June 19, 2021 • 35 mins
Ron starts this episode by taking a call on an 89 Mustang GT with a new battery that keeps going dead : talks about charging times of electric cars : talks about drum brakes on an electric vehicle because they can easily produce power for the battery through regenerative braking : talks about the electric vehicle future : talks about a 66 El Dorado he was working on this week and the detail in older cars : talks about the air conditioning jobs he has seen in the past few weeks : answers an email with a story about his father : talks about the cost of R12 refrigerant : answers an email on undercoating and rustproofing : and talks about technology and the changes in tools.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ron and Anian can hybrid and electric vehicles were dangerous
to work on. Next sentence one word absolutely, yeah, the
Car Doctor. We can't be that stupid that we're gonna
mount radar detect radar emitting devices into the front of
(00:20):
a vehicle and then it's following the vehicle from behind
in the front. Are we being bombarded by radar with
now that that we could be that dumb could be?
Welcome to the radio home of Ron and Anien 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
(00:43):
phone and call in the garage to ortis are open,
but I am here to take your call at eight
five five five six and now he running. Hey. Welcome
to the Father's Day edition of The Car Doctor of
the second hour this weekend as we can it called
Father's Day, and help celebrate that and all that the
dads do and all that the moms do in place
(01:05):
of dad's to help help take care of the kids
and be the be the inspiration and be the way
forward for so many generations. Um just uh always good
to have a dad around in some way, shape or form.
Let's kick this hour off right off the bat and
let's go over to Audrey in Virginia. And keep in
mind we're giving away a twenty five gift card today
(01:25):
for Orilly out of Parts. We're gonna do it this hour.
So let's go see what Audre's got to say in
Virginia and let's see if we can help her in
her Ford Mustang. Audrey, Welcome to the Car Doctor. You're welcome.
What's going on? Um? Well, I got a new battery
put in my car. Well, actually, um, someone who come
(01:49):
came to jump started said that it didn't look like
a new battery, but the jump started it anyway. And
I've been having problems where I wait a few days,
I go out to my car. I'm retired, so I
don't drive my car every day, and I go to
(02:12):
started and it's dead. And I've had it jump started
at least twice. And um, I was told by the
place where I bought the the battery that it could
possibly be the alternator. Well, listen, it could be something
(02:33):
between the headlights and the tail lights. Until they diagnosed that,
nobody really knows. Did you have the problem. Did you
have the problem with the old battery in the car? Okay, so,
how long since the old battery was replaced and the
new battery put into the problem? Start? Did it start
right away? Um? Well sort of. I had the new battery,
(02:56):
so called new battery put in on May a, just
last month, and uh, my neighbor helped me and he said,
started up, and it started right up, no hesitation at all.
And then uh, I went to try it on May eighteenth,
(03:17):
and it was dead. I think that was kind of
my fault because I waited too long. But so then
I m on the I had it jump started and um,
get started up, and I ran it for about fifteen
minutes and uh and just left it at that And
(03:40):
five days later, I thought I'd better go started up
again on June two, and it was dead as a
door knob, nothing, not even any clicks. No, no discredit
to your neighbor or his efforts or anybody trying to
put a battery in this vehicle. One of the things,
one of the things that professional can do and should
(04:01):
do whenever they replace a battery is to consider do
they need to do a draw test, A current draw
test for battery replacements, so you avoid scenarios like this
because now you've got you know, is it the battery
or is it the vehicle? Did something change in the vehicle?
Could you have a bad new battery? Sure, new means
never ever worked in my world, you know. But a
(04:24):
current draw test where they're gonna measure to see if
there is any current draw something pulling electrically out of
the battery while it's sitting there, would do you a
world of good. The second thing I would I would
tell you to look at is you know what brand
of battery? Was it? Just out of curiosity, Uh, it's okay.
(04:45):
And they're decent batteries. I mean batteries today. You know,
most of them are pretty good. If it's one of
the name brands. The majority of batteries are you know,
out of the probably a dozen and a half brands
of batteries on the market today, there may eat it
one of three or two I think it's two now,
two battery plants in the continental United States, because you know,
(05:06):
it's not that they're spread out all over the place.
Everybody contracts out um. Just to show you how the
how the industry is working, we ordered a case of
motorcraft fl nine tens oil filters. The other day they
came to us and the shipping label said from Pure Later.
So Pure Later is making motorcraft oil filters. I was
just wow, uh, you know which I kind of suspected,
(05:29):
because the oil filter companies everybody's making, you know, everybody
else's filters today. Everybody's making everybody else's batteries. That being said,
I'd be curious what the date code on this battery is.
How old is this battery? Was this battery sitting on
the shelf in the parts house where you got it
hasn't been sitting there for any length of time? And
did they rotate the stock around for that matter? Does
(05:49):
this battery need to be charged? Never assume a battery
you buy off the parts store shelf, especially going into
a car that's gonna sit for a length of time,
it's chart is charged to the proper level. Fifteen minutes
of running the car isn't enough forty five minutes to
an hour, forty five minutes to an hour, forty fifty
(06:12):
miles an hour, reasonable highway speeds, minimal amount of accessories
on to put some kind of a charge into that.
Does the car sit. Does the car sit outside or inside?
Audrey outside? Okay. You know, one of the things you
may want to consider if you're retired now and you're
not going to be driving at all that much, is
(06:33):
there are devices out there, for example, like solar battery chargers.
It would it would, it would lay on the dashboard, Okay,
it would plug into the O B two O B
D two diagnostic port. Or you could just direct connected
to the battery, just run the cables the wires under
the hood and it would just receive enough of a
(06:54):
trickle charge to help maintain the battery. But I kind
of don't want to do that until I know there's
no problem in the vehicle. I would prefer mechanic to
do a current draw test. Okay, do you understand what
I mean when I say current draw test, Audrey, a
current droadcast testing the battery of voltage and all that. Yeah,
(07:16):
you know, it's sort of like did you ever wonder
if the lights on in your refrigerator when you close
the door. Oh, I know it's not. Well, it may
be right, but we there now I've opened my refrigerator
door and click on that thing and the light goes out.
So you know it goes out ba. See, we don't
know that in the car, and a draw test will
(07:36):
tell us if there's a bull bond pulling current and
draining the battery. That's why that's important, all right, And
that's why you know, it's I get it. We're you know,
we're trying to you know, cut corners and we're looking
for honesty and mechanics. And sometimes maybe it's not about
spending money to repair shop. Maybe we just don't know
where to go. Uh, you know, and that's and that's
(07:57):
the bigger issue. I think a lot of cases, I
would say that, you know, we've got to find a shop,
somebody competent. Hey, can you do a current draw test?
You know it's going to take them half hour or
forty five minutes maybe to start to finish because they've
got to go through the electrical system, alternators, starter and
so forth. But to just say this, to just say
the alternator's bad because the battery is going dead, you know,
(08:22):
we're guessing. It's just a possibility. It's just a possibility.
It's just one of the things on the list. So um,
this the second time that I had my card jumps
started on actually this past Wednesday. Um, I didn't run
it for about fifty minutes because the guy that said
(08:43):
you let it run for about fifty minutes. So I
did that exactly. And when I came back out on
five days later on June second, it was it was
like it was trying to turn over and it just
would not okay, and time me I got the clicking
noise and I'm like, well again, it's dead again. So
(09:05):
and that's and that's what the draw test will tell you.
You know what, are you stay on the line, Tom
is gonna be getting your information. We're gonna be sending
out that twenty five dollar gift card to Riley Oto
Parts Rileyoto dot Com. Ahead, I'll tell you what you
don't have to do that. We want father passed away
away back in well. But you know what, we we
want to do that because we want to help you out.
