Ron Ananian kicks off with a wild Chevy Cruze serpentine-belt failure story: a missing belt rib led to a tensioner issue, then spiraled into alternator, water pump, and finally a radiator replacement due to a broken GM coolant bleed plug—turning a simple service into major front-end work. He uses it to stress trusting your mechanic and expecting real costs on older cars. Calls then cover an intermittent cold no-start Subaru tied to key fob/immobilizer recognition, plus advice on disabling stop-start/AFM and whether to service an older Tahoe transmission and fuel system.
"It was an oil change. It was we had to look at a couple odds and ends, and the serpentine belt was missing a rib. You know, if it's a five rib belt, it only had four. So we put a belt on it."
The serpentine belt is a single belt with grooves that spins several parts on the engine. If it’s missing a rib, it can slip and start making noise or break again.
A serpentine belt is the long, multi-rib belt that routes power from the engine to accessories like the alternator, power steering pump (if equipped), and air conditioning compressor. If ribs are missing or the belt is damaged, it can slip, squeal, or fail quickly.
"the serpentine belt was missing a rib. You know, if it's a five rib belt, it only had four. So we put a belt on it."
On a serpentine belt, the “ribs” are the raised grooves that fit into the pulleys. If one rib is missing, the belt may not grip correctly and can fail again.
A “rib” is one of the belt’s longitudinal grooves/ridges that matches the pulley grooves. Missing a rib means the belt no longer properly engages one of the pulleys, which can cause mis-tracking, squeal, and rapid belt loss.
"Called me up about an hour later. He said, hey, you know, Ron, is it is it supposed to squeak? Is the belt breaking in? I said, no, absolutely not, you know it's it's it's we don't we don't see or break in belts anymore, So you don't bring it back."
Belt squeal is often a sign of belt slip, misalignment, glazing, or incorrect belt routing/tension. In this case, the caller asks whether squeaking is “supposed” to happen as the belt “breaks in,” but the host says that’s not normal.
"So it's getting an alternator. And how does the water pump feel?"
The alternator generates electrical power for the vehicle and is typically driven by the serpentine belt. In this story, alternator wear (shaft play/clunking) is linked to belt tracking issues, so it’s treated as a likely root cause.
"And this is where I blame GM. Right, this is where GM stands for giant mistakes. So GM, you know, to bleed the cooling system..."
GM is the company that makes these cars. Here the speaker is saying GM’s cooling-system design makes the bleeding step harder, especially on older cars.
GM refers to General Motors, the automaker behind the Chevrolet Cruze platform mentioned here. The speaker criticizes GM’s design choice for a cooling-system bleed plug, implying it can be awkward to service on older vehicles.
"So GM, you know, to bleed the cooling system, which you have to do after you do the water pump, or open the cooling system up."
Bleeding the cooling system removes trapped air after opening the system or replacing components like the water pump. Air pockets can reduce coolant flow and cause overheating or poor temperature regulation.
"...puts a plastic, hard white plastic drain or i'm sorry, hard white plastic bleed plug in the top of the plastic radiator so you know, ten years old."
That bleed plug is a small valve used to let trapped air out when you refill coolant. If it’s plastic and old, it can be easy to damage during service.
A cooling system bleed plug is a service fitting used to let air escape during coolant refill/bleeding. The speaker specifically calls out a hard plastic bleed plug in the radiator top, which can be fragile or annoying to work with after years of heat cycles.
"let's put a radiator in it. Okay... get the plug out of the radiator and you've got to open it up."
The radiator is the main heat exchanger for the engine’s cooling system. When it’s damaged or leaking, the engine can overheat quickly, so replacement becomes necessary.
"moral to the story is. You You you've really got to know your mechanic. You've really got to trust your mechanic."
The lesson is that you should trust your mechanic and build a good relationship. When repairs get complicated, that trust helps you make better decisions.
The speaker’s takeaway is about trust and communication with a mechanic—especially when repairs become multi-part and decisions must be made quickly. Having a relationship can reduce uncertainty and help you feel confident about what needs fixing.
"I had a. Regular customer, another regular customer drop off her two thousand and eight Honda CRV this week and the daughter came in."
A Honda CR-V is a popular SUV. The speaker is using it as an example of a customer’s car that comes in for repairs or maintenance.
The Honda CR-V is a compact SUV known for being practical and relatively easy to live with. In this story, it’s used as an example of a customer’s regular vehicle coming in for service.
"And you say to yourself whose car do you want to work on? Do you want to work on the Volkswagen or do you want to work on the Chevy Cruise? Because you look at the owners so perceptions reality ownership plays effect."
This reflects a basic ownership reality: older, higher-mileage cars typically require more maintenance and repairs. The speaker uses the car’s age and mileage to explain why customers should expect service costs.
"Yeah, or the car would need to be reprogrammed. And here's it only happened when it was cold."
Reprogramming is like updating the car’s computer software. It can fix glitches that cause weird starting or key-related problems.
Reprogramming means updating the car’s software/firmware so the control module behaves correctly. This is often used when a known issue affects how the car recognizes the key, handles immobilizer logic, or responds to sensors.
"Does it have remote start? No, it doesn't have remote start."
