How Do You Know Which Truck Model Is Best?
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Part
throttle body
The throttle body is a part of the engine that helps control how much air goes in, which affects how the car runs. It's important for making sure the engine gets the right amount of air to work properly.
Term
fuel injection
Fuel injection is a way of getting fuel into the engine that is more efficient than older methods. It helps the car run better and use less fuel.
Term
antifreeze
Antifreeze is a liquid that helps keep your car's engine cool and prevents it from freezing in cold weather. It's important for keeping the engine running smoothly and efficiently.
Car
Cadillac El Dorado
The Cadillac El Dorado is a fancy car made by Cadillac. The first version with a special fuel system came out in 1976, making it quite advanced for its time.
Car
Chevrolet Silverado
The Chevrolet Silverado is a big truck made by Chevrolet. The first model with this name came out in 1987 and is known for being strong and reliable.
Term
ADAS
ADAS means systems in cars that help drivers with things like staying in their lane or avoiding accidents. They make driving safer and easier.
Term
camera realignment
When a car gets damaged in the front, sometimes the cameras that help with safety features need to be adjusted. This is called camera realignment, and it's important for the car to work properly afterwards.
Term
48 volt battery
A 48 volt battery is a type of battery used in some cars to help with starting the engine and providing extra power for electric features. It helps the car use less fuel and produce fewer emissions.
Term
start-stop system
A start-stop system is a feature in some cars that turns off the engine when the car is not moving, like at red lights, and turns it back on when you want to go. This helps save fuel and reduce pollution.
Term
electric boost
Electric boost is when a car uses electricity to help the engine go faster or perform better. It makes the car more efficient and can help it speed up more quickly.
Term
E-torque
E-torque is a technology that helps the engine of a truck or SUV run better and save gas by using a small electric motor. It gives extra power when needed, like when you start moving or go uphill.
Car
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses both a gasoline engine and an electric motor to save fuel and reduce emissions. It's known for being very efficient and is often associated with being environmentally friendly.
Term
four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive means that all four wheels of the vehicle can get power from the engine at the same time. This helps the vehicle drive better on rough or slippery roads.
Car
Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer Sport Trac is a type of truck that has the body of an SUV but also has a truck bed for carrying things. It was made by Ford in the early 2000s.
Car
Lucid Air
The Lucid Air is a fancy electric car that can go a long way on a single charge. It's designed to be very comfortable and has a lot of cool tech features.
Term
wheel bearing
A wheel bearing is a part that helps the wheels of a car turn smoothly. If it gets damaged, it can make a lot of noise and make the car hard to drive.
Term
solid rear end
A solid rear end is a strong type of rear axle used in some vehicles. It helps with stability and can carry heavier loads better than other types.
Part
brakes
Brakes are the parts of a car that help it slow down or stop. They work by pressing against the wheels to create friction.
Part
caliper
A caliper is a part of the brake system that holds the brake pads. When you press the brake pedal, it pushes the pads against the wheel to help stop the car.
Part
brake fluid
Brake fluid helps your car's brakes work. If there's not enough fluid, your brakes might not work properly, which can be dangerous.
Term
seal
A seal is like a stopper that keeps fluids from leaking out of your car's parts. If it wears out, it can cause leaks.
Company
Dorman Products
Dorman Products makes parts for cars that help people fix their vehicles more easily, especially when original parts are hard to find.
Part
pre-pressed axle assembly
This is a part of the car that includes the axle and a bearing already put together, so you don't have to do it yourself.
Part
axle grease
Axle grease is a thick, sticky substance used to keep parts in the axle moving smoothly. It helps prevent wear and tear on the components inside the axle.
Car
Chevrolet Traverse
The Chevrolet Traverse is a large SUV that can fit many passengers and has a lot of space for cargo. It's designed for families and comes with many features to keep everyone comfortable.
Term
coolant
Coolant is a liquid that helps keep your car's engine from getting too hot. It moves through the engine and helps cool it down so it runs properly.
Term
head gasket
The head gasket is a part of the engine that keeps oil and coolant from leaking into each other. If it fails, it can cause big problems for the engine, like overheating.
Term
warranty
A warranty is like a promise from the car maker that they will fix problems for free if something goes wrong within a certain time or mileage limit.
Car
Chevrolet S-10 Blazer
The Chevrolet S-10 Blazer is a small SUV made by Chevrolet. The 1999 version is known for being a bit more modern than earlier models.
Car
Pontiac Luxury
The Pontiac Luxury Le Mans is an older car that was made to be comfortable and nice to drive. It's similar to the GTO but focuses more on luxury than speed.
Car
Pontiac GTO
The Pontiac GTO is a famous old car known for being very fast and powerful. People love it for its cool look and because it represents a fun time in car history.
Car
Jeep Wrangler
The Jeep Wrangler is a tough car that can drive on rough roads and trails. Many people love it because it can handle outdoor adventures and has a cool, classic look.
