Car Talk Show Offering Tips for Affordable Vehicle Repairs
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47:57
Company
Lowe's
Lowe's is a store that sells home-improvement stuff. Here they’re talking about a subscription that helps with home maintenance tasks.
Concept
electric dryer vent cleaning
Dryer vent cleaning is maintenance that helps prevent lint buildup, which can reduce airflow and increase fire risk. It’s mentioned here as an example of the kind of home service the subscription would handle.
Company
CarMax
CarMax is a used-car store. They’re advertising that you can shop online and get pre-qualified before you buy.
Company
Berkeley One Classics
Berkeley One Classics is an insurance company for classic/collector cars. They’re sponsoring the show to promote that service.
Concept
collector car insurance
Collector car insurance is for classic cars. It’s designed to fit how these cars are usually owned and driven, not like a normal daily car.
Term
replica OEM wheels
Replica OEM wheels are aftermarket wheels made to match the design of factory wheels (OEM = original equipment manufacturer). Enthusiasts often choose them for appearance while trying to keep costs down compared with genuine OEM parts.
Term
OBD2
OBD2 is the car’s computer system that watches the engine and emissions. When something goes wrong, it saves a code so a mechanic can figure out what failed.
Term
partially plugged fuel filter
A partially clogged fuel filter doesn’t completely block fuel, but it slows it down. When you push the engine harder, the lack of fuel can cause bogging and misfires.
Company
Advanced Auto Parts
Advanced Auto Parts is a store that sells car parts. They can also plug into your car and read the error codes for free, which helps you figure out what might be wrong before you pay a mechanic.
Term
catalytic converter
The catalytic converter is part of your exhaust system that cleans up the car’s fumes. If it’s plugged or failing, the car may run poorly and the check-engine light may come on.
Term
precious metals
Inside the catalytic converter are special metals that help clean the exhaust. Cheaper converters often use less of those metals, so they may not clean as well.
Part
engine oil cooler
An engine oil cooler is like a small radiator for your engine oil. It helps keep the oil from getting too hot, which is good for engine health.
Term
185-degree thermostat
A 185-degree thermostat means the cooler doesn’t really kick in until the oil gets to around 185°F. If it’s too low, the oil might not warm up as well; if it’s right, it helps prevent overheating.
Company
Mishimoto
Mishimoto is a company that makes aftermarket cooling parts. Their oil cooler kits are designed to work on a lot of different cars.
Concept
engine oil temperature
Engine oil temperature is how hot the oil gets while the engine is running. The hotter it gets, the more important it is that the oil still lubricates properly.
Concept
engine coolant temperature
Engine coolant temperature is the temperature of the liquid that absorbs heat from the engine and carries it to the radiator. The speaker’s point is that oil temperature often correlates with coolant temperature because both are influenced by engine heat generation and cooling system performance.
Brand
Amsoil
Amsoil is a brand of motor oil and related additives. The host is saying their oil helped keep engine oil cooler and better protected.
Term
reduce friction
Reducing friction means there’s less “rubbing” inside the engine. Less rubbing usually means less heat and less wear.
Term
reduce heat
Reducing heat helps the engine oil stay in its “sweet spot.” If oil doesn’t get as hot, it lasts longer and protects the engine better.
Term
195 thermostat
That “195” is basically the temperature the thermostat is designed to start opening at. It helps the engine settle into a consistent operating temperature.
Company
Justice Brothers
Justice Brothers is a company that makes oil additives you can buy to add to your engine oil. Here, they’re being mentioned because their products include ZDDP and are marketed for engine protection.
Company
car-part.com
car-part.com is a website where you can find auto parts, often used parts. It can be a good way to get the right part for a repair without paying brand-new prices.
Term
OEM replica wheels
These are replacement wheels that copy the factory wheel design. People buy them when they want the car to look original but want a better price.
Company
Redfin
Redfin is a real-estate company that helps people buy homes. Here, they’re just talking about how it helps you go from browsing to actually making a purchase.
Company
Road Ready Wheels
Road Ready Wheels is a company that sells replacement wheels for cars. They offer different wheel types (like aluminum or steel) and try to make them look and fit like factory wheels, but for less money.
Term
aftermarket wheels
Aftermarket wheels are wheels you buy from a company other than the car’s brand. They can look great, but you have to make sure they fit your car correctly.
Company
BerkeleyClassics.com
They’re saying you can get a quote online at BerkeleyClassics.com. It’s a faster way to check pricing instead of waiting on a phone call.
Term
ABS
ABS helps keep your wheels from locking up when you brake hard. If it detects a problem with wheel-speed readings, it lights up an ABS warning.
Term
timing chain
The timing chain keeps the engine’s moving parts “in sync.” If it slips or breaks, the valves can open at the wrong time and the engine can be damaged.
Term
top dead center
Top dead center is a specific spot in the engine’s cycle where the piston is at the top. Mechanics use it to line everything up before checking valve timing.
Term
read the codes
“Reading the codes” means using an OBD-II scanner to retrieve stored diagnostic trouble codes from the vehicle’s computer. The speaker recommends doing this right after warning lights appear to narrow down the cause quickly.
