September 30, 2017 • 35 mins
Ron starts this episode talking about the guy who came in who needs to slam his car door to start the car : talks about California wanting to ban internal combustion engines : takes a call from an auto tech student looking for suggestions on what tools he should have for the real world : takes a call on an 03 Yukon XL that keeps getting error codes while towing : call on 89 Buick LeSabre with a heater problem.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ron Anian, I wonder if the measurement of a good
repair shop and a good mechanic isn't going to be
whether or not they have every scan tool, every whizbank scope,
every piece of diagnostic information under their sun at their fingertips.
But more so, how many torquerenches do they have here?
It's when they win the hold down the rolled at
eight miles the Car Doctor. The next time this car
(00:22):
does if it has no spark of it has no
injector pulse, unplugged the alternator. Really yeah, if you unplug
the alternator and the car runs, I'm gonna tell you
you've probably got a bed or a set of bad injectors.
Welcome to the radio home of ron and Anian, the
Car Doctor, since this is where car owners the world
(00:45):
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 here to take your call. At eight five
five six and now running. Hey, it's time to start
(01:05):
your engines. Hello and welcome Ronini and the Car Doctor
here at a five five five zero nine nine zero zero.
That number again eight five five five zero nine nine
zero zero. The Car Doctors seven always ready, always looking
for your phone number. Give us a call, leave a message.
If we're not on the air, we're live on the
network Saturday afternoons to to four pm Eastern time. But
you can call the eight five five five zero nine
(01:28):
nine zero zero number and leave a message in Motorhead
Matt or Tom Ray, the illustrious Tom Ray, no Bologna,
not a phony. We'll give you a call back and
get you in the lineup for the next live broadcast.
I wonder, well, you know, we kind of get together,
we chat, we talk about things, you and I and
I wonder, you know, can I tell you what really
(01:48):
goes on in the shop sometimes? And I gotta tell
you this story, all right, It sort of leads into
the to the to the other thing I wanted to
talk about in the opening segment today. So you, oh,
yesterday gentleman comes into the shop and he wants to
talk about his car that that in order to get
(02:09):
at the start, he has to sometimes open and close
the driver's door. And I think what we're gonna call
this segment is from now on, is a guy walks
into the repair shop, because this really happened. He walks in,
he tells me that, and it's been going on for
(02:29):
three years. It's a two thousand two jeep with a
D and fifty miles has been going on for three years.
He walks into the shop and he wants to talk
about how in order to get at the start, you
have to open and close the driver's door, and sometimes
you have to bang on the shifter to get the
window to go up and down on the driver's side,
and every once in a while, when the blinkers act
crazy and the gauges go nuts, he's got to open
(02:53):
and close the trunk the hatch. And I looked at
him and I said, but that doesn't matter. And that's
the reality of it. I'm wondering, are you this kind
of a customer? And that's that's really what I'm trying
to make the point about that, you know, there's no
logic to it. And he wanted to cite all these instances.
(03:13):
You know, if it rained on Tuesday and snowed on Thursday,
the tail lights wouldn't work, and if if you know,
all these strange occurrences, and I kept saying to him,
or to repair is not emotional. It's not possession or
to repair is a logical, clear cut thought process, eliminating
the obvious to get down to the contrite and the
(03:35):
small pieces of parts of information that allow you to
fix the car. You can't be emotional fixing the car.
You just gotta look at it and go, Okay, what
can it what can't it be? And then I'll know
what it can be. In some cases, that's how you
do it. He didn't like that answer, and he was
we're having a conversation about well, what do you think
(03:57):
it's gonna cost to fix? And I said, yeah, it
depends what kind of shape is the rest of it in. Well,
you know, in the fifteen years i've had it, I've
only really done oil changes. So you've never done any maintenance.
You've never changed trans fluid, never looked at break fluid.
Never have you ever put brakes and tires on it? Oh,
you know when the brakes make noise or when the
tires are really slick, when I'm sliding around in the rain.
(04:23):
You know, I got a bumper sticker today. Wait a minute,
let me find it. I got a bumper sticker today
from my my one of my favorite listeners, and you're
all my favorites. But Anthony tends to stand out. Officer
Amelio out there in park Ridge, Illinois, HOWT Chicago Way,
and he says, um, the bumper sticker says, and he
sent it out to me because he says, ron, I
think you need this for the people that walk into
(04:44):
the shop. And it's now it's on the back of
the plow truck. I just went out there this morning
and we put it on the truck and we're gonna
show a Facebook picture of it later. But the bumper
sticker says, life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid,
and you know, there can't be you can't be stupid
about fixing cars. There can't be emotion involved. You can't
tell me that you really believe opening and closing the
(05:07):
doors makes the car start. Yeah, maybe in some occurrence,
and maybe you know somewhere down the line that's what's
gonna happen, but you've got to be practical about it.
Three years of that going on, and now you want
to start to fix the car. Now it's getting on
your nerves. And without any maintenance and without any repair,
without any sort of mechanical observation for the past fifteen years.
(05:33):
You have the audacity to say, what's this gonna cost?
My answer was simple, thousand. I don't know. It's somewhere
in that window maybe And he said, well, if it's
too expensive, I just won't fix it. Well, then we're done.
Why do we have this conversation? We wasted ten minutes
and and that's what I want to caution you about.
(05:53):
And that's what I want to make you aware of that.
You know, if you support insanity in order to repair,
if you support the belief that opening and closing the door,
opening and closing a trunk, smacking the console, rubbing your belly,
spitting wooden nickels, and standing on your head is what's
going to fix the car, then you're thum is the
(06:14):
mechanic that's trying to fix it that way, because it
doesn't happen. I had an article. I had a conversation
yesterday also with someone, just to show you how stringent
things are getting in this industry, and maybe you'll see
the point. I hope. I had a call tech support
for something I hadn't install a software program on one
(06:34):
of the computers I changed last week in Bay two
and I was talking to the gentleman on tech support.
He's from California, and we were just somehow we got
on the subject of you know, he's asking me what's
life like in New Jersey and I was talking to
me about what's life like in California. He says, well,
nothing could be as bad as California. And I was
like why, and he said, well, our governor out here
introduced a a a legislation that is going to ban
(06:58):
Listen to this one go to ban the internal combustion
engine by I mean, what do you mean ban? He goes,
no more. I'm not gonna be allowed. They're just they
won't exist in the state of California. Now, I gotta
tell you that's kind of scary stuff. That's like the
insanity of you open and close the doors to start
(07:18):
the car. All right, I mean I'll be dead, so
it won't really matter to me. But you think about
the rest of the country and the influence, al right,
Like what are we gonna do with big oil? What
are we gonna do with all the gas stations, What
are we gonna do with all the mechanics that are
they gonna go out of work for these giants? Electric
slot cars. Everybody wants us to build and drive and operate.
(07:39):
We got guys out here now they can't spell O,
B D two and now you expect them to understand
an electric car and the ramifications of that. And if
legislation in California follows true with that, and if they
ban the internal combustion engine in California, what does that
mean for the rest of the country. What does that
mean for the multibillion dollar industry that the automobile is,
(08:03):
and how it will affect us. That's an awful lot
of change to go through in thirty two years. You know,
I can gauge it like this. I've been fixing cars
forty three years. But cars forty three years ago still
had tires, brakes, engines, gas, oil, transmissions, same stuff. Electronics
got involved and they've gotten a little slicker, And yeah,
I get it. Maybe as cars getting newer and electronics
(08:25):
get more abundant, we're going to drive it in a
better direction and it's gonna happen quicker and faster. But
you've got an awful lot of economic consequence involved that's
going to prevent that from happening. I think going forward,
we've got to have common sense. And I hope nobody
was offended by this opening conversation. And if you were calling,
(08:46):
and we'll talk about it. But I think you've got
to display some common sense. We're talking about an automobile.
