0:03

Ron Anian, I don't know seven f one to fifty

0:05

that had a P zero four fifty six small

0:08

evapp leak. Small. A small evapp

0:10

leak is defined as less than twenty thousands

0:12

of an inch over a period of time, a loss

0:15

of a vacuum.

0:19

The car Doctor, I guess that means you're going

0:21

to be a gearhead, right, You're really going to work on cars

0:23

your whole life. Because while everybody else was

0:25

going out and buying different things, I was so

0:27

excited. I saved my money to buy a battery charger.

0:30

There's something wrong with me, like, I was so excited.

0:33

Look, ma, look what I did. I put a battery

0:35

charger.

0:35

Welcome to the radio home of ron

0:37

Ananian, the Car Doctor. Since

0:40

nineteen ninety one, this is where car

0:42

owners the world overturned to for

0:44

their definitive opinion on automotive

0:46

repair. If your mechanics giving

0:48

you a busy signal, pick up the phone

0:51

and call in.

0:52

The garage doors are open, but

0:54

I am here to take your calls at eight five

0:56

five five six ninety nine.

0:57

Hundred and now he's an amazing

1:00

Here's a cremenous act.

1:01

Here's a startling act. The amazing,

1:03

the thrilling, the greatest, spectacular,

1:05

incredible, exciting, wonderful wirrel fame,

1:08

the most unusual novel action.

1:17

Running.

1:19

Wow. Sixty years since the Beatles

1:21

appeared. Huh, that's that's crazy, And

1:24

I remember it like yesterday. So what does that make me?

1:26

How can I remember sixty years ago when I'm only thirty

1:28

nine. I don't understand

1:31

that. We Uh, we had two

1:33

trucks in the shop this week that I thought were kind of

1:35

interesting. When it was a nineteen Ford

1:38

f two to fifty pick them up truck with about thirty five

1:40

thousand miles on it, and the other one was a twenty

1:42

twenty Ram twenty five hundred

1:44

diesel pickup truck with sixty

1:47

thousand miles on it, and they're both in for service.

1:50

The Ford owner wanted, you know,

1:54

at first, what I thought was a little bit extravagant.

1:57

You know, he wanted to go through all the drive line fluids

1:59

and change all these things that

2:02

I said, Gee, you know, how necessary is this? I

2:04

know how John drives the truck. He drives the truck easy.

2:07

He doesn't push it. He's not using it for

2:09

construction or retail. It's it's just like his daily

2:11

driver. And he doesn't drive it

2:13

every day. He's got other vehicles to drive, and

2:17

you know he's asking for differential fluids

2:19

and transfer case and you

2:21

know all these drive line fluids that, Yeah, if

2:23

you're using it for four wheel drive operation, plowing

2:26

construction, yeah, I get it, and I would I would

2:29

endorse that. But you know, I

2:31

don't know. I guess my reaction was wrong. You know,

2:33

it's because I used to have a harder

2:35

stance on fluids, and then I've softened, and then then I've

2:38

seen what these two vehicles represented to

2:40

me this week, and I'm back in that same

2:42

pool again of change everything.

2:44

It's all bad. The Ram

2:47

pickup had sixty thousand miles on

2:50

it.

2:50

Again.

2:51

The owner is an electrician, I

2:53

know him as well as I know John, and not

2:56

an abused vehicle, not driven hard, not

2:58

you know, used for anything other than just daily

3:00

transportation to get around. And

3:05

it was shocking. It really was both

3:07

trucks, thirty the f two fifty thirty

3:09

thousand miles, the rear end fluid, the gear oil

3:12

that came out of this truck. It was

3:14

smoked. I mean, there's no other way to say it.

3:16

It was discolored. It was thin. It was beat

3:18

up, wasn't watery, it hadn't

3:21

been you know, it's not like it was submerged in

3:23

a lake somewhere. But you could just tell this

3:25

fluid needed to be changed. It was time

3:28

the diesel pick up the twenty

3:31

twenty ram. Same thing, all

3:34

the fluids, and it made

3:36

me realize that, you know, we're

3:40

dealing with I don't

3:42

know, you know we are. Are we servicing

3:45

our vehicles enough? Are we looking at them

3:47

and going, well, it's you know, because I think and

3:49

I think I did, I think I did. I fell

3:51

into the trap. Hey, you know, it's only got thirty

3:53

thousand miles on it's only got fifty thousand miles on

3:55

it. Vehicles go to three hundred thousand miles today. Maybe

3:57

we don't need the service as much. It's

4:00

only it's a truck. It's heavy duty.

4:02

It doesn't need service, it doesn't need

4:04

fluids at this point. It's not working that hard.

