July 13, 2024 • 35 mins
Ron starts this episode talking about his trip to NJ Motor Vehicle : talks about the number of persons in auto repair shops with the story of a dead Chevy Tahoe : talks about talking air conditioning at the gym this week : takes a call on an 07 Honda CRV that stays in AC when the system is off : takes a call on an 06 Honda CRV that is losing oil : takes a call on an 06 RAV 4 with a clanging chain noise on start up : finishes talking about his week at the shop and the amount of money people are spending to repair older cars.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Ron An Aian, you know, somewhere along the way, I
wish there was a rule that you're not allowed to
work on anybody's car until you've done work for them prior,
so you know whether they're a raving luma tip or not,
or whether they're gonna understand when you say, hey, by
the way, you need two thousand dollars more worth of
this because this was frozen and rusted.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
In the case the.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Car Doctor, is it a rear drum car or a
rear disc car? Were drum the rear drum breaks will
outlast you. Meet Tom and this radio show. You never
put rear brakes on an escape. I don't know why
they work. It's not a question of that they work.
They just last forever. Man, it's just crazy. Welcome to
the radio home of ron An Aian, The Car Doctor.
(00:46):
Since nineteen ninety one. This is where car owners the
world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
the phone and call in the garage doors opening, but
I am here to take your call at eight five
five five six ninety nine hundred and no pe running
(01:10):
you know, I have a great life, I really do.
I get to go to work every day, I get
to fix cars, I get to come up here on
the weekends and talk to you guys, and it's just
a good time I have. I have. You know, I'm
learning to have zero complaints if that's possible, you know,
because you got to appreciate the moment, right you got
to be in that moment. I had to go to
motor vehicle this morning, and in New Jersey. New Jersey's
(01:33):
kind of a weird state to get a vehicle do
anything right titled inspected. You know, New Jersey is a
funny state. To inspect the vehicle in New Jersey have
a choice. You can go to a private garage where
there's a fee somewhere typically between fifteen one hundred dollars,
you know, and rightfully so, because they're buying equipment, they're
going through training, they're going through jumping through a pile
(01:54):
of hoops to climb the mountain of right and to
put a stick around a vehicle inspect it. Or you
can go to the state for free. So it's always
it's always an interesting lopsided conversation whenever somebody new comes
in and says, hey, I need an inspection, and you know,
kind of lay it out for him. But getting a
title and a registration in New Jersey is even stranger.
You know, there's a motor vehicle inspections I'm sorry, a
(02:16):
motor vehicle registration office DMV services office. Oh literally eight
minutes from the house all right where we live. And
yet in order to get a vehicle titled because I
had a title and register a vehicle today, in order
to register and title a vehicle, I had to drive
an hour and five minutes away to the western side
of New Jersey because they don't do it at the
(02:37):
one office that's six seven minutes from the house. And
I've lived in New Jersey all my life. I never
knew Jersey was this big. I mean, it just kept going.
I thought I was in Pennsylvania. At one point, I'm like,
where is this out by Branchburg, Pen out by Branchburg,
New Jersey. And I started thinking about the hoops that
people have to jump through in order to just drive
(02:58):
a vehicle. You know, it's just kind of funny, but
we do it. And naturally I got there and motor
vehicle was real crowded and you know, just a lot
of people all going through the same and all saying
the same thing. Hey, I live on the east side
of the state. What do I have to drive to
the west side of the state five counties away in
order to get a vehicle titled? And I don't know.
I wonder if any other states go through that. If
(03:19):
you have that, and that's why I tell you this
as we kick off this hour of the Car Doctor.
You know, how difficult or hard is it to get
your vehicle titled or registered in your state? You know,
because there are some states they don't even care if
you have a title. You need a bill of sale.
I think if you have a document that says, hey,
I purchased X y Z from Fred and you know
I paid five hundred dollars for it and here's the
(03:41):
vin I think I think you get a title right.
If you can elaborate on that and shoot me an
email ron at cardoctorshow dot com. I'd like to hear
what it's like in your state to get a vehicle
title register and then we'll talk about it up here.
We'll put it up here on the you know, on
the airwaves. Order repairs. A question of timing I've learned.
Especially this week, we had a I think it was
(04:01):
Monday or Tuesday. I forget what day it was, but
we had a a Chevy Tahoe that was dropped off
over the weekend. Must have been Monday. God, Monday was
so long ago. It seems like Monday was. Well, it
was a week ago. Look at that, you know, and
it needed a starter, and you know, no starts we handled.
(04:23):
No starts are always difficult for a repair shop because
you're always pushing something. You know, in most cases, you know,
if it's a if it's a if it's a no
fuel problem, you can drive the vehicle in on propane
if you know how to do it with a small
bottle and a little bit of luck. But you know,
no cranks are always a pain in the neck because
it won't crank, you can't start it. So what it
(04:45):
repairs a matter of timing.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I love my engineer Tom. He's the best because somehow
he figured it out. Danny and I are pushing this too, this,
you know, a couple of tons Chevy Tahoe into the
bay and just as we're making the turn in running
out of steam, here comes Tom to leave his vehicle
so we could put tires on it this week. And
he started talking to him, like, Tom, shut up getting
the car and hang on to the steering wheel. Okay,
(05:10):
if nothing else, Tom is trainable, you know, he just
kind of listens to orders and we're able to get
it in. But it makes the argument too, you I
wonder how other shops do it. You know, how does
a one man band, you know, move vehicles around. It's
got to be difficult, you know, when you're seeing more
and more. I think the statistics say that there are
(05:30):
more less than three people in a shop repair shops
now in America than there ever was before. In other words,
big shops don't exist as much as they used to,
and for a lot of reasons. And you know, it
just makes you wonder the added stress and grief I
always wanted to get. They used to they made him
in the sixties and the seventies. It was like a
little push cart. I was like a fancy go cart
(05:51):
that you know, had some ballast in it. You could
push vehicles around in the parking lot. But then I
look at modern vehicles today and I wonder, you know,
can you push a modern vehicle around with the plastic bumper, uh,
you know, without damaging it. And I think that's why
they went away. I think that's what that's what that's
what made everybody get rid of them. So it just, uh,
you know, just just became that. But in any event,
(06:13):
that's just just some things from the shop.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
This week.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
It was a funny week in the shop. And I
know I say that a lot. I always say I
was a strange week. But it was a strange week.
You know, every business, every business has a number, right
You've you've got to hit this number in order to
be profitable that week because you're trying to be profitable because,
believe it or not, you're trying to make money so
you can stick around and be there for the next
time that somebody needs you. And you know, that's how
you make your living. So you always look at car count,
(06:35):
car count versus profitability. You know, where's where's the sweet spot.
I got to tell you, it was a strange week.
You know, we made we made the number on seven
cars and you know, it's like it was like almost
one one and a quarter car a day, very strange.
You know, there were other projects going on in the shop.
We worked on a bunch of things this week. I
(06:57):
actually had to spend money on the Ranger this week,
the ninety seven Ranger, which is coming up on thirty
years old in three years. The air conditioning broke and
we had to get parts and trying to find parts
of that, it's a whole nother I go, you know, boy,
that's getting to be a pain in the neck. But
you know, it was funny everything this week. This is
a tire and break repair week week. You know, everybody
(07:20):
just wanted to this that kind of stuff. And then
some of the surprises. Air conditioning broke this week. It
got fixed, like how hot and humid it is around
outside around most of the country, and the air conditioning thing,
it caused an incident, and I wanted to tell you
about this. I'm telling you all this because I'm leading
up to this. I need your questions, I really do,
(07:41):
and I'll tell you why, because I've come to the realization,
as self serving, as egotistical as this may sound, I've
come to the decision that I have a lot of
information in my head that I forget that I have.
