Long-Life Coolant Myth? Why " 7- Year Antifreeze" Still Needs Service
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Car
Volkswagen Cabriolet
The Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet is a car that you can drive with the roof down. The 1992 model was made in Germany and is liked for being both useful and fun to drive.
Car
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car made by Volkswagen, a German car company. The 1992 Golf Cabriolet Carmen is a special version that has a roof that can be folded down, so you can drive with the top open.
Term
long-life coolant
Long-life coolant is a type of antifreeze that says it can last a long time without needing to be changed, but sometimes it still needs to be checked or replaced.
Term
antifreeze
Antifreeze is a special liquid in your car that stops the engine from freezing when it's cold and from getting too hot when it's warm.
Concept
European cars
Cars made in Europe sometimes need special care and different fluids than cars made in other places, so it's good to have a mechanic who knows about them.
Term
head gasket
The head gasket is a part inside your car's engine that keeps important fluids separate and helps the engine work properly. If it breaks, it can cause big problems and cost a lot to fix.
Term
diagnostic time
Diagnostic time is when the mechanic looks at your car to find out what's wrong before fixing it.
Concept
engine damage
Engine damage means something inside your car's engine is broken or worn out, which can make the car stop working properly.
Concept
vehicle longevity
Vehicle longevity means how long your car can keep running well if you take good care of it.
Term
driveline
The driveline is the part of your car that helps move the power from the engine to the wheels so the car can go.
Concept
you pull it yards
A "you pull it yard" is a place where old cars are kept and you can go there to take parts off the cars yourself. It's a cheaper way to get car parts or even cars that need fixing.
Car
Jeep TJ Wrangler Sport
The Jeep TJ Wrangler Sport is a type of Jeep made from 1997 to 2006. It's a popular off-road vehicle that is tough and can handle rough roads well.
Car
Jeep TJ Wrangler
The Jeep TJ Wrangler is a type of Jeep made between 1997 and 2006. It's a popular off-road vehicle that many people use for adventure and driving on rough roads.
Term
cooling system failure
Cooling system failure means the parts that keep the engine from getting too hot stop working properly. This can cause big problems for the car's engine.
Term
engine liquid locked
Engine liquid lock is when liquid gets into parts of the engine where it shouldn't be, stopping the engine from running because liquids can't be squeezed like air can.
Term
cooling system pressure
The cooling system uses pressure to keep the engine from getting too hot. But if the pressure gets too high, parts can break and cause problems.
Term
engine transmission failure
When the engine or transmission breaks down, the car won't work properly. This can happen if parts aren't taken care of.
Term
cooling system maintenance
Taking care of your car's cooling system means checking and fixing parts that keep the engine from getting too hot or too cold, like the radiator and hoses.
Term
acid corrosion
Acid corrosion means the coolant gets too acidic and starts to eat away parts inside the engine.
Car
Chevrolet Trax
The Chevrolet Trax is a small SUV made by Chevrolet. The 2024 version is the newest one, good for city driving and carrying stuff.
Car
Pontiac Firefly
The Pontiac Firefly is a small car from the early 1990s that was sold in Canada. It was similar to a Suzuki Swift and known for being easy on gas.
Part
cracked cylinder head
The cylinder head is a part on top of the engine. If it cracks, it can cause leaks and make the engine stop working well.
Part
intake gaskets
Intake gaskets are seals that help keep air and liquids in the right places inside the engine. If they break, the engine might not work well.
Term
pH balance
pH balance tells us if the coolant is more like lemon juice (acidic) or soap (alkaline), which helps keep the engine safe.
Concept
maintenance-free coolant claim
Some coolants say they don't need to be changed for a long time, but that's not always true. You still need to check and change it sometimes to keep your car safe.
Term
prosumer
A prosumer is someone who knows a lot about cars and takes care of them better than most people. They don’t just use the car, they understand how it works and what it needs.
Term
planned obsolescence
Planned obsolescence means companies make things that break or get old faster on purpose, so you have to buy new ones more often. In cars, this can mean parts that wear out quickly so you spend more money fixing or replacing them.
LIVE
Good morning Niagara, you're tuned to Car Connection, where the coffee's hot, the tools
are ready and the talk is always tuned up.
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a few good laughs and I'm Niall MotorMouth Jenkins shifting into drive this morning.
Well happy Monday and my understanding is it is March break so if you're sleeping in
you'll pick this up a little later on this morning and you deserve a break as well, it's
nice to have a break and to be able to sit back and just kind of you know take a deep
breath and just let it all out, yeah just like that, nice and slow and you're going,
I don't have to get up, I don't have to get on the hamster wheel, I don't have to run
like a little hamster, get off, lick the little ball, get a pellet, jump back on for a whole
week.
Then you realize, oh the kids are home, there you go and it's quiet and they're awake.