4:07

Yeah, let me tell you, judging by the fluids, these

4:09

vehicles were working hard. You

4:11

know, they were desperately in need of fluid

4:13

and drive line services and you

4:16

know maintenance. The

4:19

RAM needed front breaks. It was time

4:21

to put front brakes on it, and you

4:25

know, I don't do this often, but I will admit that

4:27

there's a category where this happens. Where

4:30

Mike had asked me, he said, hey, Ron, can we avoid

4:32

putting front rotors on it? Because I'm doing front

4:34

breaks early. Now,

4:37

the theory of rotors is,

4:40

you know, there's a scuff on that new roador there's

4:42

a cross hatch finish on that new rotor, and

4:44

that cross hatch that that grainy

4:47

effect helps to break in. A new brake

4:49

pad helps to seat the pads, and

4:52

you can run into problems not doing

4:55

a rotor with breaks, doing what we call a pad

4:57

slap. You know, I got

4:59

it. Roadors were a fortune. The

5:01

brake pads themselves. Anybody want to guess how much

5:04

front brake pads out of Chrysler are for

5:06

a twenty twenty ram twenty five hundred diesel

5:08

and there's a lot of weight on a diesel pickup truck. Tom's

5:11

off by one hundred, three hundred and eighty

5:13

bucks for a set of brake pads. I

5:16

kind of almost fell over, you

5:18

know, four hundred dollars for brake pads. Now, they

5:21

were the most gorgeous brake pads I ever saw. Come out

5:23

of a come out of a cardboard box. I you

5:26

know, if I could, I would have run

5:28

off and married them. They were that good look and it was just you

5:30

know, like coly cow

5:33

and it was funny, right we

5:35

you know, we noticed we measured those brake pads

5:38

had to be twelve millimeters stick. They were a little

5:40

bit thicker than the average brake pad. And

5:42

is that because of the diesel? Is that because of you

5:45

know oe original equipment stuff. And

5:49

his roadors were absolutely spotless. And

5:51

that is one reason why I will do that,

5:53

where I will swap a brake pad on a

5:55

heavy truck if the roadors are

5:57

clean. And his roadors were absolutely

5:59

spotless. And I've noticed that for the

6:01

last fifty years of working on vehicles,

6:04

it seems like the trucks certain

6:06

ones, certain applications, or how

6:08

they're driven, if they're not out

6:10

in an abusive environment, it seems

6:13

like the rotors hold up longer and you

6:15

can get away with it. I think

6:17

it's a case by case basis. I don't say you can do

6:19

it on everything, but if you're

6:22

trying to save some money and

6:24

it's a work vehicle per se, and you

6:27

have no brake pulse. You can try

6:29

it as long as you have the understanding. Hey, if I

6:31

end up with if I end up with a shake, if I end

6:33

up where the brakes don't feel like they're

6:35

seating or breaking in as quickly as they should,

6:37

then you got to put rotors on it. But you

6:40

know, I guess the point of this open

6:43

becomes you've got to take a hard

6:45

look at your vehicle, whatever you're driving. You

6:48

know, most of what we did is

6:50

not recommended by manufacturer in either

6:52

case, because everything is lifetime fluid,

6:54

everything lasts forever. But

6:58

I noticed that they were very specific about

7:00

the fluid requirements. Chrysler

7:02

wanted seventy five eighty five synthetic

7:04

gear oil. They wanted a specific

7:07

fluid for the transfer case. Nothing

7:10

I found on the outside readily available

7:13

for the same way. Both of them required

7:16

a pose additive to the rear axle. The

7:19

brake pads I could have found on the outside,

7:21

but I wasn't convinced, and

7:25

the customer asked specifically for Chrysler

7:27

OWI, And I'm glad to oblige a

7:29

customer, and you know, give them what they want,

7:32

But just look at your vehicle.

7:35

Are you really ready for the road ahead. Are you really

7:37

ready for you know, whatever lies

7:39

beyond? Are you trying to get to that two hundred thousand

7:41

mile mark? And are you doing your maintenance? Are

7:43

you doing enough maintenance? And

7:45

both of these gentlemen, they're both I consider

7:48

them car guys. They're hot rodders, and we know

7:50

each other on that on that on that

7:52

scene, you know, it's

7:55

they're very in touch with their vehicles. And they were absolutely

7:57

spot on and what they required and what they asked.

8:01

We were all shocked, we really were.

8:03

And we saved samples of all the gear oil. And I guess

8:05

that's what I guess that's what car guys do, right,

8:08

you know, it's like proud, proud papas. Oh look

8:10

at the gar oil I took out of the rear end of your truck.

8:13

Wow, look at that. I've never seen anything that

8:15

dark and dirty since well, you

8:17

know, it's it's weird.

8:20

What you know, how men bond, right?

8:22

I just uh, But in any event, there we

8:24

were, so do some maintenance, take care of your vehicle.