If that sounds right, And you know you asked me
a question, I'll get an answer. And sometimes I answer,
I don't even realize what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I just do it.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
We were at the gym this week, and you know
early I go to the gym early here and we're
doing CrossFit. I'm doing CrossFit with the kids, as I
call it, because I'm the old guy in the place.
I'm the very old guy on the place. And somebody
was talking about the air conditioning not working properly at
CrossFit Bison.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
And.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
They said to me, Ron, what do you think is
wrong with my air conditioning? And you know, I launched
into a diatribe about what kind of vehicle is it?
And are you using it properly? And the more I talked,
I noticed the more I talked, the less everybody did.
Everybody just kind of slowed down and stood there and listened.
And by the end of the four and a half minute,
(08:48):
five minute dissertation on how to properly use air conditioning
and what the recirculation button means and how the basics
of an air conditioning system works because it's not making
the air colder, it's conditioning the air. And the lower
blow speed makes colder air than higher blower speed. Why
because there is a longer period of time for the
air to absorb and dissipate heat, back and forth process
(09:10):
against the evaporator coil the piece under the dashboard, and
I got done, and somebody said, wow, that was great.
Can you do that again tomorrow? What are we going
to talk about tomorrow? And I realized that you know what,
you guys are looking for information on very specific things
and in the moment things. And you know what's bothering
you this week? You know, are you trying to get
(09:31):
your vehicle back up and running after it was flooded out?
Are you trying to survive a heat wave with bad
air conditioning? Are you trying to take a trip and
you don't know how to prep it? Those are the
questions I want. I want all everything else, but I
want those too, all right, because I'm here to serve you.
I'm here to take care of you, guys. I'm here
to do what I can. You know during these two
(09:51):
hours up on radio, and it's just so important to
me that you get the information you're looking for. Otherwise
you know what am I doing here? So if you've
got a question, if you've got a comment, if you
want an answer to something, eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero, or or an email ron
(10:13):
at Cardoctorshow dot com. I'll do it again just like
it sounds ron at cardoctorshow dot com and you can
spell out doctor all right, and you know, what's your question?
What's your comment? What is it that I can do
to help you? I will say this, it is getting
harder to answer individual emails, all right, just by the
sheer volume. But I try to address every single one
(10:35):
of them up here on air or I'm giving somebody,
I will give you a personal reply in some cases,
so you know, but it's for everybody's benefit, that's what
this is all about. So okay, keep in mind we're
also out on social media, YouTube and Instagram. I have
an Instagram channel now, and they're threatening me that yes,
they are going to get the camera in the studio
thing figured out. There's some audio video issues. Tom and
(10:58):
I were just talking about it today, So we're gonna
work on that and try and get that so you
can see my magnificent face and be so happy Tom.
No comment, mister Ray back down in the corner in
the corner, down down boy eight five five five six
nine nine zero zero. See if I give the phone
number out. He can't talk. I'm running any in the car. Doctor,
I'll be back right after this. No, God, that's right.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
If you call and we're not live, you can leave
a message and we'll call you back to get you
on the air with Ron eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero. Speaking of Ron, here he is.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
And by the way, just for the record, I was
grateful that Tom did show up because without him it
would have been a real struggle pushing that van and
that that Chevy tallow and how big was that?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Hew?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Do you mean the Chevy Behemoth. Yeah, the Chevy Behemo.
That thing was huge, right Tom, It's uh, oh my god,
and trying to steer it with no power home right, goodness.
It makes you wonder what happens a vehicle gets disabled
on the side of the road, the belt breaks, you
lose steering, you're doing seventy five miles an hour traveling along.
You know the safety, you know the safety aspect of that,
(12:09):
which is one of my arguments as long as we're
here real quick against you know this self driving car concept,
regardless of brand, that you know if there's a defect,
if steering fails, if you know something affects on a
gas vehicle, right, you know, like I'm thinking, I still
think about that GM commercial with the GMC pickup truck
(12:31):
doing you know, self steer, you know, self driving, and
it's got the family of four sitting there playing cards
at the console and they're towing a trailer and they're
going over the bridge. And you know, there's a classic
example if the power steering belt breaks, if if something
kicks out, if the car gets a flat right over
the guardrail. You know, hello, anyway, common sense has to prevail.
(12:51):
But Tom, we were really gratefully you showed up. But
that was great, that was great. Let's uh, let's go
over to let's go let's go over to Holly in Maine.
O seven hond a c RV. I'm sorry, oh seven
Honda Civic. What's going on, Holly? How can I help.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
This?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
My caire is a CRV.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
The temperature control has a weird court to it. I
understand when you put on the air conditioner for or
put on the defrost, the air conditioner kicks in just
to dry stuff out. And there's another selection for defrost
and feet. If I put it over just on feet
and don't have the AC on, it still stays super cold.
(13:34):
On AC, I could drive fifty miles.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
In my reason, Okay, do you do you have it set?
Do you ever set the cold or do you have
it set the hot?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I have it set to cold.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Okay. If you haven't set the cold, then the AC
is going to be on. It doesn't it doesn't care position.
That's that's a primitive system by comparison to a moderate
to a newer vehicle. All right, if you haven't set
the cold, it's it's going to still produce cold air
like that.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Not if I if I, if I go from the
other side and put the air on on the feet
without having had the defrost on, whatever ambient temperature is,
that's what I get blown out at the feet.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Right, you're saying, Right, you're saying if you put it on,
if you put it on at your feet, the A
and the AC, the AC is blowing cold air down
on your feet.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
No, I'm saying, if the AC is off, Okay, I've
switched from defrost from defrost and feet just a feat.
But the AC is not engaged. It still stays really cold.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Okay. Is the AC compressor on? Would be the first
question no, No. If the AC compressor is not on,
then it's cold because you've got the temperature set too low.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Not when it's one hundred degrees out.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Well, then the AC compressor has to be on. I
know of no other way that the vehicle deuce cold. There,
so I asked, is the AC compressor on?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Is it on or not?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Okay, Well, the button has not been engaged for it.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
To be on.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Light right, but is the compressor on? If you were
to get out and look under the hood, if your
mechanic were to look under the hood, is the AC
compressor clutch engaged? Yes or no?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
It probably would be okay if it is.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Then if it is, then that's a mistake. Well, you're
you're you're you're getting ahead of yourself. If if the
if the compressor clutch is on and you've commanded it
and requested it to be off, then the car is broken.
And what I would do is I would diagnose it
from there. It sounds like the AC control head, the
piece the button that you're touching inside the vehicle. It
(15:44):
sounds like the control head has a problem. They did
have issues with that. It was it was a very
common thing. We call it a pen eleven, repair Pin
eleven and the brown wire going to the back of
the heater control panel. If we pull that brown wire
out and the compressor disengaged, if it was engaged even
though it's commanded off, tells us that the control panel
(16:06):
is still providing input to the PCM, telling it to
turn on even when it's not supposed to, and that
it's a bad control panel, so it needs to be diagnosed.
But the first step is are we getting cold there
because the compressor is on? Yes or no. I'm not
asking for another answer. I'm just saying that's that's the approach.
Capeche makes sense, Yes, it does, Okay.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
The only thing is if it's the air conditioner, the
defrost does not get on and it's not turned.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
On, and I put whatever you know right, you get
cold there?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
No, I don't. I if I don't have the dfrost
on first and switch over to the feet, it's it's weird.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It's no, it's it's the sequence that you're doing it. Okay.