Well good morning if you're driving into work this morning and you're not on winter break,
March break, well we're glad to have you with us, we always enjoy our new listeners and
visitors to our YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Stevensville on the web.ca or iHeartRadio,
the whole schmiel, so let's get started this morning, I have a hot topic for you and I'm
going to give you a sneak preview, unreal expectations, unreal expectations, we're going
on the Saturday morning if you missed it on our 8am-9am morning drive with motor mouth,
Q&A, questions and answers and we had three really good questions that I unpacked on Saturday,
so let's jump right into this this morning and start off with our, let's kick off our
morning swiggy together and we thank our certified financial planning professionals, Tony Miele,
Larry Tetra with 50 years experience as fiduciaries, they're with IG wealth management and folks
I would say this, no excuses, book the hour in a coffee discovery meeting, leave your
wallets, your purse is at home, nobody's going to be selling you anything, get your questions
answered and get some of that financial cramp off your back, a lot of people are really
stressed out about finances right now and instead of stewing about it, get your questions
answered so that you can move forward, okay?
And I'm speaking from experience, I've known Tony and Larry for well over 20 plus years,
they've been our financial planners for the same and I'll tell you what, there's not much
that you could say or have done that they haven't seen, so if you have an investment portfolio
with the banks, I just went by a sign on Sunday, 4% for GICs, you can do a whole lot better
than that with Tony or Larry, trust me, that's pittance, that is pittance money, get that
hour in a coffee and sit down and talk about your investment portfolios wherever they are,
if they're with the banks, you need to get them out of there so your money is working
a whole lot harder for you than you harder for the money, dealing with debt, estate planning,
powers of attorney, beneficiaries, the whole schmiel there as well, health proxies, if
you have children at home over 18 years of age, are you their health proxy?
I'm leaving you with that question, mortgages and life insurance and critical illness insurance,
I have all that taken care of through Tony, Miele and Larry teacher and let me tell you,
it gives you really good peace of mind, when you put your head on your pillow, all those
things that we don't like to talk about including cars, with finances and debt and mortgages
and life insurance and estate planning, just get it taken care of, the guys will take great
care of you, that hour in a coffee will not cost you anything, so as I mentioned, leave
your wallets, leave your purses at home, no one's selling you anything, get your questions
answered by someone who actually has the fruit on the tree, alright let's jump in this morning
with our morning swiggy, here's how it goes if you're joining us for the very first time,
we count it down, whatever your favorite morning beverage is, if you're going through the drive-thru
always, always and especially Monday mornings, this is experience, yeah three Mondays in
a row, didn't get my right order, gotta go back to the tail end of the longest line to
get to the window, or go inside and stand in line in there to get it changed up, so revisit
your order, double check it, lock it down in the cup holder, we count it down three two
one and we have a swiggy together, you ready, three two one, yep that's happening on Monday,
right there, it is so good, that's yumminess, alright let's take a look at the weather for
this Monday morning, first day of March break, how cool is that, thank you to Crystal Ridge
Dream Center for being our 2025-26 non-profit faith-based organization serving men, women,
seniors, young adults, children, single moms, meals, love, hope and providing programs for
all of them, they have after-school programs, in fact the kids, I got confirmation yesterday
the kids are there this afternoon at Crystal Ridge Dream Center after three for games and
activities that will keep them entertained and I think they're getting pizza today, don't quote
me on that but that's the buzz word I heard and I went pizza, hello, after three, absolutely, so
keep in mind that you know they're doing what many of us can't and that is changing lives
one at a time in the Niagara region and especially in these times they're feeding, they feed meals
out the door Tuesdays and Fridays, I don't know if that's going this week but I will let you know
tomorrow I'll be getting an update from the Crystal Ridge Dream Center, so in times when
community support is crucial, Crystal Ridge Dream Center shines as a beacon of compassion
and transformation located at 385 Derby Road right in the heart of Crystal Beach and they're
serving all kinds of, all walks of life in the Niagara region, they don't receive any
government funding whatsoever, so whatever you can do, whatever is laid on your heart to help them
out, gift cards, maybe even taking a look into becoming one of their volunteers, they have
over 60 volunteers and it's still always not enough when more and more and more people are coming
in, so thank you for that from the bottom of my heart, you can click on their logo for any of our
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on top of life as well can be extremely, extremely difficult single moms, you name it the list goes
on and on a family where somebody's lost a job and now they're down to a single income, it gets tight,
tighter than a frog's butt, so let's jump in this morning to our Monday morning weather and there
are, I've already had a little peek, I've been outside, it's actually quite balmy out there today,
a high of 59 today for this Monday first day of the winter break, March break, overnight low is going
to be 27, looks like some rainy conditions coming in around 11 a.m., let's check, go a little deeper
into the research this morning, precipitation 0.25 of an inch possibly of some snows, not at 59
degrees I don't think, rain 0.05 of an inch, it's 53 currently right now with windy conditions,
wind is making it feel colder about 38 degrees, rainy conditions from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. today,
so be careful out there with snow expected around 6 p.m., so I'm going to remind you, wipers up