We're talking about in a highly highly complicated piece of
electronic information. And I defy anyone that thinks it's so
easy to spend a week in the shop if insurance
would allow it, and you know what, I should probably
get an insurance writer. Maybe we'll do Car Doctor boot camp.
(09:07):
You spend a week with the Car Doctor and I'll
show you what fixing cars is all about. And at
the end of the week, we let you fix your
own car. We'll give you a problem to solve and
a really bad cup of coffee, um, and then you'll
understand what it's like to be a mechanic every morning,
just something to think about. There is no emotion involved
in order to repair. There's always a logical, clear cut
reason on why that car is broken. Hey, I'm gonna
(09:30):
pull over and take a pause. Eight five five zero
nine zero zero keep in mind. Podcasting for this radio
show can also be found at Car Doctor show dot com.
I'm ronan Ady in the Car Doctor. I'll be back
right after this. Hey, welcome back. Wanted end of the
Car Doctor, you know, And I just looked it up
online because I just I wanted to make sure of
(09:50):
what we were talking about. Fox News. California could ban
cars with internal combustion engines, regulators say. This was three
days ago California Register. California regulators are considering a ban
on cars powered by internal combustion engines, echoing similar proposals
in China, France, and the United Kingdom, where there's a
bunch of economic powerhouses. The chair of the California Air
(10:11):
Research Board told Bloomberg that Governor Jerry Brown has raised
the subject. I've gotten messages from the governor asking why
haven't we done this already? Carb California Research Board already
administers a zero emissions vehicle program that allow auto makers
to earn credits from electrified car sales, which can be
sold or traded on an open marketplace. So are we
trying to generate credits for car companies that are gonna
(10:31):
little longer exist because they're trying to sell electric cars?
Are we trying to I don't what are we trying
to do? Several have built electric cars that are only
available in California in order to meet their quota, while
various states and centives are available to buyers. As a result,
California accounts for approximately half of the electric cars sold
in the United States of cloning. According to Clean Techniqua.
Estimates on the percentage of new cars sold in order
(10:52):
to meet cars quality goals range from eight to while
sales in the state this year are running in about
five percent, which is five times the national average. Thirteen
other states in the District of Columbia follow car regulations
to some degree, with nine involved in the zero missions program.
Tom raised a good point. He says, what's gonna happen
when somebody with a an internal combustion and it gets
(11:14):
to the border of California. Are they're gonna be turned away?
You know? You know, Tom, it's I get what they're
trying to do, and it's in the interest of clean air.
But you know, I think about the economic ramifications, and
I haven't heard anybody address this. Nobody realizes. I look
at the economy of auto repair in the small town
of Waldwick, New Jersey, and what it contributes the number
(11:34):
of repair shops. Delhi's tool vendors, parts houses, you know,
just just just in one little small town in America,
and now you're gonna take away fixing and repairing cars
at that level across the country. The economic ramification is
just I don't think it can be measured yet. Well,
and I hope by that time that they've come up
with more distance on these electric cars, because some of
(11:55):
the distances I drive, you go through hundred four miles,
I have to stop for a charge to work with me.
I actually heard a very good idea on how they're
going to get away with that, whether it works or not,
all right, is you know they'll get they'll get the
charging distances up to three miles, and then it'll be
a matter of you'll pull into a battery station and
(12:18):
they'll swap the battery pack out with another recharged pack. Okay,
wells right, kind of like going to the gas station.
The question is, you know, I guess, I guess they'll
have a flat fee on what that charged battery pack
will cost. Okay, but we're assuming that everybody is going
(12:39):
to take care of their car in an equal and
precise manner. And I can tell you, having worked on
a car yesterday, that it was a five passenger vehicle,
and there was so much stuff in this car, all right,
I mean everything from small boulders on the floor of
the passenger side, two dirty drain the back seat. Tom
(13:02):
made your car look like it was brand new, and
you know, there was just about room for me to
get in and out of the car to work on it.
And you say to yourself, where are they gonna put
the battery pack? I hope it's accessible. I hope it's
in an area. And then the other thing I think
about is, and I know we're kind of getting on
the subject here of what today's shows about. We're trying
(13:23):
to get to some calls, and I will in a minute,
I'm sorry, but you know, think about how many cars
you see driving around with bumpers that are cracked, falling off,
body panels, missing pieces of the car that are no
longer there, and they're still on the road, and they're
on the road because of economic conditions that person can
afford to maintain that car beyond what it's at right there.
(13:46):
And the question I've got is, so where are they
gonna put the battery pack? And what if what if
something happens? What if that person with that electric car
has a drive ability issue from that battery pack, and
now you're gonna inher. It's somebody else's problem battery pack.
So how well can they test all this stuff? And
I bet you see that people just don't take care
(14:07):
of their cars in general and don't do the maintenance.
I mean, there are certain specific things you're gonna need
to do with the batteries. They're just not gonna do it,
you know. And an electric car is just to me
such a precise, exact piece of equipment with zero tolerance,
zero tolerance for you know, error, And it's it's think
(14:29):
of how much abuse you can give your computer and
how long does it last? And now you're gonna take
it out over the road at seventy eight miles. Maybe
we don't need to go visit California, all right, last thought?
So in California. California is the home of aftermarket performance, right,
edel Brock, Holly, all the performance companies that came out
of there in the fifties and the sixties and and
(14:51):
and so forth. Think about all of a sudden, you
don't need Edelbrock, you don't need Holly, you don't need
you know, you know, any of the hooker headers and
all the herms that the baby boomers grew up with,
you know, the sixties and the seventies through hot rotting
and stuff. Where's that all gonna go? And what kind
of economy is that? And how's that going to affect everything?
And yeah, they're either gonna have to modify or die
(15:14):
basically modified to what bigger armatures, more electric motors. I
you know what, we've really got to pay attention to
what the legislators are trying to do, because you know, remember,
these are the same people that told us twenty years
ago we're gonna run out of oil. Okay, now we're
gonna have an abundance of oil to match the current
abundance we've got. And where the gas and oil company
(15:36):
is gonna go? I gotta go to the phones. I'm
gonna go to a phone call. I'm sorry, every up
in Maine, Line one, you're out the car doctor, I'm sorry,
every I got off track there a little bit. But um,
just just where we going? Where? Where are we going?
Do you see? Let me ask you, you know what
do you think you think they can get away with
banning internal combustion engines by your I don't know. I
(15:59):
kind of think that that's pushing it. You can't get
we can't get customers to change their oil. How are
they going to get people to maintain batteries? Right? It
sounds like it sounds like it sounds like a gentleman
in the trade. What do you do for a living? Yep? Actually,
I'm I'm just about ready to graduate Universal Technical Institute
with Automotive and Diesel Mechanics for you. Congratulations? Oh what
(16:21):
can I What can I do for? You're looking for
a job? You want to? I have no I got
family up here in me and I gotta get a piece.
I gotta be around. Um, but I'm about to graduate
U T I like I said, And um, I have
a student discount program to snap bonds, but it's limited,
(16:43):
and I don't believe that I need a snap on
for everything. So I was just wondering if you had
a shortlist, the shortlisting would definitely want. Yeah, the the
shortlist is. I like snap bonds, wrenches and screwdrivers. Okay,
I like their sockets. I like their ratchets. I like
the way they feel, I like the way they hold up. Um,
you know, good stuff, good warranty, and my experience the
(17:06):
last couple of years has been that when I when
I you know, I have a snap On guy. I
have a Mac Guy. I've always had a snap On guy.