You're telling me if you use the AC all right,
so you're telling me if you if you use the
frost and and turn off the frost and put it
down to your feet the AC is not on, you
still get cold air at your feet, right, correct, Okay, yes,
And if you turn on the AC normal, it'll work.
(17:12):
If you turn off the AC normal, it will work
right right, Okay. I'm telling I'm telling you, if you
can duplicate the problem, if you and and get it
to the point where it's cold air and you've gone
from the frost to whatever the position you want to
go to, and the compressor clutch is running right that
the compressor is still engaged, I'm telling you the fault
(17:35):
is likely in the control head because this was a
common problem. We saw a lot of this, just just
like you're describing.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Okay, So it only happens with the feet, It doesn't
do it with the right the head.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Okay, right, you got to it's it's right. It was
Penn eleven brown wire. The diagnosis begins there, all right, Holly,
I understand, gotcha? Uh yeah, anyway, or because you probably
won't find the control head, just do it in the
other sequence and it'll work fine and save yourself the money.
I'm running any in the car doctor, I'll be back
(18:11):
right after this and we are back. Welcome back, ron
(18:46):
Ani in the car doctor. Here eight five five five
six zero nine nine zero zero. Find us on social
media at ron an Inian on Instagram and all the
other good places that you typically go. Let's go over
to Thomas speaking of going in Tennessee, Oh six, on
to CRV. What's going on? I was not going to help.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
How's it going, Ryn? I just wanted to say, it's
truly an honor to talk to you, longtime listener, first
time caller. I'm hoping you can help me out with
an oil consumption problem I'm having with my Honda. It's
got it's got two hundred and twenty five thousand miles
on it just broken out, just broken in so about.
(19:25):
I've been dealing with this for several months. So it
started out where it just wasn't running quite right. You
know when you have a car that you're drive on
all the time, you know when it's not quite right right.
And so I decided I wanted to clean the clean
the throttle body. And so when I pulled the I
pulled the intake pipe going from the air box to
(19:47):
the throttle body. It was literally dripping with oil. And
so I tracked it down to there's a pipe that
comes off the very top of the bowel cover that
goes over to the air box, the where the air
filter and everything is, and it seems like that's where
the oil was coming from. The first thing I thought
of was maybe, you know, maybe the maybe the crank
(20:11):
case had pressure or something. Sure, the first thing I
did was I bought a Honda ACV valve, and by
the time I got to the value, you know, it's
sort of it's right below the fur steering pond. It
was kind of hard to get to. Of course, whenever
I pulled it out.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It didn't yeah, you go ahead, go ahead, Thomas.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
So when I pulled it out, it rattled. It didn't
seem like it was bad. But you know, since I
already had the part I put it in anyway, and
that didn't seem to fix it. It's still it's still
uh getting all in the in the uh intake rape there,
and I'm not really sure where to go from there.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
How much how much oil? How much oil are you
are you going through?
Speaker 4 (21:01):
I would say it's probably about maybe three quarters of
a court freeteen hundred two thousand miles.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Okay, not really considered excessive, but I understand your concern,
all right, you know, this crazy industry on men says
a court every thousand miles is acceptable.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Heck, there are some there are some imports out there
that a quarter oil and five hundred is okay by them.
I didn't realize we were making two strokes, but uh,
you know, it's just it's just the nature of the beast.
You know, at two hundred and twenty five thousand miles
this is in six Yeah. One of the problems, one
of the problems Honda had this generation of engine was
(21:40):
they were running a very low tension oil ring, and
over time, regardless of best efforts, uh, you know, the
oil ring will start to stick and bind and not
be able to do its job, and it just can't
sit out against the cylinder wall and scrape and clean
and control oil. And the compression rings really can't do
it on their own. They need that oil ring. They're
(22:02):
working one hundred percent. So you know, all of a
sudden you develop a blow by problem or a too
much crank case pressure problem. You know, you're actually pushing
oil up into the combustion chamber and it's working its
way back up and you're over pressurizing the crank case,
and you know, having those issues. That being said, all right,
there's there's two approaches I would do, because the third
(22:24):
approach would be pull the engine and rering it, which
I don't think is practical at this age in mileage.
You know, if it's working three quarters of a court
in two thousand miles really is an extreme.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Obviously, get down to your local AutoZone. What sort of
crank case cleaner do they have anything? You know, there's
all sorts of miracles in a can, any particular brand
that looks good. Read the reviews. Does anybody talk about, hey,
this will de sludge, d clean, et cetera. All right,
you know, just trying to free up sticky rings. When
that doesn't work, and again I'm just taking you through
(22:56):
the steps. The next thing I want you to try,
or maybe you could try this first, is what if
you left the dipstick sticking up? Oh, I don't know,
a quarter of an inch, just so it doesn't seal. Right,
there's crank there's crank case pressure relief right there. And
does that solve the problem at least then you'll know
(23:16):
it's crank case pressure and it's not something in the
cylinder head itself. It's not a valve guide related issue,
because at two hundred and twenty five thousand miles, I
think you said, you know, it could be anything. At
least this kind of points us in a direction.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
No, right, right, Well, it's getting to it's progressively kind
of getting worse, right to the point where oil is
actually getting into the spark plug tubes. Well, it's not
in all of them, it's it's it's only been in
the first one, the very first cylinder, close to the
(23:50):
to the front of the engine, and it's getting to where,
you know, I sort of have like a little miss
here and there, and I decided I was going to
check the spark plugs, and all all of them look
pretty good except the very first one. It's actually getting
all into that into that spark plug tube, and and
it gives a misfire.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Okay, well all right, then then then we've got a
bigger issue. But wait a minute. You're saying you're getting
oil in the spark plug wells where the boots go in.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Correct, right, I mean when you pull it, when you
pull the when you pull the coal, like the very end,
I mean the very end of the tube is like
the very end of the coal that goes over the
spark plug. Is well just cod and.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Oil, right, Well, then that's that's that's the valve cover itself.
If I remember how that layouts set up, right, that's
because it's going down into a cavity in the valve
cover itself. That's the valve cover gasket that's leaking. So
you actually have you it sounds like you have two issues,
or you have one issue creating the second. You have
so much crank case pressure that you're actually pushing oil
(24:56):
into the spark plug well as a result, because now
the gasket has failed. Okay, so if you want to
really try this, take the dipstick out. Do you have
a vacuum gauge. Do you have a gauge that reads
vacuum pressure?
Speaker 4 (25:14):
I don't have one, but I can get one.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Get one right, figure out a way to figure out
a way put it. Take the dipstick out, put it,
Put it right on top of the tube. You know,
come up with a little plastic nylon fitting a little
you know, plastic tea or a splice. Put it into
the tube so that you know you're actually going to
read engine vacuum. Take it for a ride. Do you
see pressure on the gauge. Do you see vacuum on
(25:36):
the gauge? What do you see on the gauge? All right,
if that, if that crank case is building excess pressure,
then we've got a bigger problem and it's probably it
is probably time to do a tear down on the engine,
as much as you don't want to hear that, but
at least at least.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Well, you know, the thing is, it draws, you know,
I guess it draws really good, you know, I mean,
there's no codes, there's no you know, other than the
oil problem. It's it's really kind of a little car.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
But it's starting to miss it's starting to miss fire, right, yeah, yeah,
So the fact that it's starting to missfire tells us
that you're also going to be beating up the catalytic converter.