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Welcome to the Under the Hood Show podcast.
Thanks very much for listening and don't forget you can subscribe to our YouTube page or follow
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morning from 9 to 11 central and we do have some podcast sponsors.
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Thanks for listening to the Under the Hood Show podcast.
Here's the show.
This is Under the Hood.
Welcome to the Under the Hood Show.
We are glad to have you with us.
Russ Evans is here to answer your automotive questions.
Thanks for joining us under the hood.
Shannon Nordstrom is not here to answer your automotive questions.
Yeah, I wanted to check.
I mean, I could see that he's not there, but I wanted to, you know, it's a radio show.
So I wanted to hear, make sure he's not here.
He's not.
866-594-4158.
I'm Chris Carter.
That phone number, that I'll be the first one once you get past our call screener and
producer, Doug, then I'll pick up and say, Hey, you're on the end of the hood.
I am the gatekeeper.
He is. He's the gatekeeper.
He's laughing.
866-594-4150.
And with Shannon gone, that means we have one fewer voice.
So and I would say it's not 33% fewer voice.
I would say that I'm like 10 to 20% of the voice on the show.
And you guys are each the other 40, 40 each.
So without him, it's like we have 40% to 50% more space for callers.
So when I'm done talking, next call.
Yeah, just right off.
Let's talk to Lee and Michigan first.
Lee, you're on the end of the hood show.
What can we do for you?
OK, I have a 2003 Buickler Saber.
The light on the dash doesn't go off like it should be.
It says the engine light service light.
And when I I've got information about
disconnecting the negative battery terminal and wait 15 minutes, then attach it.
The light went out, but three days later, it came back on again.
And then sometimes if you drive up to, let's say, 75 miles an hour,
it'll start blinking on and off.
And then if you decrease your speed, she'll go up, she'll stop blinking.
Well, what you got going on there is a car with an OBD2 onboard diagnostic system
to that is capable of diagnosing all the sensors on that engine
and the running condition of it very thoroughly.
So what's happening is when you're driving on the road, the flash indicates
a engine misfire and when you slow down and the misfire is gone away,
it's going to stop flashing, but it's going to stay on.
And on an OBD2 system, there's no way you can ever clear the codes
by disconnecting the battery.
We have computers that we take off our shelves over at Nordstrom's Auto Recycling
that have been on the shelf for five years.
We install them into a car.
And if I read the codes, it'll give me the codes that were in the car.
It came out of that they're still there, but we flash program those with the new
program and it overwrites all that and starts off new.
But the point is that they'll stay.
You can't just clear it by disconnecting the battery any longer.
It's going to come back on.
So what we need to do is plug it in, find out what those codes are and find
out what needs to be done to repair it.
On an O3, the Sabre with a flashing check engine light, that's already giving
me a short diagnostic and telling me we have an engine misfire and things.
It can cause a high RPM misfire like that on the highway on those cars.
One thing that's pretty common is just the fuel filter.
That car still has a fuel filter on the line under the car.
Oh, that's nice, right?
Yeah, that's great.
Not in the tank.
So if you have a partially plugged fuel filter at higher RPM where it needs more
fuel, it's going to bog down and it's going to cause that misfire.
That's, that's one of the things that could be doing that.
It could also have some spark plug wire issues on an older one, but it's, we
see more of them with something like a fuel filter when it's just doing it at
very high RPM on the highway like that.
I would take that car down to if you could either take it to a shop and
have them diagnose it and give you all the info on it and then give you a plan
of what it would cost to repair it.
Or you could start out by taking it to advanced auto parts.
They're one of our partners.
And one of the things that they do is we'll, they'll do a free code scan of
your car and that, that can help you out.
And if you got that code scan, you could even call us back next week and say,
guys, I called you last week.
I got my code scan and advanced auto parts and they told me I had a, this,
this code.
What do you think the things could be that way?
You're a little better armed when you go into a auto repair shop, um, by us
giving you some, some advice there for free of what it could, one of some of
the things it could be and get a few filter, ask them to read the codes and
just get a few filtered.
Yeah, it's, it's time for a fuel filter on that car.
If you don't know when the last time you put one on for sure, right?
Yeah.
Well, I, yeah, I know there was a filter in the gas tank, but I had that
repaid a few months ago.
Okay.
Then that's on the line.
There was enough.
Okay.
If you put one in, it would have been in the line on that car.
So that's, that's a good start.
If it flashed before and after that, that means something a different direction.
Now it still could be fuel.
It could be that the pump is weak, but those can be checked.
I would start first with that engine code.
Find out what it thinks is going on and give us a better direction of what's up.
All right.
This, this is what I got.
I did go to a auto place and they did.
I had them do a can deal.
I've got the information here.
They had a engine, misfire detected.
It was a PO 300.
That's random.
And then there was, right.
And then they had a PO 420.
Oh, the catalyst system, you know, so I didn't know if it'd be a converter,
catalytic converter, but you're going to get that emissions code every time you
have a misfire, it's going to cause that code.
So you, you want to find out what's causing the misfire.
First, it could be a catalytic converter, plugging up from age and maybe a little
oil burning or coolant burning.
