February 4, 2023 • 35 mins
Ron starts this episode talking about extreme cold weather and how to prepare your car : takes a call on an 18 Accord Sport that is in limp mode and the dealer can’t figure it out : takes a call on a 13 Tundra with intermittent power steering : takes a call from someone wanting Ron’s opinion on buying a Kia Soul : and answers two emails, one of which is on a 10 Honda and a question on cold air intakes.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Ron and Anian, Has technology taken us to the point
that some cars just can't be fixed? Is it possible?
Are we there? Are we knocking on the door? No
pun intended. I'm driving my lab away, the car Doctor.
Could the parking break be hanging up causing the drag?
The breaks? Totally disconnected? Okay, that's what I wanted, totally
(00:26):
disconnected it because I can't. Yeah, I couldn't get a
new cable porn. I didn't feel like rebuilding it. Welcome
to the radio home of Ron and Anian The Car Doctor,
since this is where car owners the world overturned to
for their definitive opinion on automotive repair. If your mechanics
giving you a busy signal, pick up the phone and
call in the garage doors are open, but I am
(00:50):
here to take your calls at eight five five six
and now he running? Hey, is it cold enough for what?
At least it's not Mount Washington Mount Washington. I think
they recorded up in New Hampshire. Um, geez, it was
a hundred and something below zero. Think it was either
a hundred and six or a hundred and ten. You
(01:10):
believe it? Yeah, I can't believe it because that's just
you know, it's it's funny. We were talking about cold
weather vehicle prep. Yesterday NBC New York came out to
visit us in the shop, and um, you know they
wanted some tips. Well, of course they would come to us, right,
come to the car doctor and get some tips on uh,
you know, how to get your vehicle ready for cold
weather and some of the dudes and don'ts and obviously
some of it's basic. Uh. And the subject of Mott
(01:31):
Washington came up, and I said, the only thing I
can do it to prep you for Mount Washington is
a shot of Scotch and stay and saw it. You know,
there's not much else you're gonna do. It's um, it's
just that's just it's like being on another planet. But
vehicle prep if you're interested and you haven't done so,
and you want to be ready for the next cold
weather snap because if you haven't done any of this
now it's too late. Hopefully you get through it and
(01:51):
we make it to the middle of the week nationally,
because they're talking how you know, so much of the
country is gripped with this weather cold that by midwek
as though it's gonna be back up in the forty
in the fifties and a lot of places. Um you know, uh,
some of the stuff is obvious, right, you know, tire pressure, right,
you've you've you know your your tires are ready to go.
You've got them properly inflated. One of the ways you
can tell and one of the simplest things you can do.
(02:12):
When I mentioned this in the NBC today, UH spot
was just to be sure that look at your oil change.
When was your oil change done last? You know, you
have the power to take care of your car, getting
your car sit down. Look in the upper left corner
in your windshield where they're probably or they should be putting.
Are they most of us put the oil chain stickers? Now?
Was it just done? If it was just done, good.
If the oil change is reflecting that it's overdue, you're late.
(02:36):
If the oil change reflects a date that the last
oil change was done somewhere around September, and for whatever
oil change interval you're using, you haven't gone back in
yet because you're not there by mileage your time. That's
a problem. September was five going on six months ago,
and what was the weather like in September? The weather
in September was seventy degrees in most parts of the country,
(02:58):
if not hotter. And now it's five six months later,
and we know the laws of physics state that if
you look at the door placard on your driver's door,
the the B pillar usually the second pillar in it.
Usually it will tell you that the tire pressure is
supposed to be this based on a sixty eight degree day.
And you should take note that just because it says
(03:18):
it for one set of tires, not all the tires front,
rear and spare have their own label line listing, usually
because some cars it's different pressures front, back and spare.
Most spares, if they're the space Saver doughnut, the the
funny looking tire is a sixty p s I tire
and thirty five P s I just won't be enough
(03:39):
if that's what the number is for the normal tire.
So you gotta take a look at the plancard. But
if you haven't, the point becomes if you haven't done
any tire pressure work since September, October, even November, the
weather has changed an awful lot since then. You want
to make sure the tires are you know, taken care
of obviously, you want to, you know, get a look
at the battery. You want to be sure that the
battery has been tested, has been replaced. Uh. You know,
(03:59):
one of the things Pat Battle asked me about was
you know, length of life of the battery, And I said,
and I told her, I said, Pat, we're seeing four years,
five years if you're lucky. Batteries don't seem to go
beyond that, especially on a newer, more electronically laden vehicle.
Electronics take up you know, electricity, and there's a there's
a recycling factor in terms of pulling the battery down.
(04:21):
There's a draw when the vehicle is off that seems
to be having an effect on batteries. And four years
seems to be a safe number. It used to be five.
You get into year five, you don't want to get stuck.
Have the battery tested, consider changing it a little early.
Better before warned and forearmed and stuck out in the cold,
because being stuck in zero degree, whether in a parking lot,
trying to get home is no fun and it can
(04:43):
be deadly. It can be a problem life for life
or death. So you want to get that done. How
about the door handles? I mentioned this to Pat and
she was surprised, and you know, I just it just
it's just common knowledge to me. Again, I guess it's
something that I just I'm aware of. I think about
it all the time. But what kind of door handles
does your vehicle have on it? You know, they're plastic,
(05:04):
right they pull out or they pull up. You've got
to be careful because if you're driving an older vehicle,
and older in my mind is something that's you know,
four or five six years old, and that seems to
be young in terms of the age of the vehicle
fleet today. But you get into an older car, get
into a car that's eight going on nine ten years old.
Pulling that plastic door handle, Boy, tell you what, you
(05:25):
kind of cringe. You can feel that plastic getting so hard.
And we've had more than a few door handles where
the door is frozen and you give it a quick
yank and you come up with the handle in your
hand because it was stressed. So open your door gingerly.
Here's a case where you've got a remote start vehicle
and you were smart enough to leave the heat on
and the heat does run if you go into remote
(05:47):
start operation. Let the vehicle warm up. Alright, the heck
with what all the other geniuses are saying. Let the
vehicle warm up, Let it build some heat, Let it
permeate into the vehicle, into the cabin, into the glass.
Hopefully it gets into the door, warms things up a
little bit, and you'd be surprised that the doors are frozen.
How much a little bit of heat will do to
go a long way to opening that door up. Wiper blades,
(06:08):
how are the wiper blades? You know so many of
you have this attitude, and I see it time and
time again that you know, the the wipers, the windshield
is a sheet of ice. It's frozen rain, freezing rain, snow, slush,
something other than just warm water. Up the I'll fix
and you turn the wipers on, and then you're amazed
when the wipers don't move. Then you're even more surprised
(06:30):
when you have to bring it into a repair shop
and it needs wiper linkage or as we call it,
a wiper transmission, which is now becoming and it has
been for a long time. Most of the vehicles today
are repaired. It's wiper motor linkage, plastic bushings. There's that
plastic word again. And the bushing has failed and it
requires complete replacement, and you'll spend six seven eights to
(06:53):
repair wipers. Here's the trick. When you walk out it's
a cold morning, and you know the windshield, your susp
what's going on with the blades. Just pick the blade
up gently by hand and let it you know, just
get a let it, you know, let it drop back
down nice and easy. Doesn't move if if you can
pick it up, then you can turn the wipers dominable
move If you can't pick it up and the wipers
(07:13):
are frozen to the glass, uh, you know, here we go.
Let's warm the car up. Let's try and get some
of that stuff off the glass, warm it up and uh,
you know, be safe that way, so we don't damage
the wiper linkage, the wiper transmission, motor assembly. Uh, you know,
very very important. And then for that matter, what kind
of shape are the wipers in? Are the wipers torn
or they are they beaten? Up? Front wiper blades, rear
(07:36):
wiper blade. I know nobody uses their rear wiper blade,
but you'll be surprised in a snow stormer and bad
weather and clement weather like we're supposedly gonna have this
one where we usually have UM that rear wiper blade
becomes real important. Coolant. We talked about coolant, uh during
our time on TV this week, and you know, I
(07:57):
can't say enough about it. We tend to forget about coolant.
Coolant is um. It's kind of like the Rodney danger
Field of an Honoraobile part in the sense that it
just gets no respect anymore, in the sense of it
just seems to last so much longer it used to be.
