way. Okay, well,
you know, I guess I've never done one of these
because I didn't have the tool. I could have done
hundreds of axle bearings, but for whatever reason, I hadn't
done this particular setup. Wait, look it up. We go
(05:47):
through tooling. We need j Dash forty five eight forty
seven Kent Moore Special Axle Bearing pullar. Blah blah blah
blah blah. Great, let's go get one of those. Well
how much is that? Well that's six hundred dollars and
that isn't even the painful part. The painful part is
that JA eighty five four to twenty seven or whatever
the part number is is on International outer Space Intergalactic
(06:10):
back order, like we might see it the last week
of December after Christmas. Well that's great, but this is September,
and I've got this truck apart on the lift. Thank
God for Amazon. You know, in order repair, you really
have to swivel, you've got to be flexible, you've got to.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Be quick on your feet.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I took that JA eighty five number or that factory
tool part number, and I plugged it into Amazon. And
you know, I know, we all complain about Amazon, the
big giant that's taken over the world, the one that's
you know, keeping people from you know, shop local and
all that. But sometimes because I called on my local
guys and nobody had anything, and it turns out that
(06:53):
you know, what happened here is is Amazon converted it
to a cheap tool. I'm not going to say it
any other way. You know, one of those cheap tools
from China, right, those fifty dollars toolkits, and that's literally
what this was. It was a fifty two dollars toolkit
in a blow molded red case with all the adapters.
(07:14):
And Amazon said, well, this has got a four and
a half star rating. This one's got a five star rating.
But they were all made that cheaper tooling quality from overseas.
I didn't need it to last, I needed it to work.
Once I ordered all three, I ordered the three possibilities.
They were all like fifty to fifty one fifty two.
I spent one hundred and fifty dollars to get three tools,
(07:36):
where i'd have to spend six hundred to get one,
knowing that when I found the one that worked, if
I didn't damage the others, get them dirty, you know,
muck them up, bar them up, and so forth, I
could send them back. So I'm really spending fifty dollars
to get this truck off my lift, this bread and
butter Chevy pickup. And sure enough, with a little bit
(07:56):
of provocation and a little bit of heat, it worked.
Auto repairs about swiveling auto repairs about at the last minute,
the repair goes completely sideways, and you've got to figure
out how to get out of it. My youngest one
said to me, she said, Dad, you know what I
like about you the most. I said, what's that? She said,
(08:17):
you always think outside the box. And I really appreciated
that then and I appreciate it now. And her point was,
and she tells me all the time, she goes, you're
never stymied. You're never stumped. She said, you may not
know the answer right away, but you keep looking and
you keep picking away at it until you get to
the point of solution. That's what we did today. That's
(08:37):
what we did Friday in the shop. You know, it
was kind of it was kind of comical going back
to the car show story because remember that scene at
the end of The in Laws where Alan Arkins says
to Peter Falk they're standing and I'm dating myself. Old movie, right,
but you got to go see it. It's a great movie.
It's a funny movie. And Alan Arkin at the end,
they're blindfolded and their hands are tied behind their back
(08:58):
and are about to be shot by the firing squad
and Alan Arkin says, Okay, what's our next move? And
Peter Fox's like, no, that's it. That's all I got.
Why what do you want to try? And He's like no, No,
that was me and Tom today. Tom's like we got
to go. We can't fix this. I'm like, no, Tom,
really tell me the truth, Like what are we gonna do?
There's there's got to be away, Like Tom, you're Tom Ray,
There's got to be a way to fix this. And
we just flew down Skyline Drive where if you know
(09:19):
Skyline Drive in West Milford. I do want to apologize
to that cop and Franklin Links because I went past
him full throttle, hammered down on the fifty five and
he just I think the look in my eyes. He
knew I was late getting somewhere, so I promise I'll
slow down next time. Anyway, let's pull over, take a pause.
We're gonna come back and answer phone calls at eight
five five five six oh nine nine zero zero again
(09:40):
eight five five five six oh nine nine zero zero.
And to everybody up in Weston Milford at the PBA
two eighty six car show, we're sorry. We're gonna try
this again next year, we promise, but for now, we'll
be back right after this to answer your questions.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And of course, as bad as Tom and I in
company felt today when we couldn't stay for the PBA
two eighty six car show, there's Brad with his BMW
calling him from Florida. Because I kind of know this story.