Those cars were kind of famous for intake manifolds.
We can, we have a Toyota in our shop today that has a misfire.
It started out at higher RPM.
Now it's in, in mid RPM.
It's an Amelon and it's got a plugged catalytic converter.
So it, that's a plausible item as well.
Now, if I put a converter on there, can I put a after market converter on there?
Or do I have to stay with the company converter?
If it needs a catalytic converter, you find out that's definitely what it needs.
You could go with an aftermarket, but you want to go with a name brand quality
aftermarket one, because some of the aftermarket ones are very cheaply made.
They're made just to get the light off long enough to sell the car, basically.
They're not full of the precious metals like they should be.
They're very, very low on that to save cost.
So you want to get a good, high quality one.
And you don't want to, you don't want to replace that unless you know that's the problem.
You want to know because it's going to be expensive.
Four figures.
No, you're probably going to be somewhere between four hundred and eight hundred
dollars cut on the quality of what you get and who puts it on for you.
Lee, thanks very much for the call.
Good luck.
We appreciate you listening.
We hope we helped you out.
866-594-4150.
That's the number to reach us here at the end of the hood show.
Let's talk to Brandon.
You're on the end of the hood show, Brandon.
What can we do for you?
Hi, guys.
Thanks for taking my call.
You bet.
Go ahead.
Um, I got a twenty eighteen.
Yep.
Hey, just in the shop here.
I'm going to get to a quieter place.
Okay, good.
Yeah, it's very loud there.
You sound like there's some work going on in the background.
Now he's running up the stairs in a case that he shot by work.
Oh, okay.
You know, jumping into a combine, a combine cab.
Probably our most expensive seating for a call today.
That's an older one.
So it's not, it's not a newer one.
I think we'll get a different one.
That's a little bit newer, but I got a twenty eighteenths of a roof rustrick.
And I got, I got about one hundred and forty two thousand miles on it.
We do like, I got a little E-Pro 12 RK camper that I pull with it.
And like I said, we go up to the black hills, going to bed and stuff, you know, and it seems
like every time when we're going out, you know, the temperature is about 90, 95.
So you're cruising across I-90 at sixty five seventy and my little temperature is always,
you know, around two fifty to sixty.
So I've been wanting to put an engine oil cooler on and I finally did that this year.
And I'm just wondering, so it's like, you know, normally normal temp is two
ten to two twenty, you know, this has a hundred eighty five degree thermostat in it
on the Tamishimoto universal engine oil cooler.
Is that one eighty five?
Is that going to be too low?
Do you think you think I should try to find a higher thermostat to put in that?
You talk about it.
Is it an engine oil thermostat or an engine coolant thermostat?
Yeah, well, the engine oil, it's a thermostatic cooler.
It's a Mishimoto aftermarket universal.
I have a ten row cooler on it.
That's what I was wondering.
So that's the minimum time that it needs to do.
And your should it be yes.
Well, what so how that works is the engine does its normal thing and the oil runs
its normal circuit and it runs through the cooler once it hits that one eighty five.
So you're you're fine.
It's only optimizing that cooler when it gets to that point, when it gets that
yeah, yeah, and I noticed I noticed my CVT temperature.
I also kind of dropped down what I thought was kind of weird and stuff, too.
But I suppose the engine cooler is kind of keeping that CVT all of it down a little bit on all of it.
And it's it's important to keep that down.
Typically, your engine oil temperature is going to run
somewhere along the lines of your engine coolant temperature.
Well, all the vehicles, trucks and stuff, I drive when I'm watching them.
If the engine is running at two hundred, I'm running the oil
temperate two hundred to two ten.
If it's running two twenty, that that oil is going to be two twenty to two thirty.
So but two fifty is really high.
So it's really getting a load.
And a lot of those cars had a towing package with the crew.
And that's yeah, usually, like I said, is when we got the camper and stuff on
and I've been running Amsoil, then, you know, I don't know what your thoughts are.
Amsoil, but I've been running that since forty thousand.
Even before I put the cooler on when I switched to the Amsoil zero or W twenty.
It seems like that even dropped about six, seven degrees.
Just, you know, having that in there, it will when you run a one hundred and forty thousand.
One hundred and forty.
If you run a product for an additive like that, the companies and the partners,
we partner with the have additives that have metal conditioner in them.
That's going to reduce friction.
And when you reduce friction, you're going to reduce heat.
So if you're running an Amsoil product in there, yes, you would run,
you're going to with the additive that's in it, you're going to reduce friction
and reduce heat and that's that that's important on an engine.
If you can drop, you know, even five, ten degrees overall,
that that can be a big difference in a lifeline for an engine.
That hundred eighty five degrees, though, you don't think that's going to be too cool.
That's not going to cause any issue.
No, no, I think two or five to two, two twenty.
No, I think I think it'll be just fine.
That's the minimum temp.
It's going to get hotter than that as you drive it.
That's when it starts to do its.
It's just a minimum piece of business low as it'll let it get.
Because as the engine warms up, it's still going to get hotter.
It's just like a thermostat in an engine.
If you've got a one ninety five thermostat, it's going to keep it at a minimum
of one ninety five and it's going to go up as soon as the engine warms up.
