December 7, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode of the Car Show, Dane Donovan discusses the importance of winterizing your vehicle. He shares his own experiences with snow and car accidents, emphasizing the need to check your battery, alternator, and starter. Dane also talks about the benefits of regular oil changes, citing a listener's experience with a 2002 Dodge Ram that's still running strong after 342,000 miles. He advises listeners to schedule a vehicle inspection, especially before sending loved ones home for the holidays. Dane also answers questions from listeners, including one about the best oil to use in a 2018 Ford Fusion.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Those who wins see you by the first seven out
of temple keeping.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Better rid them of.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
The song on the radio.
Speaker 4 (00:08):
I gotta keep road.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The baby the song. You maybe want to roll my
windows down and close. Good afternoon, and welcome to the
car show on fifty five KRC. I'm Dane Donovan from
Donovan's Auto entire Center here in studio taking your car
questions and then number to call five one three, seven
(00:38):
four nine fifty five hundred, then them again five one,
three seven fifty five hundred. Uh, I do apologize. I
am a little horse. I uh it tis the season
to be sick, and uh I feel fine, but just
just a bit of horse. Uh. All my boys are well.
They the past like month have had all three of
(01:02):
them all had pneumonia. So uh luckily, I mean, knock
on wood, I don't have it, but uh yeah, I
just I woke up a little horse today. And uh
we had we were out, you know, and I'm old,
forty one years old. We went out, had a we
had our company Christmas party, which was a great success,
(01:25):
celebrating you know, the end of the year. And I'm
curious to know if anybody for all the callers today,
I want to know does your does your company do
a Christmas party? I'd like to know, because it just
seems like it's something that uh just not a lot
of companies do anymore. And uh, you know, we we
(01:46):
we went down to the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati
and had a nice dinner and then we gave everybody
a hundred bucks to go and gamble if they wanted
or whatnot. But it was a good time and uh
most most people love it like it.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
I understand that it's you know, you know, you get
rather be at home on our couch and comfortable, but uh,
it's it's well perceived. But I'm curious anybody that calls,
I would like to know if you, if you, if
you guys do want as well? So, uh, very it
was a very very busy week. As we've talked, I
talked about this just it seems like just a couple
(02:27):
of weeks ago, probably about a month ago. But we
talked about snow and we got a I shouldn't say
a bunch of it, but h I love the snow
and I wish we got more. And everybody, you know,
you've got two types of people, other people that love snow,
or hate it. I would say most people don't like it.
(02:49):
I love it. I don't like the I don't like
the shoveling part. Uh, but you know it's it's something
that I enjoy. But again, you know, I'm sure a
lot of you. I saw a lot of car accidents.
I saw a lot of In fact, when we came
in on I think it was Tuesday with the snow,
(03:13):
there's a jackknife tractor trailer in front of our shop,
right by the train tracks, and then no cars could
get around it. And then when they did get around it,
well then they lost their tracks, so then they're just spinning.
And the ridge road was absolutely just a parking lot.
You literally could not go anywhere up or down. And
(03:34):
those are the times when you're like, man, I think
I probably need tires. In fact, a friend of mine
was like, hey, you guys, put new tires on my truck,
and he goes, man, I was, you did a great
job through the snow, and so I told you it
was coming. We don't know if we're going to get
any more, or if it's going to be any worse
(03:54):
or whatnot, but you got to make sure that we
were getting our cars ready for the winter and it's
here and we want we need to make sure that
we're testing our batteries. And you know, you know, when
I again, when I started in this industry, we would
have a huge influx of people that would come in
(04:14):
around this time and say, hey, I need to make
sure my car's ready for winter. I need you to
check my tire pressure, my battery, my starter, alternator, coolant,
all my fluids. And nowadays nobody comes in and says, hey,
I want to make sure that my car is ready
for winter. And we don't know what mother nature is
gonna throw at us, and we need to make sure
that we're You still need to do that because you
(04:37):
don't know what type of bel we you know, here
in Cincinnati, we could get rain. I think we're supposed
to get rain in the middle of the week, and
then the you know, two days later, we're you know,
two four or five inches of snow. You need to
make sure that you get it in, especially because now
we're going into we're going into Christmas, right, so all
(04:58):
of your loved ones or family members, sons, daughters are
coming home from school, and we get a lot of
people are like, hey, we get that scramble mode. It's like, hey,
my my daughter's in she's got this problem. I need
to get it in right now because she's leaving Monday,
you know, and here it is, it's mid mid Friday.
You know, make it a point, even if there's nothing
(05:22):
wrong with the car, if your son or daughter coming
back from school, or you again, have a family member
that's coming into town, even if there's no problems with it,
schedule the appointment now. Schedule it now, and make sure
that that you know, you can get in. We can
look at it, inspect it, and it doesn't even have
to be you know, whoever your mechanic is. But you know,
(05:44):
have that mindset of getting it in and just getting
it checked out. So there isn't the you know that
crisis mode. Right. I had a very good customer of mind.
She called me her son. I think he's out west.
I think Holroad. I can't remember. Anyways, she goes, hey,
text me like at you know, nine o'clock at night
(06:06):
or whatnot. Hey, his battery light's on? What do I do?
And then and then five minutes so she's oh, car died, right,
So now she's in scramble mode. Sun's you know, six seven,
eight states hours away, right, and it's it's nine o'clock
at night. It's like, you know, what do I do now? Again,
You'll never be able to avoid it, one hundred percent.
(06:29):
It's always a possibility, right. I can check your battery
today and it's dead tomorrow. I can check your alternator
or your starter today and it not worked tomorrow. And
that sometimes frustrates people, right because a lot of people
think that I have the pre notion that, hey, if
you plug it into a computer, the car tells you
what's wrong with it. That's not always the case. Yes,
(06:52):
computers can do a lot. Cars can tell you a
lot of what's wrong with them, but that's not always
the case. And again with battery, alternators and starters, those
are your three components that you really really need to
get checked during these times, these cold seasons, because in
these in these times, because the cold is what tears
(07:15):
these things, not extreme heat and extreme cold. Take out
your batteries, your starters, and your alternators. Okay, And again
I will tell you, yes, get them tested. We can
test them. But unfortunately, if I test your starter and
the car starts, it's gonna test good. I don't get
I don't get a health report, right, I don't say, oh,
starters at ninety nine percent health, I don't. We know,
(07:36):
you don't get that in this industry. It doesn't happen.
The car starts, the starter's gonna test good, okay. The alternator,
we can test that and it can tell us the voltage,
and it can tell us whether or not it's low
or it's high. It should be at roughly about fourteen
point one fourteen point two volts when the car is running. Now,
if it's at thirteen to two or something like that,
(07:57):
we probably haven't we have an issue. If it's you know,
at fifty team, we could have an because it can overcharge,
it can undercharge. We can test that. But again, I
can test your alternator today and it absolutely quit working
tomorrow morning. It just can happen. And there's no component,
there's nothing, there's no maintenance you can do to it.
It's just either it works or it doesn't. Again, starter
(08:19):
can't really get a health report on it. Alternator you can.
And then of course the battery, and everybody thinks that,
oh I just got that battery, and oh batteries last
in our region, in our in our tristate area Cincinnati.
The average battery lasts about three to four years. That's it.
Whether you don't drive the car at all or you
(08:40):
drive it every day. That's about the average life of
a battery. Now, our batteries have become extremely expensive, to
the point of sometimes in some of these cars it's
five six hundred dollars for a battery installed. So I'm
not you know, you need to make sure that you're
getting tested it. You're making sure that you get it tested.
(09:02):
And you know, especially during these times, so you're not stranded,
so you're not on the side of the road, so
you're not at the mall, and you know you're having
to get a towed because you know nobody wants that.
So this is the time that you need to get
it in and you need to make sure that the
car is ready for the winner. And again, coolant we
talked about that you don't have again when I got
(09:24):
into this industry. You know, every thirty thousand miles you
needed to you need to check change your coolant. Well
all the most of your coolans nowadays are you know,
you change them at one hundred and ten hundred and
twenty thousand miles, but you still need to make sure
that it's full. And again at one hundred thousand miles
it needs to be changed. So you need to make
(09:44):
sure that the cars you have the right coolant. And again,
if you're having heating issues, like say you notice, oh,
you know, I'm not getting great heat. A lot of
times it's because there isn't any cool in the system.
And again, cooling is what you need in order to
make sure your car is heated properly. Right, So these
(10:06):
are the things that we need to think about right now,
and you know, talk about it. And like I said,
if you have a loved one that's coming into town
for Christmas or you know, obviously your son, your daughter, nephew, whatever,
even if they don't have any car problems, but you're
gonna send them back out after the first of the year.