(09:27):
And uh, you know you're probably a father and a
mentor to somebody. UM I can tell um just listening
to you, and this way you can possibly go down
to your local Orillyoto parts. And it's very sweet of
you to say that, but I can listen. I can
tell a good father image when I hear one and um,
you know it'll help you out. You can go down
there and pick out maybe a solar charger for the car,
(09:47):
or if you need another battery or something along those lines.
So stay on the line. Let Tom get your information.
We'll get that twenty five gift card to rally Oto
parts coming your way, and you'd be well, dear. And
if you need any more information, you give us a
call F zero zero running any of the car doctor
coming back right after this. Got number time right it
(10:19):
on the wall, so you don't forget to call for
car advice. Done right? Eight five five five zero zero zero.
Now back to raw. Hey, let's uh, Audrey is still here? Audrey?
Do you miss me already? No? No, she's not there
is Audrey there? Tom though, Okay, let's let me go
back to my I was gonna read this email that
(10:39):
I've got. Um, I'm talking about one in five electric
vehicle owners. Did you see this article? It's it's kind
of all over the place, written by Dominic Reuter. One
in five electric vehicle owners in California switched back to
gas because charging their cars as a hassle, research shows,
And the article starts out, and you know it makes
sense right, and roughly three minutes you can fill the
gas tank of a Ford Mustang and enough rain to
(11:00):
go about three miles. But the electric Mustang it goes on.
That says it just now we're plugged into a household outlet,
will gave. And it did. They took Bloomberg Automotive analyst
Kevin Tynan just three miles of rain, so after an
hour of charging through a household outlet. And part of
the issue is that they're finding that, you know, there's
level one, there's level two, and then there's the supercharged
(11:24):
version of a Tesla charger. Here is the article talked about.
Standard home outlets generally deliver a hun and twenty volts
powering on electric vehicle afficionados called level one charging, while
the higher powered specialty connections at two forty volts are
known as level two. Testless superchargers can fully charge its
cars in a little over an hour running on four
indred eighty vaults. You know, Audrey, that was just on
(11:44):
the show. Sounded a little older, right, Audrey was probably
I'm gonna guess and say in her in her seventies
or eighties, she's gonna deal with charging an electric vehicle. Um,
maybe she's driving a ninety eight Mustang. She's a pretty
hyplop a little lady, I guess at that point, But um,
you know, you have to say to yourself, where is
(12:05):
the convenience and what is the convenience? I don't know
if people will want to deal with it, and evidently
they're not. This article is talking about how people that
are driving electric vehicles are also wanted to go back
to a gas powered vehicle because of the uh, you know,
because of the inconvenience of trying to charge an electric
vehicle and room range issues. Of those who switched se
(12:28):
lacked access to level two charging at home, the article continued,
and slightly fewer than that like level two connections at
their workplace. If you don't have level two, it's almost impossible,
said Tynan, who has tested a wide range of makes
and vehicles over the years for his research. Even with
the faster charging, a Chevy Boulti tested needed nearly six
hours to bring its range back up to three miles
from empty, something that makes them takes them just minutes
(12:51):
at the pump with his family suv A And this
is the part I don't get that we're gonna still
try and do this. You know, I've said this before.
Were right. Cars were meant to be mass transportation devices.
They were meant to you know, feed the masses. And
part of the reason why internal combustion engines came about
(13:11):
was because of truth be told, I've talked about this
because of the horse maneure problem in the big cities,
because horses were the method of transportation at the turn
of the eighteen hundreds into the nineteen hundreds, and it
was a health issue, a sewage problem, and everybody's walking
down the street with manure piles, and we just wanted
to get away into something basic, basic transportation. Cars weren't
(13:33):
envisioned that they're gonna have heated seeds, heated cup holders,
video games and all the things that cars have now
and the electronics. Uh, you know, the electric vehicle is
just taking it to the next level. And how many
of the average consumer are going to be able to
or want to be able to deal with that? And
that's what this article points out. Um, so it's uh,
(13:54):
it's interesting, and then goes on and talks about, uh,
public charging stations may look like the electric version of
the gas station, but nearly two thirds of drivers in
the survey said they didn't use them. Exactly why they
didn't use the public stols is not specified. Electric vehicles,
the article continues, have come a long way in recent
years in terms of range, safety, and comfort. Sure, no
argument they have to come a great long way, but
(14:15):
it's been noted that very little change has been happened
in how they are recharged. Researchers warned this trend could
make it harder to achieve electric vehicle sales targets in
California and other countries and growth of the market overall. Well,
I think that's goes without saying. You know, listen, I'm
gonna make a public statement. I don't think electric vehicles
on a wholesale level, on across the board level, is
(14:37):
going to occur in fifteen years. I think there's another
game of foot I think they're looking to get us
to want to change a percentage of the population of
the vehicle fleet so it becomes five or ten percent
electric vehicles, where it becomes higher use in areas where
there's more pollution and urban issues, smog and things like that.
(15:00):
But to make everybody into an electric vehicle in fifteen years,
And this article is kind of backing that up. I
don't think we have the technology and I don't think
they've got the ability to uh to produce the technology,
Jams said. A target of an electric fleet by by
well Ford recently unveiled. It's in quotes, game changing lightning
F one fifty electric pickup truck and prioritize production of
(15:21):
its electric mustangs to continue. Um, you know we had
a call two weeks ago. Was it two weeks ago?
We had a caller that called in and talk to
us about and he brought up a good point. So
an electric f one fifty, if you're towing a trailer
with it, is your range going to be shortened? Or
(15:45):
if you're plowing snow, is your range going to be
shortened because everything is going to be working harder? So
how do you calculate for that? And that makes an
interesting point. Are you going to if plow vehicles are
going to be electric vehicles? Listen, when I'm out in
the plow truck and you're trying to keep ahead of
the storm, you pull into a gas station, charge the
(16:05):
truck you are, charge the truck filled truck up with
gas and and drive out and you're you're ready in
ten minutes with an electric vehicle. Are you going to
be sitting there an hour at best? Right? They say
Tesla can charge their vehicles in an hour. In an hour.
I don't get it. I don't see it. I just
there's there's something of uh, something wrong with this picture. Um,
(16:28):
so just just stay tuned. More to come. Another article
that came out that the case one came to us
via research Kathy, she's out doing her job again sending
me too much information. Talks about how drum brakes are
going to be the way forward for electric vehicles because
old fashioned drum brakes maybe the way to create regenitive
(16:49):
breaking due to their low cost, their lack of complexity,
their corrosion resistance, and they're an excellent model for regenitive breaking.
This article, uh came to us via auto I think
I'm trying to give credit to the article here autoblog
dot com. Um, uh, you can just find it. Just
get out to autoblog dot com and look up the
(17:11):
y old fishing drum brakes may be the way of
the future. Um. Drum brakes are an original technology that
around almosts long as cars have. The article starts out
first developed in this style of break can be found
on some of the very first automotive prototypes if they
gain fooling out of favor with watermakers in the mid sixties,
when shorter stopping this brake systems became widespread UH systems.
(17:31):
These particular brake systems are more powerful and faster stopping
than drums, and are quite necessary as front brakes with
many cars. They require six of slowing the vehicle's momentum
compared to the rear, which is why you'll never find
a new car with front drums anymore. Um, it's true,
and I wonder, you know we're gonna go back to
drum brakes. What that weight's going to do? You know,
(17:52):
I really believe that the electric vehicle future is there,
but to a large degree people all are, well, it's
gonna be a little bit of a mystery. We'll see
what they do and see what really happens going forward.