I didn't have a Mac Guy for the better part
of eight years, and it sort of drove me nuts
because I have a couple of Mac pieces and you know,
something would break and you have to go through holy
heck to get warranty, and it just didn't work. I
(17:27):
always believe there's gonna be a snap On guy. If
the Mac guy goes out of business, I don't know
how fast the company is gonna be to replace them.
So I always keep that in mind when I'm buying tools.
That being said, there are some things that you know
I won't buy from snap On that I don't like.
You said, I think it's overkill, you know, I think
their scan tool is decent. You've gotta be willing to
pay the freight. UM. I've got a Motus, but I
(17:50):
bought it at year end, at the end of the run.
I got a great deal on it. It It was a
close out. I won't pay the full boat price. I
don't see the need for that. Um, But I'll tell
you what state? What right we are? Amory? I don't
want to rush this. Let me pull over and do
what I gotta do. When we'll come back, we'll finish
up this conversation. I'm running any of the car Doctor.
We're back right after this. Welcome back when I'm leading
(18:31):
the car Doctor at zero zero we're on the phone
with Emery from main Emery. You're still there, Emory? Okay, um,
so you know, uh, do you have a do you
have a digital vault domemeter? Here's a here's a great example. Yes,
I have the one the school gave me, all right,
and what what what make is? Is it a fluke?
(18:51):
It's a blue it's a blue point, all right? So
it's a snap on And you know there's the classic
there's the classic example. Right, the snap on guy comes around,
he'll sell you a meter that's you know, it says
blue point or snap on on it. You know what,
I prefer a fluke. I you know, fluke is the benchmark.
I wouldn't even consider the snap on digital voteomemeter. You know,
for all the years I've had a fluke. You know
(19:13):
you can bounce it, drop it, kick it, you can't
kill it. And when you eventually do, you you either
get the company to repair it, and the company is
always gonna be there. Order repair is about longevity in
the company and and how long that manufacturer is gonna
be around and is it bang for the buck? Because
I guarantee you whatever you've got in your box, except
(19:33):
for the ratchets, wrenched sockets and screwdrivers, all the rest
of the specialty stuff is gonna be outdated by next week.
And it's just this constant chronic, you know, always. You
know what I've got in my toolbox? I saw the
other day. Um you ever have you done any rear
axle or like a rear real drive old school GM
where the truck Okay, so you know that opinion You
(19:57):
know the cross bolt that the opinion bolt that holds
the cross shaft in. It's got that little eight millimeter
head on it that threads into the carrier. Every once
in a while now they always break off. I actually
have the tool for that that you can clamp it on,
drill it out and you know you don't have to
pull the carry. You can do it right in the
(20:18):
car used it twice, used it twice, haven't used it
in the better part of Gosh, it's got to be
twelve or fourteen years, it's forever now. But I look
at it every I look at it every time I
open up that draw on the box, third third draw,
right side, you know, all the way tucked in the corner.
It was. It was, I mean it was cheap. I
think it was like thirty nine bucks. And I said, oh,
(20:39):
I was gonna say, they're gonna make me a fortune. Now,
the argument could be made that since you own it, um,
you never have to see it, because when when when
the mechanical gods know you're prepared, they never give you
that job. They always give you the thing you don't
have the tool for, which is why you gotta buy
one of everything. It just doesn't nen't necessarily all be
snap on, all right, I think. I think when you
get into the specialty stuff, you've really got a review
(21:02):
and see what the other guys are using and what works.
You know. I wouldn't buy snap on drop lights, but
I would be prepared to me. Uh, you know, we
we have a lot of lights around the shop. We
don't we have corded lights. I haven't used one again
a long time. Because everything now is portable and cordless.
But I make sure that I buy a cheap enough
(21:23):
light that if I destroy it in a year. It's
a consumable, you know. It's it's a hundred bucks you're
gonna throw away. That's how you got to think about it.
And at the end of the year, when it's all
battered and beat up and makes your eyes squint when
you're trying to use it, you throw it out. January one,
you buy another one. And you know, do I want
to do? I want to do? I want to spend
three for that from snap monel. Do I want to
(21:43):
spend a hundred bucks for that from the mac guy
or online somewhere to autopia or something, And you know, yeah,
I like the blue fuel of the nap on the
NAPA have. Yeah. You know, certain things are just consumables.
Have you heard of I a t N you know,
read with the guys in I A interesting Yeah. I
a t N dot net the Mechanics forum. You can
(22:04):
you can sign up and join. It's a couple of
bucks a year. It's dues, so in the eyes of
the government it's a tax deduction, which it is. It's
it's part of your process of being in the trade
and you know it's it's you know, it'll give you information. Uh.
One thing I can say about I A t N.
If you think you're facing a problem that you've never
seen before, where do you go out there and start
(22:26):
reading what everybody else is talking about? Um? You know,
so it's it's it's it's a very worthwhile place to
go and get information. But I'd be reviewing things that
wouldn't be uh be like fixing the cars you heard
me talking about. You don't want to be emotional fixing
the car. You don't want to be emotional trying to
purchase the new tool either. Um. You know snap Ons
come out with a zeus. Have you seen the new
(22:47):
zoos scan tool. I've heard about it. I heard your
broadcast last week on it. Yeah, and you know, all
the snap On guy wants to do is sell me
one for sixteen thousand dollars. And you know, the argument
kind of comes back to, yeah, but what makes it
so different? What makes it so much better? And you
know there's a there's a lot of little holes there,
(23:09):
and he wants to make it emotional, and I want
to make it a calculated decision. And that's what if
I was starting over, I'd be very calculating about what
I'm buying and do do my research. It's a process, alright, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I think I think the Launch stuff is a lot
(23:30):
of bang for the buck. And I you know what
I I that's what you're after, You're after diversity. You know.
I was just looking around again. I finally got the
pile of nineteen scan tools down to her. I'm actively
using seven and you know, I'm trying to whittle that
pile down to three. And I'm trying to figure out
(23:51):
what what's better than that and who does this and
how does that work? And you know, but the Launch
scan tool, the little what is it the Launch It's
a little red tablet. It's about fifteen or eighteen hundred
bucks retail on the street. Um, is it the X
four one? Yeah, the little tablet. It's like a ten
inch tablet. Um, you can grip it right or left handed.
(24:14):
It's it's got that ergonomically handled grip. It's in a
red case scan. Yeah, there it is. And that's our
own Barry Barry a k A Tony Atwood White. Um.
You know that that's that's a lot of bang for
the buck. There are holes. There are things that tool
doesn't do. But that's okay because it wasn't ten thousand dollars,
(24:35):
it wasn't sixteen thousand dollars. But if you're gonna be
in a repair shop and you know you need a
good functioning, everyday scan tool, yeah, that's it. Um it graphs,
it prints, you can email the information to yourself. You
want to get yourself. I think it's Google print or
cloud print. Install it on it's an Android, you want
to install it on the Android device and you're good
(24:58):
to go. But you know the problem. The problem is
you need you need a hundred thousand dollars worth the
tools to walk in the door day one. And you know,
on top of that, you get to pay off your
loans and you have to be smart enough to know
that you're smart enough to go do something else. And
you wonder why we can't get mechanics in the country,
And that's a whole another conversation. Never put me on
(25:18):
that boarder review. So all right, Amory, alright, alright, very much,
You're very welcome. Good luck to you kid. I'll have
a great time. Um yeah, that's you know what, And
he's gonna he's got a heck of a career in
front of him. He's gonna really see some changes. He'll
be there when California bands the internal combustion engine and
everything changes and we go to electric cars and the
(25:40):
things that the kids are gonna see, the kids that
graduate from U t I and other places like that,
you know what, to a degree, I'm jealous. I wish
I could be there with them as they go through
the changes, because it's gonna be very, very interesting. Let's
pull over and take a pause. Eight five five zero zero.