(10:27):
Schedule an appointment with your mechanic, whether it's Donovance or
anybody else. Schedule that appointment and just say hey, I
need you to do it once over. Right, A lot
of people go, oh, do you provide any type of
service where you just do a look over it. Absolutely,
you bring it in and we do a vehicle inspection.
We check it from hedge to toe, tires, brakes, filters, fluids, batteries, alternation.
(10:49):
We know we check all that stuff. Wipers so many people.
I mean I sometimes have people come in where there's
no wiper blade even on the wiper arm, and I
think I need wippers. Like it happens. Believe me, it happens.
So think about that and think about what type of
weather we're getting into. That's that's the important part. So
(11:10):
all right, the number call five one three seven four
nine fifty five hundred. That number gain five one three
seven four nine fifty five hundred. The phone lines are
wide open. Love to hear from me, so I'll get
you right in. Coming up, we have Walt. You're listening
to the car show on fifty five KRC the talk station.
This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio station.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
Do you have a truck, camper, r V or trailer
that needs body repair? If so, call Frank's Heavy Truck
Collision Repair located just All five seventy five or Route
sixty three. It's convenient to both Cincinnati and Date. With
over thirty years of experience including insurance work and fleetwork,
Franks knows the most important things are quality work and
customer satisfaction. Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair prides themselves in
(11:48):
doing the job right and get into your vehicle back
on the road. Call five one, three eight two nine
ninety thirty eight two nine ninety thirty.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
The one place for Sean Hennity said, three oh six
fifty five KRC the talk station.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
You're listening to the car show. I'm fifty five KRC.
I'm Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center, here every
Saturday to take your car questions. I'm here most saturdays,
not every Saturday. Sometimes I have I'm actually supposed to
be at a birthday party right now for my nephew,
but I'll get there eventually. I do apologize again, I'm
a bit under the weather. Horse feel great, but just
(12:31):
you know, just a little horse. So I apologize in advance.
But again I love to hear your car questions. The
number to call five one, three seven four nine fifty
five hundred And like I said, I'm here most Saturdays.
My producer Dan does a phenomenal job. He keeps tabs
on me, lets me know in the morning, Hey, are
(12:52):
you coming in today or not? Do I need to
prepare to do another an old show or what's going
on with you today? And so we were out late
last night again we had the company Christmas party. Had
a great time and it was it was a lot
of fun. So all right, taking a number. I'm taking
your calls again. The number call five on three. Let's
(13:13):
go to Walt. Hey, Walt, welcome to the Car Show.
How can I help?
Speaker 6 (13:17):
Hey, Dale, It's Walt from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Listen
to your show. First time caller, longtime listener, listen to
your show every week. You mentioned batteries, and I remember
about a month and a half ago you were talking
about the correct way to connect and disconnect batteries, and
(13:37):
I was gonna be gonna give you a little hint,
but let me make sure I'm right before I give
you a hint. You, when you disconnect the battery, you
disconnect the negative, then the positive. When you reconnect, you
connect the positive and then the negative.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Correct?
Speaker 6 (13:57):
Okay? Then here's a little hint. You heard of lefty lucy,
righty tidy right? I'm a negative I positive positive, oh negative.
So whenever you get in front of your battery, think
npon negative positive positive negative.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
That's a great idea. Now, that's yeah, because listen, some
of my guys in the past have made the and
and let's delve into a little bit why you disconnect
the negative first, because a lot of times, if you've
got a big rat if you've got a ratchet with
an extension, right, and you're taking the positive off first,
and that ratchet that you're using touches any type of
(14:45):
metal in that vehicle, you're getting sparks and you're getting
you know. So that's why we disconnect the negative first.
And uh, but that's that's that's a great idea.
Speaker 6 (14:59):
Yeah, well I appreciate that, but that's what I wanted
to do. I've been trying to give you that hint.
And I think anybody that works probably has heard of me.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Pon, Pon.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm gonna look that up.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I have not.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Knepon Steel was going to buy us Steel. I think
you know, they're the big Japanese steel company and they're
big and we're gonna buy, Like I said, us Steel.
I don't know where that stands right now, but if if,
if you're familiar with it, it's just real easy negative
(15:41):
I positive positive, oh.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Negative, all right, I will use.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
That, Okay, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
You love your show, all right, thank you so much.
You have a great day. Merry Christmas. Uh. You know
again with batteries, there these batteries nowadays, so most of
them were what most batteries in the past were a
lead acid okay, and you know I had to put
you had to put you know, the stilled water in
(16:12):
them and so on and so forth. Right, Well, most
of your batteries now because your vehicles have all these
electronics in them, and basically again you're driving a computer
on wheels if you have a newer car today. So
a lot of these cars, especially if the if you
have the start stop feature, a lot of cars sometimes
(16:32):
have two batteries. You have an auxiliary battery for the
start stop and then you have a regular battery. So
it can get very expensive very quickly. And the ag
you know, the new batteries are a GM and they're
a lot more expensive, and there's no fluid in them,
so you they technically are supposed to last longer. That's
(16:58):
not always the case, and you can still test them
and you still need to make sure that you know
your battery's good to go, even especially if you have
the stop if you have the stop start feature now,
I personally do not like that feature. If you have
the ability in your vehicle to turn it off, so
all of all of your manufacturers mostly will have a
(17:20):
button where every time you start the car, you need
to turn it off. You have that option. You can't
disable it, but you can turn the if you have.
If your vehicle has that option to turn, has a button,
you can turn it off. I would turn it off
simply because it puts a tremendous amount more strain on
your battery and your starter. Right if you think about it,
(17:41):
if you start your car in the morning to go
to work, and then you started to go home, you
started your car twice. But if you have that auto
start and that start stop feature, and you're going from
you know here to work, but you're in traffic and
it starts and stops fifteen times on the way there,
(18:03):
and then on your way home you're in traffic and
it start stops fifteen times, You've now just put a
lot more strain on your battery and on your starter.
I don't personally like the feature. I don't feel that
it saves a tremendous amount of gas. Some people might
like it, but just understand that you don't have a
separate starter and a separate battery to do that. That's
(18:25):
still putting a tremendous amount of you know, we used
to you know, I had cars that come in two
hundred thousand miles and never put a starter on them.
Now I got I have cars coming in at forty
thousand miles. Any new starter, new battery, it's two thousand dollars.
So you know, if you have that feature, I would
recommend that you turn that off because again it puts
(18:47):
a lot of strain on your starter and your battery.
So again the number call five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifty five hundred going. Phone lines are wide open. We're
gonna go back to the phone's way of Ron. Hey, Ron,
welcome to the car show.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
How can I I have a two thousand and eighteen
Ford Fusion.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
It has about.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Sixty thousand miles on the car and about ten thousand
miles on this engine. I had to put a new
long block in it about ten thousand miles ago because
of a crack block. And that's a whole other story
with Ford, but will not go into that. My local
(19:33):
shop changes oil for me. They use mobile one boards
of guests five W twenty in it, and they insist
on using five W thirty. They think that's going to
give a little more protection. And the reason for uses
(19:54):
five W twenty year around when it's hot and you
don't need that kind of an a is to help
meet their myloid standards.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
You agree with that, I do. I do agree with
the logic in that. And you know, again, when I
was in this industry, When I started in this industry,
there there was only you know, two or three different
oil grades, right, it was ten to W thirty, fifteen, forty,
(20:25):
and now there's thirty you know. So, but I agree
with the logic. However, we typically will just stick with
what the manufacturer recommends simply because of you know, liability issues.
Right if somebody if I, you know, if I put
(20:45):
hot a thicker oil in the vehicle and they're like,
oh my gas milea's just gone down, or you did this,
or it's we do it and do it the manufacturer
recommends strictly for liability issues. I don't disagree with them. Yes,
it does give it a little bit more out of
protection these oils, I mean they now have I mean again,
when I was, when I started, it was ten W
(21:06):
thirty fifteen forty maybe five, you know, I can't remember, right,
I mean, now we're down to zero W eight. So
the newer toyotas are taking zero W. It's water. And
I understand that it's for a fuel efficiency and whatnot.
But again, and I've talked about this many many times
(21:28):
on this show. These vehicles, all of them, all of
them across the board. Because of the fuel efficiency issues
and whatnot, these vehicles are using and burning oil. Now
a lot of people go what they have the pre
notion that, oh, I'm not seeing any white smoke. You know,
pay attention, Like when you get on the highway and
you see a big puff of black smoke. That's that's
(21:51):
carbon and some oil build up, and they're kinda so
it's important that you check it regularly and you change
it regularly. I don't I don't think that you're not
gonna have any issues with it, with with going up
a little bit thicker. But I typically, I mean even
in my own vehicles, I still stick to the same weight.