Car
Ram ProMaster
The Ram ProMaster is a big van that people use for work, like delivering packages or carrying tools. It's built to be practical and has a lot of room inside for whatever you need to carry.
Car
BMW Z3
The BMW Z3 is a small, sporty car that's fun to drive and looks really nice. It became famous because it was in a James Bond movie, which made a lot of people want one.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's popular because it has a lot of space inside and is fun to drive.
LIVE
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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.
He is, he's in Las Vegas.
He's at the scene of the show.
Yeah. Yeah.
I saw some pictures that he posted.
Those are cool.
We should go back there.
I like that place.
Yeah.
866-594-4150.
I'm Chris Carter here to answer your calls.
We've got one less person, so that's 33% more space for your phone calls.
866-594-4150.
That's 33.
Well, and it's him, so it's more like 50% more room.
62.
Yeah. There's plenty.
Let's get right to some calls that are coming in and talk to John in Illinois.
John, you're on the Under the Hood Show.
What can we do for you?
I was listening to the show last week and Russ was talking about antifreeze making a difference
on a motor.
Yes.
I started as a mechanic in 787.
In 1986, we had a 76 Cadillac.
It was the first computerized car I'd ever worked on.
Yeah, the throttle body.
Fuel injection.
Nice car.
And it was a 76.
We were working on an 86 that had less than 25,000 miles.
He was an attorney.
He walked to work.
And we put plugs in it.
It ran about 100 miles, and sometimes we had to pull the plug in and plug it out.
And we went on to put this for three months.
We ended up putting one of these computer classes at night
and asked the guy about the what could be wrong with it.
He said, change the antifreeze.
I said, no, okay.
What would the antifreeze do?
We went back, changed the antifreeze and it filled like a new car.
It's cold all the time.
So antifreeze makes a huge difference.
Yeah, it can.
There's those first year, that first El Dorado with that fuel, throttle body fuel injection,
that became the fuel injection.
They developed it in I think 71.
So it is pretty old, but it ran, they used it in 76 in that first production car.
And that's the same throttle body they ran all the way up to 95, 94, 95 in the Chevy trucks and stuff.
So it was used in everything.
It's pretty good.
If I remember right, I think in the half done trucks went through that throttle body in 86.
Yeah, they started putting it on the 87 Chevy, like the Silverado trucks,
and then they ran it all the way up through the newer body style after that.
Now we're way past that.
But the reason, but the reason I call, I want to buy a different Ram truck.
I got an 83, 2013 and I really like it.
And I want, what would, I think I'm wanting to stay away from ADAS and all the,
I know I don't want air suspension.
What year and what would you recommend?
Well, they've all been pretty good.
You're going to have the automatic cylinder shut down on the newer trucks,
but we don't have a lot of problems with those.
It depends on what package was purchased on the truck.
Like some of the big, big horns have the collision avoidance and all that.
So you just can have to look and see what features were on there.
But the collision avoidance didn't start in 19?
I'm not sure if it was 19 or if it was 18 on the early body style for 18 as they were switching
over, but you can look and just see if that whatever you're buying has it on there.
But that 14 through 17, 18 is a pretty good model.
Troy, we have a lot of customers with those and I really like them.
I have a question about that.
When it, like in, in my car, can I turn that, I've said this before, I have all the new stuff on it.
And I worry that I'm going to hit a raccoon and it's going to misalign something.
Can I just go in and turn everything off in the, okay.
It's stuck. It's a, it's a federally mandated system now safety system.
So they, once it's there, it's got to be, you put a windshield in that car,
they've got to realign the camera.
If you hit something in the front and it hits a camera, you've got to realign it.
So it's a, it's, but it's become normal now.
Body shops have the equipment.
Glass shops have the equipment where just a few years ago they didn't,
because there was not a big aftermarket support system to help people
program these cars.
There is now.
A lot of the 19's have the 48 volt battery.
That's for the,
I have the alternator for the assist.
Start, restart, start.
Yep. Start, stop.
And it's assist, boost assist.
But it is, if it has the 48 volt battery, it has the start, start, stop.
Right. And it's got that, the, you know, the E assist on it, the electric boost.
Some of them don't.
I don't think.
No, you can, well, on the truck like that, where you've got the truck, it's,
if it's got stop, start, it'll say right on the hood.
It'll, it'll say assist.
E-torque.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, but you think probably anything, that's kind of what I was looking at, the four or
nine things.
And there's, I think like there's a lot of 19's on the market.
Oh, there's quite a few.
There's quite a few vehicles out there right now.
They're expensive, but there's quite a few vehicles out there.
John, thanks very much for the call.
Good luck.
866-594-4150.
It is interesting how just as stuff just gets a little bit older and you start to get used
to it, everybody gets used to it for better, for worse.
You start to kind of change what your, what your must-haves and your must-have.
Yeah.
And things that, if we went back four years, things that you definitely didn't want or
things that you did want now that it's several years later, you change your mind and say,
oh, that's, that's normal.
Everybody has it.
I'll take that where you didn't want it at all.