And it's it's always going to be hotter now.
And how long have you been using this thing to tow?
You know,
since probably about twenty twenty nineteen, we bought the camper.
OK, but I don't think you said it has a I have a two inch Ironman lift on it
with the heavy duty suspension and everything and stuff.
And yeah, I got a hundred forty thousand.
We've last year, we made two trips out of the Black Hills with it.
We've gone.
We do a lot of North Memphis camping and stuff.
But I probably got thirty thousand miles pulling in it.
Like I said, it runs.
You don't have the camper on, you know, thirteen to eighty miles to the gallon
and stuff depends on the depends on the wind and stuff.
But it's still better, I guess, than five to six that some of these guys
get with the great big campers and their big trucks.
For sure. There you go, Brandon.
Thanks very much for the call.
I'm that's kind of impressive to me that that cross track's been pulling
that thing for years.
That's not a very heavy camper, but still you're you're getting the job done
and getting better miles per gallon.
That's not too bad.
Eight six six five nine four four one five.
That's the number to reach us here at the end of the hood show.
Let's talk to Tom.
You're on the end of the hood show.
Tom, what can we do for you?
Yes, I just want to clarify something you guys said to a caller a couple of weeks
ago, I think he was working on the 98 Jeep restoration.
OK, you had talked about doing a thing additive to the oil.
Oh, yeah.
Is is that for all older engines?
I have a 86 Toyota F5 as an engine rebuilt.
And I'm wondering if I should be adding that to mine.
Well, yes, unless the engine has been rebuilt with newer.
Modern hardened parts, what happens is the camshafts are the problems
with the high wear.
They've got such high pressure to them and they're a high wear item.
So if you put it, if they put it in a hardened steel camshaft, then you wouldn't
have that problem, but a lot of them are not.
And the cam is where the things wear out like the Jeep engines.
They would eat the cams up the old Chevy engines and Ford engines.
We'd have cams.
So OK, there's now would they replace the cam on a normal rebuild?
Because this was only done about two years ago.
Your engine rebuilt, maybe three.
Did you have the engine that was in the vehicle rebuilt?
Or did you buy a remanufactured engine?
No. OK, you had to rebuild from the desert.
Then in most cases, they're going to inspect the cam.
And if it looks good, they're going to leave it in there because buying
camshafts for those Toyotas is can be pretty hard.
They're very expensive and they can be hard to find.
There's a lot of stuff that's not made for.
Engines, you can't get certain things.
So they'll say, well, let's replace what's bad and which would be.
I mean, they do pistons and rings and bearings and things, timing components,
but camshafts, they're likely to leave behind.
So when in doubt, put a protectant in those older engines to keep them from wearing.
And let's talk about that.
What the additive you were talking about with the with the Jeep and with this
Toyota, if I'm listening right now and I have an older engine, tell me what
you're talking about quick.
They, they have a, they've taken the zinc and the ZDP out of engine oils as
foreign emissions thing.
It was a government mandated thing years ago.
And when they did that, it caused more friction in these engines because it
provided lubrication.
So if it's not in there, some of the parts can wear out very quickly.
Like within miles, if it's a brand new engine and it's still got old style
camshafts and things with a high pressure non-roller, they'll just
flat-tap it cams, eat them up.
So you buy the zinc additive and you put it in at every oil change and it's
available.
You can pick it up at advanced auto parts and throw it in there with your
oil when you change it.
And it's just little bottle that you buy.
If I'm, if I have a current car and am I just wasting money by editing it by
editing it for me, not going to wreck anything.
No, for me, I use it and that's my choice.
They say you don't have to, and some people even say, don't put it in because
you're going to ruin your catalytic converter.
And for my personal thought on my own vehicle, you can make your own decision.
But for me, if I have an engine that doesn't burn oil, I use like on my newest
vehicle, that's a 21, which is not very new.
I put it in there and it doesn't use a drop of oil between oil changes.
I pull the stick out.
It's at exactly where I filled it to.
So you know, that's not, I know it's not burning.
So how is it going to get out of the oil and into my catalytic converter?
If it doesn't burn it.
Now, if you got a car that's burning a lot of oil and you're putting
something in there as an additive, it's going to go in there.
Pollution of that.
Yeah.
And if it's burning that much oil, the additive is not going to do any good.
Anyways, it's already worn out.
Does that help you out there, Tom?
Yes, it does.
I've only done one oil change on it so far.
So I'm not too bad.
Yeah.
Well, thank you for, I thought you're sure that was going to be your answer,
but I'm sure if I had the question that the people had it too.
So I want to have that clarified for us.
We appreciate it.
Sure you go.
Thanks, Tom.
And for our partner, Justice Brothers has a ZDDP additive.
They do.
It's going to be in basically everything.
They've got a metal conditioner additive in all their products that are for oil.
And when we talk about, I want to just quick, I got a minute here.
When we list our partners, when we tell someone to do that, it's because you guys
use it.
Because I use it.
I know it worked.
So now I want to pass it on to you like this gentleman calling us saying,
what do I do?
And there may be other products that are just as good as the one we're suggesting.