I saw the email came across my desk during the week. Brad,
tell America what happened to your BMW? Please welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Sir ah right, thanks for having me. So I got
tired of the dealership all changes. So I went to
a couple group bonds and you named the shops. It
doesn't really matter, Valvelene, Jeffy Lub etc. And one of
them stripped the drill pan. And when I took it
to a BMW specialist just for one of those typical
(10:48):
oil changes, he called me up and said, your prior
guy stripped the drill pin and we have to take
the engine out to replace the drill pan. And it's
a BMW. It's about a six dollar dollars charge, and
we'll do it for about four grand for you against
the sixteen BMW it's worth about twelve grands. That doesn't
seem to make sense to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So why can't they hear it? Why can't they healy
coil it.
Speaker 5 (11:12):
I don't know the answer to that. I've asked a
couple of places and they've declined to do it.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I wonder why, you know, because when I saw the email,
as a matter of fact, did Jack call you?
Speaker 6 (11:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
He did, Yeah, you know, I called. I called. I
called our BMW specialist here in the area, just to
get his two cents on it, and he said, let
me give the guy a call. And you know, his
comment was the same thought as mine, that why aren't
why isn't anybody lowering the cradle, supporting the engine and
lowering the cradle to this way the engine doesn't have
to be pulled. But you know, beyond that, the first
(11:47):
step would be why aren't we Why aren't we trying
to heally coil the pan? Is there a reason it's
an illuminum pan? Right?
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Yes? And I don't know the I don't know the
answer to that.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
If we can get clear acts to it, you know,
if we can get clear access to it, A heilly
coils as strong as anything else, would put hilly coils
a helly coil for everybody's information, It would look like
a spring and the outside of the spring would thread
into a threaded, pitched hole that would match the springs
(12:18):
outside diameter, but the inside would have matched the thread
pitch of the bolt or drain plug whatever we're screwing
into it. But we we helly coil cylinders, and you know,
spark plugs under compression and never an issue. So you know,
that would be that would be my question, of course.
My my other commentary is you know, why aren't we
going back?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Then?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I already know the answer, but I just want to
feel better saying it, why aren't we going back to
whoever stripped it? And saying, you know, what are you
going to do for me? You know, it's it's you know, listen,
and I'm not going to lecture your bread. I feel
your pain. But you've you've learned the lesson, right, it's
you get what you pay for. It's it's you know,
(12:59):
it's difficult.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
It's a hard lesson.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
Yeah, but again, it's a sixteen and it's not worth
a whole lot and I don't really see the need
to put six grand into it. And I'm trying to
find somebody to do the Healy coil the or a
vacuum oil change. I'm not sure you can do a
vacuum change on this particular model.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Well, and you know, if you're doing a vacuum style
oil change, you're.
Speaker 7 (13:20):
Just you're not getting all.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, that's not a sixty three Chevy Brother, you know,
that's a BMW. That's a rocket ship. That's you know,
there's a lot. There's a lot going on there in
terms of things that oil does, variable valve, timing, and
a bunch of other things. And I would be more
cautious and more content to you know, is there a
way to do this more economically? Have you been to
(13:43):
a BMW independent shop?
Speaker 5 (13:47):
I've been to one, and I'm going to try another
one after this call.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
You know, yeah, why isn't this you know, a why
can't we healy coil this? And I think you have
to go at this with the approach of you know what,
I'm looking for a bm I'm looking for a mechanic
for my BMW and and I know this is you
talking to them, and I know you hear this all
day long. I'm looking for somebody competent, not necessarily cheap,
(14:13):
but somebody competent, right, And that's what you are. You're
you know, it's it's not that you dislike the dealer
because of what they are. You don't mind spending the money.
You just don't know if you're getting what you really need.
Is that a fair statement?
Speaker 5 (14:25):
That's exactly why I didn't go there, exactly right.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
It's it's there's no personal interconnection communication going on. It's
it's always in the back of your mind, do I
really need this? Am I being cheated?