You know, fifteen years ago, twenty years ago, it was
all green coolant, and you know, it was a two
to four year cycle time. And we've made such strides
(08:21):
in the cooling system and such strides and coolant. Now
it's changed, you know, five six years some manufacturers are
pushing ten year coolant. That's a different conversation. I'm not
gonna get into that debate here, but you know, we
want to just be aware when was the cooling changed last,
what's the freeze point protection? And then if you do
have to top and add up, make sure you're adding
(08:43):
the correct coolant. Not all coolants are the same. They
haven't been for a very long time. If you go
out to o w I dot com, which is the
website for Peak anti Freeze Peak Coolant. You will see
they list all the different type of coolants that are
available for your vehicle, any freeze that's available for your vehicle.
(09:04):
They have some coolants that you know are universal in
the sense that they cover a spectrum, and there's different
versions of universal coolency. You can try those, or you
can match it to your vehicle at their website out
there for Peak Coolant and be sure of what you're
putting in. Be sure of what you're adding is correct.
There's nothing worse than adding, well, I added two quarts
(09:25):
of this green coolant because my car has green anti freeze,
to find out that it's a different type of green.
You can't just judge it by color. There's all different
chemical based coolants in the world today. Color alone is
not enough. You have to judge it by the chemical
composition and it's best done by application of what does
the vehicle call for. So just just to be aware
(09:47):
you can still do it, but just make sure you're
putting the right stuff in. You'll find a lot of
information out at ow I dot com. Just go look
up Peak Coolant out on the internet and you'll find
it there. Um so, and that was my week, right,
we had a great week. We that story ran yesterday
and judging by the emails, we're getting a lot of
you enjoyed it. We're glad that you did. And yes,
that was me. Unfortunately it did not have Tom with
(10:08):
me because Tom is not in the shop during the
week like that. I do actually have Tom and studio
with me though. Today. It's good to see you Tom
looking through the glass instead of looking through the internet. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
it's it's actually quite good. And you know, but the
only problem is I can't click a button here and
make you disappear off my screen. Well that's good because
then I catch a sleeping somewhere during the middle of
the show and then the show goes south. So no, no, no, guys,
(10:28):
my dog Ted, that does that, and I missed Ted.
Actually you should have brought Ted with you. Actually, actually,
but you know, he would have been barking in the
middle of the show. Yeah, well that's okay, we could.
People would like that. Ted's a cute doggie. So but
Tom's actually in studio with me today because it's so
cold here in the Northeast that the internet is frozen.
At Tom's house and he can't get down here, he
can't get a signal down here to the studio. So
(10:50):
he he made the ride and we're together today, so
we should have a good show today. So give us
a call at eight five zero zero here to answer
your questions and solve your problems. I'm Rondini in the
Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this number. Time
(11:18):
riding on the wall, so you don't forget to call
for a car advice. Done right? Eight five five five
zero zero zero. Now back to row. Hey, let's get
over to Nancy in California with some questions about eight
Honda accord. Nancy, Welcome to the Car Doctor. How can
I help? Hi? I listened to you on our kN
S radio. I just wanted to let you know how
(11:40):
much I really, uh was interested in and liked your
limp mode explanation last week. Okay, it happened to me once.
What the Honda went into limp mode? Is it currently
happening now? No? Okay, it happened only one time. But
the funniest part is that it happened I bought the
(12:01):
car brand new. It happened four months after I bought
the car, and it had less than a thousand miles
on it scary feeling, right, yeah, thanks, So I'm creeping
along the after you know, it happens, creeping along the
um side of the road, you know, not knowing whether
I needed tow or you know, what am I going
to do? Because I'm in the middle of nowhere. We
(12:22):
have lots of trees around us. So and you know,
the idea of limp mode was to get you home,
and I'm assuming that's what it did, right, well, sort
of it did well, not from where I was. It
was a coast highway with one on one and so no,
it's not going to get me home that way, absolutely not.
(12:42):
So my friend who was traveling with me, said, turn
it off. You know what happens to a computer when
you turn it off and you turn it back on,
You reboot it. H rebooted it. I've never had a
problem again. You know where, you know where the idea
of limp mode came from? True story, so Ford Motor Company.
Ford called it from them failure mode effects Management. I'm
(13:02):
going back to the early eighties. So if you're if
you're a child of history, you'll recall that Ford Aerospace
was shut down in the late seventies and Ford Motor
Company UM then turned and hired a lot of those
engineers and brought them over to Ford Motor Company to
develop engine control systems. So if you're an aeronautical space
(13:25):
engineer and you're not working on rockets anymore and you
now go work for a car company, what do you do.
You bring the same technology with you, right, So the
same idea of when a rocket, you know, when the
when the moon ships were going up, and if they
went into failure like Apollo Third Team, we had an
Apollo third Team type of failure. They would get home
on limpmode. Well, they put it into cars Ford how
(13:46):
to give it a fancy name from them failure Mode
Effects Management, And that's that's really That was the first
documented case I'm aware of where a car company did it.
Now it's evolved to the point that every vehicle on
the road has some sort of limpmode just to get
you home because as they again, it's about marketing and advertising.
They don't want to hear that, you know, people talking
in the news. Hey, my handa left me stranded on
(14:06):
the side of the Coast Highway at two o'clock in
the morning and the pouring rain or bed weather or something. Hey,
at least I got home or I was able to
turn it off and you know, turn it back on
and it went back to normal. Well, that's the deal.
I It was so new to me. It's like, oh, gosh,
do it. If I turn it off, I'm not gonna
have to be towed or but you know what's going
to happen at seven o'clock at night. I don't know
what's going on, you know, Nancy. I think the safe
(14:29):
thing whenever you're dealing with a car today is and
and listen, I have this thought a lot, you know,
in the shop it's already broken. I'll sit there and
I'll say to myself, you know it's already broken. I
can't break it anymore. What's the worst that's gonna happen
if I can't drive the card? In your case, you
couldn't drive the car, as you said, on the Coast
Highway and it was barely getting moving along, and I'm
(14:50):
sure there was traffic and you have to be worried
about being hit from behind or something else. To pull
over to the side and get to a safe spot
and turn it off and hope for the best. This
is the concern with automobiles that the technology has has
just overtaken us. That there is so much technology in
the car, they're making it so difficult to repair and
(15:14):
if improper procedures are done. I'm amazed at how body
shops repair cars every day. Not that they do it wrong.
I think the majority of body shops are out there
trying to do it right. But when you look at
the amount of electronics and connectors and and grounds and
and wiring that's involved in a car, you know, it's
I don't even like to think about that. Imagine they
(15:34):
took the roof off your house, gutted the house, and
rewired the whole thing. You know, is it is it
without knocking the house down. It's it's it's something akin
to that, and it's difficult. So but you know what
really what really got me was, of course that was
a Saturday, and I couldn't take it in. It was
late at night, well not real late anyway. Um So
I took it in the next week to the dealership
and they couldn't tell me. They scanned it. They said
(15:56):
the code said it was a misfire, which I never heard.
Me to backfire, I never heard anything like that at all.
Um anyway, they suggested, you know, I think they had
no idea. They suggested that, oh perhaps I had gotten
a bad gas So you actually had a misfire fault.
Well that's what they said. It wasn't that, but that's
(16:19):
what they said. It was. Now, now I can tell
you what's wrong with the car. Okay, all right, So
it had a misfire fault. A lot of cases on
the on this generation Honda, we're coming up with misfire faults.
Uh P zero three oh three, P zero three oh four.
Sometimes it was a crank chaft position sensor fault. Crank
(16:40):
chaft position sensors were getting replaced, and nobody detected any
fault with the vehicle. The key was that you Honda
had put out a bullet and oh gosh, it was
some time ago where they wanted you to do a
crankshaft position sensor relearn. Some of the cars came mount
(17:00):
and they weren't properly programmed and they didn't learn, they
didn't learn indexing positions, and every once in a while
it would miss a step. It's like you, right when
when when you were younger, you learned how to walk
and then you had to learn how to skip, and
every once in a while you'd skipped so much you
couldn't remember how to walk again, you know, and so
you'd have to like pre program yourself. A car kind
(17:22):
of goes through the same thing. It gets so used
to running in a particular way, and then it has
to go back. It has to it has to walk
instead of skipping or instead of running. It loses its program.
