0:02

Ron Anium should be told. I kind

0:04

of cringe a little bit of rental car purchase

0:07

programs. Sometimes they're great, and you

0:09

know it's then again I think about the stories

0:11

of how I see everybody drive

0:14

a rental car. How do you drive a rental car?

0:16

Come on, let's face it, who's gentle on them?

0:18

Right, the

0:24

car doctor.

0:25

They changed the high pressure fuel sensor

0:27

right, sent me on my way, and in

0:29

seventy miles the light came out again.

0:32

Right.

0:32

I don't see a relation between a high pressure fuel

0:34

sensor and a P zero four twenty or four thirty.

0:36

Welcome to the radio home of ron

0:38

Ananian, the Car Doctor. Since

0:40

nineteen ninety one, this is where car

0:43

owners the world overturned to for

0:45

their definitive opinion on automotive

0:47

repair. If your mechanics giving

0:49

you a busy signal, pick up.

0:51

The phone and call in.

0:53

The garage doors are open, but

0:55

I am here to take your call. At eight five

0:57

five five six ninety nine hundred and now.

1:02

Running well.

1:04

The big exciting news is that the Volkswagen

1:07

thing has done. We finished the

1:09

thing this week and it's back to

1:11

the customer. He's out driving it around. He's just

1:14

he's happy. Boy, is he happy

1:17

we took it on a final road test. Dan, he had to take it on a final

1:19

road test on Monday. I think

1:21

it was it just And if you haven't

1:23

been following along, we've been putting disc

1:25

brakes on a nineteen seventy four Volkswagen

1:28

thing, a pink thing. It's pink,

1:30

it's the Barberie car. And literally

1:33

we're putting thousands of dollars

1:35

worth of work breaks, mostly into

1:38

a car that won't go more than forty miles an hour. And

1:40

I keep thinking about this, the irony

1:42

of all this, But I'm slowly talking to the owner

1:44

into I said, let's let's get a Porscha engine

1:46

for it, so we can, you know, maybe

1:49

make it go a little faster. But that's maybe that's

1:51

coming next year. But it's

1:53

staggering to me because

1:55

now, because of the brakes, we had to take the

1:57

fourteen inch wheels off of it and

2:00

put fifteen inch chrome reverse

2:03

with polished chrome center

2:05

caps on it. So it actually

2:07

looks it actually looks pretty cool. It's really

2:09

kind of a neat looking vehicle. But you've

2:11

got to imagine Danny took it out at three o'clock

2:14

on Monday for the final road test, right around

2:16

the time, you know, the high school was getting out, the kids

2:18

were getting out, and he came

2:20

back and he told me the story about how these three high

2:22

school girls stopped him and

2:25

you know, can we take a picture of your thing, and made him take

2:27

a picture of you

2:29

know, they took a picture of themselves standing next to the Volkswagon

2:32

like they were just so excited. I don't

2:34

know. Maybe muscle cars are out, maybe maybe

2:36

Barbie cars are in. I'm not sure. It's the

2:40

price of that HEMI coud is going to coming down anytime

2:42

soon. I can wait. I'll buy one. I'll give you

2:44

a five hundred bucks for it, buddy. I

2:46

want to talk about obsolete parts a little

2:49

bit. We ran into this more

2:51

than once lately, and I think it's becoming a

2:53

thing not to make a paradox out of

2:55

this. We had a O three Honda

2:58

Civic in the shop this week.

3:00

Nice car, Oh three Civic. I know, it's

3:02

twenty one going on twenty two years old, eighty

3:05

thousand miles on it, but a clean, eighty thousand

3:07

mile car, really clean, and the

3:09

customer complaint was the airbag light was

3:11

on, and we diagnosed

3:13

that it had a code twenty one DASH one, which is

3:16

a seat belt buckle. That's the gazinta,

3:18

that's the piece that the seat belt clips

3:20

into on the driver's seat. The seat

3:23

belt buckle was reporting open and

3:25

the air bag normally there's about two

3:27

homes of resistance there and the air bag system

3:30

saw open circuits. So it now turns on a

3:32

light, sets a fault code. And the key

3:34

piece of information here is that with an air

3:36

bag light on, what happens the air bag

3:39

system won't work in the event of an accident.

3:41

The air bag system won't light up, won't

3:45

work because the light's lit up. So

3:48

diagnose it, go to fix it. Call up Honda.

3:51

No part available. Driver's seatbelt buckle

3:53

is none around and

3:56

they told me it's been on back order quite

3:58

a long time, to the point that they think it's going to go obsolete.

4:02

We actually found one. It's about two

4:04

and a half hours away in Philadelphia at

4:07

a dealership down there, Burns Honda

4:09

and Marlton, New Jersey, just outside of Philly.

4:12

But you know, it's two and a half hours now, it's two and a half

4:14

hours back. It's a five hour round trip. They can't

4:17

ship it because it's an air bag part, and

4:20

for some reason they can't ship well, I guess because of

4:23

the explosive nature of the device, right, which makes

4:25

me wonder how they get it to the dealerships in the first place.