8:27

Let's let's see

8:29

where can we go. Let's introduce John from Connecticut,

8:32

say hello, and then we're going to pull over and take a pause and we'll

8:34

bring them back. John, Welcome to the car doctors, sir. What

8:36

can we do to get you started today? Yes,

8:39

you're welcome. How can I help?

8:42

Well, first, I want to just tell you really quick that

8:45

I called you about a simplistic tractor. I think

8:47

there was about a year ago or more. And

8:49

what it was was the It

8:51

was the button. The button had worn

8:54

out on the electronic technicians, so we

8:56

just put a key start in there.

8:57

Okay.

8:58

What happens to the is a lot too.

9:00

I haven't seen it on the cars, although I do

9:02

notice. You know, one of the things

9:04

I notice on cars in the last

9:07

three years is certain

9:09

models after they hit the fifty thousand

9:11

mile mark. And I don't know why that's significant, but I just seem

9:13

to notice it. Around the mid that mid one hundred

9:15

thousand marker, I

9:18

noticed the buttons are starting to crack. And

9:21

you don't see it at first. I noticed it on

9:23

my wife's Explorer. Actually that's what made

9:25

me start looking at other cars. So

9:27

you know, if you're driving a push button vehicle, look at

9:29

your button closely, especially at night when the

9:32

lights are on and the button is lit up. You

9:34

know, you'll see a small stress crack in the button,

9:36

and you wonder, is that, you know, is at the beginning

9:38

of the end, you

9:40

know, But yeah, I could, I could believe it. I haven't seen

9:43

any buttons fail, but you know, you wonder,

9:45

you wonder what's going to happen when that button fails. How it's

9:48

going to drive people crazy? So but anyway, go

9:50

on with your question, sir.

9:52

I have a two thousand and seven Toyota

9:54

Yaris and it's got about it's

9:56

got two hundred and thirty two thousand ninit or so,

9:59

and it's been a really good car,

10:02

and it's probably time

10:04

for me to look for another vehicle on

10:07

only because the body is rusting, right,

10:09

you know, because I'm Connecticut and they

10:11

don't They just put that brine

10:14

on their central So yeah,

10:17

I guess there's a there's something that neutralizes

10:19

that, but they don't use it. Miss Date. I don't

10:21

know.

10:22

That's what I've heard, but who knows.

10:23

I don't, but I've

10:25

been I was thinking about a

10:28

a Corolla, which is very good,

10:30

but the CVT transmission

10:33

I'm not so sure about that. But

10:35

some people complain about some people say, well, it'll

10:38

last long enough, you know. And I

10:41

also was thinking about the Prius

10:44

uh, the pres Yes, that's a Prius

10:46

at a Prius Prime. And

10:51

is that battery that the the plug in

10:53

battery for the prime. Is that exposed to the elements.

10:57

You're talking about the one four,

11:00

the the plug in

11:03

part not to my knowledge. Now there

11:06

is there is some sort of protective casing

11:08

around it.

11:10

There is, Okay, yeah.

11:11

There should be. Yeah, I mean they can't expose it.

11:13

They can't expose it to you know, think about if they

11:15

exposed anything, uh, such

11:18

as you know, electrical such as that to the elements

11:20

to the road, to the road, and think

11:22

of the contamination that would endure over the

11:24

course of a few short years and what that would look like.

11:27

So, you know, not not, it

11:29

wouldn't It wouldn't look great. Hey, John, let

11:31

me pull over, take a pause. When I come back, we'll finish up, all

11:34

right, Stay put, I'm Ron and Aye in the car doctor. We'll be

11:36

back right after this. Don't go away,

11:40

you.

11:40

Have done what's

11:47

more fun than listening to Ron and Anie in the car

11:49

doctor and getting that car fixed?

11:51

Right A five five, five, six zero

11:53

nine nine zero zero. Give Ron a call

11:56

now back to Ron. Hey, welcome

11:58

back, John, let's come back to you on Connecticut.

12:01

So my question is, you know

12:03

you're looking at Toyotas. Are you considering anything

12:05

else in terms of a new car purchase.

12:09

No, it's just well maybe Honts, but I

12:12

think Honda has got to hand of get a little

12:14

bit sloppy. It seems like or something from what

12:16

I've heard, and Toyotas.

12:18

I always had Toyotas and I've had good luck with them.

12:20

Well, and then I would stay with Toyota's. You know, every car

12:22

has its problems, right, every every car company

12:25

has their achilles heel. And I

12:27

think, what we what we have failed? I know

12:30

I did until recently. What I

12:32

failed to realize is, and I see a lot

12:34

of people do this is there is a culture

12:36

to purchasing a vehicle, or there's a culture

12:39

within that company their attitude towards

12:41

resolving issues and resolving problems.