Or there may be some really bad ones.
But when we suggest it's not, yeah, exactly.
Because we've done it or we've gone to that store.
We work with that store.
So that's why we do that.
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Welcome back, everybody.
It's time to get back under the hood with our motor medics.
866-594-4150.
That's the number to reach us here at the end of the Hood Show.
Don't forget, if you miss an episode, you can find it wherever you get your
podcast and you can watch the show on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page.
If you subscribe to the YouTube channel and join the Hoodie fan club at
underthehoodshow.com, you could win a hoodie.
Like Miles Lyons, congratulations from our friends over at Berkeley One Classics.
They're celebrating over 50 years of collector car coverage.
And they're the ones we trust with our own collector cars and our performance cars.
We should talk to someone at Berkeley One about the proposed classic car laws
that are out there right now and being...
You mean like that one coming up in Minnesota?
Yeah. Where the Berkeley One Classics office is near my house.
Yeah, we should.
But that's just nuts, the whole thing.
So we'll see if it gets written down as law or not.
And it looks like it might, but it's really, it's one of those things,
kind of like the EPA things.
People say, oh, I didn't know that.
No, that's been a law since 1972.
And then the thing they're trying to, it looks like they're just trying to enforce
something that people are taking advantage of.
But it's unfair to the thousands of people that are following the rules on it.
So people police yourself and then the police won't have to police you.
Let's talk to Don in Pennsylvania.
Don, you're on the end of the hood show.
What can we do for you?
Hey, guys, how are you doing today?
Fantastic, Don. What's going on?
This, this is a guy with a million dollar Tahoe.
So I just, I just have to thank Russ for the advice for the manifolds.
I got the doorman manifolds put on.
Everything's great, but there's still one issue.
Every time I hit a bump, the track control alarm comes on and dings.
And so I hit another bump and then it goes back off.
Where would the wiring be at that I should start looking for this at?
We would start with a scanner and see which
part of the system the computer of the ABS thinks has the failure.
And how we're going to do that, it's not going to give you a code typically.
It's probably going to be a data thing where a person will have to ride in the
passenger side while you're driving, you hit the bump, you have the issue.
You look at the data and it says left front, right front, left rear, right rear,
and they're all cruising along at 30 miles an hour.
And let's say the right rear drops to 22 and then comes back again.
That's your wheel. That's the issue.
You've got to find which one is, one of these things just doesn't belong here.
You know, one of these things just isn't the same.
Mm-hmm.
You'll find out I'm looking for a wheel sensor.
I'm thinking one of the wheel sensors or the wiring to that wheel sensor is going
to have a break in it or a failure, tone ring, something that's out.
And it's going to cause a variance in speed at just one of the wheels.
And if that happens, it's going to turn that track light on the ABS.
Something's going to happen.
And the only way to find people read codes and say, I don't have any codes.
What do you think it is?
Well, let's look at the data.
Let's see what's coming in because it thinks it's a normal occurrence.
It thinks one wheel is actually stopping, turning slower than the rest or speeding up.
So that, that is why it gives, gives that indication.
It's not actually the computer doesn't see a broken part like an open
sensor or a shorted sensor.
It sees a variance in it, which would be normal if you're driving down a gravel
road and you hit the brakes and it slides or on ice or something.
That would be a normal occurrence.
So you've got to read that data and find out what's going on.
All right.
I thought maybe it was like something crazy.
Like I'd been tracking down, but it could be simpler than you think.
Okay.
Yep.
A 99 Z71 Chevy.
Uh, I just found one on marketplace.
What's your opinion on those?
Good vehicle or something to, there's something I should look for.
They're pretty good overall.
Um, is that a, an old body style or a new?
Does it have a five three in it or does it have a three 50 in it?
Five three.
Five three.
Good.
Then, then you're in that new body style, not a, not a bad, um, because
the 1500s would have had the five three.
And if it's a, if it's, if it's moved to that new LS platform, they were pretty
good trucks and 99s, the transmissions were pretty good.
The engines were pretty good.
Do your regular service on them.
Overall, they're usually pretty good.
He said it's four speed automatic.
Yep.
Five three, um, 131,000 miles per 3,800.
I thought the price was a little low.
So I thought there may be some wrong.
Yeah.
That is pretty low for, I would expect to see that probably closer to 10 grand.
If the body's in good shape, you can't, you just can't find
a good used car anymore for a little money.
So I would, I would, if that was here, I'd snap that up myself.
Even with a bad engine, I might be tempted to grab it at 3,800 bucks and put an engine in it.
Well, come to where we have the home of the little league world series and you'll find it.
There you go.
William sport.
I wanted to, there was a time I wanted to go to the little league world series.
Then I, then they all got better than me.
You know what I mean?
There's a time where my skill dropped enough that I don't need to go be shown up by a
bunch of 12 year olds, eight, six, six, five, nine, four, four, one, five.
Oh, that's the number to reach us here at the end of the hood show.
Let's go to Colorado and talk to Kevin.
You're on the end of the hood show.
Kevin, what can we do for you?
Hey, uh, I'm having a hard time passing the missions on my 2004 Jeep grand
Cherokee, it's got the straight six and, uh, it's funny because I've passed every
test, I just can't seem to pass them all at the same time.