When we come back, we're gonna get it right to
Kevin with the two thousand three Yukon Hank tight, Kevin,
I'm coming for you, Ronn any of the Car Doctor.
(26:00):
We're back right after this. Welcome back on any of
the Car Doctor. Let's go over and talk to Kevin
and Maine two thousand three Yukon Excel and some error
coachs Kevin, welcome to the Car Doctor. How can I help? Yes, sir,
what's going on? I've got a m I've got a
Yukon Xcel two thousand three three quarter ton um. They
(26:24):
use it for tone camper and keep getting a p
O one oh one mass their sensor. Uh, code okay,
and sometimes that any other full codes Kevin? Or is
it just that one? Yes? Well, sometimes that code comes
up all by itself, but but a lot of times
(26:47):
it comes up with the seven oh one, and I
believe oh seven oh four as well. UM, it comes
up almost every time I toe, UM, when the truck's unloaded,
it fairly comes up. It still does come up. Who's
doing the diagnosis? You already have a you have a
repair shop pulling the codes. Just me. I've got a
(27:10):
bully dog tuner with a gauge display on it that
that shows me the codes. Do you have the ability
to do at freeze frame? No? No, you're gonna say
something else. Uh. What I've done so far with it
is UM. I used. I swapped the mass air sensor
(27:34):
from another truck. UM, another truck that I knew it
was good. Did we didn't have any codes? UM, and
that didn't make any change to it. UM. There was
a technical service bullet and I found and that some
of my other symptoms, which was a rough idal on
a cold startup talked about correct. I changed to the
(28:00):
newer teal green gaskets and that's solved the rough cold
idle issue. But I still have the the the mass
air sensor. Okay. So so are you still getting all
the codes or just the one oh one? Uh? Well,
(28:20):
like like I said, sometimes it's just the oh one
on one, but that other other times the other seven
oh one and seven or four. Okay, so you're still
getting pretty much You're still getting pretty much the same
fault codes. Ye. All right, I gotta buy a scan tool.
All right. You're gonna have to get you everything. Get
it doesn't have to be expensive, just something that will
(28:40):
read data stream. And you're gonna have to start to
look at fuel trim. You want to know what fuel
trim is. All right? Were you a boy scout? Were
you were you boy scout? Kevin? Okay, so you know,
you know, remember when they taught us about building a
fire using wetwood, dry wood and leaves and you know,
hot flame, cold flame and all that stuff. So we
(29:02):
want to look at fuel trim. We want to look
at you know, hot flame, cold flame. Um, you know,
we want to look to see you know, enough oxygen,
too much oxygen, not enough oxygen. And you know that's
what fuel trim is all about. If zero is a
perfect fire, then if we if we take away oxygen
(29:23):
or if we add oxygen to it, we've got to
add more fuel to maintain that balance. So you're gonna
see fuel trim go on the increase. If it's the
other way, you're gonna see fuel trim go negative, trying
to take fuel away. If it's running too rich. You
want to see a fuel trim is all right, it's
you're you're typically going to see zero plus or minus
eight percent. But then again, depending upon where you are
(29:45):
and what part of the country hot mountains, you know,
flat lands below sea level, all that stuff comes into effect.
You know what's the barometric pressure that day. But general
rule of thumb, zero plus or minus eight is a
good is a good number. Um. You know, if you
have another vehicle that's similar to it, which it sounds
like you do because you swapped it in from another
mass airflow, I would tell you to grab that one,
(30:07):
and I would tell you to grab that one, and
you know, drive to drive the known good and compare
that to the known bad. My suspicion is that if
you get this to set codes, take a look at
freeze frame. Alright, when does it happen? Most of the
problems with the intake gaskets happened when the vehicle was
during vehicle warmup. It happened between a hundred degrees. I'd
(30:29):
be curious to see if you're still having that problem.
Changing the gaskets was a great thing because you have
the orange to the teal green does make a difference.
But there can be other vacuum weeks there that are occurring,
and you sort of need to track those down because
one oh one means that the mass airflow it's it
thinks the mass airflow is under reporting air volume because
it's it's possibly sourcing air from another source. And now
(30:54):
we've got to track down that other source and the
other way we know this for sure as we've got
to take a look at fuel trim, uh, you know,
fuel trim. Fuel trim becomes very important. Of course, then
there's always the possibility that the other one you had,
that the other vehicle you've got has appending one on
one that you haven't seen yet, because that mass air
flows out of calibration too. So that's why swapping parts
(31:14):
is okay, but you've gotta have a scan tool to
back it up. Fuel trim is bible on a lot
of these cars today, you've got to know that they're
good to go, and you've got to take a look
at that, get a look at fuel trim. If you
need more information, you want me to help you understand
it better, I'm glad to do it. Send me an
email Ron at Car Doctor show dot com. And if
you want to talk about scan tools, I can help
guide you accordingly, there too, eight zero zero. We're coming
(31:37):
back right after this welcome back, weren't reating the car Doctor.
Let's get over and talk to Lisa in Minnesota buick
and some heater issues. Lisa, Welcome to the Car Doctor.
How can I help? Hi? Ron Um, I've got a
problem with a ninety eight Bullock lest Saver. Before I
ask you about the problem, though, I'd also like to
(31:58):
mention that I'm one of those economic factors the industry
forgot about years ago. They As I tried to buy
a newer car, I can't find anything with a bench seat.
I'm a rural mail carrier. Yeah, I require a right
hand drive or a bench seat. I alwas I got
to drive with some kind of a conversion, and I
hate the conversion. Yeah. Um, anyway, that's why I drive
(32:19):
a N I d if you look with Saber. I
just bought this one and it's the first one I've
ever had that has a digital heater in it. And
according to the manual, if there's anything wrong with the unit,
it's supposed to flash, and it doesn't flash, and it
gives a normal readout for the temperature outside of that
(32:41):
part works. Um, what it does is it won't blow
any air through the mid vents. My first reaction to
this was maybe air flow blockage mice. But my mechanic
tells me there's no air flow block that she checked.
He says I should probably replace the unit, but he's
(33:03):
also not an electronics person. He told me that too,
so I thought i'd get a second opinion on this.
It blows air out the top on the windshield all
the time. Even when you put it on floor, there'll
still be a stream coming through the middle on the top.
So I'm not sure what could be. It could be
(33:24):
something internally electronic, or do I need to replace the unit. Well,
it could also be just a stuck blend or this
was This was around the generation when we went to electronic.
Everything was electronic. We went to blend or controls and
you know, there are ways to verify, um, you know,
output from that control head is it Is it doing
(33:46):
what it's supposed to do? If memory serves me right,
I thought there was a way to hit some buttons
on the control head and you could get feedback codes
through the control head itself. Looking at a series of
blinking lights. Is that this particular model? If you read
anything on that. I have the research. There's been a
since I've seen um, but there there there are some
ways to you know, check for codes. If you can't
(34:07):
do it through the control head, a dealer level scan
tool and I'll say it like that, or a dealer
level equal scan tool should be able to pull codes too,
because there is a way to pull codes out of
that system and look for a response. You know, so
you want to talk to your mechanic about that, if
memory serves me correct. There was also a functional test.
We're using a good scan tool. You could tell it
(34:29):
move this door, move that door, give me this, give
me that, and actually wait for the response. Because this
is back in the generation of you know, we were
just all learning how to work on cars with computers,
and they had to give us the ability for functionality.