So before this, you know, and then again at two
hundred thousand plus miles, okay, you know, where are we
at with the cat? So the real question here is
because understand that oil is going somewhere, it's passing through
(26:29):
the combustion process somehow, and it's burning and at some
point it's it's hitting the catalytic converter, it's hitting the
oxygen sensors. At some point, you know we're going to
do more damage. So the question is is this the
beginning of the end where we're just going to drive
it into the ground until it stops, or is the
car worth fixing? If you were to start with a
(26:50):
fresh motor and clean everything up, you know, would you
get another ten years out of it, depending upon what
kind of shape it's in, right, right, That's that's of
the decision. After you saw I mean, after you get
to the point if, like I said, if you want
to go through it with a vacuum of pressure, gauge
do you have you know, what do you have coming
out of the crank case, et cetera. But that's how
(27:10):
I would approach it. But at this mileage, at this age,
it sounds like it's it's probably time, you know, it
seemed it seemed bigger in better days, oh you know,
and then and then quite honestly, before I let you go,
what you also have to think about is it's an
six Getting parts is getting more and more difficult. They
(27:30):
hate to keep banging this drum, but I'm just telling
you the things that we couldn't get this week, you know,
for for eleven year old vehicles, never mind you know,
fifteen year old vehicles, so never mind twenty year old vehicles.
It's it's getting harder and harder. There is definitely clearly
a parts issue, and you know it's going to influence
our purchase decisions going forward. So all right, but there's
(27:53):
the tools you need, that's what you need to know
in order to kind of make a decision. Thomas, all right, okay,
all right, Kittle.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
You appreciate your talking.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
You're very welcome anytime, buddy, and you have a good
rest of the weekend. I'm ronning any in the car doctor.
I'll be back right after this. Welcome back, run an
(28:21):
Anie in the car doctor. Eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero is the phone number Ron
at caardoctorshow dot com. If you want to shoot us
an email, tell us how we're doing, or you got
a question and maybe we'll use it up here in
the live shower. Send you back an instant reply. You
never know. Let's get over to Let's get over to
Ron in Arizona six rap four. I'm pretty sure this
is you because it can't be me. I'm here, How
are you? Ron? Welcome to the show. Yeses, it's me, Yes, me,
(28:44):
what's going on? Yes, sir?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
At two thousand and six rab f six oller when
I started. Occasionally it'll make a noise like a chain.
Whether whether that's the STO motor or not, I'm not sure,
or whether it's something else. And I'm trying to diagnose.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That problem right there, higher mileage.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
It doesn't happen all the time. Like a whole week
has gone by, right and I haven't heard it, and
then on the last day I did hear it.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
How many how many miles are on this I would say.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
It's over one sixty?
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Okay. How good of your oil? Change? Has been.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Pretty good? Any check synthetic oil? Okay, I follow the rules.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Any check engine light on?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Though, no, the only light on is maintenance.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
By okay, why is the maintenance light on? If you're
being good about oil changes?
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Well, that's what I'm talking about. We're coming up on
an oil change.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Here, okay, So what sort of common these will start
to make noises? They age, the change stretches and it
will be a random, intermittent thing. And one of the
items that starts to really fail in this is the
variable balve timing controls. The actuator. So what you could
do is have your mechanic going with a scan tool
(30:07):
and look at timing. All right, where's the intake and
where's the exhaust cam? You know it, is it where
it's supposed to be? If it's commanding two degrees? Does
it get back two degrees or does it get back
four degrees because the chain is stretched and it can't
pull it where it wants to be. And you know
that that's an issue. You know, at one hundred and
sixty thousand miles, it's conceivable. Is this a hybrid? No,
(30:28):
this is a regular gas V six Yeah, okay, you
know that would be best guess at this point. The
other thing you could try it, since you're coming up
on an oil change, is why not collect an oil
sample and send it out for analysis? See contrary to
popular opinion, well contrary to popular opinion. I like oil analysis.
(30:50):
I just don't like to do it every oil change.
I don't think that's necessary because there's not much I
can do about it. But if I've got an engine noise,
if I've got something going on that you know, and
I I'm glad to do an oil analysis then because
you know, what's it going to come back and tell me.
It's going to come back and tell me, you know,
is there do they see bearing material? You know, do
they see anything? Is it clean? You know, are we
(31:10):
in the early stages? Is it something extaneous of the engine,
because this could also be outside the engine. This could
be in the alternator the way it works, This could
be in the ac compressor of the way it works.
In terms of noise. If the noise was consistent every time,
then you know, one of the first things we would
normally do is take the belt off and try to
(31:31):
start it, and you know, does the noise go away?
But working on an intermittent like this, all I can
do is run through some of the functional tests to
an oil analysis and keep an ear to it. Does
it get worse, does it get better? And how does
it change?
Speaker 3 (31:44):
All?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Right? Would the would the oil make any difference on
what type? Since ed goes no, shouldn't no?
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Absolutely not no. And I assume you're using the right
the right viscosity. I'm thinking O six, uh yeah, six
was a five twenty car or zero twenty car?
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yes? I think so?
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Right? Right?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
A zero twenty car? Correct?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
I think so? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Yeah, yeah, that sounds right, So, but yeah, that's you're
you're approaching it, right. That's the best you can do
at this point. Just keep an ear on it. And
the other question is does changing the oil make a difference?
Is the oil worn out that the viscosity is so
broken down? How many how many miles has it been
since the last oil change?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Uh huh, don'kay. I have the paperwork.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I'd have to check on that, right, you know, if
it's more than five thousand miles. And you know, I
have I have a daughter that she's you know, about
five hours away. She ended up tooking her car for
an oil change, a quickie, and when the dealer changed
the oil, they just gave her a mileage interval. They
didn't give her a timeline. And we had a conversation
about that because time and mileage both count, all right,
(32:53):
So you got to look at that, consider those things
and kind of work it from there. Run if you
need more of them. Here eighty five five six nine
nine zero zero running in of the car doctor, coming
back right after this.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Coming by.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Right up.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
The back with things.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Fucking back running any of the car doctor. Boy, this
this hour just kind of this is like the week
at the shop. Right, you see how fast paced this was,
and this was slow compared to the week at the shop.
It's just everything was, you know, go go, go, go go.
It was just NonStop. I I it was funny, right,
we're putting crazy money into I don't know, ten twelve
(33:37):
fifteen year old vehicles. I sat there scratching my head
saying why. And I guess, you know, you start looking
at the price of a new car and then all
of a sudden it makes sense. But what really caught
my eye this week and what really took my attention
this week, and let me take you in the shop
courtesy of auto Zone, is is beyond the spot decisions
that were forced to make because of the overwhelming amount
(33:58):
of work that came in anyone given time, in the
sense of, you know, something was coming in for an
oil change, Oh gee, this needs four four wheel brakes.
Zoop out to the AutoZone app all right, and or
get out to AutoZone pro dot com and you know,
look it up. You know, just all of a sudden,
it just it just it just it just doesn't stop.
(34:19):
And you're you're doing everything you can in terms of
trying to keep up. And I've got to say, I
probably wore out I probably wore out AutoZone this week
because we we we had so many deliveries for break
parts and durast and rotors and pads and so forth.
But it's it's it's a computer age. And I thought
about it. I said, you know, we couldn't move this
(34:39):
fast ten years ago or fifteen years ago when these
cars first came out. We're able to repair them faster,
get parts quicker because of computerization, because of the ability
to look them up online, match parts, look at numbers.