at the end of the day, wipers up because it sounds like we're going to go into an overnight low
and it's going to be 27 which means 32 is what, 32 Fahrenheit is what, 0 freezing temperature,
so you're going to be using the wipers late in the day, this is the perfect example for this,
perfect segue, so you're going to be using your wipers for the drive home today, then you're going
to park, then around 6 o'clock temperatures are going to drop down to 27 degrees Fahrenheit,
things are going to freeze, the wipers will be frozen to the windshield overnight, and if you
forget to turn the wipers off when you get home from your daily drive and get into the car
Tuesday morning and turn the key on, bam, that's all you're going to hear, and wipers no go,
and it's, pay the lady, exactly, so I'm giving you a heads up on that, this is exactly the
weather conditions for that to happen, so today's temperature range 27 degrees Fahrenheit to 59
and currently feels like 6 to 46, so there you go, that is what I call the wiper system
catastrophe lined up perfectly, that's me making that noise, that isn't, you know, I'm fiddling,
touching stuff, anyways let's jump into our category this morning, and over the next few weeks
instead of giving you a plethora of information, like sucking on a fire hose, I'm going to pick
topics and break them down for you, we're going to pull over and park, drill down, unpack, and
making it happener for you, so that you get a better understanding, and I'm putting the topics I'm
covering in order of serious importance, so today kicks that off, so today is the number one most
neglected system on every automobile out there, and it doesn't matter if it's two years old, five years
old or 15 years old and beyond, for some reason, again I talk about the car game, not card game, the car
game, because it is, because you've got lots of white noise going on and talking heads saying the
buzz words and giving you the fizz when they say maintenance free, I was just reading a jug
yesterday and I decided over the weekend I was going to do a cooling system flush on one of the last
things to do as the 97 Jeep TJ Wrangler is going over to the other shop around the corner on the
campus here and we're bringing the 92 Volkswagen Cabriolet, that one seems to be the hot button for
many of you out there have said yeah we want to see you work on that, and there seems to be quite a
following on that particular vehicle, 92 Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet Carmen series made in Germany, it was
officially made in Germany that car and it was owned and purchased in California and I'll tell you when
you see that car topside and underneath, wow, that's where you get a vehicle from, absolutely, absolutely, so
we're going to be working on that, but I thought I'm going to kick off today's program talking about
the vehicle cooling system, unreal expectations, that's what we're going to unpack this morning and I was
reading one of the jugs of premixed coolant that I have in the shop and I, you know what, I guarantee that
all of you do not stop and read the jug of antifreeze when you go and pick some up, yeah, I guarantee you
don't read the small print on the label on the back because that's where the hidden information is, yes
that's where the truth is, in very small print the manufacturer gives a disclaimer that throws you under the
bus, yes, it's right there and writing in black and white and lots of gobbledygook on the back of the
label of a bottle of antifreeze and there's several different types out there, color, it doesn't really
matter until you get into European cars, it's just a, it's a marketing gimmick that's working very
well for them is, you know, there's the yellow, there's the orange, there's the blue, there's the green
and then the label has on it foreign cars, domestic cars, it's all a bunch of marketing, yeah, except for
when you get into European cars and I can speak for that because we do have a couple of European cars that
gets us into the European car shows in the summer because you cannot show up with a domestic ride, no
muscle cars, no hot rides, no pickup trucks, you cannot enter, they will not let you register so, yeah, we
have to treat them different and I say that to all of you, if you have European cars, domestic
automotive technicians do not understand the European cars, you need a European tech to work on them
otherwise it's going to turn into a freak show for you. Well, there, there's two ways to own a car, did you
know that? Two ways, here it is brothers and sisters, living in the unknown or living in the know, one
creates stress and the other gives you freedom, this is the lane that I've been carving out and have been
carving out for over 40 plus years, so I'm not a big shot, I'm just a little shot that just keeps
shooting, I'm in your corner playing this car game, I played the car game in my own shop for 11 years until I had
health issues that took me out of the shop for quite a while to get back to being able to walk again pretty
much and drive, but yeah, hallelujah for that, I am doing extremely well, yeah, I don't do that stupid stuff anymore
like lifting a small block Chevy out of the trunk of my car by myself, yeah, that's what kind of started it and then a
how the consumer is dealt with at the counter in the service bays, in the sales department, even the parts department and
cleanup department and my eyes got opened wide, let me tell you, I'll share that story for another day, but there are
two ways for you to own a car, either living in the unknown, what am I talking about there, that means living with
blinders on and just hoping every day the car starts and the service light doesn't come on and you don't hear anything
rattling or leaking more fluids than the car has, it's better to be in the know because that's where I can help you and you
can save money, we're putting together a page right now on our website so that all of you can grab hold of one of our
car connection fleet maintenance systems and it is so easy, when you receive it, you will go, well that was easy, exactly
so on the profile page for the car connection fleet maintenance system, you'll be able to see everything you get in the kit,
a full write up on what it is, how it was designed, how it works for you and how simply put forward you will be in the