Go back and talk to your mechanic passing what sort
of scan total he has. This isn't about O B
D two. This is about manufacturer specific information. Um, this
(34:52):
could be a bad controller and we can have that
conversation next week. But this could also be a bad
blend or and I wanted to understand the difference. So
go back, get to me some more information, and call
me back next week. I'm on anading the car doctor
and mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. Let's see you
Ron Anian, I wonder if the measurement of a good
repair shop and a good mechanic isn't going to be
whether or not they have every scan tool, every whizbank scope,
every piece of diagnostic information under their sun at their fingertips.
But more so, how many torquerenches do they have here?
It's when they win the hold down the rolled at
eight miles the Car Doctor. The next time this car
(00:22):
does if it has no spark of it has no
injector pulse, unplugged the alternator. Really yeah, if you unplug
the alternator and the car runs, I'm gonna tell you
you've probably got a bed or a set of bad injectors.
Welcome to the radio home of ron and Anian, the
Car Doctor, since this is where car owners the world
(00:45):
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 here to take your call. At eight five
five six and now running. Hey, it's time to start
(01:05):
your engines. Hello and welcome Ronini and the Car Doctor
here at a five five five zero nine nine zero zero.
That number again eight five five five zero nine nine
zero zero. The Car Doctors seven always ready, always looking
for your phone number. Give us a call, leave a message.
If we're not on the air, we're live on the
network Saturday afternoons to to four pm Eastern time. But
you can call the eight five five five zero nine
(01:28):
nine zero zero number and leave a message in Motorhead
Matt or Tom Ray, the illustrious Tom Ray, no Bologna,
not a phony. We'll give you a call back and
get you in the lineup for the next live broadcast.
I wonder, well, you know, we kind of get together,
we chat, we talk about things, you and I and
I wonder, you know, can I tell you what really
(01:48):
goes on in the shop sometimes? And I gotta tell
you this story, all right, It sort of leads into
the to the to the other thing I wanted to
talk about in the opening segment today. So you, oh,
yesterday gentleman comes into the shop and he wants to
talk about his car that that in order to get
(02:09):
at the start, he has to sometimes open and close
the driver's door. And I think what we're gonna call
this segment is from now on, is a guy walks
into the repair shop, because this really happened. He walks in,
he tells me that, and it's been going on for
(02:29):
three years. It's a two thousand two jeep with a
D and fifty miles has been going on for three years.
He walks into the shop and he wants to talk
about how in order to get at the start, you
have to open and close the driver's door, and sometimes
you have to bang on the shifter to get the
window to go up and down on the driver's side,
and every once in a while, when the blinkers act
crazy and the gauges go nuts, he's got to open
(02:53):
and close the trunk the hatch. And I looked at
him and I said, but that doesn't matter. And that's
the reality of it. I'm wondering, are you this kind
of a customer? And that's that's really what I'm trying
to make the point about that, you know, there's no
logic to it. And he wanted to cite all these instances.
(03:13):
You know, if it rained on Tuesday and snowed on Thursday,
the tail lights wouldn't work, and if if you know,
all these strange occurrences, and I kept saying to him,
or to repair is not emotional. It's not possession or
to repair is a logical, clear cut thought process, eliminating
the obvious to get down to the contrite and the
(03:35):
small pieces of parts of information that allow you to
fix the car. You can't be emotional fixing the car.
You just gotta look at it and go, Okay, what
can it what can't it be? And then I'll know
what it can be. In some cases, that's how you
do it. He didn't like that answer, and he was
we're having a conversation about well, what do you think
(03:57):
it's gonna cost to fix? And I said, yeah, it
depends what kind of shape is the rest of it in. Well,
you know, in the fifteen years i've had it, I've
only really done oil changes. So you've never done any maintenance.
You've never changed trans fluid, never looked at break fluid.
Never have you ever put brakes and tires on it? Oh,
you know when the brakes make noise or when the
tires are really slick, when I'm sliding around in the rain.
(04:23):
You know, I got a bumper sticker today. Wait a minute,
let me find it. I got a bumper sticker today
from my my one of my favorite listeners, and you're
all my favorites. But Anthony tends to stand out. Officer
Amelio out there in park Ridge, Illinois, HOWT Chicago Way,
and he says, um, the bumper sticker says, and he
sent it out to me because he says, ron, I
think you need this for the people that walk into
(04:44):
the shop. And it's now it's on the back of
the plow truck. I just went out there this morning
and we put it on the truck and we're gonna
show a Facebook picture of it later. But the bumper
sticker says, life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid,
and you know, there can't be you can't be stupid
about fixing cars. There can't be emotion involved. You can't
tell me that you really believe opening and closing the
(05:07):
doors makes the car start. Yeah, maybe in some occurrence,
and maybe you know somewhere down the line that's what's
gonna happen, but you've got to be practical about it.
Three years of that going on, and now you want
to start to fix the car. Now it's getting on
your nerves. And without any maintenance and without any repair,
without any sort of mechanical observation for the past fifteen years.
(05:33):
You have the audacity to say, what's this gonna cost?
My answer was simple, thousand. I don't know. It's somewhere
in that window maybe And he said, well, if it's
too expensive, I just won't fix it. Well, then we're done.
Why do we have this conversation? We wasted ten minutes
and and that's what I want to caution you about.
(05:53):
And that's what I want to make you aware of that.
You know, if you support insanity in order to repair,
if you support the belief that opening and closing the door,
opening and closing a trunk, smacking the console, rubbing your belly,
spitting wooden nickels, and standing on your head is what's
going to fix the car, then you're thum is the
(06:14):
mechanic that's trying to fix it that way, because it
doesn't happen. I had an article. I had a conversation
yesterday also with someone, just to show you how stringent
things are getting in this industry, and maybe you'll see
the point. I hope. I had a call tech support
for something I hadn't install a software program on one
(06:34):
of the computers I changed last week in Bay two
and I was talking to the gentleman on tech support.
He's from California, and we were just somehow we got
on the subject of you know, he's asking me what's
life like in New Jersey and I was talking to
me about what's life like in California. He says, well,
nothing could be as bad as California. And I was
like why, and he said, well, our governor out here
introduced a a a legislation that is going to ban
(06:58):
Listen to this one go to ban the internal combustion
engine by I mean, what do you mean ban? He goes,
no more. I'm not gonna be allowed. They're just they
won't exist in the state of California. Now, I gotta
tell you that's kind of scary stuff. That's like the
insanity of you open and close the doors to start
(07:18):
the car. All right, I mean I'll be dead, so
it won't really matter to me. But you think about
the rest of the country and the influence, al right,
Like what are we gonna do with big oil? What
are we gonna do with all the gas stations, What
are we gonna do with all the mechanics that are
they gonna go out of work for these giants? Electric
slot cars. Everybody wants us to build and drive and operate.
(07:39):
We got guys out here now they can't spell O,
B D two and now you expect them to understand
an electric car and the ramifications of that. And if
legislation in California follows true with that, and if they
ban the internal combustion engine in California, what does that
mean for the rest of the country. What does that
mean for the multibillion dollar industry that the automobile is,
(08:03):
and how it will affect us. That's an awful lot
of change to go through in thirty two years. You know,
I can gauge it like this. I've been fixing cars
forty three years. But cars forty three years ago still
had tires, brakes, engines, gas, oil, transmissions, same stuff. Electronics
got involved and they've gotten a little slicker, And yeah,
I get it. Maybe as cars getting newer and electronics
(08:25):
get more abundant, we're going to drive it in a
better direction and it's gonna happen quicker and faster. But
you've got an awful lot of economic consequence involved that's
going to prevent that from happening. I think going forward,
we've got to have common sense. And I hope nobody
was offended by this opening conversation. And if you were calling,
(08:46):
and we'll talk about it. But I think you've got
to display some common sense. We're talking about an automobile.