They had a they had a software glitch and doing
a crankshaft position sensor relearned with a scan tool solve
the problem on those cars. So if if it happens again,
(17:44):
I'm gonna suggest that if they come up with misfires again,
that that's um cranks position sensor relearned. So the line
about the line about bad gas is a standard one.
I don't know why they still use that. Everybody seems
to fall back to that. My fish, it was really bad. Well,
if it was really bad gas, the car wouldn't runner
(18:04):
went to brought you into the dealership after the reset,
So I gotta run nancy him up against the clock.
It was a pleasure be well out there, And thanks
for listening to the car doctor. We appreciate you, and
we appreciate your questions. You need more of them here
eight five five zero, run any and at your service.
Right after this, don't go away. Welcome back in the
(18:43):
car doctor in the inimitable Thomas Ray the third rolling
along this hour as we try to fix cars here
across America. Let's go over to us Sterling and mainten Sterling.
I'm not supposed to ask this question, so I'm going
to how cold is it up there? Today? It was
negative seventeen less night, that's without, that's without the winds
till it was blowing forty as well. Hold as I've
(19:05):
ever seen up here. Oh my gosh, So did it
warm up? Did it warm up with all this this afternoon? Yeah,
it's up to about zero. Wow, it's a heat wave.
Time to put another shrimp on the barbie. So how
can I help you today? Sir? I have a Toyota
Tundra from two thousand. It has miles on it. It's
(19:26):
been a great truck. About six months ago, the power
steering started going in and out. You could never tell
when it was gonna go. And as time went on
that continued to get a little more frequent, where the
power steering would go out. And then my serpentine belt
broke one morning, so I took it to my local mechanic,
who usually does a wonderful job. He put the serpentine
(19:47):
a new put a new belt on, and and it's
still kept doing it. It's still kept intermittently losing power steering.
So I took it back to him and he put
new pumps in, new UH new pumps, and new UH
hoses and a new rack in, and it's still is
doing it. And he says he's sorry, he just cannot
(20:09):
figure it out. And he was nice. He only charged
me from parts. He didn't charge me for all the
labor that he did. But it's still it's still doing it.
It seems too. When I first start the truck up,
it seems to work for a little while, and then
it goes back off and then back on, and you
just never know when it's gonna um, when it's going
to cut out. So and it's it's it's you don't
(20:32):
want it to cut out on that truck. Well, yeah,
I understand V. Eight. You know it's probably you know older,
So I always go through the basics. All right, I'm
gonna you know, you know me well enough by now,
all you guys listening on air, I mean I go
through steps one through ten. I always start at one
tire pressure. I'm gonna make sure I've got the right
amount of air in the tires. I'm gonna check the
front end. I'm gonna look it over. Do I see
(20:52):
any signs of rust coming out of any of the
steering joints, ball joints, tyrods, you know, just to be
sure there's nothing binding up, there's nothing corroded, there's nothing
that has the potential to get stuck. Uh. You know,
it sounds like he replaced the entire power steering system.
If we want to rule out bad parts, new doesn't
mean good. New means never ever worked in my world.
(21:13):
You know, then then I can eliminate that. Only you
can be the judge of that. You know, what quality
or what level of part did he use. I won't
say that he was wrong at two hundred thousand miles.
It could have been across leak in the rack. I
don't know what he found. It could have been that
this is a layered issue. I'm just surprised that he
didn't go to the next step. Maybe he's not aware.
Maybe I'm wrong. But I think the next the next
thing I would look at is I would take a
(21:34):
look at the steering shift. All right, if if you
look at the steering column, there are there's an upper
and a lower what we call an intermediate shift. It's
basically two drive shifts tied together with a with a
spline of coupling and a universal joint. And I'm willing
to bet you know, nine years in Maine with you
(21:56):
have that thing called snow and corrosion. That if definitely
if you if you look at the steering shift when
you're driving and the power steering gets tight, does it
wine or it just it just gets tight. There's no
change in the way the steering pump sounds right, It
doesn't make any sounds just either either. And it's either
all the way on or all the way on? And
(22:17):
and do and do you have to drag it back?
If like you make a left turn, do you have
to fight to bring the wheel back? It doesn't come
back by itself. No, I have if I'm if I'm driving,
it's a lot easier, But it's mostly when I'm stopped
at at intersection and all of a sudden it goes
out and I have to wrestle the thing around. But
while I'm driving, it does come back. I mean, you know,
(22:38):
while I'm driving, it's not a big issue. Well, but
while you're driving, you know you're rolling. If you go
into a parking lot, maneuver, if you're doing ten miles
an hour and make a hard left turn or a
hard right turn, does the wheel come back or do
you have to put a little extra effort into dragging
it back. Oh? No, I'd have to drag it back.
I think you've got a frozen intermediate shift, all right.
(23:00):
I think I think the couplings themselves. Now, you could
try a little science project if you're game, all right,
get get down to your local Loto parts store. Get
a can of PB Blaster rust penetrant, all right, and
you want to put a drip pan underneath coming out
of the by the left front tire. All right, you'll
see there's gonna be a little rubber flap built into
the inner wheelhouse. You might have to take the tire
(23:21):
off to get to this. It depends on you know,
how flexible you are, and if you want to reach
over the tire. But you know you'll have to pick
up that flap and you'll see the shaft coming out
of the firewall going down to the steering rack. You
want to if that if those universal joints look rusty
and crunchy, all right, soak them all right? Do you
(23:41):
have a Do you have a garage you can put
this in at night? Is it heated? Okay, I'm surprised
you're in mean, it's it's it's seventeen it's seventeen below.
What's wrong with you? Tell tell mommy you need a
heated garage. It's the next thing. There's nothing like it.
I've got a heated garl I've got a heated garage
in New Jerry. I'm getting soft on my old age.
(24:02):
So but um, you know, put it in the garage
and set it up with a drip pan underneath, because
you're gonna make a mess. And let the p B
be liberal, all right. Spray it on the U joints,
spraying on the shaft itself, the pieces that move, and
let it soak. And there are two joints right near
the steering wheel and one at the other end right,
So the one near the steering wheel is probably fine.
(24:22):
I've never seen one of those go bad. It's the
ones it's the ones that are on the outside of
the firewall in the engine compartment that have been exposed
to the elements, and you know now they're starting to
rust and bind and clunk, and uh, you know I
I just went through this on to Tacomas. As a
matter of fact. Uh, to Tacoma is in a tundra,
similar situation, similar age. You know, bad intermediate shaft, the
(24:46):
lower shaft down at the rack was really a disaster.
I would like to think that your guy would have
noticed that, but you know, I can't assume. You know,
I can't assume because if he did, you wouldn't be here.
You wouldn't be here talking at me. I've got to
get it off the table, because if the shaft is
good and there is no shaft problem, then I've got
(25:06):
then I've got to go back to, you know, the
steering columns not binding, there was anything weird with the
steering column, et cetera. Then I gotta go back to
the air in What air in the system that wouldn't
give me on and off like this. No air in
the system. And that's why I asked, does the does
the system sound normal? If there was If there was
air in the system. You'd be telling me how the
pump wines air and a hydraulic system wines all right
(25:31):
to create it creates noise. Honda's going back fifteen years ago.
I had a problem with the o ring at the
power steering pump. The factory over rings were brown. They
came out with a different over ring that was blue.
Then there was a green version because they would leak
when they were cold and let air into the system,
and the pumps would wine and they'd lose power steering.
You don't have any noise. You don't have any noise.
(25:52):
You've got good hydraulics. Now he could hook he could
hook up a pressure gauge if he wanted to see.
You're gonna see as I out of that pump and
idle warmed up. But I think you're kind of pass that.
I think you've got to take a look at this
intermediate shift. You have a question, Oh, just is this
this is hydraulic not not a electronic assist? Correct? Correct?
(26:13):
I believe this is a completely hydraulic system. That's what
I thought. Yeah, okay, so all right, And the easiest
ways to find out is look in your owner's manual.
What do they call for fluid was this should be
a dex Ron three or an automatic transmission fluid type vehicle.