know on your vehicle as far as repairs and service and maintenance goes, that's money in your pocket, yeah, money in your
pocket, but you, this is where you come in, you have to decide, do you want to live in the unknown, you don't know what's going on
with your vehicle or about to happen to your vehicle ahead of time, or do you want to be living in the know, one creates stress,
that's the living in the unknown, you don't know what you don't know, that's why you don't have because if you knew it, you knew
you'd have it and to know it and not do it means you never knew it in the first place, living in the know and following a
maintenance plan is going to reduce stress financially and vehicle wise because you're always going to be on top of it
I like to call it the shopping list because everything is written down for you, if you can make, if you can read and make a
check mark, you're all in, that's all you need to know, I've done the rest for you, so with our car connection fleet maintenance system,
it's like having me with you but I'm not there, that's right, I'm not the droid you're looking for, so we're putting that together as we speak
because here's another question and I'm going to continue to harp on about it because for those of you who are kind of on the fence,
you don't want to be making payments, you're tired of having to work all that extra time to pay for a car and pay for interest,
you don't have to do that, you don't, it's a choice, it is really a choice, how long would your car last if you actually followed a proper maintenance plan
and this is going to segue right into the number one area on all vehicles out there that puts the vehicle into the wrecking yard every single time
and I'm going to give you a factual story that I talked a bit about on Saturday on our Q&A to back that up and you're going to see what I mean
I'm going to unpack it for you and it might make your head twitch a little bit and that's a good thing
we built a laminated reusable car connection fleet maintenance system that makes it super simple
for you to go from the unknown with your vehicle into the know going from being stressed out with your automobile and how to pay for the repairs
because they can come up, they can sneak up on you, a lot of $200 maintenance items go undiscovered
the unknown and they turn quickly into a $5,000 repair
now you've got a head gasket problem and it may be deeper than that we won't know until we tear the engine down
what's that going to cost, that's the first thing you're going to say
if I had a nickel, for every time someone said that and I had to tell them that at the shop and go
you're really needed to get this thing in sooner than later because it's gone from not too big a problem to a catastrophic problem
what's that going to cost, so first thing you say at the service desk
well it's going to be more than a dollar but less than a million
I don't know until I get it apart is what I have to tell you
minimum you're looking at an eight hour day to tear it apart
so eight hours at whatever the shop rate is that's your diagnostic time to determine what exactly happened
and how bad is the engine hurt
that's what you got to know, that's being in the know
but if you were keeping an eye you were already in the know that something was going on and you're topping the coolant up
alright with that let's shift gears
we're going to head right over into my title this morning
unreal expectations
unreal expectations
and I'm not here to scare you or fear tactics or anything like that
this is reality
if you want to give longevity to your vehicle's engine
transmission and its driveline and you want to keep that vehicle as long as you can possibly keep it going
this is the right channel for you because I know how to do it
I do it myself on my own vehicles I don't drive any junk
I don't, I don't have to, I take care of it
why? I'm not getting into car payments anymore
I am so over that
yeah I can't even see the tail lights
that's how far away it is, no
I will not do it
I'd rather go to you pull it and pick one of those in there and bring it back to life
because then I'm only fixing it and paying for it
making one payment to bring it back to life
now I just bought myself a car
probably for less than five grand
yeah that's right
some of the $500, many of the $500 cars that I picked up off of people was because the head gasket was gone
it was spitting out oil or coolant or both
something major had gone wrong with it and people won't fix it
and that's why a lot of really good looking vehicles are stacking up at the you pull it yards
nobody's going in to pull the parts
you can make a really good vehicle from some quality used parts
you pull off yourself and build it back
that's what you're going to see with the 97 Jeep TJ Wrangler
wait till you see the final episode
where all I'm going to talk about is numbers
numbers
because many of you have already stated in an email
or a communication through one of the connections we have
Instagram, Facebook, Stevensville on the web.ca
or even our podcast
oh he must have spent a fortune on that
really? is that what you think?
good I want you to think that
that is the whole reason for that entire series
that entire series is going to be turned into an evergreen series
what does that mean? that means it's going to be searched for decades
on the interwebs
and they're going to be able to watch those videos from start to finish
and you're going to be absolutely rolled over
all of you
how much it cost to bring that thing out of the wrecking yard
save it from the crusher
and bring it back to life
and it's coming out of the shop
tomorrow morning
and it's going to be out until I do the welding on the floor
I want to do that outside
I don't like doing a lot of welding in the shop
so I'm going to do that outside in front of the shop
and again I'll show you the finished component when it's done
to fix it all up
and I'm not no professional at welding or sheet metal or anything
but I can do it
I don't always like it
but I can do it
but I segue into the very first couple of videos
of our 97 Jeep TJ Wrangler Sport
that that is now a reliable, safe, long life
if you choose to continue to take care of it vehicle
it is, it's back to life
it's healthy, everything is done
it wasn't a restoration
it was a rescue
that was doing the things that have been neglected
and so what finally killed that 97 Jeep TJ Wrangler?