4:27

Do they What do the dealers do? Do They have one plane

4:29

that's got all airbag parts on it and the guy takes out

4:31

a lot of life insurance and flies it around. I'm not sure

4:34

how that works, Like, what's the whole what's

4:36

the concern? What's the danger? If it's dangerous once,

4:38

isn't it gonna be dangerous all the time? But

4:40

regardless, so the customer,

4:44

and I'm coming to a point here, if you'll allow

4:46

me, the customer decided not to

4:48

fix it because it's too much

4:50

bothered, which I could talk

4:52

for two hours about that. The danger

4:54

is the implication. You know, when they design a vehicle

4:57

and they make it with air bags and a seat

4:59

belt system, the two are designed to work

5:01

together. It's not one or the other, which

5:03

is why they make you buckle your seatbelt and while

5:06

you're driving to be safe. It's and

5:09

they're aware, the customers aware that the

5:11

seatbelt, the air bag system won't work with the

5:13

seatbelt broken like that where the turns

5:16

on the line. It

5:19

got me to thinking, there's two things, two points

5:21

I want to make here, Two questions I have on the back of

5:23

my mind. Number one, she's

5:26

paying insurance for a vehicle

5:29

that has an air bag system, but it

5:31

doesn't operate, It doesn't work right, and

5:33

it won't work now through no

5:36

fault of her own hand to the manufacturer

5:38

has obsoleted the part.

5:42

You know, has technology

5:44

pushed car companies to the point

5:47

of not being able to keep parts

5:49

on the shelf as long as they used to? You

5:52

know, the cars last longer, oh three, Honda

5:54

Civic. How many there's a lot of

5:56

you know, early two thousand Civics out

5:58

there still running around. I'm sure they were great cars,

6:00

very reliable. Have we

6:02

gotten to the point where the vehicle

6:05

is so good it obsoletes

6:07

itself by virtue of no parts? Because

6:09

what do you do with that? You know, if you're the insurance

6:12

company, do you sit there and say, well,

6:14

you know, you can't get parts of this now the air bag doesn't

6:16

work, So we're

6:19

going to take away the deduction for the air bag

6:22

that we're giving you. The incentive is

6:25

the is the consumer safe in that

6:27

vehicle in the event of a crash. You

6:30

see in New Jersey, and before you start writing in and

6:32

emailing me and tell me, well, Ron, they'll take care of that at

6:34

state inspection. Not in New Jersey,

6:36

the unsafest state in the country. In

6:38

New Jersey, the only light they care about

6:40

is the check engine light. If the

6:42

airbag light is on, that's

6:45

up to you to fix. That's and

6:47

to my knowledge, and I'd be interested to hear from

6:49

law enforcement, there's no statute on the books

6:51

in New Jersey that requires a

6:53

ticket if they pull you over with an airbag light

6:55

on, So you

6:58

know, you're now allowed to driving

7:00

an unsafe vehicle. The

7:03

other question I've got, the other thing bubbling around

7:05

in my brain, is

7:08

is it fair on the vehicle owner.

7:11

You know, this is somebody's livelihood. They drive this

7:13

car. This is what they use to get groceries, this is what they

7:15

use to go to work, this is what they use to drive

7:17

their family around in. Is

7:20

it fair that

7:22

that part is obsolete on a You

7:24

know, the system was mandated by the federal

7:26

government and by the manu so the manufacturer

7:29

complied. But now they're taking that away. They're

7:31

saying Hey, we don't make this part anymore. You're driving an unsafe

7:33

vehicle. Car's got to come off the road. Does

7:36

that happen? Would that happen? Could that happen?

7:39

A lot of scenarios here

7:41

that we just think of as yeah, airbeg,

7:44

lights on, don't worry about it. You

7:46

know, my brain works like that. I don't know why it does that. I

7:49

look at I look at it from all sides. We

7:52

had an O eight Jeep Grand Cherokee. I can make

7:54

this not about safety right

7:56

now. We've got an eight Jeep Grand Cherokee

7:59

SRT eight. If you don't know what that is, that's

8:01

like the Corvette of jeeps, all

8:03

right, independent rear suspension, fancy,

8:05

super fast, six point one liter engine.

8:07

The thing's a rocket ship. And

8:10

Stevie loves this truck. Stevie absolutely

8:13

this is Stevie's fifty five Chevy all day

8:15

long. He absolutely adores his vehicle.

8:17

And we've kept it in great shape. He's allowed us to do

8:19

what we need to do to maintain it. Well, we're now waiting

8:22

for a drive shaft. He

8:24

needs a drive shift. The rear joint. The front

8:26

joint's not much better, but the rear joint smoked and

8:29

it needs a drive shift. You can't buy

8:31

you joints for that. You have to replace the shaft. So

8:33

we started out. I think we talked about this last

8:35

week. I mentioned it that we ordered a drive shaft for

8:37

it, right from Chrysler, right from Jeep two

8:39

grand twenty two hundred dollars or something later,

8:42

and it was supposed to be there was supposed to be twenty five of

8:44

them at the Ohio depot. I called

8:46

Thursday this week, Oh gee,

8:49

the part's not there. All of a sudden, they lost

8:51

the twenty five. I don't know, maybe because I announced

8:53

it on air, maybe there's a mad rush. I doubt

8:55

it, but I've

8:57

still got no drive shaft for Stevie's Jeep.