12:44

And I'm not saying one is better than the other, but

12:46

you know, it's you've got to find something that appeals

12:49

to you, that makes sense, that you you know, that will

12:51

that will work for you. You're it's a major investment

12:53

now, you know. I was saying to my wife

12:55

this morning, how expensive vehicles

12:58

have become and it's

13:00

no wonder that so many

13:02

people, unfortunately are in debt, and so many

13:04

people are hanging on the cars longer, and

13:07

so many people are driving older cars or

13:09

buying used cars because of the price of cars.

13:11

So this is a major decision in life when

13:14

you stop and look at it, what cars cost. That

13:16

being said, you know, I think Toyota

13:18

has a very good culture within it. Coyota

13:20

has a very good experience. Having purchased

13:22

two now in the family, having seen

13:25

two people go through three actually go through

13:27

the process myself included, I

13:29

can say that I think they've got a great process

13:31

and procedure, and I think they have good customer

13:33

service. Can they

13:35

disappoint you? You know what you're gonna

13:37

get to. You're gonna get to the just at a warranty

13:40

mark and something's going to go wrong and they're either

13:42

going to fix it or they're not. But all the car

13:44

companies are like that, you know. But

13:46

they have a good lead up to that, they have

13:48

a good experience, they have a good sales response,

13:51

and I think Toyota should be commended for that. And

13:53

this is from a guy who ten years ago when

13:55

they had all the unintended acceleration issues and everything

13:58

they had going on. I was critical

14:00

of them. I think they've recovered from that, and I think they've done

14:02

a very good job, you know. That being

14:04

said, Honda, I think Honda makes a

14:06

good product. You know, I can

14:08

tell you from the local dealers that are

14:11

around me. They have in I

14:13

got to say it like this, They've got an attitude problem

14:15

in terms of you know, Honda,

14:17

Honda, Honda. You can't criticize Honda

14:20

and admit their faults. They can't, but

14:23

they're there just the same. But again, Honda's

14:25

you know, every car is not for everybody,

14:27

you know. I think what you've got to do is you're coming out

14:30

of a two thousand and seven Toyota

14:32

YR, as you said, very

14:35

very different car than today's technology.

14:37

The car is fifteen going on sixteen years old.

14:40

The technology is very different, and

14:42

you're going to go from a gas version to possibly

14:44

a hybrid version. I wouldn't fear the

14:46

CVET. I think the CVET has had

14:48

massive improvements over the years, and

14:51

to their credit, the majority of car companies

14:54

when they have if at sixty thousand

14:56

miles the trans fails for some odd reason,

14:59

the car companies today know the value of social

15:01

media and how quickly they can be condemned. And

15:04

I think they're standing up and all trying to

15:06

do the right thing quickly and recognize the defects

15:08

and the deficiencies if it exists. None

15:10

that I know of exists in the CVTs on

15:13

Toyota's at this moment. So that being

15:15

said, I would tell you to go drive the vehicle.

15:18

You know, don't make a decision about what to buy

15:20

until you drive something. You may sit in the hybrid

15:23

Prius and go, yeah, this isn't for me, or

15:25

you may sit in there go wow, this is the best thing since

15:27

chocolate cake. You know, you don't

15:29

know, you know, And I would always

15:32

go I always like to do my first road test

15:34

at dusk. I like to go,

15:37

oh, you know, you try to make my appointment

15:39

three thirty four o'clock. We do the walk

15:41

around in the showroom, and then we're out on the road for thirty

15:43

quarter to five, just as the sun is going down. Because

15:46

for me, dusk is an interesting time to be driving.

15:48

There's the change from daylight to night time. You

15:51

know, if you're going to have difficulty seeing, it's going to

15:53

you know, if your eyes have to adjust. You're

15:55

in a strange vehicle, strange environment. I think

15:57

it's a good place to have social impact. It's

16:00

very easy to make a decision about buying a

16:02

car twelve o'clock on a Saturday afternoon

16:04

of the sun shining and the birds are singing. You

16:07

know, you want to know how that car is going to react and how you're

16:09

going to handle it in a

16:11

different environment, a darker environment,

16:13

a change of environment, because

16:16

again, fifteen years you're used

16:18

to you know, you could probably reach every button and control

16:20

in that yours with your eyes closed, right.

16:23

Oh yeah, yeah.

16:24

Now they've moved everything around. It's

16:26

like the Shell game. You know, where's the radio

16:29

knob, where's the heater control, where's the ignition switch?

16:31

All of it's changed, and

16:35

you know it's not easy to adapt

16:37

to the newer technology. So you've got to take some

16:39

time and go look at it. You know the other

16:41

thing that I would throw in the mix if you want to just take

16:44

a sample and you don't want to go look at Honda, go

16:46

drive a Ford, Go see what Ford

16:48

does. Go look at something, Go look at the new

16:50

escape. I like the new Escape. I think the new Escape

16:53

is a great vehicle. You know, the older

16:55

models were good. I think the newer models are great.