There should be nothing fancy to my knowledge. Okay, all right, okay,
if it is, if the pd blaster test works, then
(26:34):
we get a new well, you can, you can get
a new shaft if you want to. You can just
try and soak it occasionally with the p B blaster.
It works really well. And you know, if you want
to avoid the expense, if you want to solve it
now while you can, while you can still get a part,
you know, and then do it at you're convenience, you
can surely do that. But usually uh, you know, when
you get it in there with p B p B
(26:55):
is pretty good. It will soak down into it. My
concern is what would make me want to change it
is if the PV blaster proves that it is a
binding shaft, how long has this been going on and
how much were happened to the shaft and how much
damage happened to the cheft. So all I'm trying now
to do is diagnose and prove it, and then it
might make sense to replace it. So all right, sir, well, great,
(27:18):
thank you very much, You're very welcome. You're very welcome, sir.
Thank you very much. You have a good rest of
the weekend. Eight five five five zero nine zero zero.
Ron a Nanny and the Car Doctor. I'll be back
right after this. Welcome Macron the Car Doctor day five
(27:43):
five five zero zero zero. Keep in mind that phone
number seven. You can call eight five five five zero
nine zero zero anytime day or night. We're on the
air on the network Saturday afternoons to the four pm
East Coast time. But you can call the aforementioned eight
five five five six zero zero any time day night.
Leave a message. Executive producer, chief cook and bottle washer
(28:03):
Thomas Ray the third. We'll call you back and put
you in the next life que And we really want that.
We want to get you up here on are because
we want to talk about your problem so everyone benefits everyone.
Here's the answer. Let's go over to Perry and Louisiana.
Some questions about a Kia Soul. Perry, welcome to the
Car Doctor, sir. How can I help? Oh? Thanks, Ron,
I appreciate your show. UM I actually owned a two
(28:23):
thousand nine Honda Civic right now, good reliable card fourteen
years bull now, but I'm looking to step up to
like a subcompact suv, getting a little older, looking for
something easier to get into a better vision, you know,
kind of a little higher seating, and I'm looking at
the Kia Soul. Heard some good things from present owners,
but then heard a lot of bad things from previous owners,
(28:45):
like especially if you go online and something like that.
So I just wanted your take on the Kia Soul.
I heard you talking maybe a couple of weeks ago
about Kia and Honde, uh the line, and I didn't
catch the whole drift of what you were saying. So
I wanted to to get some insight into that. The
older Hyundai Kyas, I guess somewhere starting around model year
(29:06):
two thousand twelve, two thousand thirteen, running up until about
fifteen or sixteen, with the one eight engine, we're seeing
all sorts of major engine problems where the engines are
failing in all levels and models of the Hunday's and
Kias and Hunday's making good on it. They're replacing the engines,
but and this is the four cylinders. But the problem
(29:27):
becomes who wants to deal with that? It's you know,
you're without your car. I'm seeing stories of anywhere you're
without the car from you know, three months to six
months to you know, whenever. They they're having issues with
parts availability, they're having issues with rentals, loaner cars, and
things like that. That being said, it seems like the
newer versions anything after sixteen seventeen have been okay. Now,
(29:51):
they don't have the mileage on them that the older
ones do in all fairness, but you know, I also
look at the culture of the company. Hyundai and Kia
are trying to stand behind that. I think it's a
little overwhelming at this point. I I know more than
a few dealerships have anywhere at any given time somewhere
between fifteen and thirty cars apart with engines out being replaced,
(30:11):
which is nuts. Um God bless him. It's I don't
know how they keep up, but you know, it's it's
a major undertaking. I did hear some rumblings, oh, a
couple of months back that you know, will a recall.
It's not really a recall. I shouldn't say that, but
will a problem of this magnitude bankrupt the company? It
hasn't yet, And I've got to tell you it's been
(30:31):
going on for four years at least, so you know
it's crazy. Onto your question. Are you talking about a
newer key Assault? Oh yeah, I'm talking about three okay?
And how long will you keep it? Oh? The har
Pacific I have now this is fourteen year or so.
I'm looking about the same. The soul as well. I
(30:52):
think that's going to be the catch because I you know,
I like Kia, I like hun Day. I have not
seen the longevity out of it that I would add
of out of a Honda or a Toyota. Just being honest,
all right. And you know, if you wanted to buy it,
keep it five years and then roll her over into
something else, Sure, grab one. You know what. We're only
here on the Blue Marble once. So you gotta go
(31:14):
for the gust, though, you know, you don't want to
sit there and wonder. And if you want to take
that approach to it, do it. If the car really
fits you and you're really comfortable in it, do it.
It's not a whole lot of money in comparison to
some of the other things out there. I don't think
it's a I don't think it's a real mistake. I
just think it's going to be different. Um, I think
you'll get five really good years out of the car,
and then after that maybe you'll get ten. Maybe. I
(31:36):
don't know that. I haven't seen the longevity yet without
the problems that the other older ones are having. So
I can't say more than that. If you get what
I'm saying. The only other alternative I'm looking at Honda
is the venue. It's a little smaller, less horse powerless power. Uh.
And most of my driving he has done in the city.
I'll take it on the road maybe every couple of
(31:58):
months to visit family out of town, so to fight that.
So not a lot of road driving. But the Kia
souls got horsepower and the hand benus got Like by
the key I wanna take? You want to come down
and take your shopping Perry, all right, just let's let's
let's go buy the KEYA. Let's not lament about this.
How much is the car? Let's let's ask the question
(32:19):
that way. Uh. By the time everything said, it's about
twenty three. Okay, haven't you made bigger mistakes in your
life and spent in twenty three dollars on something you
didn't really want? Her Neiter was right, I have, no
I have. That's how I got That's how I got
where I am. Now. I know what I want, what
I like, and what I don't like. I've tried everything.
(32:40):
You know what, if you really like the car, it's
going to have a decent warranty on it, right uh.
And then you know what, if you want real peace
of mind, put a long extended warranty on it, all right,
and see how far you can take it out. And
what's that going to cost? If it's to the price
of the car. So for twenty five grand, you now
get you know, coverage for six or seven years. But
(33:00):
I don't think it's gonna be like the Honda. But
I think it'll do what you wanted to do for
a reasonable cost and a little bit of a science project.
But I think you'll have five or six good years
out of it. All right, sir, you're very welcome. Let
us know what you do, and good luck, be daring,
be bold, as they say so zero, Well, I would
do that eight five five zero zero. I'll tell you
(33:22):
the eye doctor story when I come back, don't go away,
does not compene woke up by the hand and that's
all night with me. Well, So that was a quick
(33:44):
hour and always it's always a quick hour. We get
to this point in the show. So, UM, two comments,
um both both regarding emails. I say, if I can
get them both in. UM, A lot of you have
written in and asked me about my eye, which I
really appreciate. You know, I went to the eye doctor
head laser surgery on the right retin ite was torn,
and UM, a lot he said. You know a lot
of you would asked about the follow up. And I
just want to tell you that I went to the
eye doctor Wednesday, and UM, I kind of fool around
(34:06):
with the nurse a little bit in the sense that
she left me in the room for ten minutes and
while she was in, while I was in there with
my glasses on, I memorized the right side of the
I chart. She came in, she took my glasses off.
I read the I chart to her. I even read
the bottom line that said copyright nine Brig Stratton I
Chart Visual Services. And she looked at me and I said, okay,
give me the different charts, but my eyes okay. And
my sense of humor has not changed. For carl and
(34:28):
North Carolina, who writes in my second email, he's got
a hande. He's looking for more mileage and horsepower. He's
asking about cold air intake systems. Do they work? Yeah,
they do, They absolutely do. Um, you know, you can
do one of two things. Get out to go look
at kN N air filter kNN air intake systems. They
are the masters of cold air intakes. They were the
(34:48):
creators of it and have been around for many, many years.
They've got the technology and the science down perfect. And um,
keep in mind that a cold air intake system creates
a denser charge, um, you know. And it will pack
more air into the engine, making it more efficient and
a smoother, cleaner air filter will provide less turbulence so
that the air flows better, and it will make a
(35:09):
better overall running vehicle. If we can make it more efficient,
we're gonna give it better mileage, We're gonna give it
more power. And that's part of what the cane and
cold air intake systems do. Check them out online, look
for kN and cold air intakes. Until the next time,
I'm Rodinandi in the car doctor reminding you mechanics aren't expensive,
they're priceless. See you
Ron and Anian, Has technology taken us to the point
that some cars just can't be fixed? Is it possible?