Remote start is a system that allows starting the engine from outside the vehicle, typically using a key fob or separate module. Because it often involves bypassing or interfacing with ignition/immobilizer logic, its presence (or absence) can be relevant to no-start and key-recognition troubleshooting.
"Factory key fobs. Right, you look at them, they say super run them. They look like a factory keyfob."
Factory key fobs are the original keys that “talk” to your car. If the car can’t read the key properly, it may refuse to start.
Factory key fobs are the original keys programmed to the vehicle’s immobilizer/anti-theft system. If the key fob isn’t recognized correctly, the immobilizer can block starting and trigger related diagnostic codes.
"...the starter relay, for example, in that car, the starter relay control is built into the immobilizer..."
The starter relay is like a power switch for the starter. If it doesn’t get permission (like from the anti-theft system), the car won’t crank.
The starter relay is an electrical switch that sends power to the starter motor when the car is commanded to start. In some designs, the relay control is integrated with the immobilizer/anti-theft logic, so key recognition problems can prevent the relay from operating.
"...the starter relay, for example, in that car, the starter relay control is built into the immobilizer of the anti theft system."
The immobilizer is the car’s anti-theft “permission slip.” If it doesn’t recognize your key, the car won’t start.
An immobilizer is an anti-theft system that prevents the engine from starting unless it recognizes the correct key or key signal. If the immobilizer doesn’t authenticate the key, the car may refuse to start and can trigger related diagnostic codes.
"...Read up on it, and there's a suggest and take the fob and put it right next to the start."
Putting the key right by the start button can help the car “read” the key better. If the key signal is weak or the antenna isn’t working well, this can sometimes get the car to start.
Placing the key fob close to the start button is a common troubleshooting step when a vehicle’s keyless/immobilizer antenna ring may not be reading the fob reliably. The car may use a different read method at close range to authenticate the key and allow starting.
"...it has push buttons start, you know what. I carry both keys with me..."
Push-button start means you press a button to start the car instead of turning a key. It still needs to “find” your key fob first, or the car won’t start.
Push-button start is a keyless ignition system where the car starts when you press a button while the correct key fob is detected. It still relies on fob recognition, so immobilizer/key-fob issues can prevent starting even with the button.
"...somebody walks up, pulls up on the door handle, the car unlocks and they can start it."
With keyless systems, the car can “see” the key fob even if it’s inside. If a spare fob is left in the car, someone may be able to unlock it and potentially drive it.
The scenario described is a common keyless-entry security concern: if a valid fob is inside the car, an attacker may be able to unlock the vehicle and start it. This is why owners are often advised not to leave spare fobs in the cabin or trunk.
"And they cannot upgrade the speakers, that cannot upgrade the equalizer or anything."
An equalizer is a sound control that changes how much bass, treble, and other frequencies you hear. It can make the music sound better depending on your speakers and the room/road noise.
An equalizer (EQ) adjusts the balance of frequencies in audio—like bass, midrange, and treble. In car audio, EQ settings can dramatically change how music sounds, especially when paired with different speakers or amplifiers.
"...stereo turntable now plugs into your computer and you can play records through your computer through a USB."
USB is a cable/connection that lets devices talk to each other. In this case, it’s used so a turntable can connect to a computer to play records.
USB is a common connection used to transfer audio data from devices to computers or audio interfaces. Here, the speaker is describing a “USB turntable” setup where records can be played through a computer.
"remember eleven years ago we went to the dead Man's Curve Wild hot Rod party in mahwan, New Jersey at the Sheridan And who do we interview? Paul Tuttle from Orange County Choppers and Candy Clark from American Graffiti."
Orange County Choppers is a famous custom motorcycle shop/brand. They’re known for building standout bikes and for being on TV, so it’s a recognizable name in the car/motorcycle enthusiast world.
Orange County Choppers (OCC) is a well-known custom motorcycle company and TV brand associated with high-profile builds and enthusiast media. Mentioning OCC signals the episode’s connection to custom-bike culture and personalities from that scene.
"That's what I always say. It's the emotion of the automobile that I don't think we have today. We're attached to those cars from the sixties and the seventies."
They’re saying cars can feel personal, like part of your life story. The speaker believes people used to connect with cars more emotionally than they do today.
This is the idea that cars aren’t just transportation—they’re tied to identity, memories, and relationships. The speaker contrasts that emotional attachment with how modern people may not bond with cars the same way.
"Hey Ron, I've got a two thousand and seven Tahoe about ninety thousand miles. I'd like to know why she got the transmission flushed and the fuel system cleaned."
They’re talking about a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV. The owner wants to understand why it had transmission and fuel system services done around 90,000 miles.
The Chevrolet Tahoe is a full-size SUV. In this segment, the owner mentions a 2007 Tahoe with about 90,000 miles and asks why it received transmission flushing and fuel system cleaning, which ties directly to routine maintenance and service recommendations.
An extended warranty is extra coverage after the original warranty ends. It can pay for certain repairs, but you have to check what’s actually covered and what isn’t.
An extended warranty is coverage beyond the factory warranty period, usually offered by the manufacturer or a third party. It can help offset repair costs for certain components, but coverage terms, exclusions, and claim procedures vary widely.