I think, Um, I don't think they're telling us everything
we need to know. So that being said, I'm running
any of the car doctor, We're gonna pull over and
take a pause. I'll be back right after this. Welcome back,
(18:51):
weren't any of the car doctor. Tom had an interesting
comment about electric vehicles. He just pointed out to me
during the break that he travels from New or New York,
which is, I don't know, forty five minutes outside of
New York City up the New York State Thruway, but
when he goes to Buffalo, he has to stop three
quarters of the way to gas up. What's he gonna
do with an electric vehicle in terms of, you know,
(19:13):
it won't make it, it doesn't have the range, and
does it You're gonna have additional cost added onto his
trip so that he passes it on to his client.
Is it actually gonna cost us more money? And that's
an interesting point because how will we will it change?
Will the electric vehicle future change the cosmetics and the
makeup of the country in the sense that you know,
(19:34):
I remember traveling with dad, you know, taking family vacations
and different destinations in the road trip to nowhere where
you would always stop it it was holiday inn and
Howard Johnson's, and you would guess up once during the
day and once at the end of the day. So
you're gonna have to change it to where you're just
gonna charge up once at the end of the day
and stay wherever you are for the night, So will
(19:55):
electric charging stations be sprouting up on the interstates? And
if you think about it, interstates are far from what civilization.
So are we gonna have to truck in the electric
charge electricity over power lines. We're gonna have to build
all new charging stations to reach these remote locations where
the interstates go. That we're gonna be able to do
(20:15):
that in order to charge the vehicles. It just doesn't
make any sense to me. Um, I just keep thinking
about it. I just I just want to see how
they do that. Um, you know, uh doing it? Yeah.
And then Tom also made a comment about the article
about people in California are buying gas cars after driving
an electric vehicle. Well, yeah, because they're not charging. What's
going on in Texas this week? Right? Wasn't there something
(20:36):
in Texas this week that because of the heat wave
there isn't anough electricity to run all the air conditioners
in California is already going through it. And what we're
going to magically produce electric enough electricity to get electric
vehicles recharged, and and everybody's gonna be in the electric
vehicle because they won't have air conditioning in their house.
Because they won't be able to turn it on. Um,
(20:57):
we should get James Labrec back on to UK to
us more about, you know, the electric vehicle future and
where that's going. I still think about his comments from
his interview two months ago where he said that in
the state of Maine, if the state of Maine went
all electric vehicle now in this current day, at the
current vehicle registration rate, they would have to build seven
(21:18):
nuclear power plants, and that that statistic just stuck with me,
that they have to build seven nuclear power plants to
generate enough electricity to one point twenty one jiggawatts of
electricity in order to uh, you know, charge the fleet.
That in the one about um uh what was it
about twelve billion billion with a b pounds of batteries
(21:42):
that have to be recycled every year, and he said,
don't worry about it. We don't We don't have enough
with him to make twelve billion pounds of batteries right now.
So I just don't see it old school technology. We
had a sixty six where I'm still working on. As
a matter of fact, we've got a sixty six Cadillac
El Dorado in the shop this week and we're dealing
with some break pulling issues that developed. The car went
(22:04):
about a hundred and eighty two miles in the past
seven years. It's been sitting a lot in the owner
doesn't drive it a whole lot. Yeah, I think about
that eighty two miles in the past seven years, and
we're dealing with a brake pole that we're kind of
picking our way through and and and solving. At the
hardest part is finding parts because no pun intended, it's
it's just difficult. There's just not a lot of stuff
(22:25):
out there anymore. And you know, going through and found
the set of wheel cylinders. Thank god Dorman reproduced them.
So we're putting some dormant wheel cylinders in this. We're
gonna take the originals and send them out and get
them breast sleeved so he'll have a he'll have a
backup set and uh, he can use those if he
wants in the future as well. But getting parts for
the older vehicles is tough. But it's sort of a
(22:48):
lesson in manufacturing when you look at an old car.
The next time you're at a car show, look at
that old car, look at the detail. There's a little
emblem on the act rear quarter of this sixties SI
Cadillac El Dorado. The Cadillac um I quality is spree
to core. The colored flag logo of you know, that's
(23:12):
that with the Cadillac symbol for years and years it
was on all the Caddies. And then it's got the
the the the the wreath, the chrome reef tied around
it too. To make all that, to make all these
components in parts, you know, the the the the dye
makers that you know, painlessly and forever just sat there
(23:34):
and etched out the molds to produce these parts. And
we don't do it anymore. Everything's just stamped out. Everything
is plastic, everything is recycled, everything is throw away. Um
just a grand period. I think that's the attraction for
old cars too. I'm learning that that it's just it
just doesn't take you back to a place where you were,
but it shows you the manufacturing capability of the country
(23:56):
at the time and the depth of detail that went
into making a car. Um just just absolutely crazy stuff.
So I'm just just something to point out. The next
time he had a car show, take a look at,
you know, appreciate the car for the piece of jewelry.
That it might be because some of these dash boards
are just so magnificent. We've had a few air conditioning
(24:17):
jobs run through the shop in the past couple of
weeks too, and it's interesting. Somewhere just straight up recharges.
They lost anywhere from two to seven or eight ounces
of refrigerant. It wasn't a big deal. But we've had
a bad blend or actuator. We've had a leaking condenser.
We've had a leaking condenser high side to the compressor line.
We've had lessy's, we've had a couple of strange ones,
(24:41):
cooling fans not coming on. And it tells me that
air conditioning, to me, is the hardest problem, not to diagnose,
but to explain. And this is my point. I want
you to walk into your repair shop winning if you
have an air conditioning problem, and just tell them my
air conditioning is not cold, not I need I need
(25:04):
free On. By the way, it's not called free on anymore.
Hasn't been called free on a long time, but everybody
seems to still call it free on, free on, and
actually free on even when it was our twelve free
On was a trade name. It was a brand name
developed by DuPont Um. You can look it up, you
can google it, but free On really wasn't what it
was called. It was our twelve refrigerant and DuPont's version
(25:26):
of it was free On. That was the brand name.
But don't tell the mechanic you automatically need free On
because you may not. There's a reasonable chance that you're
one thirty four, your one f y F car will not.
It's got a leak, it's got a mechanical problem, it's
got an electrical problem. It's got something that's preventing it
from operating properly and doing what it's supposed to do.
So just just be mindful of that and um, you know,
(25:50):
consider that you've got to do things one step at
a time. Chances are the shop is going to have
to do a service and a C service to and
sometimes that's the only way. We've been using the MALLA
one thirty four machine a refrigerant machine quite a bit
in the past two weeks. Very nice unit, alright, stone quiet.
(26:11):
It's as quiet as a church. It it has the
ability to do automatic a C service, dial in your time,
dial in your weight, dial in your leak, check, push
one button, hook it up, walk away, and it does
it all flawlessly, and then it beeps along the way.
It's tells you, you know, hey, I finished this step.
I'm going on to the next one. I'm finished this step.
(26:32):
I'm going on to the next one. And then when
it's done, it's it's like your kids. It just sits
there and beeping and making noise until you pick them
up and say, okay, we're done. Um so, but mal
has got it going on. Uh. If you're in the
market for an A C machine, you should take a
look at Mala. Definitely very nice stuff. Let's pull over
and take a pause. Five five zero zero. I'll run
ay and the car doctor and I'll be back right
(26:53):
after this. She's real. Find my fornight, she's real. Find
my phone, my funk back. Ron, name of the car
Docker listener writes in Hey Ron, I'm wondering if you
(27:15):
have any great Father's Day stories about your father. Heard
you're talking in the first hour, and I'm just wondering,
do you have anything that you remember as a kid.