Cooling system failure
that's what took it out
the engine liquid locked
the cooling system was definitely failing
and there would have been all kinds of telltale signs
loss of heat in the vehicle
wouldn't have been any heat
it would come and go
coolant's missing but it's not coming out and on to the driveway
where's it going?
your neighbor's not borrowing a cup of coolant
let me tell you
they ignored it
the engine would have started running hot
and possibly lack of power
but they didn't clue in
or if they did
they were driving the thing until they killed it
and what finally killed it was when the head gasket
completely decayed
and blew open between two cylinders
the coolant rushed in like Niagara Falls
while the engine was at highway speed
so it was clipping down the road
and how do I know all this?
well you'll have to watch that series of videos
because I show you
and I walk you through
showing you the pistons
and how the engine failed
the engine tried to compress liquids
in cylinders number one and two
and it blew itself to pieces
done
over
the pressure got so high in the cooling system
on that little Jeep
that it blew the upper radiator hose
connection to the radiator
cleaning off
clean off
took it right off the radiator
that's how high the pressure got
from exhaust gases
backing up into the cooling system
it over pressurized the cooling system
and that's when the whole engine let go
so you have to watch those videos
because that's what
put it in the wrecking yard
killed the engine
and it was beyond having it fixed
and that's what put us behind six months at that point
we were trying to get it done within a year
but we spent six months looking for an engine
and through contacts and networking
and some Jeepsters
my good friend John
who is a firefighter in St. Catharines
shoots me a note he goes
you got to connect with this guy
he's in Toronto
he's working on his own Jeep
he's got a Jeep for parts
and it's got the engine in it you need
and I connected with the fella
nice fella
and that's how we got the engine
and then we got it back to the shop
and it was low mileage we went through it
and it proved itself it was very low mileage
so
now we're going to talk about the cooling system
because that is the area where
when it lets go
and it's catastrophic and it will be
you're going to be faced with a $5,000 repair
very very quickly and very very easily
it's going to escalate
and when the cooling system is neglected
and you have an automatic transmission
you're actually cooking the transmission
at the same time so you're doing double duty
you ignore the cooling system on the engine
when your transmission's motor oil
oil
relies on the cooling system
to get that oil cooled down
so your transmission is running at the temperature it should
so if your cooling system on the engine
is failing you're killing your automatic transmission
at the same time
this is what you have to understand
is that if you neglect one area on a vehicle
it's going to affect another area
and cooling system
it's catastrophic
that's how
Skippy and I when we went last July
to go harvest parts for
her van, van in white
we had 52 or 57 mini vans to choose from
you hearing me?
we can't remember the list
when she printed it out
she goes here's your list
and it gives you the aisle number
and section number here
there's about 50, she said 50 some odd
and I think Skippy said it was like 52 or 57
mini vans we got to pick from
and they weren't all rotted out, none of them
they weren't in there because they were rusted out
and you could climb into those mini vans
with the doors all closed
no
engine transmission failure
engine transmission failure
next one, engine transmission failure
how does that happen?
it's because of the unknown
there's two ways to own a car
living in the unknown
or living in the no
you neglect your vehicle's cooling system
it's not a matter of if
it's a matter of when
I can tell you that right now
it's a matter of when
you're not driving
there isn't anyone out there on the roadway
I want to tell you this
there's not one person
out there on the highway
moving a vehicle to A and B
back and forth to work
that doesn't need maintenance
not one
not one single ride
it's a piece of equipment
that's the way you have to view it
it's not just a car
could you go without your car
for two months
three months
four months
then it starts to get a little hairy carry
around the house
I ain't going in there
I'm throwing in a cabbage
first if it comes out coleslaw
I'm running for my life
that's for sure
it all begins
with your vehicle's cooling system
and I would highly recommend
that if you haven't subscribed
to our YouTube channel
that's where you're going to pick up
all the basic fundamentals
about owning and operating an automobile
and it doesn't matter what age
what size what color
whether you're younger old
widowed single moms
the more you learn about the basics
the less stress you're going to have
owning an automobile
less stress
a lot less stress than your neighbor
that doesn't care
I have people going
oh I don't care
I don't bother checking the fluids or anything
I don't bother
I'll just go and get another one
hey God bless you
you got the money to be able to do that
just throw it away
pitch it my direction
I'll take that baby in
and redo it
so on the bottle
of a coolant jug
it's telling me
that I have in the shop here
and we've got videos on this
how to test
how to test what we're testing for
and what the results are
and what's good and what's not
we did
Skippy and I did videos
back in probably the first dozen
or so
you'll find one
on antifreeze
and testing it
you're going to be shocked about that too
what we found
in
brand spanking new
bottles of antifreeze
how they test it out
and
more than we thought
failed right from the store
failed the tests
so how many of you are going to take a jug
of antifreeze home and test it
before you even use it
you're just taking it
for granted that they're telling you the truth
now I'm going to unpack that for you
I look at two brand
brand new jugs
of antifreeze that says
they're good