9:00

Now, I started, you know, Google searching

9:02

it, and a couple of places came up.

9:04

North Carolina came up, someplace

9:06

called the drive Shafts Shop. I've, you

9:08

know, down in North Carolina, someplace

9:11

somebody told me about someplace down in Florida. So there's places

9:13

out there that will make a shaft. I'd

9:16

like to see what it looks like because this is a collapsible

9:18

shaft, so I'm sure what they're going to send me is something with

9:20

a collapsible yoke and still

9:23

not cheap. Still fourteen fifteen hundred dollars

9:25

plus shipping, so it'll be every bit of two grand. So it's not

9:27

about saving money, but it's it's the extreme

9:29

that you have to go to. I

9:32

guess you got to look at

9:35

what you're buying, what you're driving. That

9:37

technology is great

9:40

until you can't buy that technology anymore,

9:42

until you can't buy parts for that anymore, you

9:45

know. I thought it was silly. A couple of years back, we had

9:47

somebody that was replacing the shocks

9:49

on there at the time five

9:52

or six year old Jeep Grand Cherokee, another

9:54

Jeep situation, and

9:56

from the factory it had some specially

9:58

tuned suspension system. It

10:01

had red shock absorbers on it, and

10:04

at the time of replacement, Jeep

10:06

Chrysler being what they are, can't

10:09

get those anymore. So all the money

10:11

you spent on that specially tuned suspension,

10:13

you can't buy the components for it anymore.

10:15

Just a mere six years later, and

10:18

I said, then, what I'll say now, is it worth

10:21

the hype? Is it worth buying the special suspension?

10:24

Is it worth buying the SRT

10:26

eight is it? But then again, is it

10:28

worth buying the three Honda Civic, the Plain Jane

10:30

grocery getter because after time

10:33

goes on, parts aren't going to be available for that either.

10:36

No, I don't know what the ruling is, because I know somebody's

10:38

out there thinking, well, ron seven years is the limit?

10:41

Well, seven years used to be the limit, and I don't

10:43

you know, I've never seen that in writing

10:45

anywhere. I've never seen that in my career of fifty

10:47

plus years, anybody ever said, Hey,

10:49

it's seven years, that's all the manufacturers have to keep

10:52

parts for it, there's no obligation. Then,

10:56

before I leave it for this segment, I want you to think about,

10:58

so what happens with the computer chips? What happens

11:00

with all the fancy onboard computers

11:02

that are in vehicles today and all those cars that you're spending

11:05

hundreds of thousands of dollars on, And

11:07

where will those cars be in eight, nine, ten years

11:09

when we're looking for computer parts and

11:12

not just gas engine cars either, anything

11:15

will with wheels on it on the road that's running a computer

11:17

part. Where will those parts be and

11:19

will they be available after

11:22

that magical seven year number that's not written

11:24

down anywhere as an obligation by the vehicle manufacturer.

11:27

Has technology pushed car companies

11:30

to the point of not being

11:32

able to keep parts on the shelf by

11:34

sheer numbers of parts and

11:37

the vastness of what they're trying to cover. Think

11:40

about it. I'm not an Indian. I'll be back right after this.

11:43

Don't go away, no,

11:46

God, that's

11:53

right.

11:54

If you call and we're not live, you can leave

11:56

a message and we'll call you back to get you on the air

11:58

with Ron five five

12:00

six zero nine nine zero zero.

12:03

Speaking of Ron grey.

12:04

Is Hey, thanks Tom. Let's get over to

12:06

Larry up in Maine and let's see what's

12:08

going on here.

12:09

Larry.

12:09

Welcome to the card office, sir. How can I help?

12:13

Yeah, I really appreciate return to my

12:15

call. You're one of the few people to keep

12:18

your word, but I

12:20

appreciate it. I'm calling for a friend of

12:22

mine.

12:22

Yes, she had.

12:24

She has an O seven g FLOREDO.

12:27

She had it in the shop and what

12:30

it was doing. It would

12:32

run, okay, go down the road. It sometimes

12:35

it would hiccup or sometimes you would

12:37

shut right off. So she

12:40

had this person to work on it. They changed the

12:42

can sensor the crank sensor,

12:44

the oil sensor, and all

12:46

the connectors to these components.

12:50

They did it. They had it on a scan tool.

12:53

But apparently, uh,

12:57

basically, I think they're just shotgunning

12:59

it and they really don't have a good idea what's going

13:01

on. Yeah, any we had to get the call back.