George in Georgia. You know, geez, George, you know, there's
so many Dad's stories. It's it's you know, it's tough
I don't remember him as much as I used to.
I think one of my favorites is when I was
probably every bit of four or five years old Dad,
(27:39):
when Mom wasn't around. Dad put me on his lap
in the Volvo and I would steer the Volvo and
move the gearshift over every time he pushed the clutch in,
and uh, you know, I learned about manual transmission and
clutch operation that way, and it was just I don't
know that that got me hooked on being a mechanic.
I think that got me hooked on cars. That cars
were just so neat and fascinating. It was, you know,
(28:00):
the movement of the gearshift knob and the clutch pedal
and there was some coordination things going on, and I
was just so amazed at the way he handled that
piece of machinery that you know, it just got me
more curious. I think what got a I think what
got me going with regards to being a mechanic. Was
it for me personally? It was my way of you know,
(28:23):
so many kids were better at sports and so many
different things, but it was helped me identify myself with
one of the talents that the big Man above gave
me that I was able to do something and do
it by myself. It made me the quarterback of my
own little football team, so to speak. So you know,
that kind of made me feel good. But that's that
I got from Dad too, So just dad stories. Um
Tom writes, And we had a question from a call
(28:44):
or what is the going rate for R twelve refrigerants
if you can find it? Um, I've seen the little cans,
the little fifteen ounce cans of R twelve refrigerant going
anywhere from two to a can. So I'm seeing all
kinds of crazy numbers. So if you find some and
you need some, you know, hang onto it because they
ain't making it anymore. Hey, Ron, I listen to your
radio program on occasion on my local radio station, w
(29:07):
d r C in Hartford, Connecticut, which they carry on
a de laid basis. What are your thoughts on undercoating
rustproofing a new vehicle pickup truck with line X or
some of the rustproofers that they carry at the auto
parts stores, or any commercial rustproofers that you know of.
I remember years ago we had Rusty Jones and auto armor.
My seven Dodge Diplomat had auto armor on it. When
it was brand new, and it is still fabulous, although
(29:27):
I never drive it in the winter. My two thousand
eight Ranger with fifty one thous miles on it is
in pretty rough shape. It's out in the winter storm
so I can plow the various family driveways. Is amazing
how much of these road chemicals they pour on for
each storm. It's amazing how this stuff sticks to the
underside of the truck even when you try to hose
it off. I can't see spending thirty five thousand dollars
plus for a new truck that will rust out in
(29:48):
twelve years. I'm sixty two, and if I purchase a
new truck I wanted the last twenty years, how do
I protected? Martin? Great question, Marty, Uh, you know, listen,
I'm a little bit of fanatic when it comes to rustproofing.
I'm not so much a fan of undercoating and rustproofing.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but I've
always of late, I've taken the paint approach when I've
purchased the plow truck. And you might have heard me
(30:08):
tell the story before I've stripped the wheel wells out
of it. I stripped everything out of it that I could.
I got it down to the very barest of metal
and Benjamin Moore low luster alkalid UH paint. I've painted
the entire undercarriage of the truck, and then I've rustproofed, patched,
aerosol spray, rustproof patch in various uh you know, various
places of of of undercoating. I think the key with
(30:29):
undercoating is you've got to get it all or there's
got to be protection at all levels. Because once the
chemical or once the moisture gets past an open or
unprotected area on any vehicle, I think the game is
over because it just sort of creeps along under the
protective material and there's nothing you can do about it
at that point and creates a bigger problem. Um. I
(30:50):
agree with you spending a lot of money on a
vehicle to let it rust out. The problem is, as
you say, you're oh eight rangers rusted out to the
point that you know it's rusting out to the point
that it's in pretty rough shape. So you know where's
the tradeoff? Yes, I agree we are putting too much
chemical on the roads in all states. It seems no
matter where you go. UM, which is sort of mind
boggling because we've got vehicles with all wheel drive, all
(31:12):
wheel steering, all wheel breaking, and we still put enough
chemical on the on the on the roadways that it
makes you wonder what it's doing to the environment, although
I know they'll tell you that you know it's environmental, uh,
environmental safe chemical, so it doesn't cause a problem. But
I think you've got to do some undercoat Martin, back
to your question. I think you've got to do some undercoating.
(31:32):
I think you've got to do some painting, proper care,
and I think washing off. I think those three steps
will help promote the life of the vehicle. Um, I
wouldn't worry about the truck rusting out in twelve years
or so because at the right things are going. They're
gonna stop making parts for most things after seven. So
as long as you get seven years out of it,
you're good. And you just have to factor in the
expense of a new vehicle sooner rather than later. Just
(31:53):
my perspective, just getting ready for the future. Eight five
zero nine zero Marnin eating the car Doctor. We're at
right after this, don't go away, locome back running in
(32:16):
of the car Doctor, winding it down this hour. You know.
The one other thing that I thought was interesting we
haven't talked about at all is the way tools are changing.
So I've been going through the back room of the
shop and I've got a collection and there are some
things there that I thought would always be worth money.
I've been trying to sell breakout my breakout box and
breakout box adapters for the original four to EKE four
(32:38):
engine control systems. E four was produced from eighty three
until but you know, you start adding it up and
you goosand and five two thousand fifteen. Those those cars
are anywhere from fifteen to twenty five years old, and
there's they're just not out there. I've had breakout box
adapters and stuff up on eBay for the past month,
(33:00):
and uh, you know, forty bucks can't give it away,
just nobody wants it. And they were they were four
D tools back in the day. It's just it's just
crazy the way technology is driving certain cars into uh,
you know, non existence, and I guess you know they're
getting older, but nothing survived, right. It seems like a
(33:20):
lot of these vehicles that we used to work on
a regular basis, the simple jobs we used to work
on a regular basis, just haven't survived. We also worked
on this week. I should point out seventy seven pant
trans am, the smoking in the Bandit car um black
black tip trans Am gold trim, Anthony's car um. We
love Anthony. Anthony's a good guy. He's listening. You know.
We told him get this, this, this, he got that
(33:41):
that and that. We did a power steering pump and
pressure hoses this week. A little bit of a toughie
because the original power steering host. This kind of annoys me.
The original power steering hose. The replacement wasn't exactly like
the original host. It was just enough tweaks in it
that it just sort of fit, but not really it
could have, you know which I always wonder why the
(34:03):
aftermarket or why the manufacturers do that, because this way work,
This way is sort of okay, you know. Is it
a we don't care any more of the vehicles out
of warranty and it's your problem. That type of mentality.
I don't know, but it was. It was fun working
on something with a carburetor again, and you know, basics,
just nuts and bolts. It just took a little bit
of time because everything has to be trial fit and
(34:24):
looked at once, then looked at twice, and then hooked
up and then made wet and then once you put
fluid in it, burp it and bleed it and um,
then you go take it for a rud and you
look for Sally Fields, which we didn't find. So I
didn't even have the cowboy hat. Um, so I know
when I have to get for Father's Day next year.
By the way, speaking of gifts for Father's Day, did
anybody see totally off topic here? We'll close it out here,
(34:48):
but sort of. It's a mechanical thing. The Royal Navy
has this jet pack there. There's a video up on
Facebook where they're talking about it's it's these couplings that
you strapped to your lists and you wear the jet
pack on your arm and you can fly like Iron Man. Um.
It's really kind of cool. I bet I can make
it faster, but uh, you know, it just makes you
(35:09):
wonder the technology and where it's going. I don't know.