And now you're like, oh, that's normal.
Like, like a Prius.
A hybrid.
I didn't want a hybrid at all.
And now, oh, it's a hybrid.
I didn't even know that.
Oh, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah.
You just get it because you don't hear about people putting batteries in their hybrid
very often unless they're older, very older.
866-594-4150.
Let's talk to Craig in Nebraska.
Craig, you're on the end of the hood show.
What can we do for you?
Thanks for your expertise in your program, guys.
You're welcome.
I've got a 2003 Sport Track Explorer pickup with four-wheel drive,
capability, and an anti-slip rear end.
But the other day, I went to put air in the tires and discovered that the passenger rear
had grease all over the inside and the outside of the rim.
Sure.
So wheel bearing, what if axle seal any experience with this?
Okay, I'm thinking, oh, 03 Sport Track.
That one does have a solid rear end, right, all the way across?
I suppose.
I know.
It's anti-slip rear end.
I know that.
So there's a lot of these vehicles that when they in the Explorer and the Sport Track,
that's where I'm getting fused.
The Explorer doesn't have a solid rear end.
It has a center carrier and then it has a shaft coming out.
So there's no way you're going to get any grease out there.
It's going to be coming from your brakes, from your caliper, leak and brake fluid.
That's what you'd be seeing.
I was thinking the Sport Track at the same thing, but the Sport Track actually might have a,
with the pickup box, it might actually have a solid rear end under the back of it.
Shannon would know right away, but on that one, we just don't see failures in them that often,
so it wouldn't be.
So either way, we can help you because if you've got a rear end back there,
all the way across on any vehicle at all, and you see
oil there, and I mean rear end by one that has two tubes coming all the way out,
not two separate axle shafts or drive shafts on each wheel.
Inspect the brakes and see if we look for fluid loss first.
If I look under the hood and I see I've got a half a bottle of brake fluid,
I know it's probably brake fluid leaking back there.
If that is completely full, and I haven't added any in a while, then I know that
it's probably not brakes and the pedal's still solid.
It's probably in that unit in the back in the axle.
And now the axles themselves will get a groove worn into them,
and the seal will go bad and they'll start to leak.
You can't just put a seal on it because the seal will leak because of the groove.
You need to replace the axle shaft and the seal together as a pair.
Now our partner over at Dorman Products sells what they call a pre-pressed axle assembly.
Their pre-pressed axle assemblies are made that way because they know it's very difficult for
people at home to change these axles themselves because it requires pressing on a bearing.
You have to buy a whole axle that's got a bearing on it, or you have to take your axle out,
take it to a machine shop or a shop that has the capability,
press your old bearing off, press a new bearing on.
It's a lot of work.
So you can buy a whole assembly that comes with a seal.
Everything's in the box ready to go.
So you get an axle, a seal, all of it, and you just drop the whole thing.
My guess on yours is that you have an axle seal leaking.
The more I think about it here, I'm thinking you probably have an axle seal leaking on that
end of it, and that's where the fluid's coming from.
And you could tell the difference between axle grease and brake fluid really quickly
because axle grease is like, yeah, you taste it, but it smells really pungent and it's thick.
Yeah, this was thick black.
Yeah, that's going to be axle grease.
Does that help you out there, Craig?
Yeah, it sounds scary.
It's not too bad.
If you get that pre-pressed assembly, and it's not that hard to do, it's time consuming,
but it can be done in a driveway in four hours usually.
Craig, thanks for the call.
We're going to take a break when we come back.
We want to hear from you on the Under the Hood show.
866-594-4150.
Let's talk to John.
You're on the Under the Hood show.
John, what can we do for you?
Thank you.
I love your show.
I have a 2023 Chevrolet Traverse with about 40,000 miles, bought it new.
And every time the service changed the oil, any time it has required regular service,
take it back to the same dealer that I bought it from.
And in July, in June, rather, the car overheated quite badly.
And so I took it into the dealer who said, your coolant is gone.
You have no coolant.
And I'm like, well, I bring it here for service every time the oil changes needed.
And you guys top off the fluids, don't you?
And they're like himmin' and hawing a little bit.
And so they filled up the fluid and changed the oil and all that stuff.
And then it happened again in September.
And so I took it in again.
And I said, guys, what's going on?
I said, where's my coolant going?
And they said, well, we'll put some dye in it.
And then why don't you come back in a couple of weeks?
And we'll see kind of where the dye shows up,
whether it shows up in the crankcase or whatever.
So I haven't gone back to the dealer yet.
It was probably October, actually.
Later, like October 23rd, it said September, but I was wrong.
And so it's time to go back to the dealer now.
And I'm thinking, of course, good Lord, did the head crack last June?
Is there a head gasket that's shot?
But literally, there's no moisture anywhere we parked the car, including the garage floor.
So it's burning it.
This can't be good.
Yeah, you got the four cylinder in this one, don't you?
No, it's got a stick.
OK, you don't have a turbo.
OK, OK.