It's a wonderful age. And it was a wonderful busy
week at the shop. And I think all the guys
are we to all Thozone for all that they did
for us this week. Look it up. It's time to
(35:00):
go till the next time. I'm Ronning Andy and the
car Doctor, grateful to be here and happy to serve
till the next time. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
I'll see you
Ron An Aian, you know, somewhere along the way, I
wish there was a rule that you're not allowed to
work on anybody's car until you've done work for them prior,
so you know whether they're a raving luma tip or not,
or whether they're gonna understand when you say, hey, by
the way, you need two thousand dollars more worth of
this because this was frozen and rusted.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
In the case the.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Car Doctor, is it a rear drum car or a
rear disc car? Were drum the rear drum breaks will
outlast you. Meet Tom and this radio show. You never
put rear brakes on an escape. I don't know why
they work. It's not a question of that they work.
They just last forever. Man, it's just crazy. Welcome to
the radio home of ron An Aian, The Car Doctor.
(00:46):
Since nineteen ninety one. This is where car owners the
world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up
the phone and call in the garage doors opening, but
I am here to take your call at eight five
five five six ninety nine hundred and no pe running
(01:10):
you know, I have a great life, I really do.
I get to go to work every day, I get
to fix cars, I get to come up here on
the weekends and talk to you guys, and it's just
a good time I have. I have. You know, I'm
learning to have zero complaints if that's possible, you know,
because you got to appreciate the moment, right you got
to be in that moment. I had to go to
motor vehicle this morning, and in New Jersey. New Jersey's
(01:33):
kind of a weird state to get a vehicle do
anything right titled inspected. You know, New Jersey is a
funny state. To inspect the vehicle in New Jersey have
a choice. You can go to a private garage where
there's a fee somewhere typically between fifteen one hundred dollars,
you know, and rightfully so, because they're buying equipment, they're
going through training, they're going through jumping through a pile
(01:54):
of hoops to climb the mountain of right and to
put a stick around a vehicle inspect it. Or you
can go to the state for free. So it's always
it's always an interesting lopsided conversation whenever somebody new comes
in and says, hey, I need an inspection, and you know,
kind of lay it out for him. But getting a
title and a registration in New Jersey is even stranger.
You know, there's a motor vehicle inspections I'm sorry, a
(02:16):
motor vehicle registration office DMV services office. Oh literally eight
minutes from the house all right where we live. And
yet in order to get a vehicle titled because I
had a title and register a vehicle today, in order
to register and title a vehicle, I had to drive
an hour and five minutes away to the western side
of New Jersey because they don't do it at the
(02:37):
one office that's six seven minutes from the house. And
I've lived in New Jersey all my life. I never
knew Jersey was this big. I mean, it just kept going.
I thought I was in Pennsylvania. At one point, I'm like,
where is this out by Branchburg, Pen out by Branchburg,
New Jersey. And I started thinking about the hoops that
people have to jump through in order to just drive
(02:58):
a vehicle. You know, it's just kind of funny, but
we do it. And naturally I got there and motor
vehicle was real crowded and you know, just a lot
of people all going through the same and all saying
the same thing. Hey, I live on the east side
of the state. What do I have to drive to
the west side of the state five counties away in
order to get a vehicle titled? And I don't know.
I wonder if any other states go through that. If
(03:19):
you have that, and that's why I tell you this
as we kick off this hour of the Car Doctor.
You know, how difficult or hard is it to get
your vehicle titled or registered in your state? You know,
because there are some states they don't even care if
you have a title. You need a bill of sale.
I think if you have a document that says, hey,
I purchased X y Z from Fred and you know
I paid five hundred dollars for it and here's the
(03:41):
vin I think I think you get a title right.
If you can elaborate on that and shoot me an
email ron at cardoctorshow dot com. I'd like to hear
what it's like in your state to get a vehicle
title register and then we'll talk about it up here.
We'll put it up here on the you know, on
the airwaves. Order repairs. A question of timing I've learned.
Especially this week, we had a I think it was
(04:01):
Monday or Tuesday. I forget what day it was, but
we had a a Chevy Tahoe that was dropped off
over the weekend. Must have been Monday. God, Monday was
so long ago. It seems like Monday was. Well, it
was a week ago. Look at that, you know, and
it needed a starter, and you know, no starts we handled.
(04:23):
No starts are always difficult for a repair shop because
you're always pushing something. You know, in most cases, you know,
if it's a if it's a if it's a no
fuel problem, you can drive the vehicle in on propane
if you know how to do it with a small
bottle and a little bit of luck. But you know,
no cranks are always a pain in the neck because
it won't crank, you can't start it. So what it
(04:45):
repairs a matter of timing.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I love my engineer Tom. He's the best because somehow
he figured it out. Danny and I are pushing this too, this,
you know, a couple of tons Chevy Tahoe into the
bay and just as we're making the turn in running
out of steam, here comes Tom to leave his vehicle
so we could put tires on it this week. And
he started talking to him, like, Tom, shut up getting
the car and hang on to the steering wheel. Okay,
(05:10):
if nothing else, Tom is trainable, you know, he just
kind of listens to orders and we're able to get
it in. But it makes the argument too, you I
wonder how other shops do it. You know, how does
a one man band, you know, move vehicles around. It's
got to be difficult, you know, when you're seeing more
and more. I think the statistics say that there are
(05:30):
more less than three people in a shop repair shops
now in America than there ever was before. In other words,
big shops don't exist as much as they used to,
and for a lot of reasons. And you know, it
just makes you wonder the added stress and grief I
always wanted to get. They used to they made him
in the sixties and the seventies. It was like a
little push cart. I was like a fancy go cart
(05:51):
that you know, had some ballast in it. You could
push vehicles around in the parking lot. But then I
look at modern vehicles today and I wonder, you know,
can you push a modern vehicle around with the plastic bumper, uh,
you know, without damaging it. And I think that's why
they went away. I think that's what that's what that's
what made everybody get rid of them. So it just, uh,
you know, just just became that. But in any event,
(06:13):
that's just just some things from the shop.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
This week.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
It was a funny week in the shop. And I
know I say that a lot. I always say I
was a strange week. But it was a strange week.
You know, every business, every business has a number, right
You've you've got to hit this number in order to
be profitable that week because you're trying to be profitable because,
believe it or not, you're trying to make money so
you can stick around and be there for the next
time that somebody needs you. And you know, that's how
you make your living. So you always look at car count,
(06:35):
car count versus profitability. You know, where's where's the sweet spot.
I got to tell you, it was a strange week.
You know, we made we made the number on seven
cars and you know, it's like it was like almost
one one and a quarter car a day, very strange.
You know, there were other projects going on in the shop.
We worked on a bunch of things this week. I
(06:57):
actually had to spend money on the Ranger this week,
the ninety seven Ranger, which is coming up on thirty
years old in three years. The air conditioning broke and
we had to get parts and trying to find parts
of that, it's a whole nother I go, you know, boy,
that's getting to be a pain in the neck. But
you know, it was funny everything this week. This is
a tire and break repair week week. You know, everybody
(07:20):
just wanted to this that kind of stuff. And then
some of the surprises. Air conditioning broke this week. It
got fixed, like how hot and humid it is around
outside around most of the country, and the air conditioning thing,
it caused an incident, and I wanted to tell you
about this. I'm telling you all this because I'm leading
up to this. I need your questions, I really do,
(07:41):
and I'll tell you why, because I've come to the realization,
as self serving, as egotistical as this may sound, I've
come to the decision that I have a lot of
information in my head that I forget that I have.
