Answers on Alignment, Gas Gauge Giving Problems, Remote Start Repairs

Well you know what that means, Tom, once again to talk cars, trucks, vans and the problems

you may be having with yours and before you bring it in for service to your favorite

dealer, your favorite shop, you might want to know what could be ailing, why don't you

give Nick Stoffel ASA certified technician and Lloyd's Automotive, et cetera, a text

or a call but we always like to say do it earlier because our time goes by so quickly

Nick will be with us till about 7.45 so any kind of a car car question we welcome yours,

call us, text us 6514619226.

Nick good morning to you.

Good morning Denny.

How are things Ben at Lloyd's and the other couple of places.

It's been good you know we've had a real like we're talking off there a real hearty

winter here thus far and it looks like we might have a little reprieve in the temperatures

but it's a little more white stuff so you know we're turning the clock here to February

tomorrow and you know we've another the shortest month of the year but hopefully after February

things will start to turn around and we'll get some springtime.

I heard a meteorologist say hey look at it this way come February which is like you said

tomorrow two-thirds of the winter is done so glass half full, glass half empty.

We can hope.

However you want to look at it but do give us a call or if it's easier send us a text

like a lot of folks like to do 6514619226.

Something that came in earlier and I think it's an interesting question we don't really

I don't really think about it maybe I should.

Text to here she wants to know about when should a vehicle get an alignment.

Tell us about that and what kinds of alignment are there.

That's a good question usually based on recommendation when you take it into the shop or service they

can look at the tire wear, the condition of the tires, the condition of the steering

suspension components.

If we do replace any steering or suspension component we are going to want to perform

an alignment to make sure things all line back up once it's reassembled.

If we see any abnormal tire wear it's a good time to check the alignment measurements see

if the tow camber caster which are the three main angles that we look for.

Toe being probably the most common one that's adjustable with your tie rods and that's how

the tires point towards each other away from each other as you head down the road and then

camber and caster kind of the way it canters and the way the wheel contacts the road for

lack of a better description there.

But usually we'll make a recommendation based on tire wear obviously when you replace the

tires a very good time to take a look at that you know you're spending a pretty significant

amount of money on a set of tires you want to do the best you can to have them last as

long as possible so get an alignment done to make sure they're hitting the road straight

and flat will help them prolong their life.

I remember and it was many years ago every so often maybe a car was in an accident or

something and you see it kind of going down the road sideways kind of sideways with you

know a bent frame you don't see at least I haven't seen is that still occur?

No not as much as it used to years ago when a rival drive vehicle had some issues with

the alignment and that straight ax on the back of the vehicle would somehow be off so

therefore it's going to kind of dog track going down the road a little bit or crab walk

a little bit.

We don't see that because we have independent suspension typically all four corners and

most vehicles are front wheel drive or all wheel drive so this the way the cars are designed

these days we don't see it as much as we used to.

Very good.

Let's grab a phone call Nick I think Dave checking in from Lamberton this morning.

Dave thank you what is your question for Nick?

Yeah I've got a 2014 Cadillac SRX it's only got 81,000 miles on it's very low mileage.

I was driving down the road one day and the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree and

the whole thing shut down well we figured it's got to be the alternator so we replaced

the alternator two weeks later driving down the road dashboard lit up like a Christmas

tree it's shut right down again so it's not the alternator got any ideas?

Well the first thing we'd like to do is try to see if there's any data that was stored

if there's any fault codes related to voltage or communication codes a lot of modules behind

the scene communicating obviously the dashboard is going to result of that so if something's

misreading and miscalculated you're going to get some fault codes there and that might

turn those lights on so I think I'd take a step back retrieve some information obviously

the best thing to do is have it at the shop when they experience it unfortunately if it's

every couple weeks you might not be so lucky there so start with the codes from there obviously

you check the alternator we're going to look at the battery some of those contacts connections

voltages and hopefully something's a little bit out of specification that can give us

a lead and a path to take yeah some of those thank you Dave good luck with that some of

these electrical issues it can take a little bit of detective work at yeah we see made

special the intermittent stuff where you know sometimes they're on a one-off you know like