Um, so one test might knock since I another test, my CO is high.
So it's pretty frustrating.
Do you think my K and N air filter has something to do with that?
The fluctuating that can put my stock one back in.
Yeah, I would say if you've got a problem with this, I would do two things that are
very important.
Step one, put the stock air box back on it, at least for the emissions test.
Step two, run CRCs guaranteed to pass emission system cleaner and the G two P
cleaner that makes a world of difference goes in the fuel tank and you want to run
that I, if it were me, I would fill that thing with about Jeep, about three quarters
of a tank of gas, I would put the CRC G two P, the guarantee to pass into that
fuel tank, I would run it down to about a quarter and then I would pull into the
emission station and have it smogged.
Okay, get it good, clean and fresh because if you've got, if you've got a cat, a
converter that's a little dirty, you've got injectors that are a little dirty,
that intakes a little dirty, just a little bit in a vehicle like that can cause it
to, to have high Knox readings and give you all sorts of issues.
So you get it cleaned.
I mean, that's cleanliness on an emissions vehicle is not passing.
That's 90% of all the problems on all of them when they fail.
Right.
Yeah, it changed my oil and it runs good, you know, so I, I don't think that that's
an issue because I mean, it does, it runs awesome.
Probably just a little dirty.
Yeah, I ran the Berryman, the Berryman Kimtool stuff that you guys like.
I ran that through there.
But yeah, I'll try the CRC and you don't think it's my cat because we're
wouldn't, wouldn't they spike a lot higher?
You know, I'm, I'm like right there.
I'm like barely not passing.
Yeah, it's probably just dirty cat.
I mean, the cat is starting to get dirty.
Yeah.
But that the, yeah, as they age, they do weird stuff and it might be that it's just
the next time it needs to be done, it's going to be too, too far back.
You know, I don't know when, when do they stop testing in your state for, for years?
What's the cutoff?
25 years, 30 years, 25.
So yeah, you're getting close.
Kevin, thanks very much for the call.
Good luck.
That is a, when you're, when it's not the same result every time that can be frustrating.
When you, you're not.
Yeah.
It's going to be based on temperature as you drive it, you know, the, the heat
and the ambient temperature outside is going to affect your, your mission system is going
to be a different temperature and it can cause all sorts of weird things and smog tests,
they can be rough because you'll take it into a shop and a lot of them don't even want to
work on it for a smog issue because they're like, well, you have no codes, the fuel trims
are good, it's running good.
Right.
Well, now they have to put a sniffer in the tailpipe, read the emissions and then try to
address what the problem is.
Oh, we have, we have high NOX.
I mean, are we, are we dumping too much fuel in a car?
Are we running it too, a little too lean is a computer bad?
What, what is causing the readings that we have?
Whatever, whatever's higher, whatever's low, it can be tricky.
You know, thankfully we live in a state without that.
So if the fuel trims are good and it runs good and there's no codes, you know, we, we feel
good about it.
866-594-4150, that's the number to reach us here at the end of the hood show.
Let's talk to John in Kansas.
You're on the end of the hood show.
John, what can we do for you?
I was wondering if you could kind of give us an update or from your professional perspective,
are we going to see anything happen with the death systems, the legislation,
you know, the EPA requirements is easy question.
Does death go away?
Will that happen?
We talked about this last week in the after show quite a bit, right?
Well, that was in the after show that we did that.
Yeah, why don't you just ask me something easy, like when will all wars in the world end?
Yeah, how's the war going?
Let me sum it up because I don't know anything.
Okay.
So let me just.
Then you know as much as I do.
What I, what we kind of said last week, I tried to be succinct, but you guys were too
deep in the woods on it right now.
No matter today, whatever's been said doesn't affect anything yet or anybody or anybody.
And once it does, it might not affect your vehicle at all.
So make sure you do nothing different right now with your vehicle.
No matter what you hear, don't change what you're doing at all, right?
Right.
More than likely, if there is a change, the first step, step A, step one of the change will be that
vehicles built from that day forward when it's allowed will still use death.
In fact, there, the, the reading of it, the way I read it and interpreted it,
every vehicle will still be required to use death.
New ones, old ones, doesn't matter what it is, but they will all start using
a different sensor.
Instead of reading that stupid death sensor, which fails all the time on these vehicles
and leaves people stranded and cost truckers and people thousands of dollars in lost time,
which is the issue here.
They're going to be reading it off of the oxygen sensor in the, in the exhaust system.
Basically, they're going to just use that to determine is death being injected or not.
They know it is because there's a change in the other sensors in the system,
as soon as you start dropping death in there, it changes it.
So they're going to use that to see if the injector is working.
And if they do that, then the new vehicles will have it.
And step B is to develop a program that will be done by the manufacturers
in order to change how it's reading on the old ones.
It's not a delete.
A lot of people think it's, that it's a delete and it's going away and they're,
they're putting it out there on YouTube is that it is not there.
They're just trying to stop this thing where it shuts the vehicle down and leaves you stranded.
The third thing of this is to attack that computer.