I better put that technology into electric vehicles because we're
sure you're gonna need it. Something's got to change. Hey,
it's been a pleasure. I hope you've enjoyed yourself. I
have everyone out there have a great Father's Day, Honor
those that are leading the way, and until the next time,
remember the mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See that
Ron and Anian can hybrid and electric vehicles were dangerous
to work on. Next sentence one word absolutely, yeah, the
Car Doctor. We can't be that stupid that we're gonna
mount radar detect radar emitting devices into the front of
(00:20):
a vehicle and then it's following the vehicle from behind
in the front. Are we being bombarded by radar with
now that that we could be that dumb could be?
Welcome to the radio home of Ron and Anien 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
(00:43):
phone and call in the garage to ortis are open,
but I am here to take your call at eight
five five five six and now he running. Hey. Welcome
to the Father's Day edition of The Car Doctor of
the second hour this weekend as we can it called
Father's Day, and help celebrate that and all that the
dads do and all that the moms do in place
(01:05):
of dad's to help help take care of the kids
and be the be the inspiration and be the way
forward for so many generations. Um just uh always good
to have a dad around in some way, shape or form.
Let's kick this hour off right off the bat and
let's go over to Audrey in Virginia. And keep in
mind we're giving away a twenty five gift card today
(01:25):
for Orilly out of Parts. We're gonna do it this hour.
So let's go see what Audre's got to say in
Virginia and let's see if we can help her in
her Ford Mustang. Audrey, Welcome to the Car Doctor. You're welcome.
What's going on? Um? Well, I got a new battery
put in my car. Well, actually, um, someone who come
(01:49):
came to jump started said that it didn't look like
a new battery, but the jump started it anyway. And
I've been having problems where I wait a few days,
I go out to my car. I'm retired, so I
don't drive my car every day, and I go to
(02:12):
started and it's dead. And I've had it jump started
at least twice. And um, I was told by the
place where I bought the the battery that it could
possibly be the alternator. Well, listen, it could be something
(02:33):
between the headlights and the tail lights. Until they diagnosed that,
nobody really knows. Did you have the problem. Did you
have the problem with the old battery in the car? Okay, so,
how long since the old battery was replaced and the
new battery put into the problem? Start? Did it start
right away? Um? Well sort of. I had the new battery,
(02:56):
so called new battery put in on May a, just
last month, and uh, my neighbor helped me and he said,
started up, and it started right up, no hesitation at all.
And then uh, I went to try it on May eighteenth,
(03:17):
and it was dead. I think that was kind of
my fault because I waited too long. But so then
I m on the I had it jump started and um,
get started up, and I ran it for about fifteen
minutes and uh and just left it at that And
(03:40):
five days later, I thought I'd better go started up
again on June two, and it was dead as a
door knob, nothing, not even any clicks. No, no discredit
to your neighbor or his efforts or anybody trying to
put a battery in this vehicle. One of the things,
one of the things that professional can do and should
(04:01):
do whenever they replace a battery is to consider do
they need to do a draw test, A current draw
test for battery replacements, so you avoid scenarios like this
because now you've got you know, is it the battery
or is it the vehicle? Did something change in the vehicle?
Could you have a bad new battery? Sure, new means
never ever worked in my world, you know. But a
(04:24):
current draw test where they're gonna measure to see if
there is any current draw something pulling electrically out of
the battery while it's sitting there, would do you a
world of good. The second thing I would I would
tell you to look at is you know what brand
of battery? Was it? Just out of curiosity, Uh, it's okay.
(04:45):
And they're decent batteries. I mean batteries today. You know,
most of them are pretty good. If it's one of
the name brands. The majority of batteries are you know,
out of the probably a dozen and a half brands
of batteries on the market today, there may eat it
one of three or two I think it's two now,
two battery plants in the continental United States, because you know,
(05:06):
it's not that they're spread out all over the place.
Everybody contracts out um. Just to show you how the
how the industry is working, we ordered a case of
motorcraft fl nine tens oil filters. The other day they
came to us and the shipping label said from Pure Later.
So Pure Later is making motorcraft oil filters. I was
just wow, uh, you know which I kind of suspected,
(05:29):
because the oil filter companies everybody's making, you know, everybody
else's filters today. Everybody's making everybody else's batteries. That being said,
I'd be curious what the date code on this battery is.
How old is this battery? Was this battery sitting on
the shelf in the parts house where you got it
hasn't been sitting there for any length of time? And
did they rotate the stock around for that matter? Does
(05:49):
this battery need to be charged? Never assume a battery
you buy off the parts store shelf, especially going into
a car that's gonna sit for a length of time,
it's chart is charged to the proper level. Fifteen minutes
of running the car isn't enough forty five minutes to
an hour, forty five minutes to an hour, forty fifty
(06:12):
miles an hour, reasonable highway speeds, minimal amount of accessories
on to put some kind of a charge into that.
Does the car sit. Does the car sit outside or inside?
Audrey outside? Okay. You know, one of the things you
may want to consider if you're retired now and you're
not going to be driving at all that much, is
(06:33):
there are devices out there, for example, like solar battery chargers.
It would it would, it would lay on the dashboard, Okay,
it would plug into the O B two O B
D two diagnostic port. Or you could just direct connected
to the battery, just run the cables the wires under
the hood and it would just receive enough of a
(06:54):
trickle charge to help maintain the battery. But I kind
of don't want to do that until I know there's
no problem in the vehicle. I would prefer mechanic to
do a current draw test. Okay, do you understand what
I mean when I say current draw test, Audrey, a
current droadcast testing the battery of voltage and all that. Yeah,
(07:16):
you know, it's sort of like did you ever wonder
if the lights on in your refrigerator when you close
the door. Oh, I know it's not. Well, it may
be right, but we there now I've opened my refrigerator
door and click on that thing and the light goes out.
So you know it goes out ba. See, we don't
know that in the car, and a draw test will
(07:36):
tell us if there's a bull bond pulling current and
draining the battery. That's why that's important, all right, And
that's why you know, it's I get it. We're you know,
we're trying to you know, cut corners and we're looking
for honesty and mechanics. And sometimes maybe it's not about
spending money to repair shop. Maybe we just don't know
where to go. Uh, you know, and that's and that's
(07:57):
the bigger issue. I think a lot of cases, I
would say that, you know, we've got to find a shop,
somebody competent. Hey, can you do a current draw test?
You know it's going to take them half hour or
forty five minutes maybe to start to finish because they've
got to go through the electrical system, alternators, starter and
so forth. But to just say this, to just say
the alternator's bad because the battery is going dead, you know,
(08:22):
we're guessing. It's just a possibility. It's just a possibility.
It's just one of the things on the list. So um,
this the second time that I had my card jumps
started on actually this past Wednesday. Um, I didn't run
it for about fifty minutes because the guy that said
(08:43):
you let it run for about fifty minutes. So I
did that exactly. And when I came back out on
five days later on June second, it was it was
like it was trying to turn over and it just
would not okay, and time me I got the clicking
noise and I'm like, well again, it's dead again. So
(09:05):
and that's and that's what the draw test will tell you.
You know what, are you stay on the line, Tom
is gonna be getting your information. We're gonna be sending
out that twenty five dollar gift card to Riley Oto
Parts Rileyoto dot Com. Ahead, I'll tell you what you
don't have to do that. We want father passed away
away back in well. But you know what, we we
want to do that because we want to help you out.
(09:27):
And uh, you know you're probably a father and a
mentor to somebody. UM I can tell um just listening
to you, and this way you can possibly go down
to your local Orillyoto parts. And it's very sweet of
you to say that, but I can listen. I can
tell a good father image when I hear one and um,
you know it'll help you out. You can go down
there and pick out maybe a solar charger for the car,
(09:47):
or if you need another battery or something along those lines.