Are we there? Are we knocking on the door? No
pun intended. I'm driving my lab away, the car Doctor.
Could the parking break be hanging up causing the drag?
The breaks? Totally disconnected? Okay, that's what I wanted, totally
(00:26):
disconnected it because I can't. Yeah, I couldn't get a
new cable porn. I didn't feel like rebuilding it. Welcome
to the radio home of Ron and Anian The Car Doctor,
since this is where car owners the world overturned to
for their definitive opinion on automotive repair. If your mechanics
giving you a busy signal, pick up the phone and
call in the garage doors are open, but I am
(00:50):
here to take your calls at eight five five six
and now he running? Hey, is it cold enough for what?
At least it's not Mount Washington Mount Washington. I think
they recorded up in New Hampshire. Um, geez, it was
a hundred and something below zero. Think it was either
a hundred and six or a hundred and ten. You
(01:10):
believe it? Yeah, I can't believe it because that's just
you know, it's it's funny. We were talking about cold
weather vehicle prep. Yesterday NBC New York came out to
visit us in the shop, and um, you know they
wanted some tips. Well, of course they would come to us, right,
come to the car doctor and get some tips on uh,
you know, how to get your vehicle ready for cold
weather and some of the dudes and don'ts and obviously
some of it's basic. Uh. And the subject of Mott
(01:31):
Washington came up, and I said, the only thing I
can do it to prep you for Mount Washington is
a shot of Scotch and stay and saw it. You know,
there's not much else you're gonna do. It's um, it's
just that's just it's like being on another planet. But
vehicle prep if you're interested and you haven't done so,
and you want to be ready for the next cold
weather snap because if you haven't done any of this
now it's too late. Hopefully you get through it and
(01:51):
we make it to the middle of the week nationally,
because they're talking how you know, so much of the
country is gripped with this weather cold that by midwek
as though it's gonna be back up in the forty
in the fifties and a lot of places. Um you know, uh,
some of the stuff is obvious, right, you know, tire pressure, right,
you've you've you know your your tires are ready to go.
You've got them properly inflated. One of the ways you
can tell and one of the simplest things you can do.
(02:12):
When I mentioned this in the NBC today, UH spot
was just to be sure that look at your oil change.
When was your oil change done last? You know, you
have the power to take care of your car, getting
your car sit down. Look in the upper left corner
in your windshield where they're probably or they should be putting.
Are they most of us put the oil chain stickers? Now?
Was it just done? If it was just done, good.
If the oil change is reflecting that it's overdue, you're late.
(02:36):
If the oil change reflects a date that the last
oil change was done somewhere around September, and for whatever
oil change interval you're using, you haven't gone back in
yet because you're not there by mileage your time. That's
a problem. September was five going on six months ago,
and what was the weather like in September? The weather
in September was seventy degrees in most parts of the country,
(02:58):
if not hotter. And now it's five six months later,
and we know the laws of physics state that if
you look at the door placard on your driver's door,
the the B pillar usually the second pillar in it.
Usually it will tell you that the tire pressure is
supposed to be this based on a sixty eight degree day.
And you should take note that just because it says
(03:18):
it for one set of tires, not all the tires front,
rear and spare have their own label line listing, usually
because some cars it's different pressures front, back and spare.
Most spares, if they're the space Saver doughnut, the the
funny looking tire is a sixty p s I tire
and thirty five P s I just won't be enough
(03:39):
if that's what the number is for the normal tire.
So you gotta take a look at the plancard. But
if you haven't, the point becomes if you haven't done
any tire pressure work since September, October, even November, the
weather has changed an awful lot since then. You want
to make sure the tires are you know, taken care
of obviously, you want to, you know, get a look
at the battery. You want to be sure that the
battery has been tested, has been replaced. Uh. You know,
(03:59):
one of the things Pat Battle asked me about was
you know, length of life of the battery, And I said,
and I told her, I said, Pat, we're seeing four years,
five years if you're lucky. Batteries don't seem to go
beyond that, especially on a newer, more electronically laden vehicle.
Electronics take up you know, electricity, and there's a there's
a recycling factor in terms of pulling the battery down.
(04:21):
There's a draw when the vehicle is off that seems
to be having an effect on batteries. And four years
seems to be a safe number. It used to be five.
You get into year five, you don't want to get stuck.
Have the battery tested, consider changing it a little early.
Better before warned and forearmed and stuck out in the cold,
because being stuck in zero degree, whether in a parking lot,
trying to get home is no fun and it can
(04:43):
be deadly. It can be a problem life for life
or death. So you want to get that done. How
about the door handles? I mentioned this to Pat and
she was surprised, and you know, I just it just
it's just common knowledge to me. Again, I guess it's
something that I just I'm aware of. I think about
it all the time. But what kind of door handles
does your vehicle have on it? You know, they're plastic,
(05:04):
right they pull out or they pull up. You've got
to be careful because if you're driving an older vehicle,
and older in my mind is something that's you know,
four or five six years old, and that seems to
be young in terms of the age of the vehicle
fleet today. But you get into an older car, get
into a car that's eight going on nine ten years old.
Pulling that plastic door handle, Boy, tell you what, you
(05:25):
kind of cringe. You can feel that plastic getting so hard.
And we've had more than a few door handles where
the door is frozen and you give it a quick
yank and you come up with the handle in your
hand because it was stressed. So open your door gingerly.
Here's a case where you've got a remote start vehicle
and you were smart enough to leave the heat on
and the heat does run if you go into remote
(05:47):
start operation. Let the vehicle warm up. Alright, the heck
with what all the other geniuses are saying. Let the
vehicle warm up, Let it build some heat, Let it
permeate into the vehicle, into the cabin, into the glass.
Hopefully it gets into the door, warms things up a
little bit, and you'd be surprised that the doors are frozen.
How much a little bit of heat will do to
go a long way to opening that door up. Wiper blades,
(06:08):
how are the wiper blades? You know so many of
you have this attitude, and I see it time and
time again that you know, the the wipers, the windshield
is a sheet of ice. It's frozen rain, freezing rain, snow, slush,
something other than just warm water. Up the I'll fix
and you turn the wipers on, and then you're amazed
when the wipers don't move. Then you're even more surprised
(06:30):
when you have to bring it into a repair shop
and it needs wiper linkage or as we call it,
a wiper transmission, which is now becoming and it has
been for a long time. Most of the vehicles today
are repaired. It's wiper motor linkage, plastic bushings. There's that
plastic word again. And the bushing has failed and it
requires complete replacement, and you'll spend six seven eights to
(06:53):
repair wipers. Here's the trick. When you walk out it's
a cold morning, and you know the windshield, your susp
what's going on with the blades. Just pick the blade
up gently by hand and let it you know, just
get a let it, you know, let it drop back
down nice and easy. Doesn't move if if you can
pick it up, then you can turn the wipers dominable
move If you can't pick it up and the wipers
(07:13):
are frozen to the glass, uh, you know, here we go.
Let's warm the car up. Let's try and get some
of that stuff off the glass, warm it up and uh,
you know, be safe that way, so we don't damage
the wiper linkage, the wiper transmission, motor assembly. Uh, you know,
very very important. And then for that matter, what kind
of shape are the wipers in? Are the wipers torn
or they are they beaten? Up? Front wiper blades, rear
(07:36):
wiper blade. I know nobody uses their rear wiper blade,
but you'll be surprised in a snow stormer and bad
weather and clement weather like we're supposedly gonna have this
one where we usually have UM that rear wiper blade
becomes real important. Coolant. We talked about coolant, uh during
our time on TV this week, and you know, I
(07:57):
can't say enough about it. We tend to forget about coolant.
Coolant is um. It's kind of like the Rodney danger
Field of an Honoraobile part in the sense that it
just gets no respect anymore, in the sense of it
just seems to last so much longer it used to be.