"...it's going to scrub that off and create issues with the little tiny orifs that are inside of transmission."
Inside a transmission there are very small passages that control how fluid moves. If dirt or debris gets into those tiny spots, the transmission can start shifting poorly.
The speaker is referring to small orifices (passages) inside the transmission that control fluid flow to clutches and valves. If debris is present, these small openings can clog, leading to shifting problems or pressure issues.
"Fuel system cleaning, by all means. Fuel system cleaning best done where we're going to go through the rail one of two thousand and seven."
Fuel system cleaning is meant to get rid of gunk in the fuel system. That can help the engine run better by improving how fuel is delivered and burned.
Fuel system cleaning is a service intended to remove deposits from fuel components, commonly including the injectors and intake tract. It’s often done with a specialized process or cleaner that helps restore spray pattern and combustion cleanliness.
"...we want to get to the injectors, that is not a port fuel I'm sorry. That is not a direct injection. That is a port fuel style engine, meaning cleaning through the injectors will get the back of the intake valves, piston tops and do a very thorough job."
Injectors are the parts that spray fuel into the engine. If they get dirty, the engine may run worse, so cleaning them can help restore proper fuel delivery.
Fuel injectors are the components that meter and spray fuel into the engine. Deposits or poor spray patterns can lead to rough running, reduced efficiency, and uneven combustion, so injector-focused cleaning can be beneficial.
"...cleaning through the injectors will get the back of the intake valves, piston tops and do a very thorough job. Fuel system cleaning is money well worth spent..."
Intake valves control the airflow into the engine. Over time, they can collect deposits, and cleaning services may help remove some of that gunk.
Intake valves are the valves that let the air-fuel mixture enter the cylinders. On port-injected engines, deposits can build up on the back of the intake valves, and injector/induction cleaning can help reduce that buildup.
"They put the tone or trigger wheel for the crank sensor, and the crank sensor is critical. The crank sensor tells the computer how fast the engine is turning over, how fast the bicycle sprockets are going right, so it can help make a calculation for fuel delivery and spark delivery and engine operation and so forth."
A tone/trigger wheel is the toothed wheel (or reluctor) that the crank sensor reads to generate a timing signal. The ECU relies on the pattern and position of those teeth to determine crankshaft position accurately; any indexing or mechanical slack can affect signal interpretation.
"They put the tone or trigger wheel for the crank sensor, and the crank sensor is critical. The crank sensor tells the computer how fast the engine is turning over, how fast the bicycle sprockets are going right, so it can help make a calculation for fuel delivery and spark delivery and engine operation and so forth."
The crank sensor tells the car’s computer how fast the engine is spinning and where the crankshaft is. The computer uses that to decide when to inject fuel and when to fire the spark plugs.
The crank sensor (crankshaft position sensor) provides the engine control unit (ECU) with rotational position and speed information. The ECU uses that data to calculate ignition timing and fuel delivery, so a faulty or mis-referenced crank sensor can cause drivability issues or incorrect timing.
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start your enginies. The Car Doctor is in the garage
and ready to take your call.
I want to start with a quick story, if I could.
I want to tell you about mister Cooper and his cruise.
You know, there are things that happen in the repair shop you just can't possibly predict or be prepared for.
It just it's just that way. When mister Cooper brought
in his cruise for the first repair. It was simple enough.
It was an oil change. It was we had to
look at a couple odds and ends, and the serpentine belt was missing a rib. You know, if it's a
five rib belt, it only had four. So we put
a belt on it. We looked at it. It was
running straight and true, there was no issues. Let it go.
Called me up about an hour later. He said, hey,
you know, Ron, is it is it supposed to squeak?
Is the belt breaking in? I said, no, absolutely not,
you know it's it's it's we don't we don't see or break in belts anymore, So you don't bring it back.
He brought it back and sure enough, it was missing the fifth rib. It was gone. See what the heck's
going on here? It's kind of odd. Nothing sharp, nothing poke,
nothing out of the way. And I sat there and
I ran the car and I watched it. And after
about fifteen maybe twenty minutes, the serpentine belt tensioner kicked.
It just sort of twisted itself to the right, which pushed the belt to the left, which pushed the belt closer towards the tensioner bracket. And if the rib was there,
it would have sliced the rib. Oh, so it needs attentionioner.
Take it apart again. Take the motor mount out, always
a thrill. Take the motor mount out, take the tensioner off. Yeah,
you know what. You can sit there and it's sort
of got a kink in it, so it needs attentionioner.
But now you get judgmental. Right, now you start to
look at everything because this is one hundred and thirty thousand mile, ten year old car, and you just you know, what else could you have missed? Is an alternator supposed
to clunk when you pull on the alternator pulley? Are
you supposed to hear as it as the shaft slides in and out because the endplay on the alternator armature shaft is so worn that it just you know, and that'll affect belt tracking without a doubt the amount that that moved. So it's getting an alternator. And how does
the water pump feel? Well, you got a little bit
of you know, just the least little bit, but it's there.
It's got some wank in it, as we used to say, So it's getting a water pump. Come on down, mister Cooper,
let's show you he says wrong and you know he has great attitude, right, great, great guy. He just gets it.