Yeah, that's not as likely with those engines.
But we have seen a couple of them that have had issues with them,
where they've overheated because they've had an internal failure and the engines got replaced.
If it's not on the ground to lose that much coolant, let's just say a gallon.
If you're not seeing it, if it's that low and it's getting hot,
it's got to be low enough that it's burning it in the engine.
And they're going to have to fix that because you're still under warranty, aren't you?
I should be.
Is it 50,000 miles on that?
Three or 50,000?
I'm pretty sure.
You better find out exactly what it is and make sure that's well documented
because if you get one mile out of warranty, they're going to deny it
unless you've got that proof to back it up and say,
this has been doing this the whole time.
It's you've never fixed it.
And then because you want to protect yourself because that's quite a bit of cost.
You can put, we do engines in those all the time.
We've done them as new as I think 22, 21 and 22, 21 for sure.
We've put engines in those that were out of warranty, but they were,
they were like around 100,000 miles, 120,000 miles on them, which is more.
But those, those engines just, they were, they were done.
They, they don't know what happened to them, but they came in no coolant.
They, you know, they, they'd blown up because they got so hot.
It's good that you're noticing that it's getting warm, but they, they need to find that.
They, they're not going to find anything outside because you'd have a big puddle.
If it was, say it's a gallon, it's going to be a big puddle.
You're going to see it somewhere.
But they're either going to find dye in the engine oil from the coolant or they're going
to find that it's got exhaust gases in the coolant indicating an internal leak.
And they could pull the engine, tear it down.
They could take the heads off and inspect those and see if it's a head gasket out or
something like that.
But in a lot of cases on these, they just, that new, they'll replace the engine with
another remanufactured engine and send the other one in just to try to avoid the hassle.
Cause if they put it, if they take it apart and fix it and put it back together and it
still does it, you got to watch that too.
Cause sometimes, sometimes warranties are funny.
They'll say, well, we've, we fixed the problem.
This is a new problem now and it's out of warranty.
So we're not going to cover it and you got to watch out for that one.
But you're, cause you're getting really close.
You said 47,000 miles on it.
No, it's about 41.
I think you got a little time at 41.
I get a lot of people that get really close on warranties and, and they, they wait and
I tell them, don't, don't wait, get it in.
Cause you know, in our own shop, when we put a used engine in, we offer a year warranty
that covers parts and labor with unlimited mileage for the year.
The remanufactured parts all have a three year, 100,000 mile warranty.
And I have had people that will come in at nine months and there's an issue and I've
verified these, I saw the issue, but we weren't able to fix it cause it didn't stay there long
enough. And then they called me and said, it's doing this again.
And I look at it again and I still wasn't able to find it, but I saw it.
I know there was an issue on one of them.
It was a, it was a cam phaser noise and it was clacking and I went, I, it's there,
but I can't hear it now.
I need to diagnose it.
So I made a note of it and they came in at close to two years.
So they were well out of their one year warranty, but I knew about this problem.
I verified it and said, I'm going to take care of you.
I don't want you to have a problem.
I had another one with a transmission the same way.
Now, if they tell me it's doing it and I can't see it, I really have to verify it.
I can't just take somebody's word, but in that case where you see it,
same way with his dealer, if they see that it was out of coolant, they should verify that,
write it down.
And our personal opinion is that anyone doing that kind of work should honor it.
And in your case, just to be clear, because you were the guy that's doing it, you were the guy
that's a little bit different situation than maybe a dealer where there's 20 guys.
So they have a food chain there where they have to, the guy at the top has never even seen your
vehicle, the one that's going to write the check and allow it to be repaired.
That's why you need this documentation.
With me, I see the car.
I know the customer's name.
It's pretty personal because I deal with every one of them.
My guys in the back are dealing with the hands on and I'm doing some of that too.
But we know.
I mean, that's the plus of going to a smaller shop versus a big one.
But you're at a place with a warranty.
That's where this documentation comes in and you really need it to protect yourself.
Because they want to help everybody out, but sometimes they can't.
You got to understand if you're in a place that big, Chris said 20 people,
they don't even know whose car it was.
Yeah.
And that's exactly how this is.
I get a new service guy, you know, supervises it.
Sure.
Yours, I suspect a crack in a head probably more than a head gasket because a head gasket
tends to leak all the time and a crack in a head leaks as the motor gets warmer.
So on warmer days, stop and go traffic, it gets hotter.
It burns a little coolant.
The more coolant is burned, the less coolant is in the engine, which means the engine gets
hotter quicker.
And as it gets hotter quicker, that crack would open up larger.
And at some point it's just going to drink down the coolant quickly.
Does that help you out there, John?
Oh yeah, you guys are amazing.
And I listen in every chance I get.
Appreciate it.
Appreciate it.
Thanks, man.
Thank you.
And that is, I think, something I forget all the time is even if this is all covered
it's all great.
It's still not great.
It's not going to be pain free for John.
It's not like they're going to go, hey, we'll fix it.