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Am I?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
For whatever reason? And I'm not picking on dealers. I
think there's good dealers, there's bad dealers. There's good independent shops,
there's bad independent shops. It's it's it's finding a mechanic
is probably you know, for most of us is a
very personal, uh you know, endeavor. It really is. You know, listen,
I go through it around the house. My garage door
(14:59):
broke a house. The garage doors broke at the house
over the weekend. The has a torsional spring, you know,
the two springs that wind up. One of the springs broke.
So you know, I called and left the message, Hey,
you know, this is Ron. It's such and such, and
you've been here before. It's five years. It's time to
change the torsional spring. Whenever you can get out here,
I'd appreciate it, you know. And just you know, just
(15:20):
come on out. And I just and I know they're
going to call me up and explain, well, you know
we got to charge your service. Go yeah, great, I
don't care. Come out and fix my problem because I
need this spring. You guys have been here before. We
have a relationship, right, And I think that's what we're
looking for in auto repair. We're looking for that. I
think some of us are looking for that relationship. We're
looking for that tell me what I need, not what
(15:41):
I want to hear. And and and this is the
expensive lesson because you know, I'm not going to tell
you know, you're out of your mind. You're taking a
groupon to take a BMW to a cheap oil change place,
and look what happened?
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You already know this, you know it's it's but you
know how how do we recover from it? And and
my bigger concern would be pulling the engine out of
the eight year old BMW? Do we put everything back?
What do we have to what do we bend, poke,
prod twist? What doesn't go back right? What doesn't sit right?
Will it ever be right?
Speaker 5 (16:16):
That hasn't crossed? I mean that has crossed my mind
as well, you know.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So can we helly coil it? Could we lower front suspension?
Speaker 4 (16:24):
All right?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And you're not going to hold them responsible at this
At this point, it's almost like the car's mechanically totaled
until you solve this, and and you know, is there a.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Way to do that?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
The other option is is there enough aluminum in the pan?
And I trying to remember what a sixteen looks like.
They used to make these transformer plugs. It would be
an oversized plug that would screw into the hole and
cut its own thread, and you would teflon seal them
in place, and then it just had a ball valve
(16:56):
literally like a like a plumbing ball valve. You turn
the spigot and out it would come, or would have
it would have another bolt inside that it would be
like an extension going into the into the drain plug.
Is that an option?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
All right?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I just I just kind of find that hard to
believe that it's it's gotta be this six to eight
thousand dollars repair and there's no other course of action.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
So all right, that's been very helpful. I'll keep going
down this path and I'll let you know.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
You let us know anytime. Brad, good luck to you.
That's horrible, right, and you can't just say, well, it's
a BMW. It is supposed to be expensive. Expensive is
one thing. Ridiculous is another. And you know, oh boy
eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero
running in of the car doctor. I'll be back right
after this. Don't go anywhere from the city streets to
(17:46):
the open road to now.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
If you're ready, help will.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
Keep you aroun.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
He he's a car doctor. Jar that right now? You mean,
like right now, let's go to lynnon Delaware. Lynn, Welcome
to the car doctor.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
How can I help?
Speaker 6 (18:15):
Hey? Thank you for taking my call.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
What's going on?
Speaker 6 (18:19):
Oh yeah, Oh, I have a twenty nineteen convertible Ford Mustang.
Okay it it has sixty five thousand miles on it.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
And I've been working on this for four months. I've
had like a white grayish smoke come out. Timing's off.
I got it.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
So you've got you've got a blown head. You've got
a blown head gasket which is not complete now after.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
A diagnostic testing, they took pictures of it and they
had a very detailed free page report at the cool
and scaling into the head gasket.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Well, the head gascus head, the head gaskets blown and
cool and is going into the engine apparently.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
So yeah, So I've been doing research over the last
four months. I found out there's a lot of class
action suits on Eco Boost. That's what the main problem is.