13:04

I gotta tell you, Larry, it sounds like they're shotgunning

13:06

it too. So let's

13:08

let's let's just let's preface the conversation

13:10

here. A scan tool is a

13:13

is a good device, but

13:15

it's an intermediate tool. It gathers

13:18

information. You can use

13:20

it to troubleshoot most

13:22

of what's going on under the hood. But you know,

13:24

something like this, if we're starting to think we were

13:26

losing a cam signal or a crank signal,

13:30

a scan tool is never going to be fast

13:32

enough to capture that glitch,

13:34

that failure. If they're just looking

13:37

at a scan tool and saying, well, we've got

13:39

a cam or crank sensor fault

13:42

and let's just throw a couple of sensors

13:44

at it, because it's

13:46

easier to throw parts and actually diagnose

13:48

something. Okay, so

13:51

you know, obviously it's still doing

13:53

it. I would be curious.

13:55

You know, you live in you live in the state of Maine. You guys

13:58

have this stuff called snow. You ever see snow in You

14:00

ever see corrosion? Right? Yeah,

14:05

it's been known to happen. You

14:07

know, is the crank signal disappearing

14:10

because of corrosion and the harness

14:12

and the connector at a ground junction?

14:15

Did anybody you know, like, why why

14:17

are they changing cam and crank sensors?

14:20

Because they looked it up on identifics, and identifics

14:22

said, these are the two most common failures. Let's change

14:24

those, because that's right,

14:26

I have to say.

14:27

So, I didn't work on it, right, another

14:30

guy did, And I'm

14:32

just I told her I'd give you guys

14:34

a call that maybe.

14:36

Yeah, you know, how

14:38

often does this happen? Can it be duplicated?

14:41

Oh?

14:42

Uh, it can. It can happen. Oh,

14:45

you can run it for an hour, you can run it for three or

14:47

four hours.

14:48

Okay, And when it stalls,

14:50

what does she do when it stalls? What does she

14:52

do to get it restarted?

14:56

Well?

14:56

And I asked her that today. And I asked

14:58

her when it stalls, does your dashlights

15:01

come on? Your allinator and oil

15:03

and stuff? Like that, and she said yeah, she

15:06

said, she just shut the key off and

15:08

start it right back up again.

15:09

Okay, so we could

15:12

be looking for we're looking. Let's

15:14

let's be clear, we're looking for a needle in a haystack.

15:17

All right. I'm not gonna I'm not going to sugarcoat

15:20

it. But what i'd like,

15:22

what what I would like to do is

15:25

can we put a fuel pressure gauge on this?

15:28

I don't think it's fuel pressure related

15:31

unless the description isn't what's actually

15:33

happening. You know, when it dies, does it does

15:35

it die clean? And you can ask her this, does

15:38

it die clean like somebody turned the key off?

15:40

Or does it wheeze and stutter like

15:42

it's starving for fuel?

15:46

Uh, normally it'll shut right off. Just

15:49

think it might be electrical.

15:50

Okay, Okay, so it's like an

15:52

electrical circuit.

15:56

She said the other day, it would like hiccup

15:58

and it will catch it.

15:59

So, okay, I

16:02

still want to put a fuel pressure gauge on it. It's easy

16:04

enough, fuel pressure,

16:07

fuel pressure gauge and duct tape it to the windshield.

16:10

All I've got to do is see that vehicle stall

16:13

once and fuel pressure's rock solid. Boom,

16:15

the gauge comes off off, it's out of the picture.

16:17

I've eliminated it. You know. One

16:20

of the mistakes everybody makes, and I see

16:22

this all the time, is they start

16:24

to chase. They start looking for what's

16:26

bad, start looking

16:28

for what's good, and I guarantee you you will

16:31

find what's bad, all right.

16:33

Sometimes it is a process of elimination.

16:36

You know, let's make the assumption dangerous

16:38

word on radio or even in a public

16:40

conversation that they scan

16:43

this for codes and found none, or

16:45

did they scan this for codes? And

16:49

that's important? And are they looking

16:51

in the right places? Are they only focusing on

16:53

the engine for example? And you can mention this

16:55

to your friend that this vehicle

16:57

should have in a mobilizer system.

17:00

It's called SKIM all right,

17:02

Sentry key immobilizer, which is Chrysler's

17:04

version of anti theft for that year jeep.

17:08

If this does this have an

17:10

immobilizer fault code. Trust

17:12

me, if that vehicle thinks it's being stolen because

17:15

it picks up an incorrect code from

17:17

the key and the and the tumbler, it's

17:20

gonna shut that vehicle down like nobody's business.

17:23

If there's if there's a if there's

17:25

a break in the wiring harness connection from

17:27

the key on down to the skim

17:29

module over to the PCM, it's gonna

17:32

shut this vehicle down like nobody's business. But

17:34

it'll have a fault code, all

17:36

right. How would the mechanic not

17:39

know this is the mechanic

17:41

only it? Well, hey, I'm gonna tell you. Is

17:43

the mechanic only scanning using n O B

17:45

D two scan tool which is

17:48

very generic emission control information?