He just knows. You know, their cars, they're old, their machines,
he says, wrong, what am I going to come down for.
I'll see it when you're done. Just go ahead and
fix it. So we fixed it well. And this is
where I blame GM. Right, this is where GM stands
for giant mistakes. So GM, you know, to bleed the
cooling system, which you have to do after you do the water pump, or open the cooling system up. On
any Chevy Cruise and a lot of products, a lot of vehicles, you have to bleed the cooling system. So
you have to open up the air bleed. So General Motors,
in their infinite wisdom, puts a plastic, hard white plastic drain or i'm sorry, hard white plastic bleed plug in the top of the plastic radiator so you know, ten years old. Naturally, you put your device in there, which
is a long bladed screwdriver, fitting the slot perfectly, and snap and it just broke off. So now you can't
get the plug out of the radiator and you've got to open it up. Now. I talked to him, and
I said, and you know. We went back and forth
and he said, listen, he said, let's not get crazy about this. The car is ten years old. Let's put
a radiator in it. Okay, all this started because of
a tensioner. Right, the road downhill is paved with ice.
It's a complete and fast slide. So we have to
put a radiator in it. Do you know what it
is to put a radiator in a Chevy Cruise, Well, the bumper has to come off. The bumper so I
braces the front covers, the condenser has to come out, the turbo charger in her cooler has to come out.
That's when you find the leak in the AC system because it's only got about a third of a pound in it. It's a pounds and a half pounds and
a quarter system, give or take depending upon how it's option.
So then you find the leak in the AC condenser.
So now you're doing a condenser, a radiator, a serpentine belt, a tention or a water pump, and an alternator. I
don't think some cars want to be fixed. I think
they just wanted to fight logic and they just you know, you kind of get you start looking at it saying to yourself, why we fixed it. We got it down
the road and out the door, and it was a couple of bucks. Yeah, and he's committed to this car
for another three to five years, like I know he is.
And he did start asking what color though, because he knows the speech he's going to get from me sooner or later. And I said no, I said, listen, what
color was two weeks ago? Because before we started fixing this,
we should have started asking what color. We're committed, baby,
We're in all the way. And I guess what the
moral to the story is. You You you've really got
to know your mechanic. You've really got to trust your mechanic,
and you've got to have that relationship and it's really important, and you've got to expect that. You know, the car
is ten years old.
I had a.
Regular customer, another regular customer drop off her two thousand and eight Honda CRV this week and the daughter came in.
The daughter's driving a twenty ten Volkswagen Beetle. Now, when
you're driving a Volkswagen and you refer to your car as the buggy, you know that, well, we're just we're a little buggy maybe. And the first comment was, would
you work on my Volkswagen? The dealership is too expensive.
They always want me to spend money on it. And
then we had the conversation about but it's sixteen years old, it's got one hundred thousand miles on it. Why wouldn't
you expect it to cost you money to work on it?
And you say to yourself whose car do you want to work on? Do you want to work on the
Volkswagen or do you want to work on the Chevy Cruise?
Because you look at the owners so perceptions reality ownership plays effect. How you approach your mechanic is important, but
what you expect, you've got to be a realist. Went
out to dinner Thursday night with my friend Tony. We
go out a couple of times a year, and I talk to him about with you guys and or our server.
And I always make Tony laugh when I do this.
Because the young lady came up, I didn't even get her name. Actually, what kind of car do you drive?
Twenty one Mazda? Oh where do you take it to
get serviced the dealer? Why? Well, because I used to
go to one of the tire shops and they were always trying to rip me off. And I had a Honda,
and I went to the Honda dealer. But now I
have a Masa, so I go to the Maza dealer because I trust them. Now, I've got to tell you,
the majority of the time it's the other way. We
don't want to go to the dealer because the dealer's ripping us off. Here's someone whose perception is the dealer's
not ripping me off. The dealer's taking care of my car.
And it just brings me to the point that reality.
Do you know your mechanic. Do you trust your mechanic
the heck with what it costs. If you're getting it
fixed properly and they're being honest with you, then that's what it is. That's the way mister Cooper is and
he gets it. That's the Volkswagon lady. I don't think
she's ever gonna get it, and she's just gonna wander like someone in the desert looking for a glass of water.
That you know, sooner or later somebody will be able to fix my car, but nobody's gonna be able to fix it for free. The young lady with the Mazda
at the restaurant we were at Thursday night. She gets it.
She's found her spot in the desert. She happens to
like the dealer, mister Cooper, happens to like an independent, the Volkswagon owner. She's a little buggy. I'm running any
in the car doctor eight five five five six nine nine zero zero. I'll be back right after this. Hey,
let's open up the phone line and get down to Ron and Delaware with a nineteen Subaru outback.
Ron.
Welcome to the car doctor, sir. How can I help?
Well? I have that Subaru order this fall. This past winter,
it was very intermittently. You go where you put your
foot on the break the start, the led in the center of the start button turns red, the steering wheel freezes up and it won't start. I did a little
research on it. They suggest it could be a fob,
weak battery, a module.
That may need to be updated or replaced.