I said sometimes there's a bridge rail chrome that we're a chrome truck chrome trail that

we're going to follow and you know you find a voltage or something's out of specification

that gives you a lead to look at a certain circuit or certain system or module and you

just kind of start dissecting from there pin testing and hopefully you find something

that's wrong and repairable yeah I'm looking at a bunch of text here's one in a two battery

diesel pickup how do you accurately test each battery if they're hooked together I think

them as individuals obviously they do that because they want the more current you know

the voltage is still the 12 volts but they want that extra capacity on a cold morning you know

like we've had in the last couple weeks to give that diesel engine which sometimes that

higher compression that feel might thicken up a little harder to start on those coldest days so

that extra current gives it the extra juice to get it fired up but if you isolate them measure

them individually you can get an idea where they're at I'll call us your Texas my Nick will be

with us till about 745 or so our time goes by so quickly so yeah call us in Texas any any kind of

car care question here's one says good morning I was wondering what your thoughts were about using

Lucas oil fuel treatment in my 2007 Audi a6 quadro for better fuel efficiency thanks for your answer

and I love the show well thank you for that we always get every so often quite often about

additives for you know and what is your your usual answer at least in this case yeah most

commonly I would say I'm out of chemists and I do believe that the engineers and folks have

designed these products to try to do what they are describing on the can of the bottle I will

share based on my experience you cannot fix a broken part or car or system out of a can

however that being said some of those items can do some of the cleaning some of the efficiencies

they can help maintain the vehicle now you have to kind of measure the cost of the product versus

the reality what's going to do for you and you have to do that math on your own but you know

those additives can't they're not all bad you know you take what they are for what they say

and you know just make the judgment call on your own but if something's broken I do know

that it's not going to fix it so that that part I know for sure the rest of it's kind of a

preference I guess is the best way to put it yeah very good let's let's do this nick let's take a

break again inviting our listeners join in if you have any kind of a car care question for

nick stopple doesn't have to be detailed it can be quite simple or it can be detailed call us

text us 6514619226 from newstalk830WCCO it's one above zero and welcome back to

ACCO's car care show Denny along here along with AC certified technician nick stopple from Lloyds

Automotive Nick for those that maybe need some help I know you guys always welcome phone calls

you don't have to bring it in you might feel a couple of questions here and there as you always

do it I know our listeners are appreciative but if folks need to get in touch how do we do it

yeah like you said if you have a question before you take it into your shop your dealership

give us a call we'll help you answer some of those questions that help prepare you

you can reach us at 651-228-1316 and if you happen to be in St. Paul or on Grand Avenue

at 982 Grand Avenue two blocks east of Lexington Parkway and if you need more information do

check out our website which is LloydsAutomotive.net very good nick we'll get you that information

before nick takes his leave which is about 745 or so in the meantime any car care question

love to hear from you by phone by text 651-4619-226 textor says this nick 2015 cross track in last

week's cold the engine light came on along with a blinking cruise control indicator car's running

just fine should I wait for the lights to go off well it could be temperature related typically if

the cruise control system is not operating it's because of something related to that check engine

light so likely it's one issue causing both lights you know I would maybe give it another day or two

and if it doesn't clear up probably take it in and get the code retrieved do a little simple

testing to try to determine what the source of the problem is what we don't want is that this is a

warning of something larger or looming that you ignore and then all of a sudden you have a bigger

problems on your hand so I would I would say give it you know through the weekend come next week

get on somebody's schedule have them retrieve the code do the basic testing give you a little

more information to make a better better decision very good let us grab a phone call this morning

don checking in from new richman I believe don thank you good morning what is your question for nick

good morning I I have a 2019 buick envisioned the other day the tank was full and then the next

time I come to start it a needle went down to a little over a quarter of the tank and still

registers that I'm using gas I put in a three gallon one day just to see if it came up and it

did and pecking on the internet at various ways to reset or recalibrate that gauge and I'm wondering

which is the best way to do that without screwing up everything on the rest of the car well if

there's something with a scan to that we can reset I'd be curious because if there's something with

the sending unit there you think there'd be some sort of information or fault information

you know same thing as the last last text or that I guess I'd probably you know take it in

have them check the codes before you do they can even fill the tank all the way up see if the gauge

comes all the way up go through you know your typical couple hundred miles and see kind of kind

of gauge it right if that's not accurate or if something still seems to be a skew get it in

have them do a little testing there might be something with the sending unit itself something

with the instrument panel with the cluster but as far as a calibration it should be pretty self-set

short of retrieving or resetting any kind of codes very good good luck thank you for the call and

I'm looking at a texture that says this nick I received a supposedly needed repair list for