So stay on the line. Let Tom get your information.
We'll get that twenty five gift card to rally Oto
parts coming your way, and you'd be well, dear. And
if you need any more information, you give us a
call F zero zero running any of the car doctor
coming back right after this. Got number time right it
(10:19):
on the wall, so you don't forget to call for
car advice. Done right? Eight five five five zero zero zero.
Now back to raw. Hey, let's uh, Audrey is still here? Audrey?
Do you miss me already? No? No, she's not there
is Audrey there? Tom though, Okay, let's let me go
back to my I was gonna read this email that
(10:39):
I've got. Um, I'm talking about one in five electric
vehicle owners. Did you see this article? It's it's kind
of all over the place, written by Dominic Reuter. One
in five electric vehicle owners in California switched back to
gas because charging their cars as a hassle, research shows,
And the article starts out, and you know it makes
sense right, and roughly three minutes you can fill the
gas tank of a Ford Mustang and enough rain to
(11:00):
go about three miles. But the electric Mustang it goes on.
That says it just now we're plugged into a household outlet,
will gave. And it did. They took Bloomberg Automotive analyst
Kevin Tynan just three miles of rain, so after an
hour of charging through a household outlet. And part of
the issue is that they're finding that, you know, there's
level one, there's level two, and then there's the supercharged
(11:24):
version of a Tesla charger. Here is the article talked about.
Standard home outlets generally deliver a hun and twenty volts
powering on electric vehicle afficionados called level one charging, while
the higher powered specialty connections at two forty volts are
known as level two. Testless superchargers can fully charge its
cars in a little over an hour running on four
indred eighty vaults. You know, Audrey, that was just on
(11:44):
the show. Sounded a little older, right, Audrey was probably
I'm gonna guess and say in her in her seventies
or eighties, she's gonna deal with charging an electric vehicle. Um,
maybe she's driving a ninety eight Mustang. She's a pretty
hyplop a little lady, I guess at that point, But um,
you know, you have to say to yourself, where is
(12:05):
the convenience and what is the convenience? I don't know
if people will want to deal with it, and evidently
they're not. This article is talking about how people that
are driving electric vehicles are also wanted to go back
to a gas powered vehicle because of the uh, you know,
because of the inconvenience of trying to charge an electric
vehicle and room range issues. Of those who switched se
(12:28):
lacked access to level two charging at home, the article continued,
and slightly fewer than that like level two connections at
their workplace. If you don't have level two, it's almost impossible,
said Tynan, who has tested a wide range of makes
and vehicles over the years for his research. Even with
the faster charging, a Chevy Boulti tested needed nearly six
hours to bring its range back up to three miles
from empty, something that makes them takes them just minutes
(12:51):
at the pump with his family suv A And this
is the part I don't get that we're gonna still
try and do this. You know, I've said this before.
Were right. Cars were meant to be mass transportation devices.
They were meant to you know, feed the masses. And
part of the reason why internal combustion engines came about
(13:11):
was because of truth be told, I've talked about this
because of the horse maneure problem in the big cities,
because horses were the method of transportation at the turn
of the eighteen hundreds into the nineteen hundreds, and it
was a health issue, a sewage problem, and everybody's walking
down the street with manure piles, and we just wanted
to get away into something basic, basic transportation. Cars weren't
(13:33):
envisioned that they're gonna have heated seeds, heated cup holders,
video games and all the things that cars have now
and the electronics. Uh, you know, the electric vehicle is
just taking it to the next level. And how many
of the average consumer are going to be able to
or want to be able to deal with that? And
that's what this article points out. Um, so it's uh,
(13:54):
it's interesting, and then goes on and talks about, uh,
public charging stations may look like the electric version of
the gas station, but nearly two thirds of drivers in
the survey said they didn't use them. Exactly why they
didn't use the public stols is not specified. Electric vehicles,
the article continues, have come a long way in recent
years in terms of range, safety, and comfort. Sure, no
argument they have to come a great long way, but
(14:15):
it's been noted that very little change has been happened
in how they are recharged. Researchers warned this trend could
make it harder to achieve electric vehicle sales targets in
California and other countries and growth of the market overall. Well,
I think that's goes without saying. You know, listen, I'm
gonna make a public statement. I don't think electric vehicles
on a wholesale level, on across the board level, is
(14:37):
going to occur in fifteen years. I think there's another
game of foot I think they're looking to get us
to want to change a percentage of the population of
the vehicle fleet so it becomes five or ten percent
electric vehicles, where it becomes higher use in areas where
there's more pollution and urban issues, smog and things like that.
(15:00):
But to make everybody into an electric vehicle in fifteen years,
And this article is kind of backing that up. I
don't think we have the technology and I don't think
they've got the ability to uh to produce the technology,
Jams said. A target of an electric fleet by by
well Ford recently unveiled. It's in quotes, game changing lightning
F one fifty electric pickup truck and prioritize production of
(15:21):
its electric mustangs to continue. Um, you know we had
a call two weeks ago. Was it two weeks ago?
We had a caller that called in and talk to
us about and he brought up a good point. So
an electric f one fifty, if you're towing a trailer
with it, is your range going to be shortened? Or
(15:45):
if you're plowing snow, is your range going to be
shortened because everything is going to be working harder? So
how do you calculate for that? And that makes an
interesting point. Are you going to if plow vehicles are
going to be electric vehicles? Listen, when I'm out in
the plow truck and you're trying to keep ahead of
the storm, you pull into a gas station, charge the
(16:05):
truck you are, charge the truck filled truck up with
gas and and drive out and you're you're ready in
ten minutes with an electric vehicle. Are you going to
be sitting there an hour at best? Right? They say
Tesla can charge their vehicles in an hour. In an hour.
I don't get it. I don't see it. I just
there's there's something of uh, something wrong with this picture. Um,
(16:28):
so just just stay tuned. More to come. Another article
that came out that the case one came to us
via research Kathy, she's out doing her job again sending
me too much information. Talks about how drum brakes are
going to be the way forward for electric vehicles because
old fashioned drum brakes maybe the way to create regenitive
(16:49):
breaking due to their low cost, their lack of complexity,
their corrosion resistance, and they're an excellent model for regenitive breaking.
This article, uh came to us via auto I think
I'm trying to give credit to the article here autoblog
dot com. Um, uh, you can just find it. Just
get out to autoblog dot com and look up the
(17:11):
y old fishing drum brakes may be the way of
the future. Um. Drum brakes are an original technology that
around almosts long as cars have. The article starts out
first developed in this style of break can be found
on some of the very first automotive prototypes if they
gain fooling out of favor with watermakers in the mid sixties,
when shorter stopping this brake systems became widespread UH systems.
(17:31):
These particular brake systems are more powerful and faster stopping
than drums, and are quite necessary as front brakes with
many cars. They require six of slowing the vehicle's momentum
compared to the rear, which is why you'll never find
a new car with front drums anymore. Um, it's true,
and I wonder, you know we're gonna go back to
drum brakes. What that weight's going to do? You know,
(17:52):
I really believe that the electric vehicle future is there,
but to a large degree people all are, well, it's
gonna be a little bit of a mystery. We'll see
what they do and see what really happens going forward.