Yeah, or the car would need to be reprogrammed. And
here's it only happened when it was cold. So far
it's been operating fine.
You know the problem. Well, the first problem is it's intermittent, right,
so you've got to duplicate the condition. And now this
is this is spring, so We're not going to see it again for seven months, right, so you know the hopefully right.
You know.
The one question and one comment I would make is has anybody done a complete vehicle scan?
No? Okay, I've taken it back to the dealer where
I bought the car, and what they say, uh, we didn't see nawsen.
Yeah, that's always the answer.
And you're you're also I purchased it an extended warranty, being warranty for the car.
So you bought this, you bought this used ron Yes, okay?
Any aftermarket accessories in it?
No?
Does it have remote start? No, it doesn't have remote start.
Factory key fobs. Right, you look at them, they say
super run them. They look like a factory keyfob. Yes, okay,
So first question, you know, whenever a mechanic says we didn't see nothing, my next question would be, really, how many modules are in the car and which ones did you scan?
Yeah? I know. I looked at the work orders and
I got the next day I started thinking, wait a minute, I don't see anything where they scan for error codes.
Right, Because here's a case where and I can almost guarantee you with a high degree of certainty if we've got a module dropping out, if we've got a module that needs program updates, because the starter relay, for example, in that car, the starter relay control is built into the immobilizer of the anti theft system. So if it
won't start and it's being told not to start because it doesn't recognize your key, it's going to set a fault code. It's going to set in a currents. It's
it's gonna it's gonna come up with you know, false code entry, false key code, low voltage something. So not
not doing a and I say, a complete vehicle scan, all right, Not doing a complete vehicle scan because you don't know what system we're dealing with here. To me
is you know where they charge it two hundred dollars to come back and tell you there's nothing wrong.
Well they were gracious with zero charge.
Right, Well that's okay, they did zero you know, they did zero effort. All right.
I was able to work around it so far. Read
up on it, and there's a suggest and take the fob and put it right next to the start.
Button, and it makes the problem go away.
And the car would start right up right turn green, car starts up.
Yeah, it's it's it's trust me, it's in the immobilizer.
The system is not recognizing that fob. How many fobs
do you have?
I had one?
All right. So now we're going back to the dealership
on money day. We're gonna ask for a complete scan
and we want to buy another keyfob.
Oh all right, yeah, yeah, okay, all right. That's that's
what my plan.
Is, right, And part of that reason is and I'm a little listen, I'm a little weird with keys, all right.
Anybody knows me, they know, you know. I've got probably
three to five sets of keys for any one vehicle or any one location, or the house, or a master's set, because keys are a pain in the neck for anything. Right,
it used to be. It used to be once every
three years, I'd go down to the local locksmith, hand them the big wad of keys and say, here, duplicate it because they were either worn out getting worn out.
I've added to it, and I would throw out the old man because keyser keys are a pain in the neck.
Now Ron leaves Delaware and he travels five hundred miles from home and he loses the key. It's been known
to happen. How are you going to get anywhere.
Ultimate transportation?
Yeah, I guess I you know what, I do the best I can.
I take.
You know, the Lexus has stopped, not stop start, but it has push buttons start, you know what. I carry
both keys with me, and it broke my heart not to buy a third, but I get it. They're three
hundred some odd bucks, and I went, all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna be I'm gonna show restraint this time through.
You know. My biggest problem with all this stop start stuff,
such as the Subaru, you know, it's if you travel with that extra key, you can't leave it in the car because if you leave it in the car and you stop to get gas and you want to run in and get a bite to eat, you know, on the turnpike whatever, and you lock the car with the one fob, well, the other fobs in the glove compartment, somebody walks up, pulls up on the door handle, the car unlocks and they can start it.
Yep.
You know, I think as much as technology has given us, it's kind of pushed us back a little bit too.
Yes, I agree, all.
Right, sir, but that's what you need to do. Get
another key, just for the sake of safety. I'm not
saying because of your problem, but get another key. When
they do that, they're going to add that key to the system. You know, mention to them, Hey, can we
you know, let's attack this thing logically. Can we at
least do a system scan? Right?
Can you purchase a fob online Amazon?
No? I wouldn't, And I can tell you why, very
very very simply, without trying to insult anybody. I'm going
to take an online off brand fob, tie it to a vehicle manufacturer that's part of the two hundred and fifty million pages of information that's put out into this aftermarket, into the automotive world every year, and hope that their engineers are as good as subar rus. I don't. I
don't think that makes sense.
Yeah, you know that's about it.
Yeah, No, I listen, bite the bullet, build a relationship with the Subaru dealer, smile and be happy. Right, you
know it's it's it's just go in and tell them. Look, guys,
let's attack this logically. Let's start here. Let's you know what,
if we were standing at the shop, this is this is the conversation we'd be having. Wrong let's start here,
all right, this baselines the vehicle. Let's get another key
fob for safety and practicality, Let's make sure, let's scan the modules. And I don't care if there's no codes
in the modules right now. You ever go to the
doctor and say, Doc, my left knee swells up every once in a while. What you ever notice? Doctors are great?
Doc.