It's this particular engine to eco Boost. It's expected Lincoln's
Forard trucks, Ford Mustangs. There's class action suits. There's no
(19:21):
recall on any of the vehicles. They don't have enough
data or reports. I've called corporate three times. I finally
got a clean's number. They will not reimburse me of
the expense. It's going to take place until there's a
recall and then they'll replace it. But in the meantime,
(19:43):
I do have it at a dealership. They have to
tear the engine apart to figure out what parts needs
to be replaced. But this is ridiculous that so.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Let's cut to the chase. I would ask them, why
is it that on a Mustang it's not under a
recall an extended warranty, But this engine in an escape
is kind of the same problem on an escape. Escapes
went through this too, and I believe it was the
two three it was it was it was the one
to five. If you go look up history on the
(20:16):
one five escapes of this generation and the and the
or was that a two liter? Uh escape? I'm trying
to remember now too, you're a two point three leader, correct, Yeah,
I'm trying to I'm trying to remember which engine. Yeah,
I think you're right. I believe you're a two point
three liter turbo. But my point is a lot of
(20:36):
this generation it wasn't just a Mustang. And the reason
I'm trying to steer you away from the Mustang is
because if we compare the number of Mustangs built versus
the number of Escapes built. Mustang is a much smaller
volume of built vehicles, so that the pattern of failure
to create a recall is going to be smaller. But
if we look at if we look at the same
(20:58):
engine in the Escape, the same family and generation of
engine in the Escapes, the proportion of failure is much
much higher.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And we've had We've had more than a few customers
in the shop that have had the head gasket failure,
and the problem was it was porosity in the casting
of the cylinder head. As I understand, it created a
defective head and it didn't clamp the gasket correctly and
it caused the gasket to blow and leaked cooling.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
So so my question to them was, if I decided
it's cheaper to put a new engine in and buy
another car because of the cars in Pristine. In addition, but.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It's ten grand for an engine, right, same engine in.
It's ten grands for an engine right, right?
Speaker 6 (21:44):
Seriously, But I was like, are you putting the same
engine in? Yeah, the same ecopies, And I said, did
you repair that fix this situation? And they're like, you
might want to google that and find that out. Nobody
ever asked us that.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yeah, that's you know what that that that means you're
dealing with a bunch of dumbbells that don't want to
know the answers. Yeah, my friend, Yeah, I listen. I
you know, you know why I'm here after thirty three years, Lynn,
because I'm the only one that's not afraid to call
it like I say it. I would have been a
great I would have been a great baseball umpire.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
You know, it's is this the beginning of a new
you're my new best friend?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well it could be, you know, but you know and
now and now you know what, and now we're going
to play the game, right, you and I are going
to play the game, because if we were standing in
the shop, we'd be playing what's what? What next?
Speaker 4 (22:31):
What if?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And what color?
Speaker 4 (22:33):
All?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Right? What next is? What next? Is what happens if?
And then it leads into what if if we put
the engine in? What if the turbo charger fails? And
that's another six brand?
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Well, yeah, what's my warranty? What's my How many miles
am I going to get out of that?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, they'll warrantee the engine, they'll warrantee the engine. They're
not going to warranty any any of the rest of it.
Part of the problem here, Linn, I already know what
part of the problems, all right is it's a convertible,
and you love the convertible.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
Right, yeah, it's about my fist on right, yep.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
You're a free spirit. You like that top down, wind
in your face and hair thing. You got that.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
Oh and guess what, my my vanity tiger.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Is, right?
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I could, I could see it.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
You can tell that. I can.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I can, I can. I can see it. I can
see it from here. And I'm in New Jersey, all right,
I'm three states away.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
You know it's away.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Well, you see, I consider I consider Central Jersey and
South Jersey state, so technically i'm three states all right. Yeah.
So so the question becomes, before we dump a bunch
of money into this, do we buy something newer with
less miles and call this the loss that it is? Right?
(23:57):
And that's the question only Lynd can answer because only
n is what her budget is. And that's the truth, right,
It's this, This was a chronic problem. Listen, full disclosure.
And for all my Ford dealers out there that advertise
on all the affiliates to carry this show. I think
Ford has a really decent product in certain aspects. I
(24:17):
think they've got their headaches like the rest of the
car companies, and this particular generation of engine is a headache.
It just is. Head gasket failures are not uncommon and
turbochargers are not uncommon. Now, you know, we need to
have a conversation about you know, quality of oil change,
frequency of oil change, regular maintenance, fuel system cleaning and
(24:40):
all that.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
I have it all backed up.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
And none of that. None of that would have prevented
the head gasket failure. Because it seems like if one
of these things is going to have a stroke, it's
going to have a stroke, no matter how many times
it goes to the gym. But once you get past that,
it's the regular maintenance that keeps it going longer. The
question for you is this is now a six almost
seven year old vehicle, and you're not putting an engine
(25:05):
into this car to drive it another year. You're putting
an engine into this car to drive it another five years, hopefully,
And what if saying here's where what if comes in?