If that sounds right, And you know you asked me
a question, I'll get an answer. And sometimes I answer,
I don't even realize what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I just do it.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
We were at the gym this week, and you know
early I go to the gym early here and we're
doing CrossFit. I'm doing CrossFit with the kids, as I
call it, because I'm the old guy in the place.
I'm the very old guy on the place. And somebody
was talking about the air conditioning not working properly at
CrossFit Bison.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
And.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
They said to me, Ron, what do you think is
wrong with my air conditioning? And you know, I launched
into a diatribe about what kind of vehicle is it?
And are you using it properly? And the more I talked,
I noticed the more I talked, the less everybody did.
Everybody just kind of slowed down and stood there and listened.
And by the end of the four and a half minute,
(08:48):
five minute dissertation on how to properly use air conditioning
and what the recirculation button means and how the basics
of an air conditioning system works because it's not making
the air colder, it's conditioning the air. And the lower
blow speed makes colder air than higher blower speed. Why
because there is a longer period of time for the
air to absorb and dissipate heat, back and forth process
(09:10):
against the evaporator coil the piece under the dashboard, and
I got done, and somebody said, wow, that was great.
Can you do that again tomorrow? What are we going
to talk about tomorrow? And I realized that you know what,
you guys are looking for information on very specific things
and in the moment things. And you know what's bothering
you this week? You know, are you trying to get
(09:31):
your vehicle back up and running after it was flooded out?
Are you trying to survive a heat wave with bad
air conditioning? Are you trying to take a trip and
you don't know how to prep it? Those are the
questions I want. I want all everything else, but I
want those too, all right, because I'm here to serve you.
I'm here to take care of you, guys. I'm here
to do what I can. You know during these two
(09:51):
hours up on radio, and it's just so important to
me that you get the information you're looking for. Otherwise
you know what am I doing here? So if you've
got a question, if you've got a comment, if you
want an answer to something, eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero, or or an email ron
(10:13):
at Cardoctorshow dot com. I'll do it again just like
it sounds ron at cardoctorshow dot com and you can
spell out doctor all right, and you know, what's your question?
What's your comment? What is it that I can do
to help you? I will say this, it is getting
harder to answer individual emails, all right, just by the
sheer volume. But I try to address every single one
(10:35):
of them up here on air or I'm giving somebody,
I will give you a personal reply in some cases,
so you know, but it's for everybody's benefit, that's what
this is all about. So okay, keep in mind we're
also out on social media, YouTube and Instagram. I have
an Instagram channel now, and they're threatening me that yes,
they are going to get the camera in the studio
thing figured out. There's some audio video issues. Tom and
(10:58):
I were just talking about it today, So we're gonna
work on that and try and get that so you
can see my magnificent face and be so happy Tom.
No comment, mister Ray back down in the corner in
the corner, down down boy eight five five five six
nine nine zero zero. See if I give the phone
number out. He can't talk. I'm running any in the car. Doctor,
I'll be back right after this. No, God, that's right.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
If you call and we're not live, you can leave
a message and we'll call you back to get you
on the air with Ron eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero. Speaking of Ron, here he is.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
And by the way, just for the record, I was
grateful that Tom did show up because without him it
would have been a real struggle pushing that van and
that that Chevy tallow and how big was that?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Hew?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Do you mean the Chevy Behemoth. Yeah, the Chevy Behemo.
That thing was huge, right Tom, It's uh, oh my god,
and trying to steer it with no power home right, goodness.
It makes you wonder what happens a vehicle gets disabled
on the side of the road, the belt breaks, you
lose steering, you're doing seventy five miles an hour traveling along.
You know the safety, you know the safety aspect of that,
(12:09):
which is one of my arguments as long as we're
here real quick against you know this self driving car concept,
regardless of brand, that you know if there's a defect,
if steering fails, if you know something affects on a
gas vehicle, right, you know, like I'm thinking, I still
think about that GM commercial with the GMC pickup truck
(12:31):
doing you know, self steer, you know, self driving, and
it's got the family of four sitting there playing cards
at the console and they're towing a trailer and they're
going over the bridge. And you know, there's a classic
example if the power steering belt breaks, if if something
kicks out, if the car gets a flat right over
the guardrail. You know, hello, anyway, common sense has to prevail.
(12:51):
But Tom, we were really gratefully you showed up. But
that was great, that was great. Let's uh, let's go
over to let's go let's go over to Holly in Maine.
O seven hond a c RV. I'm sorry, oh seven
Honda Civic. What's going on, Holly? How can I help.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
This?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
My caire is a CRV.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
The temperature control has a weird court to it. I
understand when you put on the air conditioner for or
put on the defrost, the air conditioner kicks in just
to dry stuff out. And there's another selection for defrost
and feet. If I put it over just on feet
and don't have the AC on, it still stays super cold.
(13:34):
On AC, I could drive fifty miles.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
In my reason, Okay, do you do you have it set?
Do you ever set the cold or do you have
it set the hot?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I have it set to cold.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Okay. If you haven't set the cold, then the AC
is going to be on. It doesn't it doesn't care position.
That's that's a primitive system by comparison to a moderate
to a newer vehicle. All right, if you haven't set
the cold, it's it's going to still produce cold air
like that.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Not if I if I, if I go from the
other side and put the air on on the feet
without having had the defrost on, whatever ambient temperature is,
that's what I get blown out at the feet.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Right, you're saying, Right, you're saying if you put it on,
if you put it on at your feet, the A
and the AC, the AC is blowing cold air down
on your feet.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
No, I'm saying, if the AC is off, Okay, I've
switched from defrost from defrost and feet just a feat.
But the AC is not engaged. It still stays really cold.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Okay. Is the AC compressor on? Would be the first
question no, No. If the AC compressor is not on,
then it's cold because you've got the temperature set too low.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Not when it's one hundred degrees out.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Well, then the AC compressor has to be on. I
know of no other way that the vehicle deuce cold. There,
so I asked, is the AC compressor on?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Is it on or not?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Okay, Well, the button has not been engaged for it.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
To be on.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Light right, but is the compressor on? If you were
to get out and look under the hood, if your
mechanic were to look under the hood, is the AC
compressor clutch engaged? Yes or no?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
It probably would be okay if it is.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Then if it is, then that's a mistake. Well, you're
you're you're you're getting ahead of yourself. If if the
if the compressor clutch is on and you've commanded it
and requested it to be off, then the car is broken.
And what I would do is I would diagnose it
from there. It sounds like the AC control head, the
piece the button that you're touching inside the vehicle. It
(15:44):
sounds like the control head has a problem. They did
have issues with that. It was it was a very
common thing. We call it a pen eleven, repair Pin
eleven and the brown wire going to the back of
the heater control panel. If we pull that brown wire
out and the compressor disengaged, if it was engaged even
though it's commanded off, tells us that the control panel
(16:06):
is still providing input to the PCM, telling it to
turn on even when it's not supposed to, and that
it's a bad control panel, so it needs to be diagnosed.
But the first step is are we getting cold there
because the compressor is on? Yes or no. I'm not
asking for another answer. I'm just saying that's that's the approach.
Capeche makes sense, Yes, it does, Okay.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
The only thing is if it's the air conditioner, the
defrost does not get on and it's not turned.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
On, and I put whatever you know right, you get
cold there?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
No, I don't. I if I don't have the dfrost
on first and switch over to the feet, it's it's weird.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It's no, it's it's the sequence that you're doing it. Okay.
You're telling me if you use the AC all right,
so you're telling me if you if you use the
frost and and turn off the frost and put it
down to your feet the AC is not on, you
still get cold air at your feet, right, correct, Okay, yes,
And if you turn on the AC normal, it'll work.