their antifreeze is good for 225,000
to 270,000 kilometers
or seven years
okay so now I'm going to
now I'm going to unpack that for you
on the back of the bottle
it says that you should have the system maintained
on a regular basis
so there's their back door
they're not really
warranting their antifreeze
for 225,000 to 270,000 kilometers
they're hoping you don't read
the entire label like I do
and catch the catch
so if something happens
and you got their coolant in there
and you haven't been maintaining
your cooling system
they're not giving you warranty
they're not giving you seven year warranty
they're not warranting their coolant
for seven years
because unless you have the paperwork
100%
eyes dotted, tees crossed
that's their back door baby
you blow a head gasket
like that little TJ
97 TJ did
you're on your own
you're on your own
and I'm going to wrap
today's program up with a real thinker for you
that is tied in
with cooling system failure
and you're on your own
they're going to hang you out to dry
that's the catch
buy our antifreeze
it's good for seven years
225,000 to 270,000 K
this fella
that ain't going to be in my vehicle for that long
24 months gush and flush
it's out of there
because it turns acidic
and then it eats head gaskets
it eats cylinder heads
it starts
to corrode things
and erode
my suggestion
it's even on my
car connection
fleet maintenance system
flushing
the cooling system
every 24 months
because that 225,000 km antifreeze
came out in 1992
for the first time
and we saw exactly the same thing happening then
is what we're seeing now with it
it looks good
smells good
and it tests really bad
the pH balance
and the alkalinity
acid corrosion level
goes right off the chart
this stuff
turns into
a very toxic liquid
in your vehicle's cooling system
you can use it
I don't
I won't use it
I don't want it around my vehicles at all
because you know what
I don't like tearing engines down
just because somebody's product
caused my vehicle to fail
so we saw this long life coolant
back in 1992
in the shop
and it was causing engine failures
cooling system failures back then
do you think they changed the way they blend it?
no
the way they market it
is brilliant
it's absolutely brilliant
because they're reaching into your mind
oh I put this in
I'm good for 7 years
no you're not
you gotta read the whole label folks
here's the other kicker
that bottle I was reading last night
says it's good for 7 years
and it was manufactured
you ready for it?
here it is
this is a coup de gras
that jug of antifreeze
was manufactured in 2022
what year are we in right now?
26
how many years have gone by?
4
how old's that antifreeze?
it's 4 years old folks
it's already 4 years old
it has a date due time
so it's well over
if it lasts 7 years
it's well over
and you're paying full pop for a jug
that's already 4 years old
are you catching on?
the car game folks
the car game
and
if you read the jug
and it's mixed 50-50
oh we've mixed it already for you
so you don't have to
you're paying big money
for half a jug of product
and the other half
is distilled water
could you not take a jug home
if it was laundry detergent
and it's concentrated
put your own water in it?
I mixed my own product
I have jugs that are marked
at the half way mark
so I move half concentrated antifreeze
over into one jug
and then I use my filtered water
to top both jugs off
now I have how many jugs of antifreeze?
2
I have 8 liters
instead of 2 liters
of blended antifreeze with water
fabulous freaking marketing strategy
whoever came up with that
oh we've pre-mixed it for you
it's 50-50
and it says right on the label
ready to go
that might be convenient for many people
but I'll tell you what
I know you're not dumber than a stick
you could take that jug
split it in half
and mix it with distilled water
bottled water
or filtered water
because you can't use tap water to blend it
and turn that into 2 jugs
instead of paying big bucks
for one jug that's half water
I hope you're cluing into the car game
and it's not going to last
225,000 to 270,000 K
without something happening
to your vehicle's cooling system
that's going to be catastrophic
now
this is where I'm going to wrap this thing up
we'll come back to cooling system again another time
and I will break down
how that kills your automatic transmission
because it's all connected
you know that song
the leg bones connected to the knee bone
and I won't finish that for you
but you can, you can work on that
it's an earworm
thank you to City Auto Sales and Leasing
Earl and Louise Grant are a fantastic car couple
they've been around in the car business
for 20 plus years
they're known as the Greater Toronto Area's
premier pre-owned auto store
they sell no junk there
in-house leasing and financing available
they do carry a large
inventory under roof
and outside on the lot
low mileage quality vehicles at fair prices
it's worth your drive
to go and meet Earl and Louise Grant
at City Auto Sales and Leasing
why? because you'll be treated with
honesty and integrity
nothing less and you'll be able to buy with confidence
that's the place to go
it's the second largest purchase you're ever going to make
why not make it with a couple
that cares all about you
they care about you
so if you're getting in over your head with a vehicle
Louise is going to talk to you about that
and give you some suggestions
you got a new family waiting for you
and a safe place where you can buy a vehicle
if they don't have what you're looking for
let them know what's on your heart
what would work for you and your family
they have the resources, 20 years of resources
to find that vehicle for you
okay so
Saturday on Q&A
remember Fridays are fun Fridays
we just get on the air
and we talk
talk about cars
if you have a topic you'd like me to cover
send me an email
you can get to me through our website at
carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com
I put all the contacting information
in every description
on our YouTube videos and on our podcasts
and I want to mention this
don't just skim over
the description
of a YouTube video
or a podcast
why?