So when it would shut you down quickly and make you park the vehicle,
basically until it was fixed, now it will allow it to go a lot further.
So those are the, those are the three main key points of this.
And hopefully I, I like that one.
They make it work and save you time and money by getting,
being able to get it fixed when it needs to.
And if I have a vehicle that uses DEF or I've had problems with the same,
there's no world where I get away with not just stop adding it and I don't have to do anything.
There's no scenario here where I can just stop buying DEF.
Right. None of, none of these, none of their proposals that were up there
included taking it out of the vehicle.
Or yeah, or, or just not, you know, at best, even if they did all that,
my vehicle would still need to run the way it is now until a modification is right.
And I, I really hope that they, they pass it the way they,
they talked about where they're just reading it differently
and changing the way it shuts your vehicle down to a whole lot longer.
Instead of saying, oh, we're going to shut you down and 50 miles, then 25 and then five.
And no, sorry. No, you've got limp home mode because of the,
because it's, you didn't fix it. I want to see that up higher, like 5,000 miles or.
Does that help you, John? Does that answer your questions or,
or get to the points you were wondering?
It sure does. Would you say the same thing will happen on the ag and construction site?
Oh yeah. Yeah. This is a general bill.
That's really what they, they basically, they tried to squeeze it down to nothing
and it covers a lot of stuff. The problem is right now,
there is so much going on in legislation that is not getting passed.
There's so many other distractions that with bills, boy, I can't believe I'm talking like this,
but with bills, you see, there's usually a lot of stuff stacked together.
And lately, especially with automotive stuff,
I've seen more things put together on one bill.
If it was just all by itself, I think it'd be done by now,
but they're going to, they're going to layer it with other stuff.
And when that happens, it's just going to make it harder to pass,
but it's good for ag. You'll see it with farm bills and stuff.
And I want to be very clear. We'll wrap it up with this very clearly.
We might be wrong. We might be wrong. I mean, all of it.
But we might have read the talk, all of the things we just said, we might have.
Bip.
John, thanks very much for the call.
Thanks a lot, John, for the call. 866-594-4150.
Let's go to Texas and talk to Daniel.
You're on the end of the hood show. Daniel, what can we do for you?
Hey, yeah, I've got a, I love listening to your show.
I learn a lot every time.
I got a stuttered view that it's got the 2.2 liter motor in it.
And the other day I went to start it and just as it, like it started chopping and starting up,
like it normally would, like just as it, just as it started to turn over,
there was like this rattle noise and then it made it sound,
it made the sound like you're driving your bicycle down the road at high speed and you
lose the chain, made that kind of sound and then it just kind of stopped.
And so I'm wondering if I threw my timing chain or something.
And I'm wondering, like, what's the likelihood of that destroying the rest of the engine?
What can I do to check and see if, if it's just a simple thing that's just changing the
timing chain or what, what might it be? Those engines when, when they start to rattle.
Just changing the time that, that, that, that's the time to change it.
When they rattle on startup or when you're running down the road,
if you hear a little bit of rattle, that's the time to get it done.
Because once it breaks or jumps several teeth, it's done.
The cams will turn to a point where the valves are open when the piston comes up
and they'll contact each other, they'll bend those valves
and the engine won't run anymore. The only thing you could do to see if it was even worth,
you know, see if there is a chance, if you're working on this thing yourself at home
and you think you're going to do a timing chain,
take the covers off the front, put the engine on top dead center,
cylinder one on top dead center, turn the cam so that the valves are closed on that cylinder
and then you apply air into the cylinder with an air compressor.
If it holds air and doesn't leak past the valves, that cylinder is good.
And then you can continue to check the rest of the valves
or you could loosen all the cams up, get all the valves to close without
taking the timing chain off because that's a lot of work.
And when all those valves are closed, put air in every cylinder.
And if they're all sealed up, you're good to go with the timing chain.
If you got one that's got air blown by an intake or an exhaust valve with the valve closed,
the head is junk, maybe even a piston, but usually just the valves in the head.
So it could be fixed, but it could also have severe valve damage.
Most of the ones we see like that, the valves are heavily damaged.
And we just put a whole engine in it.
If I put a whole engine in it, is there reprogramming I need to do on anything?
No. I could go to car-part, our partner, and they supply these.
You can select on the internet by location, by price, all that stuff.
Condition, miles, do that.
Find an engine at an auto-recycler near you with a guarantee on it.
And all you have to do is you grab that engine, you grab your engine, you got them side by side.
You're going to take all the electronics off of yours and swap it with the engine you're
putting in because the engine could be the same, but the electronics can be different.
And the wiring harness, all of it.
You swap, motor mounts, air conditioning, power steering, well that was an electric
starter, all that.
Then you drop it in, you're good to go.
You don't have to program anything.
You just swap everything over.
And that engine would probably be more affordable buying a complete good-running engine than it
would be to just try to fix yours.
Oh wow.
Yeah.
Okay.
There you go.
Okay, sounds like something I got to try and do that.
Okay.
Thanks for the advice.
Yeah, it doesn't feel great like thanks for the advice.
I mean, he kind of...
I feel good.
I think we steered him in a direction to save him the most money possible.