17:51

Or is he doing year make model

17:53

scan to be specific?

17:57

So got to go back to these guys.

17:59

What them to change? What they changed? What's

18:02

their position? Have they considered power

18:05

grounds and in general overall

18:07

harness health based on the age of the vehicle in

18:09

the state that it's traveling. And they got

18:11

some testing to do and get back to me. Let me know what the results

18:13

are. I'm running any in the card doctor. We're cruising

18:15

back right after this. Don't go away.

18:44

Hey, hey, welcome back running in the car doctor.

18:46

I just got a real quick shout out to my

18:48

buddy Stevie from Bywise Auto Parks locally

18:51

here in New Jersey. Steve, you called me

18:53

on Monday, Tom, You'll like this. He called me on Monday,

18:55

he informed me he's been listening to the podcast for

18:57

a while now, and he says, you know you have a radio good you

18:59

have it's good enough for radio, and you

19:01

could be nationally syndicated. I said,

19:04

Stevie, I have been for you know,

19:06

thirty something years. I said, where do you think the calls from

19:08

Arkansas and California come from?

19:10

You know, I would partially agree with him,

19:13

because I think you have a great face for radio.

19:15

I have a great face for radio, but the voice is with the best

19:17

part. And so to Stevie,

19:19

I love you to death, bro, and I

19:21

appreciate the comments and compliments and thanks

19:23

for listening and tuning in and doing

19:26

everything you can. Stevie helps me quite a bit during the week.

19:28

And it's just funny, right

19:30

when people just all of a sudden go, hey, you know you've

19:33

got the voice made for radio. Yeah, I know. So

19:35

next, anyway, let's get over to Brian's

19:37

all the way down there in Philadelphia, and he's got some

19:39

comments and questions. Seventeen Ford Fusion.

19:42

Yes, sir, how can I help today? Brian? Welcome back?

19:44

Thank you, Ron.

19:45

How you doing I'm doing good?

19:46

What's going on?

19:48

Diffusion? I know there's an

19:50

issue. I know with lug nuts. There's

19:53

an issue where the lug nuts you really can't

19:55

get them off anymore enough. I think it's a swell

19:58

or something like that.

19:59

Yep, this was.

20:01

It was one of the guy who who

20:04

took a nail out of my tire. He saw it. I

20:06

had to go to the dealer for I had

20:08

a recall something with the front break calibers.

20:11

The dealer mentioned it to me and they

20:13

had to replace the lug nuts to

20:16

just get the tires off. It wasn't

20:18

a cheap thing. It was probably like one hundred bucks.

20:21

But my mechanic when

20:23

I went in for inspection, he didn't have to take the

20:25

tires off and he told me, look

20:27

to replace them. Get them on eBay

20:30

so you don't have to pay that much, bring them in and we'll

20:32

do it. Any thoughts

20:34

on this because the dealer said they

20:36

don't know much about this problem. When I did at Google

20:38

search, they said this is a common issue on

20:41

at least that year of diffusion the.

20:44

Capped lug nut. Across

20:46

multiple years forward, GM

20:49

Jeep across a lot of a lot

20:51

of vehicle car lines the capped lug nut

20:53

where they take a stainless steel cap or a

20:55

chromed cap and they put it over the

20:57

actual lug. Is a

21:00

problem the dealer is not aware or you

21:02

were you know, you were talking. I don't know if you were talking to the

21:04

checkout girl at the register or

21:06

the service rider, you.

21:08

Know, talking to the service writer.