You know, fifteen years ago, twenty years ago, it was
all green coolant, and you know, it was a two
to four year cycle time. And we've made such strides
(08:21):
in the cooling system and such strides and coolant. Now
it's changed, you know, five six years some manufacturers are
pushing ten year coolant. That's a different conversation. I'm not
gonna get into that debate here, but you know, we
want to just be aware when was the cooling changed last,
what's the freeze point protection? And then if you do
have to top and add up, make sure you're adding
(08:43):
the correct coolant. Not all coolants are the same. They
haven't been for a very long time. If you go
out to o w I dot com, which is the
website for Peak anti Freeze Peak Coolant. You will see
they list all the different type of coolants that are
available for your vehicle, any freeze that's available for your vehicle.
(09:04):
They have some coolants that you know are universal in
the sense that they cover a spectrum, and there's different
versions of universal coolency. You can try those, or you
can match it to your vehicle at their website out
there for Peak Coolant and be sure of what you're
putting in. Be sure of what you're adding is correct.
There's nothing worse than adding, well, I added two quarts
(09:25):
of this green coolant because my car has green anti freeze,
to find out that it's a different type of green.
You can't just judge it by color. There's all different
chemical based coolants in the world today. Color alone is
not enough. You have to judge it by the chemical
composition and it's best done by application of what does
the vehicle call for. So just just to be aware
(09:47):
you can still do it, but just make sure you're
putting the right stuff in. You'll find a lot of
information out at ow I dot com. Just go look
up Peak Coolant out on the internet and you'll find
it there. Um so, and that was my week, right,
we had a great week. We that story ran yesterday
and judging by the emails, we're getting a lot of
you enjoyed it. We're glad that you did. And yes,
that was me. Unfortunately it did not have Tom with
(10:08):
me because Tom is not in the shop during the
week like that. I do actually have Tom and studio
with me though. Today. It's good to see you Tom
looking through the glass instead of looking through the internet. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
it's it's actually quite good. And you know, but the
only problem is I can't click a button here and
make you disappear off my screen. Well that's good because
then I catch a sleeping somewhere during the middle of
the show and then the show goes south. So no, no, no, guys,
(10:28):
my dog Ted, that does that, and I missed Ted.
Actually you should have brought Ted with you. Actually, actually,
but you know, he would have been barking in the
middle of the show. Yeah, well that's okay, we could.
People would like that. Ted's a cute doggie. So but
Tom's actually in studio with me today because it's so
cold here in the Northeast that the internet is frozen.
At Tom's house and he can't get down here, he
can't get a signal down here to the studio. So
(10:50):
he he made the ride and we're together today, so
we should have a good show today. So give us
a call at eight five zero zero here to answer
your questions and solve your problems. I'm Rondini in the
Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this number. Time
(11:18):
riding on the wall, so you don't forget to call
for a car advice. Done right? Eight five five five
zero zero zero. Now back to row. Hey, let's get
over to Nancy in California with some questions about eight
Honda accord. Nancy, Welcome to the Car Doctor. How can
I help? Hi? I listened to you on our kN
S radio. I just wanted to let you know how
(11:40):
much I really, uh was interested in and liked your
limp mode explanation last week. Okay, it happened to me once.
What the Honda went into limp mode? Is it currently
happening now? No? Okay, it happened only one time. But
the funniest part is that it happened I bought the
(12:01):
car brand new. It happened four months after I bought
the car, and it had less than a thousand miles
on it scary feeling, right, yeah, thanks, So I'm creeping
along the after you know, it happens, creeping along the
um side of the road, you know, not knowing whether
I needed tow or you know, what am I going
to do? Because I'm in the middle of nowhere. We
(12:22):
have lots of trees around us. So and you know,
the idea of limp mode was to get you home,
and I'm assuming that's what it did, right, well, sort
of it did well, not from where I was. It
was a coast highway with one on one and so no,
it's not going to get me home that way, absolutely not.
(12:42):
So my friend who was traveling with me, said, turn
it off. You know what happens to a computer when
you turn it off and you turn it back on,
You reboot it. H rebooted it. I've never had a
problem again. You know where, you know where the idea
of limp mode came from? True story, so Ford Motor Company.
Ford called it from them failure mode effects Management. I'm
(13:02):
going back to the early eighties. So if you're if
you're a child of history, you'll recall that Ford Aerospace
was shut down in the late seventies and Ford Motor
Company UM then turned and hired a lot of those
engineers and brought them over to Ford Motor Company to
develop engine control systems. So if you're an aeronautical space
(13:25):
engineer and you're not working on rockets anymore and you
now go work for a car company, what do you do.
You bring the same technology with you, right, So the
same idea of when a rocket, you know, when the
when the moon ships were going up, and if they
went into failure like Apollo Third Team, we had an
Apollo third Team type of failure. They would get home
on limpmode. Well, they put it into cars Ford how
(13:46):
to give it a fancy name from them failure Mode
Effects Management, And that's that's really That was the first
documented case I'm aware of where a car company did it.
Now it's evolved to the point that every vehicle on
the road has some sort of limpmode just to get
you home because as they again, it's about marketing and advertising.
They don't want to hear that, you know, people talking
in the news. Hey, my handa left me stranded on
(14:06):
the side of the Coast Highway at two o'clock in
the morning and the pouring rain or bed weather or something. Hey,
at least I got home or I was able to
turn it off and you know, turn it back on
and it went back to normal. Well, that's the deal.
I It was so new to me. It's like, oh, gosh,
do it. If I turn it off, I'm not gonna
have to be towed or but you know what's going
to happen at seven o'clock at night. I don't know
what's going on, you know, Nancy. I think the safe
(14:29):
thing whenever you're dealing with a car today is and
and listen, I have this thought a lot, you know,
in the shop it's already broken. I'll sit there and
I'll say to myself, you know it's already broken. I
can't break it anymore. What's the worst that's gonna happen
if I can't drive the card? In your case, you
couldn't drive the car, as you said, on the Coast
Highway and it was barely getting moving along, and I'm
(14:50):
sure there was traffic and you have to be worried
about being hit from behind or something else. To pull
over to the side and get to a safe spot
and turn it off and hope for the best. This
is the concern with automobiles that the technology has has
just overtaken us. That there is so much technology in
the car, they're making it so difficult to repair and
(15:14):
if improper procedures are done. I'm amazed at how body
shops repair cars every day. Not that they do it wrong.
I think the majority of body shops are out there
trying to do it right. But when you look at
the amount of electronics and connectors and and grounds and
and wiring that's involved in a car, you know, it's
I don't even like to think about that. Imagine they
(15:34):
took the roof off your house, gutted the house, and
rewired the whole thing. You know, is it is it
without knocking the house down. It's it's it's something akin
to that, and it's difficult. So but you know what
really what really got me was, of course that was
a Saturday, and I couldn't take it in. It was
late at night, well not real late anyway. Um So
I took it in the next week to the dealership
and they couldn't tell me. They scanned it. They said
(15:56):
the code said it was a misfire, which I never heard.
Me to backfire, I never heard anything like that at all.
Um anyway, they suggested, you know, I think they had
no idea. They suggested that, oh perhaps I had gotten
a bad gas So you actually had a misfire fault.
Well that's what they said. It wasn't that, but that's
(16:19):
what they said. It was. Now, now I can tell
you what's wrong with the car. Okay, all right, So
it had a misfire fault. A lot of cases on
the on this generation Honda, we're coming up with misfire faults.
Uh P zero three oh three, P zero three oh four.
Sometimes it was a crank chaft position sensor fault. Crank
(16:40):
chaft position sensors were getting replaced, and nobody detected any
fault with the vehicle. The key was that you Honda
had put out a bullet and oh gosh, it was
some time ago where they wanted you to do a
crankshaft position sensor relearn. Some of the cars came mount
(17:00):
and they weren't properly programmed and they didn't learn, they
didn't learn indexing positions, and every once in a while
it would miss a step. It's like you, right when
when when you were younger, you learned how to walk
and then you had to learn how to skip, and
every once in a while you'd skipped so much you
couldn't remember how to walk again, you know, and so
you'd have to like pre program yourself. A car kind
(17:22):
of goes through the same thing. It gets so used
to running in a particular way, and then it has
to go back. It has to it has to walk
instead of skipping or instead of running. It loses its program.