What if the turbo fails, what if the transmission fails?
And before before we spend this kind of money. All right,
(25:25):
you got to play what color pick a different color car,
pick the same color car. Can you go buy this
car two or three years newer? And what will that cost?
What is this car worth? What will that new car cost?
What are you getting? I'd like to think that if
you bought something two years newer or three years newer,
you're getting a car with half the mileage and some
(25:47):
sort of extended warranty for five years. Maybe we could
put that on there and get some sort of powertrain coverage.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Right, it's.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Anytime you want to.
Speaker 6 (26:00):
Ford, who I was dealing with in the service department,
made me aware that he found a program from Ford
that will cover half of the costs. Okay, so I
like that idea, but I had they then they called
me back and said that they have to tear the
engine apart before they can approach Ford with the situation.
(26:21):
I don't know. As much research as as I've done,
I've never found anything like that. Maybe you have to
be inside the corporation to know that that's available.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, they're well, the reason is is because Ford is
likely asking them. Okay, what was the point of failure?
Speaker 4 (26:37):
All right?
Speaker 2 (26:38):
They want to see proof. They want to see pictures.
They want to see the porosity of the casting. They
want to see that textbook picture of how the head
gas get failed. I think the question is, and I
like what I'm hearing that the dealer's doing. The dealer's
trying to their credit, right, I think you got to
have that conversation at their elbow with them and say, listen,
if we take the engine apart and I get it,
that's five hundred dollars I'm risking. And I turn around
(26:59):
them and I say, no, I don't want to fix this.
What will this car be worth? And what else do
you have that I can buy as a used car,
CPO certified, pre owned, two years old, three years old,
thirty thousand miles on it? What does that warranty look like,
what do those numbers look like? And if all that
makes sense, and they're willing to say, well, you know, Lynn,
if we take it apart and you don't want to
(27:20):
fix it, and we buy another car from you, it's
going to cost you this and this, and you can
make the numbers work. Then you got somebody that's working
with you, and you can ask for more than that
in this day and age. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Yeah, I got fun pickens, right, But I mean that's yeah,
there's lots of way.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
This isn't just. This just isn't just. You know, Yeah,
it's broke. How do I fix it?
Speaker 4 (27:41):
And what do I do?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
There's a lot of what if? What color? And what's
next to deal with? So go have some talks, Go
have some conversations, bring them coffee and donuts, and that'll
be your Monday Tuesday project. You give me a call back,
let me know what happens. Good luck to you, kiddo.
I'm running Andy in the car doctor. We are back
right after this.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Hey, let's go to mat in Michigan. Matt, your own
ron any and the car doctor at eight by five
five six zero nine nine zero zero.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
How can I help Matt?
Speaker 5 (28:21):
Oh Man not man?
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Oh? Okay, who's this?
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Hete Pete.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Let's talk to Pete, Pete and Michigan. Do we have
the state right?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (28:32):
Well you had the state right.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
One out of two eighth, bad brother. So what's what's
going on? How can I help?
Speaker 7 (28:37):
First off, you know, I'm I'm sixty one. You think
i'd have life figured out?
Speaker 6 (28:44):
But Ron, you.
Speaker 7 (28:47):
Set me right with my two thousand and three Cadillac
when you said, by my window regulator wasn't the problem.
It was a wiring problem. By god, it was.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Well, once in a while, I get it right. That's
why they let me do this, honest, you think, yeah, probably,
So it's you know, listen, there's there's there's just sometimes
you just you get you get lucky. You know, uh right,
some day the Mets are going to return to the
wheel series. Probably not in my lifetime, but some days
you never know what could happen. So how can how
(29:20):
can I help you today?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Buddy?
Speaker 7 (29:22):
Okay, well, I know this is going to be a shock,
but my two thousand and three Cadillac has a oil leak.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Only one, no several, but okay.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
We're going to concentrate on just one.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Well wait, do we really want to fix this, peet?
You know, if we having an oil leak on an
older car is a good thing until it hits the
rear bumper. It's just like built in rustproofing. The car
will never rode away. So you know, I consider that, I.