16:57

You know, I think there's a long line of of

17:00

good vehicle there. I would go look

17:02

and drive. Let's see over at Chevy.

17:04

Just for giggles, go drive a Chevy Equinox.

17:07

I think they've come a long way, all right.

17:10

I would do that just so that you could say you did,

17:13

because you don't want to have you know, you don't want to

17:15

second guess yourself and have buyer's remorse, had

17:17

and drive anything. I just drove a Toyota,

17:19

and you'll probably come back to that, but at

17:22

least it'll make you feel better because when you see the price

17:24

tag of both of those vehicles, you

17:26

know, thirty to fifty grand, depending upon what you

17:28

buy, you're going to go.

17:28

Well.

17:29

I know I made the right choice because I looked at everything

17:31

right, and it's you got

17:33

to keep this in mind. Then I'll leave it here for you.

17:36

John. It's like dating. Don't fall

17:38

in love on the first date. Don't fall in love with the first

17:40

car you drive, because you

17:42

know you may find something else later

17:44

on. You've got to go back and look at least twice.

17:47

In my opinion, and you've got to

17:49

listen to what the and look at what the dealership

17:51

says, and how do they represent themselves,

17:53

how do they present it, how do they present the financing

17:56

options? You know, ask about extended

17:58

warranty, and take a

18:00

look at the service department. Try and take a sneak

18:02

peek when they're not looking. How clean is

18:04

the place, how organized is the place? Is

18:06

that where you want to trust your automotive repairs

18:09

in that particular dealership, that particular brand

18:11

of car. A lot to look at, a lot to consider.

18:13

Good luck, I'm running any of the car doctor.

18:16

We'll be back right after this. Don't go away,

18:41

Hey, welcome back. Let's try something

18:44

different. Let's go to Tim and Illinois,

18:46

but we're going to go in the shop with AutoZone

18:49

at the same time. Tim, Welcome,

18:51

sir. I think I know how I want to handle this question because

18:53

you kind of lead into what I wanted to talk about in the

18:55

shop today courtesy of AutoZone.

18:57

So how can I help you today? Go ahead?

19:00

I have a two thousand and five

19:02

Nissan Centrispec five

19:05

seer. It has a

19:09

It had a rear shock that

19:12

was leaking oil. I was noticing

19:14

some oil by the rear wheel,

19:17

and I thought I could just replace

19:19

the shock strut combination

19:22

with a quick strut. So

19:25

I pulled the old strut out

19:28

and I went to put a new one in. And

19:31

it's nowhere close. I mean, I can pry

19:33

around, I can do things and get it

19:36

where the hole

19:38

at the bottom of the shock. There's

19:40

two bolts that hold it in at the top,

19:43

and then there's a long bolt

19:45

that goes through the shock at the bottom.

19:47

Right, I can't get that within an

19:49

inch of the hole where it's supposed

19:51

to be.

19:52

How do you do you have the other side unbolted?

19:55

No? No, is

19:57

it a beam, rear axle, or an independent

19:59

reaction.

20:01

It's a beam.

20:02

It's a beam. You may have to disconnect

20:04

the other side. How do you how do you have the vehicle

20:07

support it up in the air? Off the off

20:09

the pinch weld of the of the body correct? Yeah,

20:13

okay, and obviously you've got the tire

20:15

off. Did you measure the old strut

20:17

versus the new strut.

20:20

I laid them side by side. They look

20:22

identical.

20:23

Well if they measured, If they measure the same,

20:26

it came out. Brother, It's got to go in all

20:29

right. It's you know, I hate I hate this. I hate

20:31

to say it so basic like that, you're either

20:33

you're not seeing it right the point of angle

20:35

of attack. But if it came out, it's

20:37

got to go in. If you told me it was, you

20:39

know, longer than I think, we've got a reason

20:42

to go and say, hey, maybe you've got the wrong strut

20:45

all right, but I don't think so. If they

20:47

if you physically measure them point to

20:49

point, it might be just

20:51

the angle of how you're trying to put it

20:54

in. Do you recall the direction

20:56

or the the the angle of deflection on

20:58

how you pulled it out? Can you replicate that?

21:01

Yes?

21:02

And you still can't get you still can't get

21:04

it to come in.

21:06

No, I can't get it to come in

21:08

there. And and maybe it is

21:11

that I have to take both sides off

21:13

and then try

21:16

it from from that point

21:18

of view.

21:18

Right, Although I will say, if you got it out, how

21:21

easy was it to get out? Did it just come right out

21:23

with no interference?