(22:13):
I think more importantly, it's not necessarily about the weight
or the oil. It's about making sure that it's full
of oil and changed regularly. I think that's more of
what's important. But I don't think that you're going to
damage anything if you do the was it ten w
thirty or five thirty? Okay? All right, all right, thank
(22:35):
you so much, appreciate all right, take care bye bye. Yeah,
you know, he had a great question. And I think
if you go up a little bit thicker on the oil,
I don't think it's going to do any type of
harmful damage to your vehicle. However, I do like to
stick to the you know, the the recommendations of the
manufacturer and what the car calls for. I think we
(23:00):
don't necessarily need to talk about the you know, going
up a little bit thicker because it's going to be
a little bit more protection. And he's right, the logic
is yes, I mean to an extent, yes, However, the
conversation needs to be am I checking it and making
sure that it's full and am I changing it regularly?
That's the conversation that really has to be had and
(23:23):
we need to talk about and we and I do
talk about it. I tried to do it as much
as I can. Most of you who listen regularly, you're
probably like, oh god, he's on his oil. I promise
you it's the thing that's gonna make your car last
the longest. You know, two three hundred thousand. My wife's cousin.
He is a UPS driver. And for those of you
(23:44):
who don't know the UPS, the most of your UPS
trucks are GM engines, GM Chassis transmissions engines. And uh,
he just he said to me that he actually delivers
to us at our ridge locate and he goes, yep,
this sings up to two hundred thousand miles. This thing
is he's and unfortunately, you know, per my conversation or
(24:08):
what I said earlier was you know, start and stop
and puts a lot of wear and tear on these things. Now,
of course they have their own mechanics, but he has this.
Every single time he delivers a package, he's shut the
car off and started back up, shut the car. And
he's not driving mainly highway roads, right, you know, he's
going two houses down and then we'll block over. And
but that thing has two hundred thousand miles and he
(24:31):
drives that same truck every single day. And again they're maintained.
And he does say that at about five thousand miles
the oil comes on and he has to ride it
up and they put oil in it and they send
him on his way. They do. He says that they
around I think he said around five or maybe ten
(24:52):
thousand miles they change it oil. Here on this show,
I will always tell you five thousand miles is where
you need to change your oil. No more than six
thousand that's where we need to be at. So again,
taking your phone calls and I'm gonna call five one
three seven four nine fifty five hundred that number. Get
five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. Phone
lines wide open, love to hear from me. But coming up,
(25:14):
we have Jeff. You're listening to the Car Show on
fifty five KRC, the talk station. Way back in nineteen
fifty eight, my grandfather opened Donovan's Auto entire Center right
here in Cincinnati. A lot has changed since then, but
our commitment to honest auto repair hasn't. We believe in
making sure your vehicle gets everything it needs and nothing
it doesn't. Because as a family owned business with our
name on the wall, integrity matters. From nineteen fifty eight
(25:36):
to today, Donovan's Auto entire Center is still Cincinnati's honest
choice for auto Repair and we're proud to keep this
city moving three area locations. Find yours at donovantire dot com.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
It's Glenn Beck weekday mornings at nine oh six on
fifty five KRC, the talk station.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
You're listening to the Car Show on fifty five KRS
the talk station. I'm Dane Donovan. Again, I do apologize.
I'm a little bit horse. I feel great, but uh,
you know, out late and uh, you know I had
a good time again Christmas party and uh it was
uh you know, I'm old, right, so I can't bounce
back like I used to. You know, you stay out.
(26:19):
I'm not old as and yes I am not as
old as Tony and uh but you know, I go
to I turned into it. My mother in law says
this all the time, and I've kind of taken over
the phrase. But I turned into a pumpkin about eight o'clock.
I like to come home, you know, usually get home
about about six, six thirty, dinner, hang out with the
(26:41):
kids for a bit, turn on the news, and Dane
goes to bed. But then I get up typically around
five or six. Right, But when you're up till you know, midnight,
that's that's that's that puts a toll on. You can't
bounce back like like like you are like I wasn't
house twenty So anyways, again, taking your phone calls and
(27:04):
number to call five one, three, seven, nine fifty five hundred.
Let's go to Jeff. Hey, Jeff, welcome to the car show.
How can I help?
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Oh? Good afternoon, good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
How are you good?
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Maya, My buddy has a two thousand and sixteen Dodge
Ram fifteen hundred, and he's got heat that comes out
the passenger side but not out of the driver's side,
and then it'll come out of the driver's side but
then go away again. Okay, any idea?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah? Do you know if he has dual climate control,
meaning like can the passenger and the driver operate what
heat you know or coldness they want? Do you know if.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
That that that I don't know? I want to say, yes,
it probably does.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Most cars do. So what you have is if that
happens most of the time, if you've got heat on, good,
you've got great heat on one side and cold on
the other, or it goes back and forth. You have
what's called a blend door actually or blend door motor. Okay,
it's a little plastic, cheap thirty dollars motor, okay, And
(28:16):
that's what operates that door in the in the dash okay.
And that motor can work, It can be stripped out
and it can work in the not work, which it
sounds like, that's what it's doing currently. So the Blend
door motor or Blend door actuator is bad on that vehicle.
The problem is sometimes, and Dodge is notorious for this,
(28:41):
sometimes the actual door itself breaks. Sometimes it's not the motor.
Nine out of ten times it's the motor. You put
a new motor in it great, but depends on where
Dodge decided to put that motor if it's Sometimes it's
on top of the dash. Sometimes it's at the bottom
of the dash. Sometimes you have to pull the whole
dash out in order to replace it. But box the
(29:02):
heater box and again the whole dash is going out.
Its thousands of dollars. Dodge is notorious for that. That
the doors break and you get to put it. But
what I would tell you is I would start with
getting it looked at, and you most of the time
if you can get to the motor, and like I said,
nine out of ten times you can't access it. It's
(29:24):
not fun, but you can't access that motor, and you
want to make sure that when you get that motor out,
you want to make sure that you can manually with
your your finger or a tool, make sure that that
door can swing back and forth and there's no issues.
Most of the time, the actuator is the problem because
(29:45):
they're very cheap. I mean, they're you know, they're probably
it's it's you know, probably hard.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
It can't be hard to get to.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Oh absolutely. Sometimes they'll put them on top of the
dash and there's no way to get to it. You
got have to pull the whole dash out. It depends
on where they put it. And every you know, every
year make and model is different. Dodge might put it.
You said it was a sixteen, Dodge may have put
(30:17):
it on the side right by the gas pedal, right,
but in twenty fifteen, they could have put it on
top of the dash, you know. And so a lot
of times when a lot of your vehicles, especially when
they're dual climate, you know, you have sometimes up to
six actuators, one for the vent, one for the defrost,
(30:39):
one for the hot and cold on your temperature on
both sides, and the dealers do it all the time.
I'll call them up and say, hey, I need a
driver's blunts, you know, bunds, and you need to get
a schematic that where it shows exactly which one you
need in order to get the right one. You can't
just go online and just go h you twenty sixteen
(31:01):
Dodge Ram pick up Blendor motor because some sometimes they
can be different. Driver's side might be different than the
passengers sign and vice versa, or sometimes they could all
six actuators could be the same. It's it's really it
can be difficult. But if you're going to try to
(31:21):
tackle it yourself, what I think you need to do
is locate the one. Locate the actual the driver's side
blend door actuator located on a schematic on the heater case.
Locate where it's at, and again you can do that.
You can google it or YouTube. Most of the time
there's a there's gonna be a video for it. But
(31:44):
there's usually only three little screws that hold it in
and you pull it out, and you just want to
make sure that you can operate that door manually, again
by a tool or a finger or something like that
make sure that that door is swinging back and forth
most of the time. It's just the actuator that's that's
the that's causing it so good.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
You know, hey, hey, I won't choose it. But as
far as you know, talking about the you know, changing
the oil. I've got a two thousand and two dmc
safari all right, change oil every three thousand mile. I
don't know what if it's a big difference or not,
but I'll put the uh uh, the Lucas in there
(32:23):
with it, and I can turn that key. That thing
fires up. It's super super quiet. And I've got three
hundred and forty two thousand miles on that how many
three hundred and forty two. Wow, on a two thousand
(32:44):
to two thousand and two deep.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
That's awesome. No, three thous No, the Luke, the Lucas.
We use Lucas. I like the product. I do believe
that it adds. It's a there's a benefit to to
use in it. And you know, as you stated, I mean,
you have over three hundred thousand miles on the vehicle,
but like you said, you changed it every three thousand miles.