They had a they had a software glitch and doing
a crankshaft position sensor relearned with a scan tool solve
the problem on those cars. So if if it happens again,
(17:44):
I'm gonna suggest that if they come up with misfires again,
that that's um cranks position sensor relearned. So the line
about the line about bad gas is a standard one.
I don't know why they still use that. Everybody seems
to fall back to that. My fish, it was really bad. Well,
if it was really bad gas, the car wouldn't runner
(18:04):
went to brought you into the dealership after the reset,
So I gotta run nancy him up against the clock.
It was a pleasure be well out there, And thanks
for listening to the car doctor. We appreciate you, and
we appreciate your questions. You need more of them here
eight five five zero, run any and at your service.
Right after this, don't go away. Welcome back in the
(18:43):
car doctor in the inimitable Thomas Ray the third rolling
along this hour as we try to fix cars here
across America. Let's go over to us Sterling and mainten Sterling.
I'm not supposed to ask this question, so I'm going
to how cold is it up there? Today? It was
negative seventeen less night, that's without, that's without the winds
till it was blowing forty as well. Hold as I've
(19:05):
ever seen up here. Oh my gosh, So did it
warm up? Did it warm up with all this this afternoon? Yeah,
it's up to about zero. Wow, it's a heat wave.
Time to put another shrimp on the barbie. So how
can I help you today? Sir? I have a Toyota
Tundra from two thousand. It has miles on it. It's
(19:26):
been a great truck. About six months ago, the power
steering started going in and out. You could never tell
when it was gonna go. And as time went on
that continued to get a little more frequent, where the
power steering would go out. And then my serpentine belt
broke one morning, so I took it to my local mechanic,
who usually does a wonderful job. He put the serpentine
(19:47):
a new put a new belt on, and and it's
still kept doing it. It's still kept intermittently losing power steering.
So I took it back to him and he put
new pumps in, new UH new pumps, and new UH
hoses and a new rack in, and it's still is
doing it. And he says he's sorry, he just cannot
(20:09):
figure it out. And he was nice. He only charged
me from parts. He didn't charge me for all the
labor that he did. But it's still it's still doing it.
It seems too. When I first start the truck up,
it seems to work for a little while, and then
it goes back off and then back on, and you
just never know when it's gonna um, when it's going
to cut out. So and it's it's it's you don't
(20:32):
want it to cut out on that truck. Well, yeah,
I understand V. Eight. You know it's probably you know older,
So I always go through the basics. All right, I'm
gonna you know, you know me well enough by now,
all you guys listening on air, I mean I go
through steps one through ten. I always start at one
tire pressure. I'm gonna make sure I've got the right
amount of air in the tires. I'm gonna check the
front end. I'm gonna look it over. Do I see
(20:52):
any signs of rust coming out of any of the
steering joints, ball joints, tyrods, you know, just to be
sure there's nothing binding up, there's nothing corroded, there's nothing
that has the potential to get stuck. Uh. You know,
it sounds like he replaced the entire power steering system.
If we want to rule out bad parts, new doesn't
mean good. New means never ever worked in my world.
(21:13):
You know, then then I can eliminate that. Only you
can be the judge of that. You know, what quality
or what level of part did he use. I won't
say that he was wrong at two hundred thousand miles.
It could have been across leak in the rack. I
don't know what he found. It could have been that
this is a layered issue. I'm just surprised that he
didn't go to the next step. Maybe he's not aware.
Maybe I'm wrong. But I think the next the next
thing I would look at is I would take a
(21:34):
look at the steering shift. All right, if if you
look at the steering column, there are there's an upper
and a lower what we call an intermediate shift. It's
basically two drive shifts tied together with a with a
spline of coupling and a universal joint. And I'm willing
to bet you know, nine years in Maine with you
(21:56):
have that thing called snow and corrosion. That if definitely
if you if you look at the steering shift when
you're driving and the power steering gets tight, does it
wine or it just it just gets tight. There's no
change in the way the steering pump sounds right, It
doesn't make any sounds just either either. And it's either
all the way on or all the way on? And
(22:17):
and do and do you have to drag it back?
If like you make a left turn, do you have
to fight to bring the wheel back? It doesn't come
back by itself. No, I have if I'm if I'm driving,
it's a lot easier, But it's mostly when I'm stopped
at at intersection and all of a sudden it goes
out and I have to wrestle the thing around. But
while I'm driving, it does come back. I mean, you know,
(22:38):
while I'm driving, it's not a big issue. Well, but
while you're driving, you know you're rolling. If you go
into a parking lot, maneuver, if you're doing ten miles
an hour and make a hard left turn or a
hard right turn, does the wheel come back or do
you have to put a little extra effort into dragging
it back. Oh? No, I'd have to drag it back.
I think you've got a frozen intermediate shift, all right.
(23:00):
I think I think the couplings themselves. Now, you could
try a little science project if you're game, all right,
get get down to your local Loto parts store. Get
a can of PB Blaster rust penetrant, all right, and
you want to put a drip pan underneath coming out
of the by the left front tire. All right, you'll
see there's gonna be a little rubber flap built into
the inner wheelhouse. You might have to take the tire
(23:21):
off to get to this. It depends on you know,
how flexible you are, and if you want to reach
over the tire. But you know you'll have to pick
up that flap and you'll see the shaft coming out
of the firewall going down to the steering rack. You
want to if that if those universal joints look rusty
and crunchy, all right, soak them all right? Do you
(23:41):
have a Do you have a garage you can put
this in at night? Is it heated? Okay, I'm surprised
you're in mean, it's it's it's seventeen it's seventeen below.
What's wrong with you? Tell tell mommy you need a
heated garage. It's the next thing. There's nothing like it.
I've got a heated garl I've got a heated garage
in New Jerry. I'm getting soft on my old age.
(24:02):
So but um, you know, put it in the garage
and set it up with a drip pan underneath, because
you're gonna make a mess. And let the p B
be liberal, all right. Spray it on the U joints,
spraying on the shaft itself, the pieces that move, and
let it soak. And there are two joints right near
the steering wheel and one at the other end right,
So the one near the steering wheel is probably fine.
(24:22):
I've never seen one of those go bad. It's the
ones it's the ones that are on the outside of
the firewall in the engine compartment that have been exposed
to the elements, and you know now they're starting to
rust and bind and clunk, and uh, you know I
I just went through this on to Tacomas. As a
matter of fact. Uh, to Tacoma is in a tundra,
similar situation, similar age. You know, bad intermediate shaft, the
(24:46):
lower shaft down at the rack was really a disaster.
I would like to think that your guy would have
noticed that, but you know, I can't assume. You know,
I can't assume because if he did, you wouldn't be here.
You wouldn't be here talking at me. I've got to
get it off the table, because if the shaft is
good and there is no shaft problem, then I've got
(25:06):
then I've got to go back to, you know, the
steering columns not binding, there was anything weird with the
steering column, et cetera. Then I gotta go back to
the air in What air in the system that wouldn't
give me on and off like this. No air in
the system. And that's why I asked, does the does
the system sound normal? If there was If there was
air in the system. You'd be telling me how the
pump wines air and a hydraulic system wines all right
(25:31):
to create it creates noise. Honda's going back fifteen years ago.
I had a problem with the o ring at the
power steering pump. The factory over rings were brown. They
came out with a different over ring that was blue.
Then there was a green version because they would leak
when they were cold and let air into the system,
and the pumps would wine and they'd lose power steering.
You don't have any noise. You don't have any noise.
(25:52):
You've got good hydraulics. Now he could hook he could
hook up a pressure gauge if he wanted to see.
You're gonna see as I out of that pump and
idle warmed up. But I think you're kind of pass that.
I think you've got to take a look at this
intermediate shift. You have a question, Oh, just is this
this is hydraulic not not a electronic assist? Correct? Correct?
(26:13):
I believe this is a completely hydraulic system. That's what
I thought. Yeah, okay, so all right, And the easiest
ways to find out is look in your owner's manual.
What do they call for fluid was this should be
a dex Ron three or an automatic transmission fluid type vehicle.
There should be nothing fancy to my knowledge. Okay, all right, okay,
if it is, if the pd blaster test works, then
(26:34):
we get a new well, you can, you can get
a new shaft if you want to. You can just
try and soak it occasionally with the p B blaster.