because I put a lot of nuggets in there
I don't even talk about on the air
in most cases
so you can collect
a lot of information
I spend the time
to put together a really good breakdown
in description of each video
and each podcast for you
so that you can come away
with a lot more
tips and tricks on how to keep your vehicle
happy
and healthy
for a long long time
so I was doing some research
which is what I generally do
every day
throughout the week
is seeing how's it going out there
for the guys
North America wide
in the automotive service base
and there's one particular tech
and I'll even put a plug in for him
because the guy he's really good
he's called
main
automotive
I think it's east main automotive
and he's out in main
and I'll tell you the cars
rot out there
five years they're done
I mean they're done
the cross members rot
completely out the cars just
they fall apart out there
he was working on a
2024 Chevy Trax
and customers saying
that it was running rough
and then
some smoke
and this thing has 70,000 miles on it
they bought it brand new
and I watched him
dyag that
with the camera down in the cylinder
and it was a little bit tricky
but he finally with putting the cooling system under pressure
and rotating the engine over
could discover what was going on
and it wasn't good
coolant going into the cylinders
that's what killed that Jeep TJ
coolant entering the cylinders
of the engine
liquid locks it, it's over
that engine is going to literally
explode and it's not fixable
period
the engine will be beyond repair
so that's got the little
three cylinder engine in there
which came out in the early 90s
in the Pontiac Firefly
it had a one liter engine
so this thing now has
either a head gasket issue
or a cracked cylinder head
at 70,000 miles
no warranty
the car is two years old
do the math
225,000 kilometers
to 275,000 kilometers
or seven years that antifreeze
is good for
that will have the long life antifreeze
in it, how old is it
two years old
back in 1992
we saw vehicles
two years old
head gasket issues
coolant in the engine
intake gaskets
letting go while on the highway
filling the engine up with antifreeze
and kaboom
that was 1992 to 95
that's when us tax
are going that long life antifreeze
is nothing but a
bucket full of crap
with a K
that car is two years old
they're still making payments on it
and they can't afford to fix it
it's coming out of their pocket
now I read online
in the US there's a class action suit building
against GM for that
but that doesn't get your car
back out on the road
that's where I'm going
these people now have a car
they're making payments on
they can't drop the insurance because
they're making payments on it
they're in partnership with the bank
and they don't have the money
to have the engine torn down
find out exactly how bad
the damage is
and it's a pattern failure
there you go
it's not a one off problem
there's a class action suit
building against GM
for this failure
because they're not covering it
they're not covering it
the car is out of warranty
done I'd really like to help you
but we can't
yeah that's customer service for you
so now
their cooling system has failed
and it will have
the long life antifreeze in there
and I'd love to get a little sample
and be able to test that and just see
what's the acid corrosion level
pH balance and alkalinity
because I guarantee you it'll be right off the
stinking chart
it will and so it
damaged the head gasket
it ate it
so
I feel so bad for them
if they were in my neighborhood I'd say
you know what you'd buy the gasket set
I'll tear it down and put it back together for you
I would do it and that's exactly what
we want to be able to do with our youtube channel
and everything we're involved with
youtube, facebook, instagram, iHeartRadio
is to be able to
get monetized enough that you know what
I could say to that person
I could do it for you
and it won't cost you anything
let us shoot the video
and in this particular case
where we're not monetized if that vehicle
came in I'd say you pay for the gasket set
we'll do the labor and
and teach other folks with the videos
that this is what you've got to avoid
so my heart
goes out to them and I've been thinking about it
all stinking weekend because
this is the game folks
that's the game
it's out of warranty
it's two years old
sorry we can't help you
and it's got that it'll have the long life antifreeze
in there
it's maintenance free my friends
you don't have to do a stinking thing
to the vehicles cooling system
for seven whole
years
two years old
this is the garbage that's out there
and you have got
to become
a prosumer
not a consumer
you gotta be sharper
than the cat
exactly
and this
this is a prime example of what I'm talking about this morning
unreal
expectations
that's what they're selling you
planned
obsolescence
they don't want you fixing that
these poor people they don't have the money
to have that engine torn down
fixed
and put back together
and
you know nobody's gonna walk up to them
and pay that car off for them
they're gonna have to pay it off
and save to get it fixed
and it's a pattern failure
we saw all this happening
in our service base back in
1992
same Don Tank
yep
it's pathetic
it really is pathetic
you know you're far better off
in this particular tech
this was his closing statement
and I really I respect the guy
cause he is really good
he's just a mom and pop shop but he's really