You can learn so much from a doctor. What's the
first thing they always do you walk into the office, heart heart rate? Blood pressure? Wait, you know, any problems
sleeping at night? They always ask you the same five
questions you could have. You could walk in, walk out,
and the nurses programmed like that. They just why because
they're building history and we've got to do that with cars.
Now we have to do that with cars. We have
to scan every car for any problems, as innocuous and simple as it might be, because we're building databases. It's
it's it's it's to that level and degree. That's what
we have to do. But you do that, you buy
another key, and you know what, maybe that next key fix is it? You don't know? All right, Well, I'll
let you know, all right, you let us know. By
the way, I'm kind of curious why you only have one key, because you usually get two when you buy the car.
I asked them and they said, no, we only have one key.
Yeah, you wonder where it went. You wonder if they
can change the encoding so somebody doesn't come along and oh, look I found my car. Click.
Yeah.
I'm just saying, so you know what you should You know what you should do is lock the car, take the other fob, put it in the house and try and unlock your car. Try and open the door, just
to make sure the other key fob isn't lost in the car somewhere, right, not the worst idea, Ron, Let us know what happens. Stay on the line by the way,
don't go away. Let Tom Ray get your information. We're
going to send you out a Car Doctor T shirt.
We just need to know size and where it's going.
We want to thank you for being part of the car Doctor family and let us know what happens with your Subaru whoopedie doo in my super ru I'm running any in the car doctor whoopedye do to you. I'll
be back right after this.
From the seat streets to the open route in nine If you ride needs hell Ron, keep right, he's the car dout.
You know, you've got to stop and look at the technology and thinking about Ron and our last call there.
You've got to have two keys, all right, You've got a two keys simply for diagnosis. You've got to do
a code skin. You've got to do a heart rate
and blood pressure check, simply the baseline. Whatever the vehicle
is going through, it may come back perfect. You don't
know if in three weeks the next time that vehicle doesn't start that all of a sudden it sets a code in a mind. How do you know it's the
same problem. How do you know it's not a different problem.
How do you know it's not affected. There's just a
bunch of questions. You could start out one week having
a fault and module A, but it doesn't come back, but it's intermittent in the next week, have the same condition, the same problem. It's got the fault and module A,
and now it's got a fault and module B, which came first the chicken or the egg. So knowing and
having information is just really important, it really isn't It helps you to fix cars, and that's really what it's all about. A quick piece of housekeeping. We want to
thank you, as we always do each and every week, to let you know once again, podcast numbers keep climbing, followers keep climbing. We're working on a social media guy,
so we hope to get more reels out to you.
You guys really like the last reel we did, which went well over a thousand likes, which is a big deal for us. We were excited to see that as
our first reel that went over a thousand likes, and we were just talking about some simple stuff in the shop, and we're going to do more of that. We're going
to try and do more simple rather than more complicated, and try and connect with all you people because we know you're looking for some very basic information as well.
If I was critical of myself, I would say sometimes I go a little two technical, and I'm trying to tone it down a little bit. So in any event,
let's uh, let's go talk to Mark in Kansas. Mark,
I'm sorry, I'm all worn out today. I can't talk
about anything else anymore. How can I help?
I can help you with the key fob thing. Go ahead,
I want to hide one in a vehicle. Just take
the battery out and put it in a real sick miniature ziplock pouch with the battery in the pouch.
Yep oh. And you know, you know now that you
say that you can buy radio transmitter blockers and you know stick it in there. So it's just, you know,
it's just another thing to have to do. It's another
thing to have to buy. It's another.
And you can lock the car and we'll puss at you because you got a key fob in there. But
real comment was last week you were talking about stop start Okay, okay. Remember about a year and a half
ago AT called you and I was debating about buying a Silverado and you did your vehicle should only get you from point A to point b rant and I was complaining about how complicated they are. The stock start
on a Silverado LTZ you can go into the computer on the dashboard under settings and you can actually turn that off permanently so you don't have to fool around with the button on the dash You can also turn off AFM the same way and not worry about a valve job at one hundred and fifty thousand miles down the road.
What your Silverado Mark.
A's the twenty one and if you read the owner's manual, it tells you how to do it.
Interesting, I'm surprised they let you turn off active fuel management because I was under the impression active fuel management is there for emissions just as well as just as well as power and so forth, and miles per gallon.
But I'm surprised they let you modify that two which would obviously change the emissions output of the vehicle. And
you've done that, and you've been successful at it.
Yes, the follow the instructions.
Okay, Well, if we've got any other Silverado owners out there that have done the same thing, I'd love to hear their thoughts.
It could be also for the you know, the the what's the other one? The suburban right now, this is
LTZ trim. Now, I understand that some of the base
models Silverado's, the real basic ones you get for like what a contractor would buy a WT WT or something like that or lt I don't on there because they don't have a lot of computer stuff on that dashboard.
In fact, your your radio is more of a radio, whereas my radio goes through the stupid a computer. Right
it's truck on the planet. It's the only trim level
on the planet that crutch Field, who is a company that sells Oh.
I know, yeah, we know, we know who crutch Field is.
Absolutely and they.
Don't cannot give you a radio trim. They say it's
the only one where the radio goes to the computer.