21:10

Yeah, and how they how they couldn't

21:12

be aware of it? Is you should go back and ask them is this their

21:15

first day on the jump. So what

21:17

happens is, over time on capped lugnuts,

21:20

like I said, across multiple vehicle manufacturers,

21:23

the use of impact guns just

21:25

eventually rattles the capped portion

21:28

of the nut apart. It just starts to shake

21:30

and rattle, and then what happens is moisture

21:33

gets up in there. You drive it through inclement

21:35

weather, moisture gets up in there, and then it freezes,

21:38

and over time that freeze becomes ice and

21:40

something freezes, it expands and it starts to push against

21:43

the lug. And you know, after a couple of four or five years

21:45

of that, all of a sudden, the capped

21:47

lug nut it's just starting to rattle

21:49

around. It's loose, and now it starts

21:51

to swell because it rusts underneath. Now that

21:53

nineteen millimeter or twenty one millimeter socket

21:56

no longer fits it, and you have to

21:58

hammer it to get it on. You got to hammer it to get it

22:00

off. They actually the industry

22:02

actually makes sockets

22:05

a half a point higher. I have nineteen

22:07

and a half, I have twenty one and a half millimeter

22:10

sockets, and so on, varying sizes

22:13

all the way up, starting at around eighteen up

22:15

to twenty two. Just because

22:17

of this problem, truth be told,

22:20

we won't let somebody out of the shop with a swelled

22:22

lug nut. At least we have to tell

22:24

them. We feel obligated because what everybody has

22:26

to understand is, as you're aware

22:28

of by now, you know you're stuck on

22:30

the side of the road trying to change a flat. Listen,

22:33

my first obligation is to make sure you're safe

22:35

out on the road. You get a flat, you can't stand on the side

22:37

of the road to change it because you can't get your nineteen

22:39

millimeters lug wrench onto your nineteen millimeter

22:42

socket because it's swollen. It's

22:44

too big. So you

22:46

know this is this is a much bigger problem

22:48

than anybody really talks about. I think This is a

22:51

matter of safety, all right, you

22:53

know, stuck on the side of the road. How can the

22:55

average citizen change a flat tire. It's

22:57

a problem. Now where do you get

22:59

where do you get replacements?

23:01

You know?

23:02

Well, you know the

23:04

eBay comment is interesting. Where's it gonna

23:06

come? Where does that eBay lugnut come from?

23:08

Is it still a cat lugnut?

23:11

Yeah?

23:11

They said, I met Amazon. Actually I'd

23:13

had the same mechanic for many years. I mean, I go

23:15

so far back to this mechanic. He was a text

23:18

co station and textcost night in around right,

23:20

and they just said they don't want me to

23:22

spend all the money, you know, And I

23:25

said, you know, and I trust him and all that. But as

23:27

you said, you know, where is it coming from? What's

23:29

what's the quality? That That was

23:31

my concern, you know, as you said, where is it coming

23:34

from?

23:34

Right?

23:34

Is it a good quality lug nut? You know? You

23:37

know, I'd rather pay more, you

23:39

know, and just just have a good quality thing.

23:41

As long as you can get. If

23:43

I have my choice, I don't care. And I've seen

23:46

I've seen the solid lug nuts cost

23:49

more, Brian, you know, I would

23:51

go look at Dorman check out their website

23:53

Dorman Products dot com. See if Dorman

23:55

makes a solid lugnut, because they've started

23:57

to make solid lugnuts for a lot of

24:00

these vehicles, and that's our number one

24:02

source. And at least dormans the name

24:04

that we can trust. We know they've been around,

24:06

they're going to be around. If there's

24:08

an issue, which there rarely is, we can go back

24:10

and say, hey, you know whatever.

24:13

But I'd rather deal with my local guy

24:15

or my national local guy rather than Amazon,

24:17

just for that reason, to buy

24:19

more capped lug nuts. Where

24:22

are they coming from? I'd rather go back to Ford and

24:24

buy Ford if that's all I have the choice of. You

24:27

know, if Dorman doesn't make a replacement.

24:29

And it'll cost me more, I mean, it'll cost

24:31

me more at the dealer. But you know, I had a recall they had

24:33

to get, you know, they brought me. I had to get the wheels

24:36

had to come off for a recall.

24:37

Right, right, Well, you may find you

24:39

may find Dorman only makes capped lug nuts,

24:41

and they might be cheaper. So they do make

24:44

cap, they do make solid. If they make solid,

24:46

I would pay whatever it is and get a solid

24:48

lugnut for it, and keep in mind you don't

24:50

want to start just in case somebody suggests this to

24:52

you. Because everybody's an expert out there. You

24:54

know, you've got to watch and see. Not all

24:56

lugnuts are the same. Just because it threads

24:59

on that chamfer has

25:01

to be at the right angle so it secures the wheel

25:03

against its chamfer. I've seen lugnuts that are

25:05

chamfered at forty five degrees. Somebody

25:07

puts onto a chamfer that's thirty degrees

25:09

and then we have issues where they're either

25:11

overtightening them and stressing the studs,

25:14

or they don't sit securely on the wheel and

25:16

the wheel has mount issues and we get into

25:18

a hole. Michigasa's mom would say,

25:20

So, lucknuts are such a small

25:22

thing. They're just so critical, you

25:25

know, they're that what's that expression for want of a

25:27

kingdom, you know, for want of a nail. The kingdom

25:29

was lost because the horse shoe fell off the horse.

25:32

Uh, there's a story about that somewhere.

25:34

So you were going to say, mechanic, he

25:36

was just so, he was just so. He was just

25:38

so concerned about me saving money. That was his recommendation.

25:40

But look, I'd rather pay more and know I'm

25:43

getting something good, right, and I think that's I

25:45

don't want to go yeah and

25:47

have it not last.

25:48

You know, I get that too. I

25:50

you know what, it's a hard thing. Sometimes

25:52

you get emotionally attached to customers and that means

25:54

you've got a great mechanic. And listen, I do the same

25:57

thing. But I also have to remember my job

25:59

is there coming to You're going

26:01

to your mechanic because he's been

26:03

your mechanic for so long, and

26:06

that's a rare relationship to have, and it's

26:08

important relationship to have. And

26:11

you know, I always tell everybody, why do you come

26:13

to me? You come to me not just for my

26:15

skill and my knowledge, but you come to me because

26:17

if I was a chef, I know what led us and

26:19

tomatoes to pick out to give you a salad that won't

26:21

give you indigestion. And that's part of

26:23

being a good mechanic. So tell him, I

26:25

trust your opinion, get me what you think is best,

26:28

and we'll go from there.