21:25

Yeah? It came out with no interference

21:27

and nothing. You know, it

21:29

wasn't like something slam doing

21:31

I took.

21:32

It out or anything. It just right?

21:35

Why do I hit it and it popped out.

21:37

So let's do this. Let's make a science project

21:39

out of it. If you take the other side out,

21:43

note exactly how you take it out. If

21:45

it came out that way, it's got to go back in that

21:47

way, agreed. Yeah,

21:50

okay, so let's make it simple like

21:52

that. Let me tell you a struts story too, and

21:54

just just be mildly aware of this. Where did you get these

21:56

struts from? Can you tell me?

22:00

Yeah?

22:01

Rock Otto?

22:02

Okay, yeah, rock Otto's fine? You

22:04

know it? Is it a name brand?

22:09

No, it's one of their brands.

22:11

Okay, And I'll tell you what that's okay.

22:14

I you know, I was going to tell you all

22:16

about we had we had an five

22:19

camera in the shop a couple of weeks ago and

22:21

we were doing a suspension overhaul. I'm

22:24

very fussy lately on suspension,

22:26

and that's where I was going with this, and I wanted to share this

22:28

with you and everybody else that I've

22:31

seen the name brand stuff get

22:34

to be very harsh in

22:36

the last couple of years. I'm not sure why, but all

22:38

the name brand struts and shocks that we see out

22:40

there, I find they ride

22:42

too hard and I'm not sure

22:45

if and I'm a little bit frustrated with these

22:47

companies because I've called up to talk to people

22:49

and everybody says, well, you know it meets

22:51

and matches OWE specification. Yeah,

22:53

I don't think so. We did a set of

22:55

front struts in a FOURD escape

22:57

a couple of months back that road so

23:00

badly I had to pull them out and switch

23:03

to a different brand completely. And this is when I discovered

23:06

this. I went from using them on Roshock

23:09

and we put in doural Ass struts,

23:11

and I did the same thing with this five came.

23:13

I put in doorless struts, and I found they

23:16

rode better, they handled better. And

23:18

I've got this theory that these private

23:20

label struts are built

23:23

to a different standard, that they're not trying

23:25

to get such

23:28

an exact harsh environment. I don't know how to

23:30

explain it, really, it just seems like they

23:32

ride better, as if they're not

23:34

over engineered, over complicated. So

23:38

you could be right in your Rock autos. I

23:40

was writing my dooral ast all

23:42

right, and I found

23:44

that the doorless struts rode really well.

23:48

Part of the reason I went with the Rock Auto

23:50

was the car

23:54

is a CenTra sers

23:56

BAC five, right, and they

23:58

had a particular

24:01

model. Let's said it was specifically

24:03

for the Seer SPAC

24:05

five. And what I

24:08

was finding and from

24:10

all the local auto parts

24:12

houses was it theirs

24:15

were the same for all centers,

24:17

and that that was a

24:20

big part of why I chose what I

24:22

chose.

24:23

Did you happen to did you happen to check AutoZone out

24:25

of curiosity?

24:27

Yes?

24:27

I did. They only had dura last

24:30

right.

24:30

Did they say it was specific for the model or did

24:32

they cover did they just have blanket

24:34

coverage?

24:35

There was general for for

24:37

all models.

24:38

Okay, all right, So

24:41

and you found that online or you talked to somebody

24:43

in the store.

24:45

No, I went online.

24:47

All right, at that point you may want

24:49

to talk to somebody in the store. And then what's

24:51

different about it? Is it the physical dimension

24:55

or is it just the ride in the handling?

24:58

I would guess the right in the handling,

25:00

because everything with the car is dimensionally

25:04

the same as the standard CenTra.

25:07

Right.

25:07

I would think a sport

25:09

model.

25:09

With the six speed manual on the

25:12

bigger engine.

25:13

Right.

25:13

Right. Okay, I would tell

25:15

you to, you know, go ahead

25:18

and pull the other side, but I would measure

25:20

this. I wouldn't do this by eye. If

25:22

you're off by a quarter of an inch, that could be

25:24

the reason you're not getting it to go back in, because

25:26

in my mind, if it came out, it's got to go in. Brother.

25:29

There's there's no reason why it wouldn't.

25:32

So you know, and let's

25:35

let's attack it from me. You're very welcome,

25:37

Good luck to you. Let me know what happened. If you have any more problems,

25:39

you know where to find me. Tim all right, ye,

25:42

thank you, you're very welcome. And for everybody else out

25:44

there, for my guys in the field, take a look

25:46

at the AutoZone dural ass line of shocks and struts

25:49

and you'll find more at atozone pro dot

25:51

com. I'm ronning any in the car doctor, I'll be back

25:53

right after this. Welcome

26:08

back, run any of the car doctor. Let's wander

26:11

over to Arizona. Talk to Tom. Tom,

26:14

welcome, what's going on with three buipless saber? How can

26:16

I help you?