Speaker 7 (29:52):
Know, but it's you know, cleanup in the car problem.
I love the fact that the.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
Awesome, But so you.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Can't get the drain plugs out, you can't get the
bolts out for the pan or what.
Speaker 7 (30:07):
No, Here's the thing is that I was under well,
the radiators blown out, and I'm gonna replace that. But
the thing is is that I was underneath the car
and I said, you know what, maybe the oil pan
gasket just needs to be retorched back to the eighteen
foot pounds. And so I got my torque fringe under there.
(30:32):
I want to go and park it, and it just
kept going. I'm like, this is not good.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Oh you mean the bolts are stripped?
Speaker 5 (30:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Is there a wait? I can do oversize bolts.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Well, if you, if you, if you, if you've got
you're gonna have to get it up in the air
on a lift. You need full height, all right, you
can't do it's it's kind of hard to do this
on the ground, all right, And you're gonna have to
pull the pan down, which I believe you have access
to do that. And then that is that is an
aluminum block or a cast iron block.
Speaker 7 (31:08):
Everything is illuminous.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I thought it was alumininum. You're gonna heally coil it,
but you got to have a clear shot, and you've
got to have a good steady eye and a good
steady hand.
Speaker 7 (31:17):
So I got to pull everything else to do the
heating clue. And there's not like shelf snapping. I just
put into it.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Well, they got to remember, if I listen, you can
you can hack it up any way you want, all right,
I mean you can try, but chances are, Remember if
you have to put a bolt through that's so coarse
to bite into the block, that's bigger than the strip
threads in the block, that means it's gonna be bigger
than the hole in the oil pan itself. So you're gonna,
you know, snocker that up and then you're gonna make
(31:46):
the problem worse.
Speaker 7 (31:47):
So you're just breaking my heart.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Ron, Listen, brother, I'm here to tell you what you
need to know, not what you want to hear. All right,
this is it's you know what, And it's just it's
just the way it is. These are life lessons. So
God is tempering the steal. Remember that. Look, it's it's
it's got to be you. I'm just trying to, you know,
save it from yourself, because you're the guy driving the
three Cadillact, which isn't exactly a car from yesterday. So
(32:12):
the only way I know of is a healthy coil setup,
and you could maybe try a longer bolt. Where does
that whole bottom versus the length of the bolt that's
in there, would a slightly longer bolt be able to
grab some threads that are up in the block. I
would take a blowgun and clear it out with clear
out whatever you know, dirt and air and debris is
in there, clean it out and just gently snug it up.
(32:34):
Chances are that's not going to fix your oil leak anywhere,
because it's an O three cadillact that was I don't know.
They never rusted, but they always leaked. So good luck
to you, Pete, and I was always a fun time
to talk to you. You'd be well eight hundred, I'm
sorry eight hundred. I do that a lot eight five, five, five,
six nine nine zero zero. Let's take them back to
another time. I'm running ady in the car doctor. I'll
(32:55):
be back right after this. Some closing thoughts for this hour.
Had we been at the car show and managed to
stay the whole the whole day, one of the things
(33:18):
I was talking to the people that came up to us,
and again we're just so kind of bummed out because
it was such a connection with the crowd, just a
great crowd up there at the PBA two eighty six
car show in West Milford at the Wallace Homestead. And
we're coming back next year, we promised. Tom and I
are already making plans for the backup to the backup
to the backup option. Automobiles are a microcosm of history
(33:40):
and it's really that's really what you're seeing when you
go to a car show, and this show was no
exception because they had everything from brand new just off
the showroom floor corvettes to stuffed pre war There was
a couple of pre war cars there. And you look
at the manufacturing processes, you start to think about all
the little clips and bolts and crews and the way
(34:00):
vehicles were manufactured almost eighty years ago versus today, and
how today everything is injection molded and blow molded and
you know, plastic pressed, and such a microcosm of history
of manufacturing and the way the country was run and operated,
and it's just neat to look back. Cars are more
than just cars. Some cars are like well time machines
(34:22):
because they take you back, and that's what it's all about.
It's been a pleasure this hour, as always till the
next time. I'm Ronning Ay and the Car Doctor, and
I'm reminding you good mechanics aren't expensive. They're priceless. See you, hey,
Car Doctor. Car advice to write
Host
Ron Ananian
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