26:29

I mean, my mechanics in his eighties. I mean he's,

26:31

like I said, he's been around, you know, right,

26:34

And because you know what, I'm less

26:36

concerned about saving the money than getting

26:38

the quality, right.

26:39

I get it, I get it. So, but

26:41

yeah, take a look at that point, take a look at

26:43

take a look at the dormant stuff, and go back and tell

26:45

him what would he use if it was his and

26:48

maintain that relationship because it sounds like

26:50

you got a good one as always, buddy, I appreciate

26:52

the call. I'm running any in the car doctor. We're coming back

26:54

right after this. Let's

27:15

go over and talk to Bob. Welcome back, by the way, Ronnie

27:18

and the car doctor in Connecticut. Well, actually, Ronin

27:20

Aian is not in Connecticut. Ronin Inian's on the radio,

27:22

but Bob's in Connecticut with

27:24

his own nine Cadillac. Bob, welcome sir. How

27:26

can I help?

27:29

All right? Yeah, I have an O nine

27:31

Cadillac. It has auxiliary

27:35

water pump that actually

27:39

stays on after the car has been

27:42

running for a while, so it doesn't overheat

27:44

while it's sitting there. And

27:47

I can't seem to get a hold of a

27:50

replacement. I have an

27:54

order that had been in for probably

27:57

since last July on

28:00

the part, and I'm getting nowhere

28:03

with GM. They're not really telling

28:06

me exactly why they don't have the part,

28:08

other than they don't have the part and they

28:10

don't know when it's coming in.

28:12

Okay, have you have you made

28:14

request? And you know, just out

28:16

of curiosity if

28:18

I if I tell you two part numbers, will

28:20

that tell you? Let's see

28:22

if it's one of those are you looking for? Are

28:24

you looking for? Are you looking for twenty five eighty

28:27

eighty eight sixty or twenty two seventy three

28:29

ninety six twenty eight? The

28:32

first one the first one, So that's the right,

28:35

that's the part number without the bracket. So

28:37

let's explain this. That pump was

28:40

and here we go, like this ties into my opening

28:43

comments, right, that part number

28:45

was put in on vehicles sold

28:47

in high ambient temperature areas.

28:49

It wasn't a across the board option,

28:52

believe it or not. That was dealer installed,

28:55

all right. And twenty five the piece

28:57

you're looking for, twenty five eighty eighty eight sixty

29:00

is the pump without a bracket, all

29:03

right, So they're assuming you're going to reuse

29:06

your bracket. Just see, just for giggles,

29:08

try twenty two seventy three ninety six twenty

29:10

eight. I've run into this before. Nobody ever

29:12

got back to me and told me if they ever found anything. But I'm gonna

29:14

tell you what I've told people that have asked me this in the past.

29:17

All Right, they did that,

29:20

They did that, and there is nothing.

29:23

Okay available.

29:24

Have you tried when you you're talking to

29:26

the GM dealer, I

29:29

have, all right?

29:30

Have they mentioned that's exactly where

29:32

I went?

29:33

All right? Have they mentioned spat case.

29:36

Yes, they have.

29:37

All right, so you've put it, You've put it through spat

29:39

for me. Right then?

29:43

My next comment is why can't

29:45

we count on the aftermarket. I don't know anybody

29:47

in the aftermarket that makes this pump, but I

29:51

know there are electric water pumps

29:53

used in drag racing and hot rotting that

29:56

we'll you know, we can we can install in its

29:58

place. We'd have to wire up a toggle

30:00

switch. I'm sure we could. Listen,

30:03

I'm sure we can wire in and toggle put

30:05

in a toggle switch with a timer so

30:07

that you would have to manually flip it and

30:10

let it circulate the coolant.

30:13

Yeah, all right, And that

30:15

would be the downside is if we left

30:17

the toggle on, you

30:19

know, will the battery be well?

30:21

Can we can we put it on some kind of

30:23

a timer.

30:27

Yeah, I'm sure we could, right, you know.

30:29

I listen, Probably we can send

30:31

a rogue to Mars. Yeah, listen, we can

30:33

send something to Mars. I'm sure we can come up with an electrical

30:35

timer that will shut off a circuit. You

30:38

know, I don't. I don't see why not. I

30:41

bet you there's a way. You know, if you really love this car, and

30:43

it sounds like you do, it's an O nine, it's fifteen

30:45

years old. You know you must like this car.

30:47

It must be a real clean, nice car. So rather

30:49

than just say it's all get rid of it, let's yeah,

30:52

let's come up with a way to fix it. You know,

30:55

you know that would be my vote because

30:57

unless you unless you find something you

31:00

know, sitting on a shelf somewhere, has

31:02

GM. Have you tried a GM tried

31:04

to locate it, you know us locators sitting on a dealer's

31:07

shelf somewhere.