(33:11):
That's that's the best thing that you can do, and
that's why there's so much confusion in the auto world
about when it needs to be changed. And like again,
if you remember before two thousand and eight, before all
these automakers were scrambling because we're in the financial crisis,
Remember two thousand and eight, it's not that long ago.
(33:32):
Two thousand and eight, it was three thousand miles. Right
now today in two thousand and five, we're telling people
we'll just wait for the light to come on. Just
look at the life reminder that oh you have ten
percent life left or I mean BMW tels, their manufacts
will and engines have we are they better, yes, but
(33:56):
we still need to have the you know, you still
need the life blood of the vehicle, and you still
need to make sure that you're changing it regularly and
checking it. And that's the most critical and easy and
cheapest thing that you can do, and your your attestament
to that. Hey, I changed it every three thousand miles.
I have three hundred was a three hundred and twenty
(34:17):
three two three hundred and forty two thousand miles, And
you change it every three thousand miles, and you put
the Lucas in it, which again is an additive that
protects the engine a little bit better. And that's why,
because you do it regularly costs it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Cost that that's that much either, you know, replace the
replacing an engine and then you have those oils out there.
My daughter bought one, said guaranteed for one hundred thousand miles.
How can that possibly be?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
It's yeah, I know, I listen. It frustrates me, it
angers me. And you know, some people might be on
the other side and be like, well, of course, Dan,
you're gonna say change oil every three thousand miles because
you want people to come back. Listen. I change the
oil in my vehicle the same amount every I I
(35:16):
change my oil on my vehicles at five thousand miles.
They're fully synthetic. I do check my oil level. I
have a brand new truck. I still check it because
it's important. And the problem is that I think there's
just so much confusion as when to do it. And
that's like I have this platform, talk on this radio
station and tell people, hey, look, if you're if you're
(35:38):
using a conventional oil, which most cars don't take conventional
oil anymore, but there are people that you know, I mean,
I have a two thousand hondasific. It still takes conventional oil, right,
I change it every three thousand, and then if it's synthetic,
you change it at five. But I'm still checking it.
My wife's car, she has a GM. It burns oil.
They all do. I check it, changes it, right, I,
(36:01):
Well she doesn't. I change it regularly. But I'm telling
you it's the most important. I'm not I'm not here
to tell you to change your oil because you know
I want you to. We want to get you in more. No,
I'm telling you because it literally every almost not literally
every single day. I have a car that's in my shop,
(36:21):
one of my shops that's in there because it's not
functioning or running, or the check engine lights on, or
it's running bad, or it's missfiring, and it's because it
doesn't have any oil in it.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
And and then the oil is black. It's like tar.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah, it doesn't cost that much to change it. Like
I said, it beats buying a new motor.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
It just does.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Absolutely, And these cars are not getting any cheaper, you know.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
They released the study that the it's the average price
of a vehicle today is fifty thousand dollars average price
of a vehicle. It's the highest it's ever been. So
protect your investment. I understand it's a depreciating asset, right,
it's gonna go down. You're gonna lose value in it.
But protect I'm gonna tell you, protect your investment. The
best way to do that is just change oil regularly
(37:10):
and check it. It's all you can do. You want
to get three hundred and forty two thousand miles out
of your vehicle, make sure you're changing it regularly and
checking it and you'll get that.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I'll you know, it'll burn a
little oil. I mean obviously because it's old, but I'll
turn that key and that thing.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Just humms yep.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
And I told myself I will get five hundred thousand
miles out of this van.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
I will, Yeah, you will keep it going. You're doing
the right thing. So well, hey, I gotta get all right,
Thank you, Thank you very much, take care, uh bye bye.
All right, Coming up, we have Bill and Doug. You're
listening to the car show on fifty five krs the
talk station.
Speaker 5 (37:51):
Do you have a truck, camper, r V or trailer
that needs body repair?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
If so called Frank's.
Speaker 5 (37:55):
Heavy Truck Collision Repair located just All five seventy five
or Route sixty three. It's convenient to both Cincinnati and Date.
With over thirty years of experience including insurance work and fleetwork,
Franks knows the most important things are quality work and
customer satisfaction. Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair prides themselves in
doing the job right and getting your vehicle back on
the road. Call five one three eight two nine ninety
(38:16):
thirty eight two nine ninety thirty.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio station.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
I'm sorry I was out. I apologize. I apologize sorry
about that. I was. I stepped out of the studio
for just a second. So again, I'm back. I was
talking to Tony. He's the boss, you know. All right,
let's go back to the phones with have Bill. Hey, Bill,
welcome to the car show. How can I help?
Speaker 4 (39:09):
Well, I got it. I'm kind of afraid. I've got
a five year old GMC UCT. I've got seventy three
thousand miles on it. I do everything that the factor
says to do, change oil, you know, transmission, all that
kind of stuff. So my curiosity is do I sell
it now and get it get a new one, or
(39:31):
do I just keep on driving what I've got is
gonna Is it gonna fail me at one hundred thousand miles?
Or how do I work at this great question?
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Well, I'm sorry, what year is two thousand and what
twenty twenty? Okay, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (39:48):
It's five years old.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Yeah, no, I don't think you get rid of it.
My wife's My wife has a Yukon and hers is
a twenty eighteen, so not that much of a difference.
But the new Yukons, and this is no lie, The
newer Yukons are the engines are failing before they even
leave the dealership lot. We had one not too long ago. Wow,
(40:14):
they had a main bearing issue and they down at
one of the dealers, local dealers. Hey, they had started
it up and five minutes it was running, the engine
was locked up and they had had to get a
new engine. So there was major issues with that. I
don't think. I don't think you should get a new one.
(40:36):
You know, most people like the concept of a new car.
I get it, but in my opinion, you know, in
my opinion, I would keep what you have. GM does.
I do like GM's product but they do burn oil.
So just make sure that if you keep it, you're
checking it. But if I'm with if I'm you, I'm
(40:58):
keeping it because the newer ones are far more expensive.
And the reliability, I'm telling you all these newer cars,
the reliability, it gets less and less and less every
I mean, I I just bought my new I just
bought my first new vehicle. I'm forty one years old.
It's bought my first new vehicle of my life. Never
had a new vehicle ever, bought a new one. Long story,
(41:20):
it's a Ford love Ford. But anyways, I go to
hit the remote, start, won't start. I'm like, that's weird.
Get in the car, check engine lights on. This car
has seventeen this truck has seventeen thousand miles on it,
and the check engine lights on. I'm like, you know,
it becomes very frustrating. So I keep what you have.
(41:41):
My wife, like I said, hers is at eighteen. I
like GM, they're a great vehicle as long as you're
changing the oil. And then at one hundred thousand what
I would tell you to do at one hundred thousand
miles those vehicles I'm assuming yours is all wheel drive.
Or four wheel drive, most of them are. Okay, make
(42:01):
sure that at one hundred thousand miles, typically you're gonna
get hit hard with maintenance, right, Typically you should do
it tune up, which is plugs and wires. They do
still have, well some some of the newer ones just
have coil over top of the what makes tune up
and then you're you're gonna hit with Think about your fluids.
You've got a front differential fluid, your transfer case fluid,
(42:24):
your rear differential fluid. Those all need to be changed
around one hundred thousand as well. So think about that.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
So at one hundred times changed, Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
No, you know, just think about that. If they got
changed already, that's great, that's great.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
Yeah, no, I had them.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
It's a factory. Does you know change change something at
sixty thousand miles?
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Fine, I did it.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
You know it's I watched my I watched my fluids
because I wasn't to you, I don't change it every
five thousand miles, but I'm I'm I watch it and
I'm and I keep it current.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, and you know what other go ahead.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
What others are gonna are gonna like this, are gonna
last as long as what this one does. Toyota is
or or are they having trouble with with all all
the other cars?
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Uh? Now, Toyotas are not I like Toyotas. They're I know,
they don't have as many problems that those in Honda's have.
Toyotas and Hannas have the least amount of problems. They're
the most Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Mazda are your your most
(43:42):
efficient and best valued, least amount of problem cars and
manufacturers out there. Those three, Okay, so you can't go
wrong with them. But I will tell you, Yes, Hondas
do burn oil. Yes, Toyotas do burn oil, but do
they do it extensively like Hyundai's and Kias. Absolutely not.
(44:05):
So Fordes don't burn oil. Gms burn oil. But I
keep with what you have at one hundred thousand miles,
just think about the maintenance. But I keep with what
I keep what you have. So all right, thank you
so much, thank you so much for all the listeners. Doug.