26:16

Sir?

26:18

Hi?

26:18

Thanks? Have a break noise

26:21

in the rear after a break

26:23

job and intermitt

26:26

it and it seems to happen

26:29

going very slow driving into my

26:31

driveway right

26:33

before I stop. It's it's almost like

26:36

the sound you hear on an airplanes when they break on.

26:38

The runway that grave

26:41

kind of sound.

26:43

Yeah, and when I back up, it

26:45

makes it. But it doesn't do it all the time. It

26:47

doesn't do it.

26:49

Driving speeds, kind.

26:50

Of blow speeds.

26:53

And I took it back after a couple thousand

26:55

miles because it did it from the beginning, after

26:57

the break job, when they put new rotors

26:59

and paths and they

27:01

said, oh, it looks fine. The pads look good,

27:04

the pins look greased, no

27:07

problem.

27:07

This is this is good.

27:09

This is an O three less saber rear

27:12

four wheel disc car. Yes,

27:15

okay, rear breaks. It's

27:18

I'm gonna say it's an It's either either

27:21

in the compound of the brake pad itself,

27:24

or perhaps there is a shim,

27:27

you know, the caliper, the guide shim

27:29

for the brake pad that they're not seeing is

27:31

rubbing and they have to look really

27:33

close to the point that

27:36

they're not going to catch it all the time, those

27:38

little shims. Is it a is

27:41

it a can you say if it's a

27:43

chalkboard, a piece of chalk on a chalkboard

27:46

kind of a sunds Is it a low level scrape

27:48

at times? Or is it is

27:50

it purely grinding like grit.

27:54

It's more like grinding, but it's

27:56

not that loud, and it doesn't

27:58

happen all the time.

27:59

Right if you least the break, does it go away?

28:05

Yeah?

28:06

Well, if it goes away at that instant,

28:08

I could still be a shim because the shim could

28:10

be slightly mispositioned. Have

28:13

they have they taken the pads

28:16

in the caliber back off to look for anything rubbing?

28:20

No?

28:20

I think that's their next step. Are these guys your regular

28:22

mechanic.

28:25

It's a break that's

28:26

a.

28:28

Chain break shop, So I

28:30

think it's a two step conversation. I think it's

28:33

have you had any problem with your brand

28:35

of pads before? Listen? Breaks

28:37

are a very near and dear subject

28:39

to a lot of mechanics. You know, they'll they'll and

28:42

I think we tend to guard our our

28:45

brands as closely as the identity of

28:47

our children, if you know what I'm saying, because we don't want to let

28:49

any trade secrets when we're talking amongst

28:51

ourselves as mechanics, you

28:53

know, unless we specifically ask some guys.

28:55

Some guys believe in cheap pads. Some guys believe

28:57

in spending big money. I'm kind of

28:59

middle of the road. I'm happy with the brake pads. I'll tell

29:01

you I use. We use power stop pads and Dura

29:04

rotors all day long and

29:06

you know, great stuff, great

29:09

stuff. They work well. We also

29:11

use the dural Aast line of brake pads

29:13

for Moto Zone. They work well all day

29:16

long, no problems, right, you

29:19

know. I find that I find

29:21

that the line of break parts

29:23

that guys are using, well,

29:26

they'll know my point is what's

29:28

working and what's not right.

29:30

They know that, yeah, we've had this

29:33

problem with this set of pads or that set of

29:35

pads. So if they're saying

29:37

that they don't see anything and have

29:39

they heard the noise, no,

29:42

okay, then a they've got to hear the noise.

29:45

But you know, they've got to do something for

29:47

you at the very least possibly pull

29:49

them apart. Is something rubbing, If something's

29:51

not rubbing, then I think that they've got

29:53

it. They're obligated to, you know, swap

29:55

in another set of pads to see if it's a pad noise

29:57

issue.

29:58

All right, I do want.

30:00

To do that test. If I do

30:02

take my foot off and it stops,

30:05

what does that mean?

30:06

Well, I thought you said you do take your foot off and it's a stop.

30:09

Well, I think so, but I need to go. I'm

30:13

coming to stop.

30:14

Well, if you take your if you take your foot

30:16

off and it stops, then we

30:18

know it's an application of the break, and I'd

30:20

be inclined to think it's more break

30:23

pad. However,

30:25

you know the break shim or the guide.

30:28

The guide could be not the guide, but

30:30

the shim itself that holds

30:32

it to the bracket could be moving on the bracket

30:34

as well. Let me ask you

30:37

this question. If you can catch

30:39

this in a moment of noise, if you step

30:41

harder on the break, does

30:43

it go away?