We'll be done in 20 minutes.
And or here's a limousine for the next, you know, there are still, it's not ideal.
It was funny.
We were, you and I were just talking off of the air on the break about warranties and
stuff and I had purchased an air conditioner at my house and I post stuff on Facebook and
guys are like, wouldn't expect any less.
I put in an AC unit.
It's inspected by the city by licensed master technicians, the electrical, the HVAC.
So they're following it through step by step.
They want to make sure it's done perfectly.
But the company I bought it from, I bought the best unit knowing that they will not
warranty it unless a licensed professional installs it.
I didn't realize they went as far as they will not even offer you any tech support guidance.
Like if you call and say, hey, I have a question about this setting.
Could you help with that?
Are you licensed?
No, then we can't help you.
I'm like, well, wait a second.
I just bought this unit.
You don't even give, I can understand.
And I said, well, okay, I said, if that's the case, can you tell me why?
And they said, here's why Mr. Evans, because if someone calls who does not know the theory
and operation of all this, they can waste our, our techs valuable time that they could better
spend on people who are licensed.
So we prefer to sell these things to licensed people.
I said, then why don't you stop selling to unlicensed people?
And I said, because it's like 80% of our business.
I said, then you might want to rethink that first part.
Right, right.
And then I was able to fix, figure it out myself.
But those warranties, yeah, protect yourself, documentation over and over and over, preferably
email written conversations with the place you're talking to.
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Car-part.com. Check it out today. 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, you can watch the show on our YouTube channel. If you subscribe there,
and join the Hoodie Fan Club at undertheshow.com, you could win a hoodie.
Like Janelle Meschewski, congratulations already here at the end of the hood show.
And our friends over at Berkeley won classics. They're celebrating 50 years of collector car
coverage and Universal Technical Institute. UTI.edu. You can get a tune up on your
automotive skills. Marine mechanics, electronics.
Just talked to someone the other day who was going to look at an A&P at UTI.
Oh yeah, yeah, that's right. They do airframe and power plant now as well. So they've got a lot
of options available. So check them out today at UTI.edu. 866-594-4150. Going over to Minnesota.
Talk to Randy. You're on the end of the hood show. Randy, what can we do for you?
I've got two issues with a 99-S10 Blazer. The first one is about a year ago, I was driving and
I could smell smoke and I could hear something grinding under the hood. Fire.
But I, so I closed the home so I stopped and shut it off. So maybe it's an alternator, but
turned out the starter was, it turned on by itself. Oh, right.
It burnt the starter out. So I put a new starter in and then about a month later it happened again
and all the dash lights come out, I noticed that time. And the second time I put a bypass switch
on the silenlight wire, so I don't have that problem anymore. So I was just wondering what you
thought was causing that to come on. Well, the 99 Blazer is that newer, the next generation,
so to speak of those where they use that under the hood fuse box where you have a fuel pump relay
now located in that door box internally. And you also have a starter relay in there. You could
pull that starter relay out and jump it and engage that starter solenoid. That relay has,
you've got your power from your switch, turn the switch, the switch activates the relay if the vehicle
security allows it. And then that relay sends power and energizes that purple wire down there on
your starter. Those fuse boxes, the relay itself can go bad and also the fuse box itself can go
bad underneath the, they can get some corrosion. We've had to replace both the box and the relays
at times. One thing you can do if you're ever curious if a relay is bad and sticking on like that,
when they're the same as the horn relay next to it, just swap the two.
So now you get the horn and the starter, the starter and the horn, and if the horn just now
and then goes off all by itself, then you know for a fact that relay was bad. And you could
toss that away, put a new relay in it, remove your starter bypass so then you could start it
every time without having to turn that on first. But what you did is pretty ingenious too, to just
disconnect that wire when you're not in need of it because you don't need the starter
other than to crank the car. So you crank it and turn it back off and you're good to go.
So that's, that works, but I'll bet you have a relay problem.
Could be a switch.
It did replace the relay on the first time. So it did happen right after that. So it was a
brand new one, new relay. Yeah, like I said, it could be that switch too. You could put a
voltmeter on that wire coming out of the switch and see if that lights up now and then. And tells
you, if you told me your dash lights came on at about the same time that that starter engaged,
that could be a function of something going on in the switch. And if you're doing that,
if you're putting those switches in your car, you, you should use
like the metal NASCAR ones, right? You shouldn't use a plastic
or modern. You should use old fashioned, full on toggles. Like a Frankenstein switch.
Like a Jacobs ladder. Yeah. Do you have another question there, Randy?
Yeah, just lately now under the dash on the passenger side, it sounds like the flasher. I'm
pretty sure it is, but when I'm starting the car or it's running with a odd position, I could hear
that. It's the flasher going off and on momentarily. And if I hit the brake, it quits. So I'm pretty
sure it's the flash. Everything all the light work and that stuff. Turn signals work and everything.