I do apologize for not getting to your question. I'm
(44:25):
running out of time here, I'm against the clock. Please
call back next Saturday. Everybody have a great weekend. I'll
be back next Saturday to answer all of your car questions.
You're listening to Cars Showing fifty five krc D talk
station
Those who wins see you by the first seven out
of temple keeping.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Better rid them of.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
The song on the radio.
Speaker 4 (00:08):
I gotta keep road.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The baby the song. You maybe want to roll my
windows down and close. Good afternoon, and welcome to the
car show on fifty five KRC. I'm Dane Donovan from
Donovan's Auto entire Center here in studio taking your car
questions and then number to call five one three, seven
(00:38):
four nine fifty five hundred, then them again five one,
three seven fifty five hundred. Uh, I do apologize. I
am a little horse. I uh it tis the season
to be sick, and uh I feel fine, but just
just a bit of horse. Uh. All my boys are well.
They the past like month have had all three of
(01:02):
them all had pneumonia. So uh luckily, I mean, knock
on wood, I don't have it, but uh yeah, I
just I woke up a little horse today. And uh
we had we were out, you know, and I'm old,
forty one years old. We went out, had a we
had our company Christmas party, which was a great success,
(01:25):
celebrating you know, the end of the year. And I'm
curious to know if anybody for all the callers today,
I want to know does your does your company do
a Christmas party? I'd like to know, because it just
seems like it's something that uh just not a lot
of companies do anymore. And uh, you know, we we
(01:46):
we went down to the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati
and had a nice dinner and then we gave everybody
a hundred bucks to go and gamble if they wanted
or whatnot. But it was a good time and uh
most most people love it like it.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
I understand that it's you know, you know, you get
rather be at home on our couch and comfortable, but uh,
it's it's well perceived. But I'm curious anybody that calls,
I would like to know if you, if you, if
you guys do want as well? So, uh, very it
was a very very busy week. As we've talked, I
talked about this just it seems like just a couple
(02:27):
of weeks ago, probably about a month ago. But we
talked about snow and we got a I shouldn't say
a bunch of it, but h I love the snow
and I wish we got more. And everybody, you know,
you've got two types of people, other people that love snow,
or hate it. I would say most people don't like it.
(02:49):
I love it. I don't like the I don't like
the shoveling part. Uh, but you know it's it's something
that I enjoy. But again, you know, I'm sure a
lot of you. I saw a lot of car accidents.
I saw a lot of In fact, when we came
in on I think it was Tuesday with the snow,
(03:13):
there's a jackknife tractor trailer in front of our shop,
right by the train tracks, and then no cars could
get around it. And then when they did get around it,
well then they lost their tracks, so then they're just spinning.
And the ridge road was absolutely just a parking lot.
You literally could not go anywhere up or down. And
(03:34):
those are the times when you're like, man, I think
I probably need tires. In fact, a friend of mine
was like, hey, you guys, put new tires on my truck,
and he goes, man, I was, you did a great
job through the snow, and so I told you it
was coming. We don't know if we're going to get
any more, or if it's going to be any worse
(03:54):
or whatnot, but you got to make sure that we
were getting our cars ready for the winter and it's
here and we want we need to make sure that
we're testing our batteries. And you know, you know, when
I again, when I started in this industry, we would
have a huge influx of people that would come in
(04:14):
around this time and say, hey, I need to make
sure my car's ready for winter. I need you to
check my tire pressure, my battery, my starter, alternator, coolant,
all my fluids. And nowadays nobody comes in and says, hey,
I want to make sure that my car is ready
for winter. And we don't know what mother nature is
gonna throw at us, and we need to make sure
that we're You still need to do that because you
(04:37):
don't know what type of bel we you know, here
in Cincinnati, we could get rain. I think we're supposed
to get rain in the middle of the week, and
then the you know, two days later, we're you know,
two four or five inches of snow. You need to
make sure that you get it in, especially because now
we're going into we're going into Christmas, right, so all
(04:58):
of your loved ones or family members, sons, daughters are
coming home from school, and we get a lot of
people are like, hey, we get that scramble mode. It's like, hey,
my my daughter's in she's got this problem. I need
to get it in right now because she's leaving Monday,
you know, and here it is, it's mid mid Friday.
You know, make it a point, even if there's nothing
(05:22):
wrong with the car, if your son or daughter coming
back from school, or you again, have a family member
that's coming into town, even if there's no problems with it,
schedule the appointment now. Schedule it now, and make sure
that that you know, you can get in. We can
look at it, inspect it, and it doesn't even have
to be you know, whoever your mechanic is. But you know,
(05:44):
have that mindset of getting it in and just getting
it checked out. So there isn't the you know that
crisis mode. Right. I had a very good customer of mind.
She called me her son. I think he's out west.
I think Holroad. I can't remember. Anyways, she goes, hey,
text me like at you know, nine o'clock at night
(06:06):
or whatnot. Hey, his battery light's on? What do I do?
And then and then five minutes so she's oh, car died, right,
So now she's in scramble mode. Sun's you know, six seven,
eight states hours away, right, and it's it's nine o'clock
at night. It's like, you know, what do I do now? Again,
You'll never be able to avoid it, one hundred percent.
(06:29):
It's always a possibility, right. I can check your battery
today and it's dead tomorrow. I can check your alternator
or your starter today and it not worked tomorrow. And
that sometimes frustrates people, right because a lot of people
think that I have the pre notion that, hey, if
you plug it into a computer, the car tells you
what's wrong with it. That's not always the case. Yes,
(06:52):
computers can do a lot. Cars can tell you a
lot of what's wrong with them, but that's not always
the case. And again with battery, alternators and starters, those
are your three components that you really really need to
get checked during these times, these cold seasons, because in
these in these times, because the cold is what tears
(07:15):
these things, not extreme heat and extreme cold. Take out
your batteries, your starters, and your alternators. Okay, And again
I will tell you, yes, get them tested. We can
test them. But unfortunately, if I test your starter and
the car starts, it's gonna test good. I don't get
I don't get a health report, right, I don't say, oh,
starters at ninety nine percent health, I don't. We know,
(07:36):
you don't get that in this industry. It doesn't happen.
The car starts, the starter's gonna test good, okay. The alternator,
we can test that and it can tell us the voltage,
and it can tell us whether or not it's low
or it's high. It should be at roughly about fourteen
point one fourteen point two volts when the car is running. Now,
if it's at thirteen to two or something like that,
(07:57):
we probably haven't we have an issue. If it's you know,
at fifty team, we could have an because it can overcharge,
it can undercharge. We can test that. But again, I
can test your alternator today and it absolutely quit working
tomorrow morning. It just can happen. And there's no component,
there's nothing, there's no maintenance you can do to it.
It's just either it works or it doesn't. Again, starter
(08:19):
can't really get a health report on it. Alternator you can.
And then of course the battery, and everybody thinks that,
oh I just got that battery, and oh batteries last
in our region, in our in our tristate area Cincinnati.
The average battery lasts about three to four years. That's it.
Whether you don't drive the car at all or you
(08:40):
drive it every day. That's about the average life of
a battery. Now, our batteries have become extremely expensive, to
the point of sometimes in some of these cars it's
five six hundred dollars for a battery installed. So I'm
not you know, you need to make sure that you're
getting tested it. You're making sure that you get it tested.
(09:02):
And you know, especially during these times, so you're not stranded,
so you're not on the side of the road, so
you're not at the mall, and you know you're having
to get a towed because you know nobody wants that.
So this is the time that you need to get
it in and you need to make sure that the
car is ready for the winner. And again, coolant we
talked about that you don't have again when I got
(09:24):
into this industry. You know, every thirty thousand miles you
needed to you need to check change your coolant. Well
all the most of your coolans nowadays are you know,
you change them at one hundred and ten hundred and
twenty thousand miles, but you still need to make sure
that it's full. And again at one hundred thousand miles
it needs to be changed. So you need to make
(09:44):
sure that the cars you have the right coolant. And again,
if you're having heating issues, like say you notice, oh,
you know, I'm not getting great heat. A lot of
times it's because there isn't any cool in the system.
And again, cooling is what you need in order to
make sure your car is heated properly. Right, So these
(10:06):
are the things that we need to think about right now,
and you know, talk about it. And like I said,
if you have a loved one that's coming into town
for Christmas or you know, obviously your son, your daughter, nephew, whatever,
even if they don't have any car problems, but you're
gonna send them back out after the first of the year.
(10:27):
Schedule an appointment with your mechanic, whether it's Donovance or
anybody else. Schedule that appointment and just say hey, I
need you to do it once over. Right, A lot
of people go, oh, do you provide any type of
service where you just do a look over it. Absolutely,
you bring it in and we do a vehicle inspection.