I think, Um, I don't think they're telling us everything
we need to know. So that being said, I'm running
any of the car doctor, We're gonna pull over and
take a pause. I'll be back right after this. Welcome back,
(18:51):
weren't any of the car doctor. Tom had an interesting
comment about electric vehicles. He just pointed out to me
during the break that he travels from New or New York,
which is, I don't know, forty five minutes outside of
New York City up the New York State Thruway, but
when he goes to Buffalo, he has to stop three
quarters of the way to gas up. What's he gonna
do with an electric vehicle in terms of, you know,
(19:13):
it won't make it, it doesn't have the range, and
does it You're gonna have additional cost added onto his
trip so that he passes it on to his client.
Is it actually gonna cost us more money? And that's
an interesting point because how will we will it change?
Will the electric vehicle future change the cosmetics and the
makeup of the country in the sense that you know,
(19:34):
I remember traveling with dad, you know, taking family vacations
and different destinations in the road trip to nowhere where
you would always stop it it was holiday inn and
Howard Johnson's, and you would guess up once during the
day and once at the end of the day. So
you're gonna have to change it to where you're just
gonna charge up once at the end of the day
and stay wherever you are for the night, So will
(19:55):
electric charging stations be sprouting up on the interstates? And
if you think about it, interstates are far from what civilization.
So are we gonna have to truck in the electric
charge electricity over power lines. We're gonna have to build
all new charging stations to reach these remote locations where
the interstates go. That we're gonna be able to do
(20:15):
that in order to charge the vehicles. It just doesn't
make any sense to me. Um, I just keep thinking
about it. I just I just want to see how
they do that. Um, you know, uh doing it? Yeah.
And then Tom also made a comment about the article
about people in California are buying gas cars after driving
an electric vehicle. Well, yeah, because they're not charging. What's
going on in Texas this week? Right? Wasn't there something
(20:36):
in Texas this week that because of the heat wave
there isn't anough electricity to run all the air conditioners
in California is already going through it. And what we're
going to magically produce electric enough electricity to get electric
vehicles recharged, and and everybody's gonna be in the electric
vehicle because they won't have air conditioning in their house.
Because they won't be able to turn it on. Um,
(20:57):
we should get James Labrec back on to UK to
us more about, you know, the electric vehicle future and
where that's going. I still think about his comments from
his interview two months ago where he said that in
the state of Maine, if the state of Maine went
all electric vehicle now in this current day, at the
current vehicle registration rate, they would have to build seven
(21:18):
nuclear power plants, and that that statistic just stuck with me,
that they have to build seven nuclear power plants to
generate enough electricity to one point twenty one jiggawatts of
electricity in order to uh, you know, charge the fleet.
That in the one about um uh what was it
about twelve billion billion with a b pounds of batteries
(21:42):
that have to be recycled every year, and he said,
don't worry about it. We don't We don't have enough
with him to make twelve billion pounds of batteries right now.
So I just don't see it old school technology. We
had a sixty six where I'm still working on. As
a matter of fact, we've got a sixty six Cadillac
El Dorado in the shop this week and we're dealing
with some break pulling issues that developed. The car went
(22:04):
about a hundred and eighty two miles in the past
seven years. It's been sitting a lot in the owner
doesn't drive it a whole lot. Yeah, I think about
that eighty two miles in the past seven years, and
we're dealing with a brake pole that we're kind of
picking our way through and and and solving. At the
hardest part is finding parts because no pun intended, it's
it's just difficult. There's just not a lot of stuff
(22:25):
out there anymore. And you know, going through and found
the set of wheel cylinders. Thank god Dorman reproduced them.
So we're putting some dormant wheel cylinders in this. We're
gonna take the originals and send them out and get
them breast sleeved so he'll have a he'll have a
backup set and uh, he can use those if he
wants in the future as well. But getting parts for
the older vehicles is tough. But it's sort of a
(22:48):
lesson in manufacturing when you look at an old car.
The next time you're at a car show, look at
that old car, look at the detail. There's a little
emblem on the act rear quarter of this sixties SI
Cadillac El Dorado. The Cadillac um I quality is spree
to core. The colored flag logo of you know, that's
(23:12):
that with the Cadillac symbol for years and years it
was on all the Caddies. And then it's got the
the the the the wreath, the chrome reef tied around
it too. To make all that, to make all these
components in parts, you know, the the the the dye
makers that you know, painlessly and forever just sat there
(23:34):
and etched out the molds to produce these parts. And
we don't do it anymore. Everything's just stamped out. Everything
is plastic, everything is recycled, everything is throw away. Um
just a grand period. I think that's the attraction for
old cars too. I'm learning that that it's just it
just doesn't take you back to a place where you were,
but it shows you the manufacturing capability of the country
(23:56):
at the time and the depth of detail that went
into making a car. Um just just absolutely crazy stuff.
So I'm just just something to point out. The next
time he had a car show, take a look at,
you know, appreciate the car for the piece of jewelry.
That it might be because some of these dash boards
are just so magnificent. We've had a few air conditioning
(24:17):
jobs run through the shop in the past couple of
weeks too, and it's interesting. Somewhere just straight up recharges.
They lost anywhere from two to seven or eight ounces
of refrigerant. It wasn't a big deal. But we've had
a bad blend or actuator. We've had a leaking condenser.
We've had a leaking condenser high side to the compressor line.
We've had lessy's, we've had a couple of strange ones,
(24:41):
cooling fans not coming on. And it tells me that
air conditioning, to me, is the hardest problem, not to diagnose,
but to explain. And this is my point. I want
you to walk into your repair shop winning if you
have an air conditioning problem, and just tell them my
air conditioning is not cold, not I need I need
(25:04):
free On. By the way, it's not called free on anymore.
Hasn't been called free on a long time, but everybody
seems to still call it free on, free on, and
actually free on even when it was our twelve free
On was a trade name. It was a brand name
developed by DuPont Um. You can look it up, you
can google it, but free On really wasn't what it
was called. It was our twelve refrigerant and DuPont's version
(25:26):
of it was free On. That was the brand name.
But don't tell the mechanic you automatically need free On
because you may not. There's a reasonable chance that you're
one thirty four, your one f y F car will not.
It's got a leak, it's got a mechanical problem, it's
got an electrical problem. It's got something that's preventing it
from operating properly and doing what it's supposed to do.
So just just be mindful of that and um, you know,
(25:50):
consider that you've got to do things one step at
a time. Chances are the shop is going to have
to do a service and a C service to and
sometimes that's the only way. We've been using the MALLA
one thirty four machine a refrigerant machine quite a bit
in the past two weeks. Very nice unit, alright, stone quiet.
(26:11):
It's as quiet as a church. It it has the
ability to do automatic a C service, dial in your time,
dial in your weight, dial in your leak, check, push
one button, hook it up, walk away, and it does
it all flawlessly, and then it beeps along the way.
It's tells you, you know, hey, I finished this step.
I'm going on to the next one. I'm finished this step.
(26:32):
I'm going on to the next one. And then when
it's done, it's it's like your kids. It just sits
there and beeping and making noise until you pick them
up and say, okay, we're done. Um so, but mal
has got it going on. Uh. If you're in the
market for an A C machine, you should take a
look at Mala. Definitely very nice stuff. Let's pull over
and take a pause. Five five zero zero. I'll run
ay and the car doctor and I'll be back right
(26:53):
after this. She's real. Find my fornight, she's real. Find
my phone, my funk back. Ron, name of the car
Docker listener writes in Hey Ron, I'm wondering if you
(27:15):
have any great Father's Day stories about your father. Heard
you're talking in the first hour, and I'm just wondering,
do you have anything that you remember as a kid.
George in Georgia. You know, geez, George, you know, there's
so many Dad's stories. It's it's you know, it's tough
I don't remember him as much as I used to.