We're talking about in a highly highly complicated piece of
electronic information. And I defy anyone that thinks it's so
easy to spend a week in the shop if insurance
would allow it, and you know what, I should probably
get an insurance writer. Maybe we'll do Car Doctor boot camp.
(09:07):
You spend a week with the Car Doctor and I'll
show you what fixing cars is all about. And at
the end of the week, we let you fix your
own car. We'll give you a problem to solve and
a really bad cup of coffee, um, and then you'll
understand what it's like to be a mechanic every morning,
just something to think about. There is no emotion involved
in order to repair. There's always a logical, clear cut
reason on why that car is broken. Hey, I'm gonna
(09:30):
pull over and take a pause. Eight five five zero
nine zero zero keep in mind. Podcasting for this radio
show can also be found at Car Doctor show dot com.
I'm ronan Ady in the Car Doctor. I'll be back
right after this. Hey, welcome back. Wanted end of the
Car Doctor, you know, And I just looked it up
online because I just I wanted to make sure of
(09:50):
what we were talking about. Fox News. California could ban
cars with internal combustion engines, regulators say. This was three
days ago California Register. California regulators are considering a ban
on cars powered by internal combustion engines, echoing similar proposals
in China, France, and the United Kingdom, where there's a
bunch of economic powerhouses. The chair of the California Air
(10:11):
Research Board told Bloomberg that Governor Jerry Brown has raised
the subject. I've gotten messages from the governor asking why
haven't we done this already? Carb California Research Board already
administers a zero emissions vehicle program that allow auto makers
to earn credits from electrified car sales, which can be
sold or traded on an open marketplace. So are we
trying to generate credits for car companies that are gonna
(10:31):
little longer exist because they're trying to sell electric cars?
Are we trying to I don't what are we trying
to do? Several have built electric cars that are only
available in California in order to meet their quota, while
various states and centives are available to buyers. As a result,
California accounts for approximately half of the electric cars sold
in the United States of cloning. According to Clean Techniqua.
Estimates on the percentage of new cars sold in order
(10:52):
to meet cars quality goals range from eight to while
sales in the state this year are running in about
five percent, which is five times the national average. Thirteen
other states in the District of Columbia follow car regulations
to some degree, with nine involved in the zero missions program.
Tom raised a good point. He says, what's gonna happen
when somebody with a an internal combustion and it gets
(11:14):
to the border of California. Are they're gonna be turned away?
You know? You know, Tom, it's I get what they're
trying to do, and it's in the interest of clean air.
But you know, I think about the economic ramifications, and
I haven't heard anybody address this. Nobody realizes. I look
at the economy of auto repair in the small town
of Waldwick, New Jersey, and what it contributes the number
(11:34):
of repair shops. Delhi's tool vendors, parts houses, you know,
just just just in one little small town in America,
and now you're gonna take away fixing and repairing cars
at that level across the country. The economic ramification is
just I don't think it can be measured yet. Well,
and I hope by that time that they've come up
with more distance on these electric cars, because some of
(11:55):
the distances I drive, you go through hundred four miles,
I have to stop for a charge to work with me.
I actually heard a very good idea on how they're
going to get away with that, whether it works or not,
all right, is you know they'll get they'll get the
charging distances up to three miles, and then it'll be
a matter of you'll pull into a battery station and
(12:18):
they'll swap the battery pack out with another recharged pack. Okay,
wells right, kind of like going to the gas station.
The question is, you know, I guess, I guess they'll
have a flat fee on what that charged battery pack
will cost. Okay, but we're assuming that everybody is going
(12:39):
to take care of their car in an equal and
precise manner. And I can tell you, having worked on
a car yesterday, that it was a five passenger vehicle,
and there was so much stuff in this car, all right,
I mean everything from small boulders on the floor of
the passenger side, two dirty drain the back seat. Tom
(13:02):
made your car look like it was brand new, and
you know, there was just about room for me to
get in and out of the car to work on it.
And you say to yourself, where are they gonna put
the battery pack? I hope it's accessible. I hope it's
in an area. And then the other thing I think
about is, and I know we're kind of getting on
the subject here of what today's shows about. We're trying
(13:23):
to get to some calls, and I will in a minute,
I'm sorry, but you know, think about how many cars
you see driving around with bumpers that are cracked, falling off,
body panels, missing pieces of the car that are no
longer there, and they're still on the road, and they're
on the road because of economic conditions that person can
afford to maintain that car beyond what it's at right there.
(13:46):
And the question I've got is, so where are they
gonna put the battery pack? And what if what if
something happens? What if that person with that electric car
has a drive ability issue from that battery pack, and
now you're gonna inher. It's somebody else's problem battery pack.
So how well can they test all this stuff? And
I bet you see that people just don't take care
(14:07):
of their cars in general and don't do the maintenance.
I mean, there are certain specific things you're gonna need
to do with the batteries. They're just not gonna do it,
you know. And an electric car is just to me
such a precise, exact piece of equipment with zero tolerance,
zero tolerance for you know, error, And it's it's think
(14:29):
of how much abuse you can give your computer and
how long does it last? And now you're gonna take
it out over the road at seventy eight miles. Maybe
we don't need to go visit California, all right, last thought?
So in California. California is the home of aftermarket performance, right,
edel Brock, Holly, all the performance companies that came out
of there in the fifties and the sixties and and
(14:51):
and so forth. Think about all of a sudden, you
don't need Edelbrock, you don't need Holly, you don't need
you know, you know, any of the hooker headers and
all the herms that the baby boomers grew up with,
you know, the sixties and the seventies through hot rotting
and stuff. Where's that all gonna go? And what kind
of economy is that? And how's that going to affect everything?
And yeah, they're either gonna have to modify or die
(15:14):
basically modified to what bigger armatures, more electric motors. I
you know what, we've really got to pay attention to
what the legislators are trying to do, because you know, remember,
these are the same people that told us twenty years
ago we're gonna run out of oil. Okay, now we're
gonna have an abundance of oil to match the current
abundance we've got. And where the gas and oil company
(15:36):
is gonna go? I gotta go to the phones. I'm
gonna go to a phone call. I'm sorry, every up
in Maine, Line one, you're out the car doctor, I'm sorry,
every I got off track there a little bit. But um,
just just where we going? Where? Where are we going?
Do you see? Let me ask you, you know what
do you think you think they can get away with
banning internal combustion engines by your I don't know. I
(15:59):
kind of think that that's pushing it. You can't get
we can't get customers to change their oil. How are
they going to get people to maintain batteries? Right? It
sounds like it sounds like it sounds like a gentleman
in the trade. What do you do for a living? Yep? Actually,
I'm I'm just about ready to graduate Universal Technical Institute
with Automotive and Diesel Mechanics for you. Congratulations? Oh what
(16:21):
can I What can I do for? You're looking for
a job? You want to? I have no I got
family up here in me and I gotta get a piece.
I gotta be around. Um, but I'm about to graduate
U T I like I said, And um, I have
a student discount program to snap bonds, but it's limited,
(16:43):
and I don't believe that I need a snap on
for everything. So I was just wondering if you had
a shortlist, the shortlisting would definitely want. Yeah, the the
shortlist is. I like snap bonds, wrenches and screwdrivers. Okay,
I like their sockets. I like their ratchets. I like
the way they feel, I like the way they hold up. Um,
you know, good stuff, good warranty, and my experience the
(17:06):
last couple of years has been that when I when
I you know, I have a snap On guy. I
have a Mac Guy. I've always had a snap On guy.
I didn't have a Mac Guy for the better part
of eight years, and it sort of drove me nuts
because I have a couple of Mac pieces and you know,
something would break and you have to go through holy
heck to get warranty, and it just didn't work. I
(17:27):
always believe there's gonna be a snap On guy. If
the Mac guy goes out of business, I don't know
how fast the company is gonna be to replace them.