Toyota Camry 143,000 miles on it it totaled over $4,700 which is more than the car's worth

my biggest curiosity is for a $1,900 rear main seal leak I see nothing leaking on my garage floor

I was planning to drive it down to Texas mid-February what would you recommend

I know you know the answer to this one a second opinion a rear main seal depending you know if

it truly has failed that can be a significant leak I would expect to see some fluid on the

ground you can run out of oil in a quick quick short order there so if it's something that's

weeping or waking show some dampness probably something you can keep monitoring keep an eye on

but I guess I wouldn't be comfortable answering that until it got it up in there and got another

look so I would say make an appointment elsewhere get a second opinion once they've shared what

they've learned share what you've been told and have a conversation maybe yourself better inform

to what you're looking at yeah that's a good idea get another doc's opinion this listener has a

broken cable on my sliding door on my 2014 Toyota Sienna can I fix this and how much time would it

take me how long would it take you that's a great question it depends where it's broken obviously

we try to we want to avoid taking the door off depending how the cables are fed you know can

you do it yourself possibly I would do a lot of research the lesson you want to do is get this door

disassembled it doesn't close anymore now you're stuck having it towed somewhere so I would I would

caution you do a lot of research see what tools are needed to do the job makes you have those tools

based on your comfort level and honestly how long it takes us I don't know I'd have to look in the

labor guide but that's one of those things that you're going to kind of want to partially disassemble

to kind of get a feel for where we're headed sure a man in Northfield sent this text 2019 Chrysler

Pacifica van with a touchscreen controls I had the van in full heat defrost and it suddenly kept

switching to full ac on the touchscreen wasn't responding to attempts to change the temp higher

or move back to heat I tried google resets but the screen didn't restart yesterday I drove fine on a

short drive but now I'm scared to take it out of town if I won't have defrost this winter what are

your thoughts yeah that's a that's a strange one for sure you know you definitely need defrost I

would not advise anybody get in on the road the lesson you want is those windows fogging up and

not be able to see where you're headed that's very dangerous so don't don't do that you know I would

probably you know you know unfortunately the generic answer today is take it in have it looked at

but that's one of those situations where I don't want to advise you to ignore something and you end

up getting in an unfortunate accident or getting stuck somewhere so I would say on the right day

take it in share that story have them do a little investigating and give you some advice on what the

best plan is for you and we talk about this a lot from time to time and that's when you do bring

in your vehicle for service don't don't hesitate giving as much information I mean more is better

than less right to the service that's the funny thing it helps everybody I tell you too much

it's going to cost more well my opinion is the more you tell me the faster we can find the problem so

you know as they're kind of quizzing you asking questions or trying to figure out the source of

the problem or what you know we always say what can we do to duplicate what you're experiencing

because I can send somebody in the car and have them go drive around for a period of time have

them not have the same drives cycle and not experience the problem and that's just a way

so everybody's time and unfortunate their money so let's uh you know kind of cut to the chase for

say and give us the best information obviously you're not going to know the problem but we just

want you to share what you know we can take that information share that with the technician mechanic

that person can then take that do some investigating figure out what the problem is and hopefully get

you back on the road quickly absolutely Nick here's a 2013 poly heated seat stop working

fuse is good Texas says I assume it's under the seat itself do I need to remove the seat to

inspect what would I check next well the fuse is good that gives me some hope that that heating

element hasn't shorted out you know it's a little wired element in the seat pad and from us getting

in and out of the car and moving around the unfortunate spill those types of things can

cause those elements to short out typically we'll see a fuse fail at that point so that's not the

case and I start to wonder about the switch is the switch properly operating do we have another

connection issue a bad ground something that's maybe a little simpler to repair if you have the

access to the wiring diagram maybe you can find out where those connection points are check those

you know unplug plug back in makes no corrosion I wouldn't take the seat out to start disassembling

the seat because you really need to have good practice at that you can get yourself down a

rabbit hole that you can't get out of so I would probably leave that part to the pros but you know

the fuse is good check the switch check some connections hopefully somewhere there you'll

find an answer to your problem here's an interesting question next what's your opinion

on using aftermarket parts versus original equipment parts especially on brakes and

electrical items we do you know price point is part of it you know keep in mind that the

manufacturers assemble vehicles they don't make parts so when you see aftermarket parts of certain

manufacturers that will make alternators brake pads struts that the company that makes them for

the original equipment also make them for the aftermarket so oftentimes we can buy the exact same