They have a, well, they do have a flasher unit in there for the, for the hazard. It's, it does,
it's a combination relay. It's all like a little module and I have seen those do that. They'll,
they'll do like when you turn your hazards on and you step on the brake and then you see the lights
come on and the flasher stops, but it'll do it without anything on. You could have no lights on,
but it still has energy going through it and it's shorted. So it's clicking so that part could be
bad. Our partner over at Standard Products sells that type of, that a piece. And then there's some
other modules too that they, they have. We do this and I can't tell you how many we put in over at
the years that you can pick them up at most auto parts stores and it's not going to be hard for
your place. If you were to go, if you were to go purchase one in the box, you'll, you'll be able to
take the part out, look at it and say, okay, this is what I'm looking for. So it's, it's, it's sometimes
if you're looking under a dash and you see three or four modules and like, which one do I need?
Well, I just purchased this flasher module and this is what it looks like. So this is what I'm
looking for. It, it helps and being that you can listen for it and use your ear as a guide,
you know, you, you can follow it to the, to the location as well and help and then match it up
with that part, but Standard will make a good, good replacement part for that. Randy, thanks very
much for the call. Good luck. 866-594-4150. We got a hello from Vienna on chat. It's, it's the,
it's the Vienna. It's not Texas. It's not Maine. It's Austria. He's in Austria. Roger, thanks for,
he said we're, YouTube's got us coming in clear in Austria. So cool. That's good. I wonder what
time it is in Austria right now. Six, I think it's six hours. I think that's the difference.
Let's talk to Bob in Ohio. In Ohio, I think it could be six or it could be five. I'm not sure
where in Ohio it is. Bob, what, what can we do for it? Yeah, yeah, by my decrees in Ohio.
Hey, look, I have a 2012 and the fundamentals working on it. It's a Tahoe and what's happening is
when you, when you go to crank it, it starts for a few seconds and they just cut off.
There's anything that y'all ran into that was, and there's no check into life.
Have you, have you looked at the dash for a, a lock symbol? Is there like a key lock symbol on
there? That's going to indicate security. Take a look for that because sometimes people overlook
it. It's just a little amber symbol that looks like a padlock that's locked. And if it shows that,
it's in security mode and the vehicle is not letting it start due to security. It'll start,
and it'll die. It'll start to die. Some of them kill the ignition too, so it won't even give you
ignition, but it could be security preventing fuel. Usually it'll do both. Some people tell you,
well, yeah, if it's on, it's going to, it's not even going to crank, but you can look on the scanner
and see. And if it says fuel allowed, no, but it's allowing spark and allowing it to crank,
it'll crank and die over and over like that. That's one option. Some other things that could
cause that low fuel pressure or a problem with the fuel pump relay where it's not priming,
it just starts and it dies because the pump doesn't continue to run. It just primes it for
a second and then it, it shuts off. The oil pressure switch keeps, keeps the prime there.
Once it starts and sees oil pressure, it runs the pump all the time. Mass airflow sensors can
be problematic on those as well and, and it'll start and die. Sometimes you can unplug it to
test it and start it with that sensor unplugged. And if it runs, then you know that sensor's bad,
then you need to clear the codes after you plug it back in if you're just doing testing. Otherwise,
you're going to get some false codes there. Okay. Oil pressure switch.
Oil pressure switch, but you can do that, you can do that quicker by just listening to the fuel
pump, remove the fuel cap, listen to it. And if you hear the pump turn on for a couple seconds
and you start it and it starts and dies, but right before it dies, the pump shuts off,
then, then that's when we go in a little further with that. Because that oil pressure switch is
hard to get to. So that's going to be a little further down the list. I'd be looking closer
to fuel pump relay first if it shuts down on me.
Are you still there, Bob?
No, I'm here. I'm here. I'm writing this stuff down.
Okay. So yeah, we got that. Okay. So I give me some direction right there. Because there is no,
like I said, there's no check engine light. That's what's going to occur. But okay. So, and those
things, it wouldn't get to a point for a check engine light. Okay.
Correct. Yeah. Because it thinks things is normal. Things is running out of fuel. Yeah. If
you're anybody's ever listening, if you're listening on the radio, especially, you know,
we got a lot of great cup 250 great stations out there that play it. But, you know, if you're,
you can either go back and listen to their podcast, or you can go back and watch us on YouTube and
search by the subject in our, in our show notes as well. And you can ask questions in the show notes.
Did you have another question there, Bob?
Oh, yeah, yeah, I have a 1972 Pontiac Luxury Le Mans, which is basically, I think the same
body as a GTO. On the hot days, it runs great. It does everything you should. But after it's been
running for a while, if I cut it off, it don't want to start again, it cranks, it just won't start.
And I think it's something, I don't know if it's fuel related or, but it only does it on, like,
on the real hot days. Yeah, it sounds like it's probably, it's probably fuel. A lot of those,
they would get the heat and the Chris is like, it's fuel, it's vapor locking. The fuel line would
get hot and then it wouldn't supply, it would start to boil when you shut the key off, especially
if you're using an ethanol blended fuel in it, you're going to have, if it's 10%,
it's going to boil off faster. The more alcohol, the more it's going to boil off or 15. It's going
to be really bad. So that can help using a non oxygenated collector car fuel in it.