We check it from hedge to toe, tires, brakes, filters, fluids, batteries, alternation.
(10:49):
We know we check all that stuff. Wipers so many people.
I mean I sometimes have people come in where there's
no wiper blade even on the wiper arm, and I
think I need wippers. Like it happens. Believe me, it happens.
So think about that and think about what type of
weather we're getting into. That's that's the important part. So
(11:10):
all right, the number call five one three seven four
nine fifty five hundred. That number gain five one three
seven four nine fifty five hundred. The phone lines are
wide open. Love to hear from me, so I'll get
you right in. Coming up, we have Walt. You're listening
to the car show on fifty five KRC the talk station.
This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio station.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
Do you have a truck, camper, r V or trailer
that needs body repair? If so, call Frank's Heavy Truck
Collision Repair located just All five seventy five or Route
sixty three. It's convenient to both Cincinnati and Date. With
over thirty years of experience including insurance work and fleetwork,
Franks knows the most important things are quality work and
customer satisfaction. Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair prides themselves in
(11:48):
doing the job right and get into your vehicle back
on the road. Call five one, three eight two nine
ninety thirty eight two nine ninety thirty.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
The one place for Sean Hennity said, three oh six
fifty five KRC the talk station.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
You're listening to the car show. I'm fifty five KRC.
I'm Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center, here every
Saturday to take your car questions. I'm here most saturdays,
not every Saturday. Sometimes I have I'm actually supposed to
be at a birthday party right now for my nephew,
but I'll get there eventually. I do apologize again, I'm
a bit under the weather. Horse feel great, but just
(12:31):
you know, just a little horse. So I apologize in advance.
But again I love to hear your car questions. The
number to call five one, three seven four nine fifty
five hundred And like I said, I'm here most Saturdays.
My producer Dan does a phenomenal job. He keeps tabs
on me, lets me know in the morning, Hey, are
(12:52):
you coming in today or not? Do I need to
prepare to do another an old show or what's going
on with you today? And so we were out late
last night again we had the company Christmas party. Had
a great time and it was it was a lot
of fun. So all right, taking a number. I'm taking
your calls again. The number call five on three. Let's
(13:13):
go to Walt. Hey, Walt, welcome to the Car Show.
How can I help?
Speaker 6 (13:17):
Hey, Dale, It's Walt from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Listen
to your show. First time caller, longtime listener, listen to
your show every week. You mentioned batteries, and I remember
about a month and a half ago you were talking
about the correct way to connect and disconnect batteries, and
(13:37):
I was gonna be gonna give you a little hint,
but let me make sure I'm right before I give
you a hint. You, when you disconnect the battery, you
disconnect the negative, then the positive. When you reconnect, you
connect the positive and then the negative.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Correct?
Speaker 6 (13:57):
Okay? Then here's a little hint. You heard of lefty lucy,
righty tidy right? I'm a negative I positive positive, oh negative.
So whenever you get in front of your battery, think
npon negative positive positive negative.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
That's a great idea. Now, that's yeah, because listen, some
of my guys in the past have made the and
and let's delve into a little bit why you disconnect
the negative first, because a lot of times, if you've
got a big rat if you've got a ratchet with
an extension, right, and you're taking the positive off first,
and that ratchet that you're using touches any type of
(14:45):
metal in that vehicle, you're getting sparks and you're getting
you know. So that's why we disconnect the negative first.
And uh, but that's that's that's a great idea.
Speaker 6 (14:59):
Yeah, well I appreciate that, but that's what I wanted
to do. I've been trying to give you that hint.
And I think anybody that works probably has heard of me.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Pon, Pon.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm gonna look that up.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I have not.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Knepon Steel was going to buy us Steel. I think
you know, they're the big Japanese steel company and they're
big and we're gonna buy, Like I said, us Steel.
I don't know where that stands right now, but if if,
if you're familiar with it, it's just real easy negative
(15:41):
I positive positive, oh.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Negative, all right, I will use.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
That, Okay, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
You love your show, all right, thank you so much.
You have a great day. Merry Christmas. Uh. You know
again with batteries, there these batteries nowadays, so most of
them were what most batteries in the past were a
lead acid okay, and you know I had to put
you had to put you know, the stilled water in
(16:12):
them and so on and so forth. Right, Well, most
of your batteries now because your vehicles have all these
electronics in them, and basically again you're driving a computer
on wheels if you have a newer car today. So
a lot of these cars, especially if the if you
have the start stop feature, a lot of cars sometimes
(16:32):
have two batteries. You have an auxiliary battery for the
start stop and then you have a regular battery. So
it can get very expensive very quickly. And the ag
you know, the new batteries are a GM and they're
a lot more expensive, and there's no fluid in them,
so you they technically are supposed to last longer. That's
(16:58):
not always the case, and you can still test them
and you still need to make sure that you know
your battery's good to go, even especially if you have
the stop if you have the stop start feature now,
I personally do not like that feature. If you have
the ability in your vehicle to turn it off, so
all of all of your manufacturers mostly will have a
(17:20):
button where every time you start the car, you need
to turn it off. You have that option. You can't
disable it, but you can turn the if you have.
If your vehicle has that option to turn, has a button,
you can turn it off. I would turn it off
simply because it puts a tremendous amount more strain on
your battery and your starter. Right if you think about it,
(17:41):
if you start your car in the morning to go
to work, and then you started to go home, you
started your car twice. But if you have that auto
start and that start stop feature, and you're going from
you know here to work, but you're in traffic and
it starts and stops fifteen times on the way there,
(18:03):
and then on your way home you're in traffic and
it start stops fifteen times, You've now just put a
lot more strain on your battery and on your starter.
I don't personally like the feature. I don't feel that
it saves a tremendous amount of gas. Some people might
like it, but just understand that you don't have a
separate starter and a separate battery to do that. That's
(18:25):
still putting a tremendous amount of you know, we used
to you know, I had cars that come in two
hundred thousand miles and never put a starter on them.
Now I got I have cars coming in at forty
thousand miles. Any new starter, new battery, it's two thousand dollars.
So you know, if you have that feature, I would
recommend that you turn that off because again it puts
(18:47):
a lot of strain on your starter and your battery.
So again the number call five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifty five hundred going. Phone lines are wide open. We're
gonna go back to the phone's way of Ron. Hey, Ron,
welcome to the car show.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
How can I I have a two thousand and eighteen
Ford Fusion.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
It has about.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Sixty thousand miles on the car and about ten thousand
miles on this engine. I had to put a new
long block in it about ten thousand miles ago because
of a crack block. And that's a whole other story
with Ford, but will not go into that. My local
(19:33):
shop changes oil for me. They use mobile one boards
of guests five W twenty in it, and they insist
on using five W thirty. They think that's going to
give a little more protection. And the reason for uses
(19:54):
five W twenty year around when it's hot and you
don't need that kind of an a is to help
meet their myloid standards.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
You agree with that, I do. I do agree with
the logic in that. And you know, again, when I
was in this industry, When I started in this industry,
there there was only you know, two or three different
oil grades, right, it was ten to W thirty, fifteen, forty,
(20:25):
and now there's thirty you know. So, but I agree
with the logic. However, we typically will just stick with
what the manufacturer recommends simply because of you know, liability issues.
Right if somebody if I, you know, if I put
(20:45):
hot a thicker oil in the vehicle and they're like,
oh my gas milea's just gone down, or you did this,
or it's we do it and do it the manufacturer
recommends strictly for liability issues. I don't disagree with them. Yes,
it does give it a little bit more out of
protection these oils, I mean they now have I mean again,
when I was, when I started, it was ten W
(21:06):
thirty fifteen forty maybe five, you know, I can't remember, right,
I mean, now we're down to zero W eight. So
the newer toyotas are taking zero W. It's water. And
I understand that it's for a fuel efficiency and whatnot.
But again, and I've talked about this many many times
(21:28):
on this show. These vehicles, all of them, all of
them across the board. Because of the fuel efficiency issues
and whatnot, these vehicles are using and burning oil. Now
a lot of people go what they have the pre
notion that, oh, I'm not seeing any white smoke. You know,
pay attention, Like when you get on the highway and
you see a big puff of black smoke. That's that's
(21:51):
carbon and some oil build up, and they're kinda so
it's important that you check it regularly and you change
it regularly. I don't I don't think that you're not
gonna have any issues with it, with with going up
a little bit thicker. But I typically, I mean even
in my own vehicles, I still stick to the same weight.