part in the aftermarket that can save us some money that being said there's also times when

vehicles age got lots of miles on it you know you're not looking to get that extra hundred

thousand miles or two hundred thousand miles out of it we can make the decision to use maybe

something that maybe fits their needs so there's there's a lot of different reasons to use after

market parts it doesn't mean bad it doesn't mean it's the same quality like quality you know trust

the professionals to do the research to make sure they're finding and filling your needs for your

vehicle but there's a lot of options out there so if you're price conscious there might be a little

more value option there for you very good before we take a break for weather let's grab another

phone call John calling from Mendoza I believe today thank you John what is your question this morning

yes I have a 2010 Sienna mini van with about 230,000 miles on it and runs great but when we

say back out of the driveway and turn the to wheel sharp to get out of the driveway you hear a big

click or a thud up front like a bear on your side I don't know what but when you're driving most of

the time you don't hear it it's not like a cv joint where it's like like walnut it just happens

at one time and if you if you turn real sharp when you're driving it might happen but mostly just

when you're you're you're pulling out you're going slow and you turn the wheel you hear

and then you don't hear it the rest of the time you just wondering what that could be

well that that's interesting and what you're doing is you're really stressing the steering pivot

the suspension pivots my my curiosity is is there like something with a control arm bushing

I don't think a ball joint necessarily but something is loading and popping so you think

what's under a lot of pressure on a very tight turn you know something with the steering linkage

reckon pinion a control arm where that pivots at the suspension something like that is binding

up and popping as you release it you know obviously it's not doing it when you headed down the road

because you're not putting the same kind of stress on it that doesn't mean that it's okay though so

oh if I just don't back out of the driveway and a tight turn it goes away not necessarily too that

might be a kind of giving you heads up that there's something there a bushing like I said I don't

think it's a ball joint or necessarily tie rod but I wonder about the reckon pinion something that

has a little more substance to it so I would I would probably say keep an eye on it next hand

me in for service share that exact example have them take it back it out of the driveway really

tight turn and see if they can get that to happen get in the air and kind of investigate that

corner of the vehicle to see if they can see a source of wear and tear we're good hang on nick

we're going to take a break for that forecast and be right back with the remaining minutes

next outfit from Lloyd's automotive answering those car care questions here at 6514619226

from News Talk 830W CCO and welcome back to CC's car care show thanks to next outfit from Lloyd's

automotive we are here every saturday right after the seven o'clock news break oh nick I want to

alert our listeners if we don't get to all the answer all the questions we're going to save them

and we'll open up the show with those very questions on next week's show all right let's see here

where are we 2013 f-150 had some scraping noise started in the front driver's side wheel thought

it was a brake problem took the caliper off the pads seem to have have plenty there any thoughts

there could it be a caliper problem with that scraping noise typically you know the pads look

fine the next thing we want to do is that the edges of the brake rotor where the pads make contact

but sometimes a little ridge develops a little bump there and that bump believe it or not as small as

it might appear can create one heck of a noise so a lot of times we'll take it put on the brake

cut that resurface that get that lip off of that rotor reinstall it and oftentimes that'll resolve

the problem i wouldn't take any kind of grinder or anything like that i would probably fear if

you got them apart you could take the rotors off the vehicle take it to a shop have them

like i said resurface those rotors for you and see if that doesn't resolve the problem all right

let's say grab another phone call this morning jim checking in francesca this morning

hi jim good morning what what's your question for nick

okay i've got it at 2011 lexus suv and the remote start doesn't work any longer and

it's got 220 000 on it and the best car i've ever owned

well usually if the remote start doesn't work and it's the original equipment the

remote start you could take it in the dealer that might have a way of testing some of those

components i will i do know factually if the check engine light is on that remote start

original equipment is not going to work so if you have any kind of warning lights on the dash

you might need to get those fixed before that system will work again if it's an aftermarket

remote start and if you have you can try to figure who installed it originally go back to that

operation see if they have any uh know how or any clues to what what might have failed there

but yeah if it's an original equipment you go back to the dealership they should be able

to kind of help sort that through for you very good thanks for the call i'm looking at another

text we got a bunch my toio doesn't say what kind we'll be getting new front and rear aftermarket

struts do you think all struts have a break-in period where the car rides kind of stiff for a while

uh i would say not measurable um you know once they exercise you know once the test drive after

installed i would think that they'd be seated and working properly if you're noticing something

different after a period of time i'd probably get it back um they can recheck the application