Unfortunately, sometimes that's more expensive to get it that way. But the other thing you can do is
put a fuel pressure regulator right at the carburetor and have it return, you put an electric
fuel pump on it back further back so that it's void of the heat and then that pump will run. It
will push cool, fresh fuel up to the regulator right in front of the carburetor and then redirect
whatever pressure it does not need because you're only going to need about a pound or so with the
carburetor. It's going to redirect that other fuel back to the return line on the tank. So it's
going to keep the fuel cool. It's going to keep it at a higher pressure up to the regulator, which
means it can't boil off because it's under pressure just like a radiator doesn't boil
because it's under pressure. Otherwise it would, as pressure increases, the boiling point also goes
up. So it keeps it from boiling and that would fix your problem if you determine it to be fuel. So
if you can't start the car, but you give a little shot of starting fluid and it fires right up,
then you know that it's a vapor lock issue and that fuel system upgrade would fix it.
Yeah, and that's exactly what I want to give a little shot of that. It was quite a, okay. So
I've got to do something to stop the vapor lock and that was like it's an electric fuel pump.
You bet. Also cool, pour some water on it, right? There's a spot where you can pour it on the whole
line, but then you still got to crank it to get fresh fuel up and it could take a while and it's
a pain. Bob, stay where you are for a second. We have to guess on this one. This one is definitely
a Berkeley One Classic. Berkeley One Classics and they can save you a lot of money on your
insurance plus give you better coverage. We've got it on all our cars. So I believe that this car
is gold. I'm going to say if it's original. White work. I was thinking cream colored,
but I'm going white. Bob, what color is the Lamont? It's a gold with a black top. There you go.
All right. Well, stay on the line. Producer Doug is going to get you a hoodie courtesy of Berkeley
One Classics. My first thought was like a cream colored and then I was thinking gold. You took
gold. So I'm going to take that one too. We're tied. 1-1. That's how I see it. 866-594-4150.
Let's talk to Steve in Iowa. You're on the end of the hood. So Steve, what can we do for you?
My wife's got a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. The cable for the rear defog on the rear hatch has come loose.
Now I'm wondering, do I have to do something like a heat sink or something to solder that back on?
I was thinking like some clay or something on the outside. No. So when I solder it?
No. No, you don't want to do that. You'll break the glass. More than likely if you,
yeah, more than likely you're going to break the glass. If you, if you try to heat it up,
you don't want to do that. Then it'll cost more than a nickel and a dime would cost you a
right bigger one. So they make kits. None of our partners make one, but there's some little
Chinese kits they make with metallic epoxy glue. And some of them come with a tab. Some of them
don't. You can pick those up at pretty much any auto parts store. Tell them I need a rear defogger
repair kit. And if you have your original piece, you will wire brush it, sand it until it's shiny
clean. Do the same thing with that little spot on the glass. Just make sure you don't get it on the
glass itself, but just clean that. So you got good metal contact and you put a drop of, that you
put this cleaner on there that cleans off the tab and the cleans off the glass and then don't touch
it. And once it's a hundred percent dry, you use one drop of this activator glue, which is like
putting a mirror tab. If you're replaced your glass, your mirror on your every mirror and it's
highly metallic so that when you press this thing on there and hold it for about 10 seconds,
you're going to break the glass before you get that back off. It's stuck pretty good,
but that metallic glue makes the contact. And if it's not super clean and doesn't have the right
amount of glue on there, resistance will build up and it'll super heat that wire when the defogger's
on and it will shatter the glass too. So you got to do it right, but the fix is like 20 bucks if
it does work. You know, like I'm paying 20 bucks for this glue. It's like, but it's really good glue.
Yeah. The dealership soldered it back on after we got the Jeep and but it didn't hold. No, no, no,
no, that's the thing. Getting it to hold and getting to not break the glass is the hard thing.
Now, the best thing that you could have had to happen was if they tried to solder it on and broke
the glass while it was still under one, just replaced it. That would have been great because
then it's like, Hey, I got a new glass, but we see a number of people with Jeeps anything with a
moving hatch or a hanging cord back there. They come off all the time. Steve, thanks very much
for the call. Good luck. 866-594-4150. Let's go to Georgia and talk to Mike. You're on the
first of all, I'm down here making and I just want to let anybody know that it's going to buy a
used BMW not to get one that's more than 15 years old because the dealer will not even repair it.
They won't work on it. Good to know that is common across the United States. I don't know about
other countries, but here for sure, if you have a car that is unique to a dealership, BMW, Mercedes,
not so much with Chevy and things like that, but a few of them. But if it's a Audi, Volkswagen,
Mercedes, ProMaster or Sprinter, that type of thing. Mercur. Yeah, once it's out of, oh,
that you're right. They won't work on them. They're waggy. But they just say, no, we work on the stuff
that because we have less technicians, they say we work on the stuff we know that is under warranty.