(17:12):
If you turn off the AC normal, it will work
right right, Okay. I'm telling I'm telling you, if you
can duplicate the problem, if you and and get it
to the point where it's cold air and you've gone
from the frost to whatever the position you want to
go to, and the compressor clutch is running right that
the compressor is still engaged, I'm telling you the fault
(17:35):
is likely in the control head because this was a
common problem. We saw a lot of this, just just
like you're describing.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Okay, So it only happens with the feet, It doesn't
do it with the right the head.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Okay, right, you got to it's it's right. It was
Penn eleven brown wire. The diagnosis begins there, all right, Holly,
I understand, gotcha? Uh yeah, anyway, or because you probably
won't find the control head, just do it in the
other sequence and it'll work fine and save yourself the money.
I'm running any in the car doctor, I'll be back
(18:11):
right after this and we are back. Welcome back, ron
(18:46):
Ani in the car doctor. Here eight five five five
six zero nine nine zero zero. Find us on social
media at ron an Inian on Instagram and all the
other good places that you typically go. Let's go over
to Thomas speaking of going in Tennessee, Oh six, on
to CRV. What's going on? I was not going to help.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
How's it going, Ryn? I just wanted to say, it's
truly an honor to talk to you, longtime listener, first
time caller. I'm hoping you can help me out with
an oil consumption problem I'm having with my Honda. It's
got it's got two hundred and twenty five thousand miles
on it just broken out, just broken in so about.
(19:25):
I've been dealing with this for several months. So it
started out where it just wasn't running quite right. You
know when you have a car that you're drive on
all the time, you know when it's not quite right right.
And so I decided I wanted to clean the clean
the throttle body. And so when I pulled the I
pulled the intake pipe going from the air box to
(19:47):
the throttle body. It was literally dripping with oil. And
so I tracked it down to there's a pipe that
comes off the very top of the bowel cover that
goes over to the air box, the where the air
filter and everything is, and it seems like that's where
the oil was coming from. The first thing I thought
of was maybe, you know, maybe the maybe the crank
(20:11):
case had pressure or something. Sure, the first thing I
did was I bought a Honda ACV valve, and by
the time I got to the value, you know, it's
sort of it's right below the fur steering pond. It
was kind of hard to get to. Of course, whenever
I pulled it out.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It didn't yeah, you go ahead, go ahead, Thomas.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
So when I pulled it out, it rattled. It didn't
seem like it was bad. But you know, since I
already had the part I put it in anyway, and
that didn't seem to fix it. It's still it's still
uh getting all in the in the uh intake rape there,
and I'm not really sure where to go from there.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
How much how much oil? How much oil are you
are you going through?
Speaker 4 (21:01):
I would say it's probably about maybe three quarters of
a court freeteen hundred two thousand miles.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Okay, not really considered excessive, but I understand your concern,
all right, you know, this crazy industry on men says
a court every thousand miles is acceptable.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Heck, there are some there are some imports out there
that a quarter oil and five hundred is okay by them.
I didn't realize we were making two strokes, but uh,
you know, it's just it's just the nature of the beast.
You know, at two hundred and twenty five thousand miles
this is in six Yeah. One of the problems, one
of the problems Honda had this generation of engine was
(21:40):
they were running a very low tension oil ring, and
over time, regardless of best efforts, uh, you know, the
oil ring will start to stick and bind and not
be able to do its job, and it just can't
sit out against the cylinder wall and scrape and clean
and control oil. And the compression rings really can't do
it on their own. They need that oil ring. They're
(22:02):
working one hundred percent. So you know, all of a
sudden you develop a blow by problem or a too
much crank case pressure problem. You know, you're actually pushing
oil up into the combustion chamber and it's working its
way back up and you're over pressurizing the crank case,
and you know, having those issues. That being said, all right,
there's there's two approaches I would do, because the third
(22:24):
approach would be pull the engine and rering it, which
I don't think is practical at this age in mileage.
You know, if it's working three quarters of a court
in two thousand miles really is an extreme.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
You know.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Obviously, get down to your local AutoZone. What sort of
crank case cleaner do they have anything? You know, there's
all sorts of miracles in a can, any particular brand
that looks good. Read the reviews. Does anybody talk about, hey,
this will de sludge, d clean, et cetera. All right,
you know, just trying to free up sticky rings. When
that doesn't work, and again I'm just taking you through
(22:56):
the steps. The next thing I want you to try,
or maybe you could try this first, is what if
you left the dipstick sticking up? Oh, I don't know,
a quarter of an inch, just so it doesn't seal. Right,
there's crank there's crank case pressure relief right there. And
does that solve the problem at least then you'll know
(23:16):
it's crank case pressure and it's not something in the
cylinder head itself. It's not a valve guide related issue,
because at two hundred and twenty five thousand miles, I
think you said, you know, it could be anything. At
least this kind of points us in a direction.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
No, right, right, Well, it's getting to it's progressively kind
of getting worse, right to the point where oil is
actually getting into the spark plug tubes. Well, it's not
in all of them, it's it's it's only been in
the first one, the very first cylinder, close to the
(23:50):
to the front of the engine, and it's getting to where,
you know, I sort of have like a little miss
here and there, and I decided I was going to
check the spark plugs, and all all of them look
pretty good except the very first one. It's actually getting
all into that into that spark plug tube, and and
it gives a misfire.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Okay, well all right, then then then we've got a
bigger issue. But wait a minute. You're saying you're getting
oil in the spark plug wells where the boots go in.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Correct, right, I mean when you pull it, when you
pull the when you pull the coal, like the very end,
I mean the very end of the tube is like
the very end of the coal that goes over the
spark plug. Is well just cod and.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Oil, right, Well, then that's that's that's the valve cover itself.
If I remember how that layouts set up, right, that's
because it's going down into a cavity in the valve
cover itself. That's the valve cover gasket that's leaking. So
you actually have you it sounds like you have two issues,
or you have one issue creating the second. You have
so much crank case pressure that you're actually pushing oil
(24:56):
into the spark plug well as a result, because now
the gasket has failed. Okay, so if you want to
really try this, take the dipstick out. Do you have
a vacuum gauge. Do you have a gauge that reads
vacuum pressure?
Speaker 4 (25:14):
I don't have one, but I can get one.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Get one right, figure out a way to figure out
a way put it. Take the dipstick out, put it,
Put it right on top of the tube. You know,
come up with a little plastic nylon fitting a little
you know, plastic tea or a splice. Put it into
the tube so that you know you're actually going to
read engine vacuum. Take it for a ride. Do you
see pressure on the gauge. Do you see vacuum on
(25:36):
the gauge? What do you see on the gauge? All right,
if that, if that crank case is building excess pressure,
then we've got a bigger problem and it's probably it
is probably time to do a tear down on the engine,
as much as you don't want to hear that, but
at least at least.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Well, you know, the thing is, it draws, you know,
I guess it draws really good, you know, I mean,
there's no codes, there's no you know, other than the
oil problem. It's it's really kind of a little car.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
But it's starting to miss it's starting to miss fire, right, yeah, yeah,
So the fact that it's starting to missfire tells us
that you're also going to be beating up the catalytic converter.