make sure it's not something wrong with one of the components or parts uh if it's one corner

of the vehicle especially then we say okay one of these is defective if it's the whole vehicle

it just might be the fact that they were so worn now they're properly dampening you just don't

don't realize the difference all right i was thinking this next text to myself this past week

lots of jump starters for sale online texture says a lot of sizes from a thousand amp on up what

size should i get for a car pickup and farm equipment that's a bit of a range on a passenger vehicle

you know the the truth is that the starting system is going to take a couple hundred amps

two hundred fifty three hundred amps uh the capacity is the wiring if if you're taking

i know they advertise up to a thousand cranking amps so it's never going to pull that that's its

capacity um and you assume that the higher the rating the more capacity what sometimes is true

sometimes it's marketing um so just you know be cautious you know you don't need the biggest

and greatest for your regular vehicle you talk about farm equipment that's a whole other you know

a whole other deal it's same with like a diesel engine it's a whole other operation there so

but your standard passenger vehicle the ones that they sell at the the local parts store some of these

surplus type places are probably just sufficient enough for your vehicle so i wouldn't i wouldn't

overdo it for a passenger car for a passenger okay uh i have a 2008 Honda pilot about 200,000

miles on it when i got my oil change the mechanics of the engine oil pump is leaking oil where is it

leaking oil to and what is the fifth it fix and is it urgent so that kind of you know those those

rotating leaks now a gasket leak like a valve cover gasket oftentimes is a seeping leak that can

become more significant something that's directly ready to have rotating component like the rear

main seal they talked about earlier a pump that they're talking about where there's a rotating shaft

or a crankshaft our fear is that that seal were to come dislodge that there's nothing to hold the

oil back and you can go from full to empty in a very short order so i would be cautious there

i would get a little more information okay the oil pump is leaking is this something that

is externally leaking where i'm going to see something on the ground is there something

internally where the rest of the engine is not being lubricated you need a little more

information before you make that decision but typically when there's a seal that's under pressure

those are the ones that worries the most because that doesn't give much of a warning

and unfortunately it could be going down the road and lose a whole lot of oil in short order and have

a significant problem yeah all right let's see i think we have time maybe one more listener bought

a 2016 Chevy Equinox that now has an oil gunk problem throughout the engine evidently they did not

change the oil frequently is there something i can add to fresh oil to resolve this problem quicker

no my worry there is if you you know if you dislodge something it gets caught up somewhere else

and blocks an oil passage i think if you use a high grade high quality maybe higher in the

detergent type oil increase the frequency of the oil changes to try to help free that up you know

maybe you do one every thousand miles for two three cycles here just to try to kind of get that out

of there use a higher quality filter so it can collect more of that debris but i'd be i'd hesitate

from putting something in there that could loosen something and create a bigger problem for you

now we talk about this next question from time to time and i think it's simple but important what

type of lubricant texas they should be used on the hood latch of a vehicle we try to use something

that's not going to collect any dirt and gum up you know so a lot of the lithiums or some of those

lighter white products are sufficient just be careful you'd like to say don't use something

that's really oil based that's going to collect a bunch and kind of gum it up and make it worse

you know singles for you know door locks hinges anything that's operating you don't want to you

know it's good today but tomorrow it's seized up so we don't want that situation so something that's

a really light like a lithium type product that's not going to gum up a bunch of stuff you don't

want yeah you don't want to collect everything that flies through the air uh nick we're just about

out of time i'm going to save as i mentioned uh some of these uh in fact all of them that we

didn't get to and we'll open up the show next week in the meantime before we let you go how do

we find you guys at Lloyd's yeah uh so next week i will be calling from hermond town it'll be our

last hockey tournament of the year so uh spring is on its way so everybody just don't worry here

but if you have a question in the meantime give us a call uh 651-228-1316 as always if you're in

st paul we're at 982 grand avenue and if you need that information or more check out the website

which is loydsautomotive.net we will do that very thing thanks nick for everything all the help

listeners appreciate it have a good week and good luck to everybody up there and let's do this one

more time next week that one more time at least next week all right we'll see you then thanks any

very good next outfit from Lloyd's now get ready for Ted Ferrell's wine chat

and they get those lawn of garden questions ready for master gardener Teresa Rooney

in the eight o'clock hour straight ahead here news talk eight three oh w cco

Answers on Alignment, Gas Gauge Giving Problems, Remote Start Repairs

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