So I always keep that in mind when I'm buying tools.
That being said, there are some things that you know
I won't buy from snap On that I don't like.
You said, I think it's overkill, you know, I think
their scan tool is decent. You've gotta be willing to
pay the freight. UM. I've got a Motus, but I
(17:50):
bought it at year end, at the end of the run.
I got a great deal on it. It It was a
close out. I won't pay the full boat price. I
don't see the need for that. Um, But I'll tell
you what state? What right we are? Amory? I don't
want to rush this. Let me pull over and do
what I gotta do. When we'll come back, we'll finish
up this conversation. I'm running any of the car Doctor.
We're back right after this. Welcome back when I'm leading
(18:31):
the car Doctor at zero zero we're on the phone
with Emery from main Emery. You're still there, Emory? Okay, um,
so you know, uh, do you have a do you
have a digital vault domemeter? Here's a here's a great example. Yes,
I have the one the school gave me, all right,
and what what what make is? Is it a fluke?
(18:51):
It's a blue it's a blue point, all right? So
it's a snap on And you know there's the classic
there's the classic example. Right, the snap on guy comes around,
he'll sell you a meter that's you know, it says
blue point or snap on on it. You know what,
I prefer a fluke. I you know, fluke is the benchmark.
I wouldn't even consider the snap on digital voteomemeter. You know,
for all the years I've had a fluke. You know
(19:13):
you can bounce it, drop it, kick it, you can't
kill it. And when you eventually do, you you either
get the company to repair it, and the company is
always gonna be there. Order repair is about longevity in
the company and and how long that manufacturer is gonna
be around and is it bang for the buck? Because
I guarantee you whatever you've got in your box, except
(19:33):
for the ratchets, wrenched sockets and screwdrivers, all the rest
of the specialty stuff is gonna be outdated by next week.
And it's just this constant chronic, you know, always. You
know what I've got in my toolbox? I saw the
other day. Um you ever have you done any rear
axle or like a rear real drive old school GM
where the truck Okay, so you know that opinion You
(19:57):
know the cross bolt that the opinion bolt that holds
the cross shaft in. It's got that little eight millimeter
head on it that threads into the carrier. Every once
in a while now they always break off. I actually
have the tool for that that you can clamp it on,
drill it out and you know you don't have to
pull the carry. You can do it right in the
(20:18):
car used it twice, used it twice, haven't used it
in the better part of Gosh, it's got to be
twelve or fourteen years, it's forever now. But I look
at it every I look at it every time I
open up that draw on the box, third third draw,
right side, you know, all the way tucked in the corner.
It was. It was, I mean it was cheap. I
think it was like thirty nine bucks. And I said, oh,
(20:39):
I was gonna say, they're gonna make me a fortune. Now,
the argument could be made that since you own it, um,
you never have to see it, because when when when
the mechanical gods know you're prepared, they never give you
that job. They always give you the thing you don't
have the tool for, which is why you gotta buy
one of everything. It just doesn't nen't necessarily all be
snap on, all right, I think. I think when you
get into the specialty stuff, you've really got a review
(21:02):
and see what the other guys are using and what works.
You know. I wouldn't buy snap on drop lights, but
I would be prepared to me. Uh, you know, we
we have a lot of lights around the shop. We
don't we have corded lights. I haven't used one again
a long time. Because everything now is portable and cordless.
But I make sure that I buy a cheap enough
(21:23):
light that if I destroy it in a year. It's
a consumable, you know. It's it's a hundred bucks you're
gonna throw away. That's how you got to think about it.
And at the end of the year, when it's all
battered and beat up and makes your eyes squint when
you're trying to use it, you throw it out. January one,
you buy another one. And you know, do I want
to do? I want to do? I want to spend
three for that from snap monel. Do I want to
(21:43):
spend a hundred bucks for that from the mac guy
or online somewhere to autopia or something, And you know, yeah,
I like the blue fuel of the nap on the
NAPA have. Yeah. You know, certain things are just consumables.
Have you heard of I a t N you know,
read with the guys in I A interesting Yeah. I
a t N dot net the Mechanics forum. You can
(22:04):
you can sign up and join. It's a couple of
bucks a year. It's dues, so in the eyes of
the government it's a tax deduction, which it is. It's
it's part of your process of being in the trade
and you know it's it's you know, it'll give you information. Uh.
One thing I can say about I A t N.
If you think you're facing a problem that you've never
seen before, where do you go out there and start
(22:26):
reading what everybody else is talking about? Um? You know,
so it's it's it's it's a very worthwhile place to
go and get information. But I'd be reviewing things that
wouldn't be uh be like fixing the cars you heard
me talking about. You don't want to be emotional fixing
the car. You don't want to be emotional trying to
purchase the new tool either. Um. You know snap Ons
come out with a zeus. Have you seen the new
(22:47):
zoos scan tool. I've heard about it. I heard your
broadcast last week on it. Yeah, and you know, all
the snap On guy wants to do is sell me
one for sixteen thousand dollars. And you know, the argument
kind of comes back to, yeah, but what makes it
so different? What makes it so much better? And you
know there's a there's a lot of little holes there,
(23:09):
and he wants to make it emotional, and I want
to make it a calculated decision. And that's what if
I was starting over, I'd be very calculating about what
I'm buying and do do my research. It's a process, alright, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I think I think the Launch stuff is a lot
(23:30):
of bang for the buck. And I you know what
I I that's what you're after, You're after diversity. You know.
I was just looking around again. I finally got the
pile of nineteen scan tools down to her. I'm actively
using seven and you know, I'm trying to whittle that
pile down to three. And I'm trying to figure out
(23:51):
what what's better than that and who does this and
how does that work? And you know, but the Launch
scan tool, the little what is it the Launch It's
a little red tablet. It's about fifteen or eighteen hundred
bucks retail on the street. Um, is it the X
four one? Yeah, the little tablet. It's like a ten
inch tablet. Um, you can grip it right or left handed.
(24:14):
It's it's got that ergonomically handled grip. It's in a
red case scan. Yeah, there it is. And that's our
own Barry Barry a k A Tony Atwood White. Um.
You know that that's that's a lot of bang for
the buck. There are holes. There are things that tool
doesn't do. But that's okay because it wasn't ten thousand dollars,
(24:35):
it wasn't sixteen thousand dollars. But if you're gonna be
in a repair shop and you know you need a
good functioning, everyday scan tool, yeah, that's it. Um it graphs,
it prints, you can email the information to yourself. You
want to get yourself. I think it's Google print or
cloud print. Install it on it's an Android, you want
to install it on the Android device and you're good
(24:58):
to go. But you know the problem. The problem is
you need you need a hundred thousand dollars worth the
tools to walk in the door day one. And you know,
on top of that, you get to pay off your
loans and you have to be smart enough to know
that you're smart enough to go do something else. And
you wonder why we can't get mechanics in the country,
And that's a whole another conversation. Never put me on
(25:18):
that boarder review. So all right, Amory, alright, alright, very much,
You're very welcome. Good luck to you kid. I'll have
a great time. Um yeah, that's you know what, And
he's gonna he's got a heck of a career in
front of him. He's gonna really see some changes. He'll
be there when California bands the internal combustion engine and
everything changes and we go to electric cars and the
(25:40):
things that the kids are gonna see, the kids that
graduate from U t I and other places like that,
you know what, to a degree, I'm jealous. I wish
I could be there with them as they go through
the changes, because it's gonna be very, very interesting. Let's
pull over and take a pause. Eight five five zero zero.