So before this, you know, and then again at two
hundred thousand plus miles, okay, you know, where are we
at with the cat? So the real question here is
because understand that oil is going somewhere, it's passing through
(26:29):
the combustion process somehow, and it's burning and at some
point it's it's hitting the catalytic converter, it's hitting the
oxygen sensors. At some point, you know we're going to
do more damage. So the question is is this the
beginning of the end where we're just going to drive
it into the ground until it stops, or is the
car worth fixing? If you were to start with a
(26:50):
fresh motor and clean everything up, you know, would you
get another ten years out of it, depending upon what
kind of shape it's in, right, right, That's that's of
the decision. After you saw I mean, after you get
to the point if, like I said, if you want
to go through it with a vacuum of pressure, gauge
do you have you know, what do you have coming
out of the crank case, et cetera. But that's how
(27:10):
I would approach it. But at this mileage, at this age,
it sounds like it's it's probably time, you know, it
seemed it seemed bigger in better days, oh you know,
and then and then quite honestly, before I let you go,
what you also have to think about is it's an
six Getting parts is getting more and more difficult. They
(27:30):
hate to keep banging this drum, but I'm just telling
you the things that we couldn't get this week, you know,
for for eleven year old vehicles, never mind you know,
fifteen year old vehicles, so never mind twenty year old vehicles.
It's it's getting harder and harder. There is definitely clearly
a parts issue, and you know it's going to influence
our purchase decisions going forward. So all right, but there's
(27:53):
the tools you need, that's what you need to know
in order to kind of make a decision. Thomas, all right, okay,
all right, Kittle.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
You appreciate your talking.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
You're very welcome anytime, buddy, and you have a good
rest of the weekend. I'm ronning any in the car doctor.
I'll be back right after this. Welcome back, run an
(28:21):
Anie in the car doctor. Eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero is the phone number Ron
at caardoctorshow dot com. If you want to shoot us
an email, tell us how we're doing, or you got
a question and maybe we'll use it up here in
the live shower. Send you back an instant reply. You
never know. Let's get over to Let's get over to
Ron in Arizona six rap four. I'm pretty sure this
is you because it can't be me. I'm here, How
are you? Ron? Welcome to the show. Yeses, it's me, Yes, me,
(28:44):
what's going on? Yes, sir?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
At two thousand and six rab f six oller when
I started. Occasionally it'll make a noise like a chain.
Whether whether that's the STO motor or not, I'm not sure,
or whether it's something else. And I'm trying to diagnose.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That problem right there, higher mileage.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
It doesn't happen all the time. Like a whole week
has gone by, right and I haven't heard it, and
then on the last day I did hear it.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
How many how many miles are on this I would say.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
It's over one sixty?
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Okay. How good of your oil? Change? Has been.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Pretty good? Any check synthetic oil? Okay, I follow the rules.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Any check engine light on?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Though, no, the only light on is maintenance.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
By okay, why is the maintenance light on? If you're
being good about oil changes?
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Well, that's what I'm talking about. We're coming up on
an oil change.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Here, okay, So what sort of common these will start
to make noises? They age, the change stretches and it
will be a random, intermittent thing. And one of the
items that starts to really fail in this is the
variable balve timing controls. The actuator. So what you could
do is have your mechanic going with a scan tool
(30:07):
and look at timing. All right, where's the intake and
where's the exhaust cam? You know it, is it where
it's supposed to be? If it's commanding two degrees? Does
it get back two degrees or does it get back
four degrees because the chain is stretched and it can't
pull it where it wants to be. And you know
that that's an issue. You know, at one hundred and
sixty thousand miles, it's conceivable. Is this a hybrid? No,
(30:28):
this is a regular gas V six Yeah, okay, you
know that would be best guess at this point. The
other thing you could try it, since you're coming up
on an oil change, is why not collect an oil
sample and send it out for analysis? See contrary to
popular opinion, well contrary to popular opinion. I like oil analysis.
(30:50):
I just don't like to do it every oil change.
I don't think that's necessary because there's not much I
can do about it. But if I've got an engine noise,
if I've got something going on that you know, and
I I'm glad to do an oil analysis then because
you know, what's it going to come back and tell me.
It's going to come back and tell me, you know,
is there do they see bearing material? You know, do
they see anything? Is it clean? You know, are we
(31:10):
in the early stages? Is it something extaneous of the engine,
because this could also be outside the engine. This could
be in the alternator the way it works, This could
be in the ac compressor of the way it works.
In terms of noise. If the noise was consistent every time,
then you know, one of the first things we would
normally do is take the belt off and try to
(31:31):
start it, and you know, does the noise go away?
But working on an intermittent like this, all I can
do is run through some of the functional tests to
an oil analysis and keep an ear to it. Does
it get worse, does it get better? And how does
it change?
Speaker 3 (31:44):
All?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Right? Would the would the oil make any difference on
what type? Since ed goes no, shouldn't no?
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Absolutely not no. And I assume you're using the right
the right viscosity. I'm thinking O six, uh yeah, six
was a five twenty car or zero twenty car?
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yes? I think so?
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Right? Right?
Speaker 1 (32:05):
A zero twenty car? Correct?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
I think so? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Yeah, yeah, that sounds right, So, but yeah, that's you're
you're approaching it, right. That's the best you can do
at this point. Just keep an ear on it. And
the other question is does changing the oil make a difference?
Is the oil worn out that the viscosity is so
broken down? How many how many miles has it been
since the last oil change?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Uh huh, don'kay. I have the paperwork.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I'd have to check on that, right, you know, if
it's more than five thousand miles. And you know, I
have I have a daughter that she's you know, about
five hours away. She ended up tooking her car for
an oil change, a quickie, and when the dealer changed
the oil, they just gave her a mileage interval. They
didn't give her a timeline. And we had a conversation
about that because time and mileage both count, all right,
(32:53):
So you got to look at that, consider those things
and kind of work it from there. Run if you
need more of them. Here eighty five five six nine
nine zero zero running in of the car doctor, coming
back right after this.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Coming by.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Right up.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
The back with things.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Fucking back running any of the car doctor. Boy, this
this hour just kind of this is like the week
at the shop. Right, you see how fast paced this was,
and this was slow compared to the week at the shop.
It's just everything was, you know, go go, go, go go.
It was just NonStop. I I it was funny, right,
we're putting crazy money into I don't know, ten twelve
(33:37):
fifteen year old vehicles. I sat there scratching my head
saying why. And I guess, you know, you start looking
at the price of a new car and then all
of a sudden it makes sense. But what really caught
my eye this week and what really took my attention
this week, and let me take you in the shop
courtesy of auto Zone, is is beyond the spot decisions
that were forced to make because of the overwhelming amount
(33:58):
of work that came in anyone given time, in the
sense of, you know, something was coming in for an
oil change, Oh gee, this needs four four wheel brakes.
Zoop out to the AutoZone app all right, and or
get out to AutoZone pro dot com and you know,
look it up. You know, just all of a sudden,
it just it just it just it just doesn't stop.
(34:19):
And you're you're doing everything you can in terms of
trying to keep up. And I've got to say, I
probably wore out I probably wore out AutoZone this week
because we we we had so many deliveries for break
parts and durast and rotors and pads and so forth.
But it's it's it's a computer age. And I thought
about it. I said, you know, we couldn't move this
(34:39):
fast ten years ago or fifteen years ago when these
cars first came out. We're able to repair them faster,
get parts quicker because of computerization, because of the ability
to look them up online, match parts, look at numbers.
It's a wonderful age. And it was a wonderful busy
week at the shop. And I think all the guys
are we to all Thozone for all that they did
for us this week. Look it up. It's time to
(35:00):
go till the next time. I'm Ronning Andy and the
car Doctor, grateful to be here and happy to serve
till the next time. Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
I'll see you
Host
Ron Ananian
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