31:08

Yes, nothing.

31:10

They had the tentacles all out everywhere.

31:12

Supposedly, Yeah, chances

31:15

are it's gone.

31:15

Did Canada? We

31:18

were in California. We

31:20

searched out in California. Nothing right.

31:23

And the downside is in

31:26

the boneyard for the after a

31:29

used part. They don't even

31:31

want to attempt to take it off. A car

31:35

in order for me to have it. They're like, now,

31:37

it's not even worth us going out

31:39

there.

31:40

Well, so I find that I

31:42

find I.

31:43

Can go out there and take it off.

31:44

Well, listen, I gotta tell you, Bob, I

31:46

find more dead presidents. You're throwing off dead presidents

31:49

at something, you know what, it makes

31:51

it worth the guy's while they may think, oh, it's only

31:53

one hundred dollars, part, how about we throw three hundred

31:55

bucks at him for a nice one. You

31:57

don't get me my part. Yeah, it's it's

32:00

you know, bribery work sometimes, you

32:03

know. Sometimes yeah,

32:06

it's you know. And I'm not trying to get somebody to do

32:08

something illegal. I'm just trying to get them off their button, make

32:10

them work for a living. So, you

32:13

know, but try those things. If not,

32:15

I would just look towards you know, if

32:17

you've got a good mechanic and somebody wants to take

32:19

on a little bit of a challenge, and that's part of the fun of mechanics.

32:21

These days, I'm sure there's a way to wire

32:24

in, you know, I

32:26

can think of multiple ways. Back in the day

32:28

we used to have. All it is is a circulation pump.

32:31

It's circulating the liquid and we would put it on a

32:33

timer. You know, I used to help

32:35

a guy running an altered out of island dragway

32:37

out in New Jersey a long time ago, in another

32:39

lifetime, and we had to run a fuel pump

32:41

circulator and you

32:44

know, we had it on a timer. I mean, we could do it

32:46

forty years ago, thirty five years ago. I'm sure we could

32:48

still do it today. So it can't be the hardest

32:50

thing in the world. All right, you

32:53

got it, all right, sir, good luck. You're

32:56

very welcome. And if anybody out there has a part for Bob

32:58

by all means, give us a call at eight five five

33:00

six zero nine nine zero zero. I'm ronnin Y

33:02

and the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this. Come

33:19

hey, welcome back running the car Doctor. The phone

33:21

numbers eight five five five six zero nine

33:23

nine zero zero. Remember that phone number is

33:25

twenty four to seven. Let me do it again eight five

33:27

five five six zero nine

33:30

nine zero zero, just because we're not on

33:32

the air, and I'm looking for phone calls this

33:34

weekend, and I'm looking for phone calls during the week this

33:36

week coming up. So if you've got a problem, eight

33:38

five five five six zero nine nine

33:40

zero zero, call me leave a message. Chances

33:43

are we'll call you back by Wednesday this week because

33:45

I'm trying to build some phone calls

33:47

for an upcoming show that we're going to

33:49

be taking the weekend off for going to do some

33:52

other things. So I just want to make sure

33:54

I give you guys live fresh shows all the time,

33:56

so or fresh shows anyway, and live

33:58

calls. So a five to five five

34:01

six zero nine nine zero zero. Help the card doctor

34:03

out, give them a call with a question, and we'll call you back

34:05

real quick. Piece of email. Ron, I've been a listener

34:08

to the show since the days of dipstick and clutch.

34:11

Wow, dipstick and clutch. Some day I'll tell you

34:13

guys how dipstick and clutch got their names. I

34:15

have a twenty fourteen Honda Accord. There's a filter

34:17

in the oil cooler line and in the transmission pen.

34:19

Do you change that when you do a CBT

34:21

oil change? You also mentioned in the intervals of twenty

34:23

five to thirty, But what about those filters? The Honda

34:25

dealers don't do it. They just do a drain. And Phil

34:28

John from Long Island, you know what, John, we just do a drain and

34:30

Phil also, you know, I think at the

34:32

thirty thousand mark, at the sixty thousand mark,

34:34

we haven't gotten CVTs up to one hundred thousand

34:36

mark yet and we haven't serviced

34:38

them at that high a mileage yet to my knowledge, and

34:40

I guess that's something I have to think about. I'm

34:42

aware of the filter. It has been accepted to

34:45

leave it and not change it. I

34:47

don't know that it's going to change, and maybe conventional

34:49

thinking requires that we should change it. So it's

34:51

something to look forward to and look at. But if

34:53

you're changing it on a lower mileage unit, I'm

34:55

not worried about it. If you're changing it on a higher mileage

34:57

unit, yeah, maybe one hundred thousand miles

35:00

up. Just as long as we're changing

35:02

it and keeping the fluid clean, that's what's most important.

35:04

I appreciate the email. I'm running any in the car doctor

35:07

until the next time. Good mechanics aren't expensive,

35:09

they're priceless. See you