It works really well. And you know, if you want
to avoid the expense, if you want to solve it
now while you can, while you can still get a part,
you know, and then do it at you're convenience, you
can surely do that. But usually uh, you know, when
you get it in there with p B p B
(26:55):
is pretty good. It will soak down into it. My
concern is what would make me want to change it
is if the PV blaster proves that it is a
binding shaft, how long has this been going on and
how much were happened to the shaft and how much
damage happened to the cheft. So all I'm trying now
to do is diagnose and prove it, and then it
might make sense to replace it. So all right, sir, well, great,
(27:18):
thank you very much, You're very welcome. You're very welcome, sir.
Thank you very much. You have a good rest of
the weekend. Eight five five five zero nine zero zero.
Ron a Nanny and the Car Doctor. I'll be back
right after this. Welcome Macron the Car Doctor day five
(27:43):
five five zero zero zero. Keep in mind that phone
number seven. You can call eight five five five zero
nine zero zero anytime day or night. We're on the
air on the network Saturday afternoons to the four pm
East Coast time. But you can call the aforementioned eight
five five five six zero zero any time day night.
Leave a message. Executive producer, chief cook and bottle washer
(28:03):
Thomas Ray the third. We'll call you back and put
you in the next life que And we really want that.
We want to get you up here on are because
we want to talk about your problem so everyone benefits everyone.
Here's the answer. Let's go over to Perry and Louisiana.
Some questions about a Kia Soul. Perry, welcome to the
Car Doctor, sir. How can I help? Oh? Thanks, Ron,
I appreciate your show. UM I actually owned a two
(28:23):
thousand nine Honda Civic right now, good reliable card fourteen
years bull now, but I'm looking to step up to
like a subcompact suv, getting a little older, looking for
something easier to get into a better vision, you know,
kind of a little higher seating, and I'm looking at
the Kia Soul. Heard some good things from present owners,
but then heard a lot of bad things from previous owners,
(28:45):
like especially if you go online and something like that.
So I just wanted your take on the Kia Soul.
I heard you talking maybe a couple of weeks ago
about Kia and Honde, uh the line, and I didn't
catch the whole drift of what you were saying. So
I wanted to to get some insight into that. The
older Hyundai Kyas, I guess somewhere starting around model year
(29:06):
two thousand twelve, two thousand thirteen, running up until about
fifteen or sixteen, with the one eight engine, we're seeing
all sorts of major engine problems where the engines are
failing in all levels and models of the Hunday's and
Kias and Hunday's making good on it. They're replacing the engines,
but and this is the four cylinders. But the problem
(29:27):
becomes who wants to deal with that? It's you know,
you're without your car. I'm seeing stories of anywhere you're
without the car from you know, three months to six
months to you know, whenever. They they're having issues with
parts availability, they're having issues with rentals, loaner cars, and
things like that. That being said, it seems like the
newer versions anything after sixteen seventeen have been okay. Now,
(29:51):
they don't have the mileage on them that the older
ones do in all fairness, but you know, I also
look at the culture of the company. Hyundai and Kia
are trying to stand behind that. I think it's a
little overwhelming at this point. I I know more than
a few dealerships have anywhere at any given time somewhere
between fifteen and thirty cars apart with engines out being replaced,
(30:11):
which is nuts. Um God bless him. It's I don't
know how they keep up, but you know, it's it's
a major undertaking. I did hear some rumblings, oh, a
couple of months back that you know, will a recall.
It's not really a recall. I shouldn't say that, but
will a problem of this magnitude bankrupt the company? It
hasn't yet, And I've got to tell you it's been
(30:31):
going on for four years at least, so you know
it's crazy. Onto your question. Are you talking about a
newer key Assault? Oh yeah, I'm talking about three okay?
And how long will you keep it? Oh? The har
Pacific I have now this is fourteen year or so.
I'm looking about the same. The soul as well. I
(30:52):
think that's going to be the catch because I you know,
I like Kia, I like hun Day. I have not
seen the longevity out of it that I would add
of out of a Honda or a Toyota. Just being honest,
all right. And you know, if you wanted to buy it,
keep it five years and then roll her over into
something else, Sure, grab one. You know what. We're only
here on the Blue Marble once. So you gotta go
(31:14):
for the gust, though, you know, you don't want to
sit there and wonder. And if you want to take
that approach to it, do it. If the car really
fits you and you're really comfortable in it, do it.
It's not a whole lot of money in comparison to
some of the other things out there. I don't think
it's a I don't think it's a real mistake. I
just think it's going to be different. Um, I think
you'll get five really good years out of the car,
and then after that maybe you'll get ten. Maybe. I
(31:36):
don't know that. I haven't seen the longevity yet without
the problems that the other older ones are having. So
I can't say more than that. If you get what
I'm saying. The only other alternative I'm looking at Honda
is the venue. It's a little smaller, less horse powerless power. Uh.
And most of my driving he has done in the city.
I'll take it on the road maybe every couple of
(31:58):
months to visit family out of town, so to fight that.
So not a lot of road driving. But the Kia
souls got horsepower and the hand benus got Like by
the key I wanna take? You want to come down
and take your shopping Perry, all right, just let's let's
let's go buy the KEYA. Let's not lament about this.
How much is the car? Let's let's ask the question
(32:19):
that way. Uh. By the time everything said, it's about
twenty three. Okay, haven't you made bigger mistakes in your
life and spent in twenty three dollars on something you
didn't really want? Her Neiter was right, I have, no
I have. That's how I got That's how I got
where I am. Now. I know what I want, what
I like, and what I don't like. I've tried everything.
(32:40):
You know what, if you really like the car, it's
going to have a decent warranty on it, right uh.
And then you know what, if you want real peace
of mind, put a long extended warranty on it, all right,
and see how far you can take it out. And
what's that going to cost? If it's to the price
of the car. So for twenty five grand, you now
get you know, coverage for six or seven years. But
(33:00):
I don't think it's gonna be like the Honda. But
I think it'll do what you wanted to do for
a reasonable cost and a little bit of a science project.
But I think you'll have five or six good years
out of it. All right, sir, you're very welcome. Let
us know what you do, and good luck, be daring,
be bold, as they say so zero, Well, I would
do that eight five five zero zero. I'll tell you
(33:22):
the eye doctor story when I come back, don't go away,
does not compene woke up by the hand and that's
all night with me. Well, So that was a quick
(33:44):
hour and always it's always a quick hour. We get
to this point in the show. So, UM, two comments,
um both both regarding emails. I say, if I can
get them both in. UM, A lot of you have
written in and asked me about my eye, which I
really appreciate. You know, I went to the eye doctor
head laser surgery on the right retin ite was torn,
and UM, a lot he said. You know a lot
of you would asked about the follow up. And I
just want to tell you that I went to the
eye doctor Wednesday, and UM, I kind of fool around
(34:06):
with the nurse a little bit in the sense that
she left me in the room for ten minutes and
while she was in, while I was in there with
my glasses on, I memorized the right side of the
I chart. She came in, she took my glasses off.
I read the I chart to her. I even read
the bottom line that said copyright nine Brig Stratton I
Chart Visual Services. And she looked at me and I said, okay,
give me the different charts, but my eyes okay. And
my sense of humor has not changed. For carl and
(34:28):
North Carolina, who writes in my second email, he's got
a hande. He's looking for more mileage and horsepower. He's
asking about cold air intake systems. Do they work? Yeah,
they do, They absolutely do. Um, you know, you can
do one of two things. Get out to go look
at kN N air filter kNN air intake systems. They
are the masters of cold air intakes. They were the
(34:48):
creators of it and have been around for many, many years.
They've got the technology and the science down perfect. And um,
keep in mind that a cold air intake system creates
a denser charge, um, you know. And it will pack
more air into the engine, making it more efficient and
a smoother, cleaner air filter will provide less turbulence so
that the air flows better, and it will make a
(35:09):
better overall running vehicle. If we can make it more efficient,
we're gonna give it better mileage, We're gonna give it
more power. And that's part of what the cane and
cold air intake systems do. Check them out online, look
for kN and cold air intakes. Until the next time,
I'm Rodinandi in the car doctor reminding you mechanics aren't expensive,
they're priceless. See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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