When we come back, we're gonna get it right to
Kevin with the two thousand three Yukon Hank tight, Kevin,
I'm coming for you, Ronn any of the Car Doctor.
(26:00):
We're back right after this. Welcome back on any of
the Car Doctor. Let's go over and talk to Kevin
and Maine two thousand three Yukon Excel and some error
coachs Kevin, welcome to the Car Doctor. How can I help? Yes, sir,
what's going on? I've got a m I've got a
Yukon Xcel two thousand three three quarter ton um. They
(26:24):
use it for tone camper and keep getting a p
O one oh one mass their sensor. Uh, code okay,
and sometimes that any other full codes Kevin? Or is
it just that one? Yes? Well, sometimes that code comes
up all by itself, but but a lot of times
(26:47):
it comes up with the seven oh one, and I
believe oh seven oh four as well. UM, it comes
up almost every time I toe, UM, when the truck's unloaded,
it fairly comes up. It still does come up. Who's
doing the diagnosis? You already have a you have a
repair shop pulling the codes. Just me. I've got a
(27:10):
bully dog tuner with a gauge display on it that
that shows me the codes. Do you have the ability
to do at freeze frame? No? No, you're gonna say
something else. Uh. What I've done so far with it
is UM. I used. I swapped the mass air sensor
(27:34):
from another truck. UM, another truck that I knew it
was good. Did we didn't have any codes? UM, and
that didn't make any change to it. UM. There was
a technical service bullet and I found and that some
of my other symptoms, which was a rough idal on
a cold startup talked about correct. I changed to the
(28:00):
newer teal green gaskets and that's solved the rough cold
idle issue. But I still have the the the mass
air sensor. Okay. So so are you still getting all
the codes or just the one oh one? Uh? Well,
(28:20):
like like I said, sometimes it's just the oh one
on one, but that other other times the other seven
oh one and seven or four. Okay, so you're still
getting pretty much You're still getting pretty much the same
fault codes. Ye. All right, I gotta buy a scan tool.
All right. You're gonna have to get you everything. Get
it doesn't have to be expensive, just something that will
(28:40):
read data stream. And you're gonna have to start to
look at fuel trim. You want to know what fuel
trim is. All right? Were you a boy scout? Were
you were you boy scout? Kevin? Okay, so you know,
you know, remember when they taught us about building a
fire using wetwood, dry wood and leaves and you know,
hot flame, cold flame and all that stuff. So we
(29:02):
want to look at fuel trim. We want to look
at you know, hot flame, cold flame. Um, you know,
we want to look to see you know, enough oxygen,
too much oxygen, not enough oxygen. And you know that's
what fuel trim is all about. If zero is a
perfect fire, then if we if we take away oxygen
(29:23):
or if we add oxygen to it, we've got to
add more fuel to maintain that balance. So you're gonna
see fuel trim go on the increase. If it's the
other way, you're gonna see fuel trim go negative, trying
to take fuel away. If it's running too rich. You
want to see a fuel trim is all right, it's
you're you're typically going to see zero plus or minus
eight percent. But then again, depending upon where you are
(29:45):
and what part of the country hot mountains, you know,
flat lands below sea level, all that stuff comes into effect.
You know what's the barometric pressure that day. But general
rule of thumb, zero plus or minus eight is a
good is a good number. Um. You know, if you
have another vehicle that's similar to it, which it sounds
like you do because you swapped it in from another
mass airflow, I would tell you to grab that one,
(30:07):
and I would tell you to grab that one, and
you know, drive to drive the known good and compare
that to the known bad. My suspicion is that if
you get this to set codes, take a look at
freeze frame. Alright, when does it happen? Most of the
problems with the intake gaskets happened when the vehicle was
during vehicle warmup. It happened between a hundred degrees. I'd
(30:29):
be curious to see if you're still having that problem.
Changing the gaskets was a great thing because you have
the orange to the teal green does make a difference.
But there can be other vacuum weeks there that are occurring,
and you sort of need to track those down because
one oh one means that the mass airflow it's it
thinks the mass airflow is under reporting air volume because
it's it's possibly sourcing air from another source. And now
(30:54):
we've got to track down that other source and the
other way we know this for sure as we've got
to take a look at fuel trim, uh, you know,
fuel trim. Fuel trim becomes very important. Of course, then
there's always the possibility that the other one you had,
that the other vehicle you've got has appending one on
one that you haven't seen yet, because that mass air
flows out of calibration too. So that's why swapping parts
(31:14):
is okay, but you've gotta have a scan tool to
back it up. Fuel trim is bible on a lot
of these cars today, you've got to know that they're
good to go, and you've got to take a look
at that, get a look at fuel trim. If you
need more information, you want me to help you understand
it better, I'm glad to do it. Send me an
email Ron at Car Doctor show dot com. And if
you want to talk about scan tools, I can help
guide you accordingly, there too, eight zero zero. We're coming
(31:37):
back right after this welcome back, weren't reating the car Doctor.
Let's get over and talk to Lisa in Minnesota buick
and some heater issues. Lisa, Welcome to the Car Doctor.
How can I help? Hi? Ron Um, I've got a
problem with a ninety eight Bullock lest Saver. Before I
ask you about the problem, though, I'd also like to
(31:58):
mention that I'm one of those economic factors the industry
forgot about years ago. They As I tried to buy
a newer car, I can't find anything with a bench seat.
I'm a rural mail carrier. Yeah, I require a right
hand drive or a bench seat. I alwas I got
to drive with some kind of a conversion, and I
hate the conversion. Yeah. Um, anyway, that's why I drive
(32:19):
a N I d if you look with Saber. I
just bought this one and it's the first one I've
ever had that has a digital heater in it. And
according to the manual, if there's anything wrong with the unit,
it's supposed to flash, and it doesn't flash, and it
gives a normal readout for the temperature outside of that
(32:41):
part works. Um, what it does is it won't blow
any air through the mid vents. My first reaction to
this was maybe air flow blockage mice. But my mechanic
tells me there's no air flow block that she checked.
He says I should probably replace the unit, but he's
(33:03):
also not an electronics person. He told me that too,
so I thought i'd get a second opinion on this.
It blows air out the top on the windshield all
the time. Even when you put it on floor, there'll
still be a stream coming through the middle on the top.
So I'm not sure what could be. It could be
(33:24):
something internally electronic, or do I need to replace the unit. Well,
it could also be just a stuck blend or this
was This was around the generation when we went to electronic.
Everything was electronic. We went to blend or controls and
you know, there are ways to verify, um, you know,
output from that control head is it Is it doing
(33:46):
what it's supposed to do? If memory serves me right,
I thought there was a way to hit some buttons
on the control head and you could get feedback codes
through the control head itself. Looking at a series of
blinking lights. Is that this particular model? If you read
anything on that. I have the research. There's been a
since I've seen um, but there there there are some
ways to you know, check for codes. If you can't
(34:07):
do it through the control head, a dealer level scan
tool and I'll say it like that, or a dealer
level equal scan tool should be able to pull codes too,
because there is a way to pull codes out of
that system and look for a response. You know, so
you want to talk to your mechanic about that, if
memory serves me correct. There was also a functional test.
We're using a good scan tool. You could tell it
(34:29):
move this door, move that door, give me this, give
me that, and actually wait for the response. Because this
is back in the generation of you know, we were
just all learning how to work on cars with computers,
and they had to give us the ability for functionality.
Go back and talk to your mechanic passing what sort
of scan total he has. This isn't about O B
D two. This is about manufacturer specific information. Um, this
(34:52):
could be a bad controller and we can have that
conversation next week. But this could also be a bad
blend or and I wanted to understand the difference. So
go back, get to me some more information, and call
me back next week. I'm on anading the car doctor
and mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. Let's see you
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