(22:13):
I think more importantly, it's not necessarily about the weight
or the oil. It's about making sure that it's full
of oil and changed regularly. I think that's more of
what's important. But I don't think that you're going to
damage anything if you do the was it ten w
thirty or five thirty? Okay? All right, all right, thank
(22:35):
you so much, appreciate all right, take care bye bye. Yeah,
you know, he had a great question. And I think
if you go up a little bit thicker on the oil,
I don't think it's going to do any type of
harmful damage to your vehicle. However, I do like to
stick to the you know, the the recommendations of the
manufacturer and what the car calls for. I think we
(23:00):
don't necessarily need to talk about the you know, going
up a little bit thicker because it's going to be
a little bit more protection. And he's right, the logic
is yes, I mean to an extent, yes, However, the
conversation needs to be am I checking it and making
sure that it's full and am I changing it regularly?
That's the conversation that really has to be had and
(23:23):
we need to talk about and we and I do
talk about it. I tried to do it as much
as I can. Most of you who listen regularly, you're
probably like, oh god, he's on his oil. I promise
you it's the thing that's gonna make your car last
the longest. You know, two three hundred thousand. My wife's cousin.
He is a UPS driver. And for those of you
(23:44):
who don't know the UPS, the most of your UPS
trucks are GM engines, GM Chassis transmissions engines. And uh,
he just he said to me that he actually delivers
to us at our ridge locate and he goes, yep,
this sings up to two hundred thousand miles. This thing
is he's and unfortunately, you know, per my conversation or
(24:08):
what I said earlier was you know, start and stop
and puts a lot of wear and tear on these things. Now,
of course they have their own mechanics, but he has this.
Every single time he delivers a package, he's shut the
car off and started back up, shut the car. And
he's not driving mainly highway roads, right, you know, he's
going two houses down and then we'll block over. And
but that thing has two hundred thousand miles and he
(24:31):
drives that same truck every single day. And again they're maintained.
And he does say that at about five thousand miles
the oil comes on and he has to ride it
up and they put oil in it and they send
him on his way. They do. He says that they
around I think he said around five or maybe ten
(24:52):
thousand miles they change it oil. Here on this show,
I will always tell you five thousand miles is where
you need to change your oil. No more than six
thousand that's where we need to be at. So again,
taking your phone calls and I'm gonna call five one
three seven four nine fifty five hundred that number. Get
five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. Phone
lines wide open, love to hear from me. But coming up,
(25:14):
we have Jeff. You're listening to the Car Show on
fifty five KRC, the talk station. Way back in nineteen
fifty eight, my grandfather opened Donovan's Auto entire Center right
here in Cincinnati. A lot has changed since then, but
our commitment to honest auto repair hasn't. We believe in
making sure your vehicle gets everything it needs and nothing
it doesn't. Because as a family owned business with our
name on the wall, integrity matters. From nineteen fifty eight
(25:36):
to today, Donovan's Auto entire Center is still Cincinnati's honest
choice for auto Repair and we're proud to keep this
city moving three area locations. Find yours at donovantire dot com.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
It's Glenn Beck weekday mornings at nine oh six on
fifty five KRC, the talk station.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
You're listening to the Car Show on fifty five KRS
the talk station. I'm Dane Donovan. Again, I do apologize.
I'm a little bit horse. I feel great, but uh,
you know, out late and uh, you know I had
a good time again Christmas party and uh it was
uh you know, I'm old, right, so I can't bounce
back like I used to. You know, you stay out.
(26:19):
I'm not old as and yes I am not as
old as Tony and uh but you know, I go
to I turned into it. My mother in law says
this all the time, and I've kind of taken over
the phrase. But I turned into a pumpkin about eight o'clock.
I like to come home, you know, usually get home
about about six, six thirty, dinner, hang out with the
(26:41):
kids for a bit, turn on the news, and Dane
goes to bed. But then I get up typically around
five or six. Right, But when you're up till you know, midnight,
that's that's that's that puts a toll on. You can't
bounce back like like like you are like I wasn't
house twenty So anyways, again, taking your phone calls and
(27:04):
number to call five one, three, seven, nine fifty five hundred.
Let's go to Jeff. Hey, Jeff, welcome to the car show.
How can I help?
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Oh? Good afternoon, good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
How are you good?
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Maya, My buddy has a two thousand and sixteen Dodge
Ram fifteen hundred, and he's got heat that comes out
the passenger side but not out of the driver's side,
and then it'll come out of the driver's side but
then go away again. Okay, any idea?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah? Do you know if he has dual climate control,
meaning like can the passenger and the driver operate what
heat you know or coldness they want? Do you know if.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
That that that I don't know? I want to say, yes,
it probably does.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Most cars do. So what you have is if that
happens most of the time, if you've got heat on, good,
you've got great heat on one side and cold on
the other, or it goes back and forth. You have
what's called a blend door actually or blend door motor. Okay,
it's a little plastic, cheap thirty dollars motor, okay, And
(28:16):
that's what operates that door in the in the dash okay.
And that motor can work, It can be stripped out
and it can work in the not work, which it
sounds like, that's what it's doing currently. So the Blend
door motor or Blend door actuator is bad on that vehicle.
The problem is sometimes, and Dodge is notorious for this,
(28:41):
sometimes the actual door itself breaks. Sometimes it's not the motor.
Nine out of ten times it's the motor. You put
a new motor in it great, but depends on where
Dodge decided to put that motor if it's Sometimes it's
on top of the dash. Sometimes it's at the bottom
of the dash. Sometimes you have to pull the whole
dash out in order to replace it. But box the
(29:02):
heater box and again the whole dash is going out.
Its thousands of dollars. Dodge is notorious for that. That
the doors break and you get to put it. But
what I would tell you is I would start with
getting it looked at, and you most of the time
if you can get to the motor, and like I said,
nine out of ten times you can't access it. It's
(29:24):
not fun, but you can't access that motor, and you
want to make sure that when you get that motor out,
you want to make sure that you can manually with
your your finger or a tool, make sure that that
door can swing back and forth and there's no issues.
Most of the time, the actuator is the problem because
(29:45):
they're very cheap. I mean, they're you know, they're probably
it's it's you know, probably hard.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
It can't be hard to get to.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Oh absolutely. Sometimes they'll put them on top of the
dash and there's no way to get to it. You
got have to pull the whole dash out. It depends
on where they put it. And every you know, every
year make and model is different. Dodge might put it.
You said it was a sixteen, Dodge may have put
(30:17):
it on the side right by the gas pedal, right,
but in twenty fifteen, they could have put it on
top of the dash, you know. And so a lot
of times when a lot of your vehicles, especially when
they're dual climate, you know, you have sometimes up to
six actuators, one for the vent, one for the defrost,
(30:39):
one for the hot and cold on your temperature on
both sides, and the dealers do it all the time.
I'll call them up and say, hey, I need a
driver's blunts, you know, bunds, and you need to get
a schematic that where it shows exactly which one you
need in order to get the right one. You can't
just go online and just go h you twenty sixteen
(31:01):
Dodge Ram pick up Blendor motor because some sometimes they
can be different. Driver's side might be different than the
passengers sign and vice versa, or sometimes they could all
six actuators could be the same. It's it's really it
can be difficult. But if you're going to try to
(31:21):
tackle it yourself, what I think you need to do
is locate the one. Locate the actual the driver's side
blend door actuator located on a schematic on the heater case.
Locate where it's at, and again you can do that.
You can google it or YouTube. Most of the time
there's a there's gonna be a video for it. But
(31:44):
there's usually only three little screws that hold it in
and you pull it out, and you just want to
make sure that you can operate that door manually, again
by a tool or a finger or something like that
make sure that that door is swinging back and forth
most of the time. It's just the actuator that's that's
the that's causing it so good.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
You know, hey, hey, I won't choose it. But as
far as you know, talking about the you know, changing
the oil. I've got a two thousand and two dmc
safari all right, change oil every three thousand mile. I
don't know what if it's a big difference or not,
but I'll put the uh uh, the Lucas in there
(32:23):
with it, and I can turn that key. That thing
fires up. It's super super quiet. And I've got three
hundred and forty two thousand miles on that how many
three hundred and forty two. Wow, on a two thousand
(32:44):
to two thousand and two deep.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
That's awesome. No, three thous No, the Luke, the Lucas.
We use Lucas. I like the product. I do believe
that it adds. It's a there's a benefit to to
use in it. And you know, as you stated, I mean,
you have over three hundred thousand miles on the vehicle,
but like you said, you changed it every three thousand miles.
(33:11):
That's that's the best thing that you can do, and
that's why there's so much confusion in the auto world
about when it needs to be changed. And like again,
if you remember before two thousand and eight, before all
these automakers were scrambling because we're in the financial crisis,
Remember two thousand and eight, it's not that long ago.