He could have gone down that road a long way.
That's like saying, well, I know this is going to be a $15,000 engine replacement,
but we are able to give you a little better deal where it's $15,000 instead of $20,000.
So we gave him the best option and not this car, but there's some vehicles where it is
that much.
And we're like, I know it's still expensive, but we're able to save you 20%.
That's a lot.
866-594-4150.
Let's go to New York and talk to Steve.
You're on the end of the hood show.
Steve, what can we do for you?
Oh, hi.
I have a 97 Chevy half ton pickup.
I got a problem with the brake light coming on and the ABS light, but it doesn't stay on.
It'll come on like 20 miles an hour until about 40.
Then it'll go off.
And I replaced the front sensors.
It might have helped a little bit, but it's still coming on.
Okay.
That was the big thing on those, those front sensors.
They would, they would rust, corrode inside and then they wouldn't read right and they would
kick the light on.
But if your brake, your red brake light and the ABS light is coming on, typically that is an
indication that there's a failure in the ABS pump.
And once that happens, it's a, you can replace it with a complete used pump.
That's usually the best way to do it to save money because they don't sell that as a new
part anymore.
Read the codes as soon after those lights come on as possible.
Even if they're, if it comes on and it does it right now, see if you can pull into an
auto park store, have them read the codes and see if it tells you what it is.
If it comes up with an ABS circuit code for the pump motor, that's a whole unit.
If it comes up with a wheel speed sensor, that'd be great too.
The other thing that can do this, the fluid brake fluid level
sensor that's in the master cylinder.
If the brake fluid switch is bad or that fluid is just a little low, it's going to turn that
light on and then it'll go back off as the fluid kind of flops around in there.
Oh, okay.
So let me ask you a question, Russ.
In Steve's case, let's say he's pulling into a parking lot and the light comes on
and he's got a buddy that has a code reader or he's got a, whatever it is,
the light comes on.
He immediately puts it in park.
Don't turn it off.
Don't turn it off.
That was my next question.
So put it in park, read the codes, and hopefully the time elapsed won't make the codes go away.
If the light's still on, the code's still there.
Okay.
As long as you don't turn that key off.
Okay.
And if he knows it's between, if it's between 20 and 40 consistently, and he knows exactly
when it might be able to just get the code reader in there with the person or whatever
the situation is, or even I would just drop it off and say, Hey, every time between 20 and 40,
it does it and then you would go drive it.
Those are the ones that they come in and they say that and then I drive it and like, yeah,
spend an hour checking.
I can't find it.
They're like, well, it doesn't do it every time.
Yeah, not in summer.
But when it does it, it's always between here and here.
I did Chris, I had one this week came in on Monday and said, Oh, well, yeah, it only does
it when it's above 90.
Then why are you bringing it in now when it's 50?
Planning ahead.
Maybe they're just going to leave it there.
Well, can't you find it?
Wouldn't you bring it back when it's above 90?
That'll do it for this hour of the under the hood show.
And don't forget, you can go to our YouTube channel and watch the show live while we're
doing it and anytime you want on YouTube.
With Russ Evans, this is Shannon Orts from thanking you for tuning into the Nordstroms
under the hood show.
Have a great day and remember PTLA.
The opinions heard on this program based on the many years of experience of Russ and Shannon
are offered for entertainment value only and as a guide to your repair needs.
No claim to repair or cause is given or implied.
Always consult with your own certified technician and follow all safety procedures
before attempting any repair.
To be a part of the show, call 866-594-4150.
Find out more by visiting underthehoodshow.com.
Under the Hood is produced by Prairie House Productions.
All content is the property of Nordstroms Automotive Incorporated and may not be used
without our permission.
Copyright Nordstroms Automotive Inc.
About this episode
Russ Evans fields a full slate of real-world car questions, from a 2003 Buick LeSabre with a flashing check-engine light and misfire/catalyst codes (battery resets won’t clear OBD2 history; likely fuel filter, ignition, or a failing catalytic converter) to towing heat management on a 2018 Ram 1500 with an oil cooler (185°F thermostat is fine and can help keep CVT temps down). Other segments cover ZDDP additives for older engines, diagnosing intermittent ABS/traction-control triggers via live data, Jeep emissions that barely pass due to cleanliness/NOx, DEF legislation expectations, and timing-chain rattle checks on a 2.2L engine.
Original notes
Call our show live 866-594-4150 and get help on the live show. Looking to save money on car repairs? Tune in to our latest episode of Under The Hood for practical automotive advice that can help you avoid costly repairs. Here are today's calls 1. Why does my car misfire and flash the check engine light? 03 Buick LeSabre 2. Adding a Engine Oil Cooler to a Subaru Cross Trek for camper towing 3.When to use XDDP Engine Oil Additive? 86 Toyota Truck 4. Why is my ABS and Trac light on? 08 Tahoe 5. Is a 99Z71 Chevy truck any good? 6. How to get my Jeep to pass Emissions testing? 7. DEF Law changes coming... Maybe 8. Does a broken Timing Chain mean a bad engine? 07 Saturn Vue 9. 97 Chevy Truck ABS and Trac light on.
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