We do it. Once it's out of warranty, if it's a problematic vehicle that's not making money,
it makes sense. Which is the same with other shops. If I bring a Duesenberg to you, you're
going to be like that. I don't. Yeah, it's too old. We could and we have, but not going to. So
what you need to find is a specialty shop. There are lots of shops that have said,
how can I make money and not be tramped on by the dealer or general repair shops? Hey,
I can work on cars and be a specialist in BMW Z3s. So yeah, that's tough. I can't find those down
here. I bet they're there, but they're going to be tricky to find. You're going to have to get on
a BMW forum and ask the questions. I live and make on where can I find this? And they'll say
right next to the pecan dealer. The problem that I'm actually calling about. Okay. I made a mistake
and left my, left my ignition on
all night on my car and it, and it wore the battery down. Yep. And when I want to recharge
the battery, the car will not start. Oh, when you recharge this battery, did you disconnect
one of the two cables first from the battery before you put the battery charger on it?
I don't believe that I did. I don't know. This has been months now that I've been trying to
get somebody to fix this car and nobody can seem to figure out what's wrong with it. I mean,
you turn the key and the accessories all go on, but when you turn it to start, I get nothing.
Well, what did he do? Step one is make sure we've got a brand new good fully charged battery in it
and then, you know, test it, make sure it says good. Step two is to plug a scanner into it and
see if you can read all the data on the vehicle and everything looks good. No codes. You're good
there. Step three is to go over to the starter then and test it and make sure that there is
voltage coming in when you turn the key to crank. If there is, that means your starter
just went bad and that's the lucky thing. The unlucky thing would be that because you connected
a battery charger to it without disconnecting the battery first, those cars are hypersensitive to
excess voltage, just like outies and some Volkswagen's. I worked at a BMW dealership
when the Z3 came out and I saw, personally, saw several of those that they were dead
off the truck brand new and they, instead of connecting the jump pack, they just said,
well, we'll just push it over here. It's a small light car and connect the charger to it.
Well, on a battery that's mostly dead, it will, a battery charger can put out 22 volts
on the high side before it starts charging and the battery starts taking a load and that will
destroy components in the electrical system, in the computers and modules. They're very sensitive
to that. They have bulletins about those that say never connect to them. So I try to tell people
to be careful that there are special chargers out there. I have a D400 charger from Optima
and it won't do that. It looks when you plug it in, it looks at the battery condition first,
analyzes it and then it slowly ramps up and maxes out. It knows that you select 12-volt battery and
it stops, but there's a lot of chargers that do not. You just hook them up and they're at full
power until the battery comes up. That's why the old batteries that used to have the gauge on them
and the needle would be pegged out and then as the battery would charge, it would come closer to zero
because it didn't need to put amps in because the battery was matching it.
Let's just hope that you have, you just had a starter go out, which can. We've seen a number
of starters out on those cars. Is this a manual transmission Z3? Yeah, it's a manual transmission.
You could turn the key on and try to push start it because that starter's a little,
it's not horrible to access, but instead of chesting that wire, you could have somebody give
you a push and put it in second gear and turn the key on first and then see if it'll fire up.
If it does, hey, it's a starter problem and that can be checked and they'll be able to find that,
but if it doesn't, if we've got no crank, well, you could put a test starter button on there
where you hook up to the one of the positive, the battery and one of the starter exciter
and push the button with it neutral there and see if it'll crank. If it does, it's not the starter,
that would probably be even easier. Can he bring it to someone and say, will you replace the starter?
I don't know if that's it. No, I wouldn't do it until you test it. They'll want to test it because
starter itself is not going to be real cheap by itself, but I think he needs to find a
goal on the internet or have somebody that he knows and trusts that can get on the internet,
like would you do Chris and see, look up a BMW forum and say, hey, this is where I live in Georgia.
Who can I take this to that work? And there'll be somebody. There's got to be a dozen of them in
Atlanta that have it. And then they'll know other people around.
Our 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
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About this episode
Exploring the best truck models, the hosts dive into listener questions about specific vehicle features and reliability. A caller seeks advice on upgrading from a 2013 Ram truck while avoiding advanced driver assistance systems. Discussions also cover the importance of antifreeze, troubleshooting overheating issues in a Chevrolet Traverse, and diagnosing problems with a 1999 S10 Blazer. The episode highlights the significance of proper maintenance and the nuances of vehicle warranties, making it a valuable resource for truck enthusiasts and everyday drivers alike.
Original notes
1. Purchasing a newer Ram truck. Which one is best? 2. 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac tips on how to change a rear axle easily 3. Why does my 2023 Traverse overheat? 4. Why does my starter come on by itself on a 99 S10 Truck? 5. Hello from Austria! 6. 2012 Tahoe starts and dies 7. 72 Lemans vapor lock 8. 20 Wrangler Rear Defog tab replacement
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