I think one of my favorites is when I was
probably every bit of four or five years old Dad,
(27:39):
when Mom wasn't around. Dad put me on his lap
in the Volvo and I would steer the Volvo and
move the gearshift over every time he pushed the clutch in,
and uh, you know, I learned about manual transmission and
clutch operation that way, and it was just I don't
know that that got me hooked on being a mechanic.
I think that got me hooked on cars. That cars
were just so neat and fascinating. It was, you know,
(28:00):
the movement of the gearshift knob and the clutch pedal
and there was some coordination things going on, and I
was just so amazed at the way he handled that
piece of machinery that you know, it just got me
more curious. I think what got a I think what
got me going with regards to being a mechanic. Was
it for me personally? It was my way of you know,
(28:23):
so many kids were better at sports and so many
different things, but it was helped me identify myself with
one of the talents that the big Man above gave
me that I was able to do something and do
it by myself. It made me the quarterback of my
own little football team, so to speak. So you know,
that kind of made me feel good. But that's that
I got from Dad too, So just dad stories. Um
Tom writes, And we had a question from a call
(28:44):
or what is the going rate for R twelve refrigerants
if you can find it? Um, I've seen the little cans,
the little fifteen ounce cans of R twelve refrigerant going
anywhere from two to a can. So I'm seeing all
kinds of crazy numbers. So if you find some and
you need some, you know, hang onto it because they
ain't making it anymore. Hey, Ron, I listen to your
radio program on occasion on my local radio station, w
(29:07):
d r C in Hartford, Connecticut, which they carry on
a de laid basis. What are your thoughts on undercoating
rustproofing a new vehicle pickup truck with line X or
some of the rustproofers that they carry at the auto
parts stores, or any commercial rustproofers that you know of.
I remember years ago we had Rusty Jones and auto armor.
My seven Dodge Diplomat had auto armor on it. When
it was brand new, and it is still fabulous, although
(29:27):
I never drive it in the winter. My two thousand
eight Ranger with fifty one thous miles on it is
in pretty rough shape. It's out in the winter storm
so I can plow the various family driveways. Is amazing
how much of these road chemicals they pour on for
each storm. It's amazing how this stuff sticks to the
underside of the truck even when you try to hose
it off. I can't see spending thirty five thousand dollars
plus for a new truck that will rust out in
(29:48):
twelve years. I'm sixty two, and if I purchase a
new truck I wanted the last twenty years, how do
I protected? Martin? Great question, Marty, Uh, you know, listen,
I'm a little bit of fanatic when it comes to rustproofing.
I'm not so much a fan of undercoating and rustproofing.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but I've
always of late, I've taken the paint approach when I've
purchased the plow truck. And you might have heard me
(30:08):
tell the story before I've stripped the wheel wells out
of it. I stripped everything out of it that I could.
I got it down to the very barest of metal
and Benjamin Moore low luster alkalid UH paint. I've painted
the entire undercarriage of the truck, and then I've rustproofed, patched,
aerosol spray, rustproof patch in various uh you know, various
places of of of undercoating. I think the key with
(30:29):
undercoating is you've got to get it all or there's
got to be protection at all levels. Because once the
chemical or once the moisture gets past an open or
unprotected area on any vehicle, I think the game is
over because it just sort of creeps along under the
protective material and there's nothing you can do about it
at that point and creates a bigger problem. Um. I
(30:50):
agree with you spending a lot of money on a
vehicle to let it rust out. The problem is, as
you say, you're oh eight rangers rusted out to the
point that you know it's rusting out to the point
that it's in pretty rough shape. So you know where's
the tradeoff? Yes, I agree we are putting too much
chemical on the roads in all states. It seems no
matter where you go. UM, which is sort of mind
boggling because we've got vehicles with all wheel drive, all
(31:12):
wheel steering, all wheel breaking, and we still put enough
chemical on the on the on the roadways that it
makes you wonder what it's doing to the environment, although
I know they'll tell you that you know it's environmental, uh,
environmental safe chemical, so it doesn't cause a problem. But
I think you've got to do some undercoat Martin, back
to your question. I think you've got to do some undercoating.
(31:32):
I think you've got to do some painting, proper care,
and I think washing off. I think those three steps
will help promote the life of the vehicle. Um, I
wouldn't worry about the truck rusting out in twelve years
or so because at the right things are going. They're
gonna stop making parts for most things after seven. So
as long as you get seven years out of it,
you're good. And you just have to factor in the
expense of a new vehicle sooner rather than later. Just
(31:53):
my perspective, just getting ready for the future. Eight five
zero nine zero Marnin eating the car Doctor. We're at
right after this, don't go away, locome back running in
(32:16):
of the car Doctor, winding it down this hour. You know.
The one other thing that I thought was interesting we
haven't talked about at all is the way tools are changing.
So I've been going through the back room of the
shop and I've got a collection and there are some
things there that I thought would always be worth money.
I've been trying to sell breakout my breakout box and
breakout box adapters for the original four to EKE four
(32:38):
engine control systems. E four was produced from eighty three
until but you know, you start adding it up and
you goosand and five two thousand fifteen. Those those cars
are anywhere from fifteen to twenty five years old, and
there's they're just not out there. I've had breakout box
adapters and stuff up on eBay for the past month,
(33:00):
and uh, you know, forty bucks can't give it away,
just nobody wants it. And they were they were four
D tools back in the day. It's just it's just
crazy the way technology is driving certain cars into uh,
you know, non existence, and I guess you know they're
getting older, but nothing survived, right. It seems like a
(33:20):
lot of these vehicles that we used to work on
a regular basis, the simple jobs we used to work
on a regular basis, just haven't survived. We also worked
on this week. I should point out seventy seven pant
trans am, the smoking in the Bandit car um black
black tip trans Am gold trim, Anthony's car um. We
love Anthony. Anthony's a good guy. He's listening. You know.
We told him get this, this, this, he got that
(33:41):
that and that. We did a power steering pump and
pressure hoses this week. A little bit of a toughie
because the original power steering host. This kind of annoys me.
The original power steering hose. The replacement wasn't exactly like
the original host. It was just enough tweaks in it
that it just sort of fit, but not really it
could have, you know which I always wonder why the
(34:03):
aftermarket or why the manufacturers do that, because this way work,
This way is sort of okay, you know. Is it
a we don't care any more of the vehicles out
of warranty and it's your problem. That type of mentality.
I don't know, but it was. It was fun working
on something with a carburetor again, and you know, basics,
just nuts and bolts. It just took a little bit
of time because everything has to be trial fit and
(34:24):
looked at once, then looked at twice, and then hooked
up and then made wet and then once you put
fluid in it, burp it and bleed it and um,
then you go take it for a rud and you
look for Sally Fields, which we didn't find. So I
didn't even have the cowboy hat. Um, so I know
when I have to get for Father's Day next year.
By the way, speaking of gifts for Father's Day, did
anybody see totally off topic here? We'll close it out here,
(34:48):
but sort of. It's a mechanical thing. The Royal Navy
has this jet pack there. There's a video up on
Facebook where they're talking about it's it's these couplings that
you strapped to your lists and you wear the jet
pack on your arm and you can fly like Iron Man. Um.
It's really kind of cool. I bet I can make
it faster, but uh, you know, it just makes you
(35:09):
wonder the technology and where it's going. I don't know.
I better put that technology into electric vehicles because we're
sure you're gonna need it. Something's got to change. Hey,
it's been a pleasure. I hope you've enjoyed yourself. I
have everyone out there have a great Father's Day, Honor
those that are leading the way, and until the next time,
remember the mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See that
Host
Ron Ananian
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