And they cannot upgrade the speakers, that cannot upgrade the equalizer or anything.
Do you ever think about how computers are going to affect the stereo business in the next five years, right, it'll wait, right, it will change everything.
Yeah, you could still get a home stereo basic stereo receiver.
You still get turntable.
Yeah, yeah, you know, we were listen. We were listening
as an aside, way Ante Mark, as an aside, We were talking about that the other week. You know that
stereo turntable now plugs into your computer and you can play records through your computer through a USB.
Yeah.
Yeah, so you were going to say something.
Got to get a USB turntable to do it.
But you can.
But anyway, we're talking about stop start last week and I thought, wait a minute, there is there is a solution to this. You have to go into settings and
you can turn that off.
Depends on the vehicle what it depends on the vehicle.
You can in yours, you can in yours, but you can't afford Fords a button, all right, Subaru's a button or supers some of them are buttons.
So uh, I have a button on the desh, right, but I can also go into the computer and turn off that button. I don't have to fool around with
it every again.
Yeah, that's well. And you've got the one truck on
the planet that you can't get a radio for. There's
something there's something special about your truck, brother, But I get it.
They did all the ltzs from GM. He the guy
told me said you I should have bought the lower trim package. And he says, we can upgrade your radio
and put in a custom amp and stuff like that.
Yeah, and for how many thousands of dollars? So do
me a favorite?
Mark?
Hey, Mark, do me a favor. Can you take a
picture of your dash screen where it says deactivate AFM and email it to me? I'd love to see it.
Ron at Cardoctorshow dot com would you do that for me?
I don't have a smartphone. This is a this is
a landline.
Oh okay, I'm really.
The only computer I own is in the truck.
Okay, well, if you ever get access to one, I'd love to see it. Hey, listen, let me go, but
stay on the line. Give Tom your information. We want
to send you out a Car Doctor t shirt. Give
him your name and address and all that good stuff and we'll get something out to you. And thanks for
being part of the Car Doctor family, and thanks for tuning in each and every week. And we enjoyed hearing
about your Silverado. You have a great rest of the weekend.
I'm running dy in the Car Doctor eight five five five six nine nine zero zero. I'm back right after this.
You know it's funny. We've got that bumper music in
here today. Dead Man's Curve. Guess what I just found
and posted on the podcast page. If you're a long
term Car Doctor listener and a long term member of the family, remember eleven years ago we went to the dead Man's Curve Wild hot Rod party in mahwan, New Jersey at the Sheridan And who do we interview? Paul
Tuttle from Orange County Choppers and Candy Clark from American Graffiti.
I found that that episode in the podcast file that came up and is now posted in the podcast, So if you want to take a I mean it's a great interview. It's got you know, you can almost smell
the nitro when they fire up the funny cars, but you know, just the sounds. We're on air, we're trying
to do a live radio show, and you hear me, you know, all the hot rods rumbling by. And I
remember that day because if Tom Ray had harro it would have been standing straight up on end every time a hot rod went by, and it made him deaf in his earphones. So you know.
You're mentioning Paul Tuttele and you and I talked about this yesterday. Orange County Choppers headquarters wasn't far from where
I live. It's not something else. They're gone, I mean
they are gone.
Yeah, he listened. God bless him. He made his money.
He got out right then he God bless him. He
made it, he got the American dream. But it's a
great interview. I listened to it again. You could hear
him become a little kid again when we started talking about the car that his dad gave him. You know,
I see, and that's something you know, that's it's it's see.
That's what I always say. It's the emotion of the
automobile that I don't think we have today. We're attached
to those cars from the sixties and the seventies. I
don't know if people, I mean the Volkswagen lady was attached to her Buggy. But that's a long time since
somebody came in and called their car by a name.
The only the time I've seen that. We had a
customer many many, many years ago. She had an eighty
one green Honda Accord. When they were the square body,
four door little tiny Accords, they were smaller, and she called it Minty. And when Minty rusted out. I remember
when Minty rusted out, she actually stopped coming in because she was so annoyed at me that I told her the car wasn't safe to drive because the frame, well not the frame, the floor pan was ready to break in hand from the rust. But Paul Tuttle is just
a great interview and you got to go listen to it.
You'll find it on podcast. Just search Ron and Nani
and the Car Doctor on Google, and you know, we'll go out to iHeart, go out to Spotify, Hulu, wherever you're doing your podcasting from Amazon, Apple and it'll be there, but it's the most recent one we just put up.
Got an email here from Robert. Robert doesn't want to
come on the air. Hey Ron, I've got a two
thousand and seven Tahoe about ninety thousand miles. I'd like
to know why she got the transmission flushed and the fuel system cleaned. I'd also like an extent warranty. I'm
having trouble getting one. I've got some information from car
shield and that's all I've got. I listened to the
car doctor every Sunday in whb Y eleven fifty am and the ten to noon, and I appreciate everything I've heard.