(33:32):
Two thousand and eight, it was three thousand miles. Right
now today in two thousand and five, we're telling people
we'll just wait for the light to come on. Just
look at the life reminder that oh you have ten
percent life left or I mean BMW tels, their manufacts
will and engines have we are they better, yes, but
(33:56):
we still need to have the you know, you still
need the life blood of the vehicle, and you still
need to make sure that you're changing it regularly and
checking it. And that's the most critical and easy and
cheapest thing that you can do, and your your attestament
to that. Hey, I changed it every three thousand miles.
I have three hundred was a three hundred and twenty
(34:17):
three two three hundred and forty two thousand miles, And
you change it every three thousand miles, and you put
the Lucas in it, which again is an additive that
protects the engine a little bit better. And that's why,
because you do it regularly costs it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Cost that that's that much either, you know, replace the
replacing an engine and then you have those oils out there.
My daughter bought one, said guaranteed for one hundred thousand miles.
How can that possibly be?
Speaker 2 (34:55):
It's yeah, I know, I listen. It frustrates me, it
angers me. And you know, some people might be on
the other side and be like, well, of course, Dan,
you're gonna say change oil every three thousand miles because
you want people to come back. Listen. I change the
oil in my vehicle the same amount every I I
(35:16):
change my oil on my vehicles at five thousand miles.
They're fully synthetic. I do check my oil level. I
have a brand new truck. I still check it because
it's important. And the problem is that I think there's
just so much confusion as when to do it. And
that's like I have this platform, talk on this radio
station and tell people, hey, look, if you're if you're
(35:38):
using a conventional oil, which most cars don't take conventional
oil anymore, but there are people that you know, I mean,
I have a two thousand hondasific. It still takes conventional oil, right,
I change it every three thousand, and then if it's synthetic,
you change it at five. But I'm still checking it.
My wife's car, she has a GM. It burns oil.
They all do. I check it, changes it, right, I,
(36:01):
Well she doesn't. I change it regularly. But I'm telling
you it's the most important. I'm not I'm not here
to tell you to change your oil because you know
I want you to. We want to get you in more. No,
I'm telling you because it literally every almost not literally
every single day. I have a car that's in my shop,
(36:21):
one of my shops that's in there because it's not
functioning or running, or the check engine lights on, or
it's running bad, or it's missfiring, and it's because it
doesn't have any oil in it.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
And and then the oil is black. It's like tar.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah, it doesn't cost that much to change it. Like
I said, it beats buying a new motor.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
It just does.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
Absolutely, And these cars are not getting any cheaper, you know.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
They released the study that the it's the average price
of a vehicle today is fifty thousand dollars average price
of a vehicle. It's the highest it's ever been. So
protect your investment. I understand it's a depreciating asset, right,
it's gonna go down. You're gonna lose value in it.
But protect I'm gonna tell you, protect your investment. The
best way to do that is just change oil regularly
(37:10):
and check it. It's all you can do. You want
to get three hundred and forty two thousand miles out
of your vehicle, make sure you're changing it regularly and
checking it and you'll get that.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I'll you know, it'll burn a
little oil. I mean obviously because it's old, but I'll
turn that key and that thing.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Just humms yep.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
And I told myself I will get five hundred thousand
miles out of this van.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
I will, Yeah, you will keep it going. You're doing
the right thing. So well, hey, I gotta get all right,
Thank you, Thank you very much, take care, uh bye bye.
All right, Coming up, we have Bill and Doug. You're
listening to the car show on fifty five krs the
talk station.
Speaker 5 (37:51):
Do you have a truck, camper, r V or trailer
that needs body repair?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
If so called Frank's.
Speaker 5 (37:55):
Heavy Truck Collision Repair located just All five seventy five
or Route sixty three. It's convenient to both Cincinnati and Date.
With over thirty years of experience including insurance work and fleetwork,
Franks knows the most important things are quality work and
customer satisfaction. Frank's Heavy Truck Collision Repair prides themselves in
doing the job right and getting your vehicle back on
the road. Call five one three eight two nine ninety
(38:16):
thirty eight two nine ninety thirty.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio station.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
I'm sorry I was out. I apologize. I apologize sorry
about that. I was. I stepped out of the studio
for just a second. So again, I'm back. I was
talking to Tony. He's the boss, you know. All right,
let's go back to the phones with have Bill. Hey, Bill,
welcome to the car show. How can I help?
Speaker 4 (39:09):
Well, I got it. I'm kind of afraid. I've got
a five year old GMC UCT. I've got seventy three
thousand miles on it. I do everything that the factor
says to do, change oil, you know, transmission, all that
kind of stuff. So my curiosity is do I sell
it now and get it get a new one, or
(39:31):
do I just keep on driving what I've got is
gonna Is it gonna fail me at one hundred thousand miles?
Or how do I work at this great question?
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Well, I'm sorry, what year is two thousand and what
twenty twenty? Okay, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (39:48):
It's five years old.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Yeah, no, I don't think you get rid of it.
My wife's My wife has a Yukon and hers is
a twenty eighteen, so not that much of a difference.
But the new Yukons, and this is no lie, The
newer Yukons are the engines are failing before they even
leave the dealership lot. We had one not too long ago. Wow,
(40:14):
they had a main bearing issue and they down at
one of the dealers, local dealers. Hey, they had started
it up and five minutes it was running, the engine
was locked up and they had had to get a
new engine. So there was major issues with that. I
don't think. I don't think you should get a new one.
(40:36):
You know, most people like the concept of a new car.
I get it, but in my opinion, you know, in
my opinion, I would keep what you have. GM does.
I do like GM's product but they do burn oil.
So just make sure that if you keep it, you're
checking it. But if I'm with if I'm you, I'm
(40:58):
keeping it because the newer ones are far more expensive.
And the reliability, I'm telling you all these newer cars,
the reliability, it gets less and less and less every
I mean, I I just bought my new I just
bought my first new vehicle. I'm forty one years old.
It's bought my first new vehicle of my life. Never
had a new vehicle ever, bought a new one. Long story,
(41:20):
it's a Ford love Ford. But anyways, I go to
hit the remote, start, won't start. I'm like, that's weird.
Get in the car, check engine lights on. This car
has seventeen this truck has seventeen thousand miles on it,
and the check engine lights on. I'm like, you know,
it becomes very frustrating. So I keep what you have.
(41:41):
My wife, like I said, hers is at eighteen. I
like GM, they're a great vehicle as long as you're
changing the oil. And then at one hundred thousand what
I would tell you to do at one hundred thousand
miles those vehicles I'm assuming yours is all wheel drive.
Or four wheel drive, most of them are. Okay, make
(42:01):
sure that at one hundred thousand miles, typically you're gonna
get hit hard with maintenance, right, Typically you should do
it tune up, which is plugs and wires. They do
still have, well some some of the newer ones just
have coil over top of the what makes tune up
and then you're you're gonna hit with Think about your fluids.
You've got a front differential fluid, your transfer case fluid,
(42:24):
your rear differential fluid. Those all need to be changed
around one hundred thousand as well. So think about that.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
So at one hundred times changed, Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
No, you know, just think about that. If they got
changed already, that's great, that's great.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
Yeah, no, I had them.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
It's a factory. Does you know change change something at
sixty thousand miles?
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Fine, I did it.
Speaker 4 (42:47):
You know it's I watched my I watched my fluids
because I wasn't to you, I don't change it every
five thousand miles, but I'm I'm I watch it and
I'm and I keep it current.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, and you know what other go ahead.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
What others are gonna are gonna like this, are gonna
last as long as what this one does. Toyota is
or or are they having trouble with with all all
the other cars?
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Uh? Now, Toyotas are not I like Toyotas. They're I know,
they don't have as many problems that those in Honda's have.
Toyotas and Hannas have the least amount of problems. They're
the most Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Mazda are your your most
(43:42):
efficient and best valued, least amount of problem cars and
manufacturers out there. Those three, Okay, so you can't go
wrong with them. But I will tell you, Yes, Hondas
do burn oil. Yes, Toyotas do burn oil, but do
they do it extensively like Hyundai's and Kias. Absolutely not.
(44:05):
So Fordes don't burn oil. Gms burn oil. But I
keep with what you have at one hundred thousand miles,
just think about the maintenance. But I keep with what
I keep what you have. So all right, thank you
so much, thank you so much for all the listeners. Doug.
I do apologize for not getting to your question. I'm
(44:25):
running out of time here, I'm against the clock. Please
call back next Saturday. Everybody have a great weekend. I'll
be back next Saturday to answer all of your car questions.
You're listening to Cars Showing fifty five krc D talk
station
The Car Show with Dale and Dane Donovan News
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