really good
he said this
quality
cars versus affordable
that's exactly what the people
bought
2024 Chevy Tracks
under 20 grand
quality cars
versus affordable cars
older
is better
and reliable
I leave you with that
he's spot on
he's dead nuts
right on the nail
he hit it right
on the nail
and I actually stood up at my desk
and I said bravo
you just said
the quiet part
older is better
and reliable
that 1997
Jeep TJ Wrangler
we're gonna shoot a couple of very short videos today
couple things I ended up fixing
another brand new part
didn't even get the Jeep out the door
you gotta see that one
but I fixed it
and it's fixed for good
I fixed a manufacturers defect
and I'm gonna make
that kit
available
to all the Jeep owners that have a Jeep
from 1997 and manual
manual transmission from 1997
to 2006
I've got the fix
I created the fix
in the shop
and put it on that Jeep
and now that problem
will not be in the back of my mind
so another brand new part
right out of the box
didn't even get the Jeep out of the workshop door
and it broke
and then
it broke a second time
so
till tomorrow
thanks for spending time with us today
and don't forget to
like, share, follow, subscribe
I know many of you
are enjoying the videos
but you're not subscribed
93% I watched the analytics
93% of you are enjoying the videos
but you're not subscribed
help us out
because that's how you can help us
get bigger
and we could take care of that problem
on that 2024 Chevy track
for somebody and say you know what
don't sweat it we got this
we can do this
and get you back out on the road
thank you to Niagara Block
the Grimo family at 5,000
Montrose Road in Niagara Falls
they have been building
Canada since 1931
with building supplies
and contracting materials
hardscape landscaping materials
to make that backyard outdoor space
absolutely outstanding
for you to share with your family
your circle of friends
your peeps or just
hang out
and be
we'll see you tomorrow
thanks for stopping by
we'll see you at 8am
tomorrow morning for another
addition
of motor mouths
morning drive
that's right we'll see you then
and remember
happy healthy motoring
but peace, patience
and kindness
love you all we'll see you tomorrow
bye for now
About this episode
The host dives into the often misunderstood topic of vehicle coolant, debunking the myth of '7-year antifreeze' and emphasizing the importance of regular cooling system maintenance. Alongside practical advice about weather-related car care, the episode highlights how reading coolant labels reveals crucial service intervals often overlooked. The show also touches on community support efforts and financial planning tips, blending automotive insights with everyday life advice. Listeners get a mix of humor, technical know-how, and real-world stories, including upcoming work on classic vehicles like a 1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet.
Original notes
"cooling system maintenance"
In this episode we're talking about the marketing promise behind "long-life" or "7-year" coolant.
You've probably seen the jug on the shelf claiming protection for up to 225,000-270,000 km or 7 years. Sounds maintenance - free, right? Not so fast.
Read the the fine print on the back of the bottle and you'll find the catch: you still need to follow the vehicle manufacturer's maintenance schedule or that warranty is meaningless.
After more than 40 years working on vehicles, I've seen what actually happens inside cooling systems when coolant is left too long or when different types of antifreeze get mixed together. What starts as "long - life " can quickly turn into a chemical cocktail that requires a full cooling system flush and neutralization before refilling.
In this podcast I break down:
1) Why long -life coolant marketing can create unrealistic expectations
2) Why mixing antifreeze types can cause major cooling system problems
3) Why I still recommend servicing coolant every 24 months.
4) How to read coolant labels and manufacturing dates before you buy
Owning a vehicle isn't about guessing-it's about knowing. When you understand the maintenance behind the machine, you stay ahead of the breakdowns and avoid expensive repairs.
Be a Pro-sumer, not a "conned sumer" friends.
Car Connection Motormouth Merchandise available in our online store at (ccbusnet.com) grab some merch and join our crew in the fight against addiction, help provide a way for those who are ready to take on their addiction and win, get to a Total Freedom Addiction Campus Canada & USA where a New Life awaits them there! Tnx so much friends, Motormouth & Skippy
More episodes and ...Project Details available at Car Connection Business Network (ccbusnet.com) you'll find everything on our homepage if you 'd like to follow the build & repair work we do & connect with our program partners click their logo to meet them Thank You!
Like, share, subscribe, follow, comment, ring the notification bell, we'll see you in the next one friends! All these little things you can do really help us to grow on all platforms, in turn we can reach more people just like you and me around the globe and help them too! Skippy and I Thank You for your ongoing support luv y'all.
Happy Healthy Motoring Friends, Nile Motormouth Jenkins
Peace Patience Kindness Always. NMJ
Car Connection Workshop
Nile Jenkins
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