And I got a list of vehicles I've had ever since I've been driving around. Like some information. Thank you. He
gives his phone number. I'll be waiting for your call. Well,
we don't call you back if you don't want to be on air, Roberts. So I'm going to answer it
here and hopefully you listen and hear this. You know,
if you want to service the trans on the ninety thousand mile seventeen year old vehicle, almost one am I saying, nineteen year old vehicle. The concern is how dirty is
the fluid? Are you having any transmission issues? Now let
me let me preface this. I'm a gambler. I like
changing trans fluid because not changing trans fluid usually leads to a problem at some point, and it's usually sooner rather than later. If the fluid is original I'm assuming
it is, and it's in a vehicle that's nineteen years old, I'd like to know if I'm going to have that problem, I would at least start with me myself. I'd start
with changing the fluid in the pan, fluid and filter.
See what's in the pan, What does it come out like?
What does it look like? Is their parts? Are their bits?
Is their material? Maybe the fluid's pretty clean for something
with ninety thousand miles and seventeen i'm sorry, nineteen years of operation on it. And then I would come back
in you know, the next eight to ten thousand miles, and then I would do a fluid exchange. The concern
is we don't want to shock the system. And part
of the reason why we want to don't want to do that is because transfluid is a very high scrubbing, high detergence. You know, rub your hands together, feel the
way they scrub on each other. That's sort of like
what trans fluid does when it's you know, when it's inside the unit, and if there's any varnish and sediment and crud for lack of a better word, built up, it's going to scrub that off and create issues with the little tiny orifs that are inside of transmission. If
the fluid's pretty clean and there's no particulate, and I'll know that when I drop the pan, then I should be successful. But and here's the caveat, I wouldn't do
this if you're not a gambler. I wouldn't do this
if you're doing it to extend long it's already nineteen years old. You're doing this because you're trying to prevent
a problem, not trying to get more life out of it.
If that makes sense, all right, If you're willing to take the risk, and you know what, the price of a replacement trends is probably in the four to five thousand dollars range, depending upon you know, it always varies by you know, we are in the country and stuff, and can you actually still get one for a nineteen year old vehicle, which you should be able to, but just a lot of things to consider again, cleanliness of fluid, quality of fluid before I change it. It's got a dipstick,
I can look at it easy enough. As far as
the car warranty, I would ask them, why are you rejecting me? Because it may be that the vehicle is
so old they know to expect problems, which leads me back to the point about doing a trans service. Changing
the fluid if you're a gambler, may help you in the long run avoid having to replace the trands, but you never know. Take the risk you It's up to you.
Fuel system cleaning, by all means. Fuel system cleaning best
done where we're going to go through the rail one of two thousand and seven. And when I say that,
because we want to get to the injectors, that is not a port fuel I'm sorry. That is not a
direct injection. That is a port fuel style engine, meaning
cleaning through the injectors will get the back of the intake valves, piston tops and do a very thorough job.
Fuel system cleaning is money well worth spent, and we typically do it on most vehicles of that generation and even the newer ones. Every thirty thousand miles or so,
and I hope that answers it for you. And thanks
for being part of the family. I'm Ron and Andy
and the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this. Well,
another weekend of Car Doctor and it's about to come to an end. Pretty crazy week in the shop. I
didn't even talk well, I talked a little bit about it, but just the cars that we worked on. Some heavy
work this week. We did a clutch in a sub
ru And you know, it's funny doing some clutch work now because my clutch skills are starting to fade. We
don't do a lot of clutch work anymore. It's you know,
we'll do maybe one every couple of years. They're just
not that many of them. And you know, it's funny
to sit there and struggle a little bit. It keeps
you thinking. And we enjoyed it. We actually did. Danny
and I were talking about it. It was very mechanical, even
though it was a you know, twenty nineteen Subaru, and it was just, you know, just kind of a good time.
You kind of like to do nuts and bolt stuff like that with no programming. One thing I thought about though,
it was interesting on the back of the Subaru engine.
They put the tone or trigger wheel for the crank sensor, and the crank sensor is critical. The crank sensor tells
the computer how fast the engine is turning over, how fast the bicycle sprockets are going right, so it can help make a calculation for fuel delivery and spark delivery and engine operation and so forth. And I noticed that
it really wasn't It was pinned, meaning you could only put it on one way, and you know, you couldn't do it wrong. But there was a little bit of
slomp in the index. It was, you know, maybe fifteen
thousands of slop where it could bounce either way. Didn't
care they you know, I thought there was going to be a crank relearn involved, and there wasn't. And I
thought that was kind of interesting. Maybe Subaru is self educating,
And you know, it made me think of a DOS. Right,
we're slowly approaching the age of self repair, where the vehicle is going to fix itself because you know, you look at ADOS systems and we're going to be talking to an a DOS expert in the next couple of weeks, Steve Dawson. We're going to get him up here from
Hunter Engineering. But you look at a DOOS systems on
a lot of cars and the calibration and some cars were always like this, but it's becoming more and more common where if you've got an a DOS where you've got the camera in the windshield and it's looking at the road and it's telling you whether you're swaying left and right and if you're in the lane and all that, well that's a DOS and a lot of those vehicles they need calibration from time to time. Those cars are
now driving around looking at the back of a fixed object or a fixed point, and they're self adjusting. So
is the day of the car fixing itself slowly coming to a point where it will happen. I'm running any
in the car doctor whom mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
See you, hey the car doctor Carr advice to ride
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