30:46

Well, my car would stop, Well.

30:48

It would stop, it would it

30:50

would stop. But in the in the

30:52

application, in that moment, does it change

30:54

the pitch? The point I'm trying to get at

30:56

is is it is it sensitive

30:59

to the the amount of load

31:01

you're putting on the brake pedal to how loud

31:03

or how quiet and diminishing

31:06

does the pad become. You've got to play with that a little

31:08

bit.

31:09

You know that it's usually it's

31:11

usually happening at one or two miles per

31:13

hour speed. It's like, right.

31:15

Before I stop, then I'm gonna

31:17

say it's in the pad, and I'm gonna

31:19

say it's it's just it's just that moment of

31:21

speed. You could try deglazing

31:23

the brakes. Do you know how to deglaze?

31:26

You mean, drive real fast and slam.

31:28

On the no no, no, find a find

31:30

a big empty parking lot, you

31:32

know, and just

31:35

in reverse, do you

31:38

know, six seven, eight, ten miles

31:40

an hour in reverse and pop the brake

31:42

real hard. What you're trying to

31:45

do is scuff the brake pad in the opposite

31:47

direction. And what

31:50

you will do is you will scuff off you

31:52

know, it's like it's like rubbing a piece of wood against

31:54

the grain. You're gonna you're gonna

31:56

scuff off a surface. And

31:58

if if they're glaze, if they're right,

32:01

if they've got some sort of streak

32:04

set into them, as far as how they've broken in,

32:06

you're now going to break that pattern and start to

32:08

break them in and repolish them all over again.

32:12

Okay, but doing the reverse, you're saying

32:14

right.

32:15

In reverse because you want to go opposite how

32:17

do you normally drive going forward?

32:19

Right?

32:20

Yep?

32:21

Okay, so you want to go opposite of that, your

32:23

noise happens pulling into the driveway or out of.

32:25

The driveway, both

32:28

more both, Okay, Okay,

32:32

then.

32:32

Let's let's let's just try a deglazing. But

32:34

if that doesn't work, if the noise wasn't there

32:36

before the break job, it's on the break

32:38

shop to make you happy. And

32:41

you got to explain, You got to explain that to them.

32:43

Let them keep the car for a day and drive it.

32:46

They can't reproduce the noise they said they

32:49

drove it fine. Then a

32:51

lot of times.

32:53

As a shop owner, as a shop

32:55

owner and and somebody

32:57

dealing with customers all day long, I'm

33:00

gonna tell you they're obligated to redo the job. They're

33:02

obligated to put on another set of pads. They're obligated

33:05

to look at the shims. They're obligated to verify that

33:07

it's nothing they did on the chance

33:09

that it's just a coincidence that had happened right after

33:11

the job. What's

33:14

gonna what's gonna build? What what's gonna build

33:16

customer trust? Sooner or later? Redoing

33:18

the job? Right, you gotta go back and

33:20

talk to him, Tom, and you gotta you gotta

33:22

see what they say and kind of work it from there.

33:24

Call me back, tell me what they say. We're all kind of curious,

33:27

and we'll go from there. At that moment, I'm running

33:29

Indy in the car. Doctor. We're back right after this. Welcome

33:44

back. Let's uh. I want to go back over that last

33:46

call from Tom. It sounded like Tom went

33:49

to a chain break shop,

33:51

right, that was that that did his breaks? And

33:54

I want to talk a little bit about you know, AutoZone

33:56

and dural list in this conversation. So

33:59

they didn't use AutoZone a dual list. I'm not implicating

34:02

them in any any way, shape or form. I'm

34:04

just saying whatever brand that that

34:06

that brake shop used, they'll

34:08

know if they have a problem. They'll know if you know,

34:11

we've had issues with whatever breake number pad,

34:13

part number pad he put on that on that set

34:15

of brakes. And any shop,

34:18

never mind any break shop, but any shop worth

34:20

its salt has a warranty, has a guarantee

34:22

they can fall back on, and I think they're obligated

34:25

to fall back on that and say, hey, we

34:27

did this if we put

34:29

a set of dural list on something, as

34:31

we have dural ass breaks and

34:34

we've had a problem, which you know, one

34:36

percent of the time, there's there, there could be

34:38

right, manufacturing defects, something. All

34:41

right, you go back to AutoZone. It's not a

34:43

problem. It's it's bang,

34:45

zoom out the door. Here's the next set of pads. Because

34:47

they know that they've got to make you happy, so you can

34:49

make your customer happy. So for all my guys out

34:51

there in the field, check out AutoZone pro dot

34:54

com. And that's the point I want to make. I'm on any

34:56

in the car doctor till the next time. Good

34:58

mechanics aren't expensive, priceless.

35:00

See you

35:10

Sh