Storage Preparations, Adding After Market Features, The Purpose of the Stop/Start Feature
WCCO's Car Care
Storage Preparations, Adding After Market Features, The Purpose of the Stop/Start Feature
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Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a well-known sports car that many people love for its speed and cool looks. The 2013 version has some powerful engines and a stylish design.
Term
battery tender
A battery tender is a device that keeps your car's battery charged when you're not using the car often. It prevents the battery from dying by providing just the right amount of power.
Term
discharge, recharge cycle
The discharge and recharge cycle is when a battery runs low on power and then gets charged back up. Doing this regularly helps the battery stay healthy and last longer.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's popular because it combines the comfort of a regular car with the excitement of a race car.
Car
Honda Pilot
The Honda Pilot is a type of SUV that is great for families because it has a lot of space inside and is comfortable to drive. It also comes with many features that make driving easier and more enjoyable.
Term
ignition switch
The ignition switch is what you use to start your car. It can be a key that you turn or a button that you push, depending on the car model.
Term
timing chain
A timing chain is a part of the engine that helps keep everything working together properly. If it breaks, it can cause serious problems for the engine.
Term
aftermarket system
An aftermarket system is something you can add to your car after you buy it. It's not built into the car originally, but it can help improve safety features like warning systems for changing lanes or backing up.
Car
Buick Lucerne
The Buick Lucerne is a large car made by the Buick brand, available from 2006 to 2011. It's known for being comfortable and having a lot of space inside.
Term
ABS mod
The ABS mod is part of the car's braking system that helps prevent the wheels from locking up when you brake hard. It helps you steer while stopping quickly.
Term
wiring harness
A wiring harness is a bundle of wires in a car that connects different parts together. It helps the electrical systems work properly by organizing the wires.
Term
ECM
The ECM stands for Engine Control Module, which is like the car's computer. It helps manage how the engine runs and makes sure everything works properly.
Term
BCM
The BCM is like the brain for many electrical parts of a car. It helps control things like the lights and windows, making sure they work together properly.
Car
GMC Acadia
The GMC Acadia is a type of SUV that can carry many passengers and has a lot of space for luggage. The 2015 version is known for being comfortable and practical for families.
Term
parking brake
The parking brake is a special brake that keeps the car from rolling when it's parked. You use it to make sure the car stays still, especially on hills.
Term
emergency brake
The emergency brake is a second brake that you can use if your main brakes stop working. It's also used to keep the car from moving when parked.
Car
Chrysler Pacifica
The Chrysler Pacifica is a family van that has lots of room for kids and their stuff. It’s designed to be comfortable and easy to drive, making it a great choice for families on the go.
Term
start-stop feature
The start-stop feature helps save gas by turning off the engine when you're not moving, like when you're stopped at a red light. It turns the engine back on when you want to go again.
Term
auxiliary battery
An auxiliary battery is a second battery in a car that helps power things like the radio and other electronics. It's especially useful in cars that turn off their engines to save gas.
Term
idle emissions
Idle emissions are the harmful gases that cars produce when they are turned on but not driving. This happens when you're stopped at a light or sign, and it can be bad for the environment.
Term
tire pressure gauge
A tire pressure gauge is a device that tells you how much air is in your car's tires. It's important to keep your tires properly inflated for safe driving.
Part
tire pressure sensor
A tire pressure sensor checks how much air is in your tires. If the pressure is too low or too high, it can cause problems while driving, so this sensor helps keep you safe.
Term
full-size spare tire
A full-size spare tire is a regular tire that you can use just like the other tires on your car. It's different from a smaller spare tire that you can only drive on for a short time.
Car
Hyundai Sonata
The Hyundai Sonata is a type of car that is comfortable and has a lot of space inside. The 2015 version has nice features and looks good, which makes it a popular choice for many drivers.
Part
battery terminal
Battery terminals are the metal connectors that attach the battery to the car. If these connections are loose or dirty, the car might not start even if the battery is new and working well.
Car
Toyota Land
The 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser is a big SUV that's great for off-road driving and has a lot of comfort features. It's known for being tough and lasting a long time, which is why many people like it.
Term
corrosion
Corrosion is when metal parts start to break down or rust because of things like moisture or chemicals. In cars, it can happen to parts like brakes if they sit for too long without being used.
Part
brake pads
Brake pads are the parts that push against the brake rotors to help stop your car. They can wear out and need to be replaced after a while to keep your brakes working well.
Part
brake rotors
Brake rotors are round metal discs that help stop your car when you press the brake pedal. If your car sits for a while, they can get a little rusty, but this usually goes away after a few stops.
Term
brakes
Brakes help your car stop when you press the pedal. If they make a squeaking noise, it might mean they need attention or are getting worn out.
Car
Acura Ilx
The Acura ILX is a small luxury car made by Acura, which is Honda's luxury brand. It's designed to be stylish and comfortable, appealing to people looking for a more premium driving experience.
Term
key fob
A key fob is a small remote control for your car that lets you unlock the doors and start the engine without using a traditional key. It's very convenient because you can just press a button instead of inserting a key.
Part
wiper blades
Wiper blades are the rubber strips that wipe rain and snow off your car's windshield. Good wiper blades help you see better when driving in bad weather, so it's worth spending a little more for reliable ones.
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Good Saturday morning to you.
Welcome back to another edition of CCO's Car Care Show.
Your chance to get some free information,
some advice from Nick Stoffel,
who is an ASC certified technician
who runs a place called Lloyd's Automotive
on beautiful Grand Avenue in St. Paul.
Nick, good morning to you.
Good morning, Denny.
How are things?
How was the week at Lloyd's?
I assume busy, always busy.
Yeah, we're fortunate to stay pretty busy, obviously.
It's funny, I got a phone call this week
from my friend, Rick Montero,
who's our AAA representative,
and he said he had something for me
and I had a meet with him and he came by
and he presented us with the 25th year anniversary
of having that partnership with AAA.
So we got a nice little plaque
that we got mounted on the wall in the office there.
And he said, it's like the fifth
he's ever handed out.
We're pretty proud of that.
If you think about it, it's been a long time
and they've been a good partner
and we've been doing what we do for,
I've been there since 1998,
so however many years that is.
But it's something to be proud of.
We've sustainability, the hard work,
all the people that are involved with that
and being partners with AAA's done both of us very well.
That's kind of forgotten about there,
your relationship with AAA.
That's a congratulations, that's quite a coup.
And of course you've got a lot of fans anyway
that are usually called customers
and they've been turned into fans for sure.
I know that personally.
Well, congratulations, that's good going.
Well deserved, as they say.
All right, if you again have a car care question now,
keep in mind, I always like to say this,
call in, text in sooner rather than later,
our time goes by so quickly.
Nick takes his leave about 7.45
to get Ted Ferrell's wine chat in time.
So by all means, don't wait.
Call us, text us, 651-461-9226.
As usual, as I mentioned last week,
Nick, any leftovers that we didn't get to,
any text messages that we didn't have time,
we ran out of time we'd always like to pick up
on the next week's show.
Here are a few.
Here's one.
Boy, we got this this time of year two.
I will be parking my 2013 Mustang for the winter soon.
What should I do to the vehicle to have it parked
for the next six months?
Yeah, six months.
What, to keep it nice and cozy, what would,
what do you recommend?
Well, I guess we want to make sure
all the fluids are topped off, tires are full.
If you have the option to remove the battery,
if it's an outside environment
where it's going to meet those cold temperatures,
the battery would appreciate a controlled climate.
You know, also if you can bring the battery
and put it in your basement, if you can't,
if there's a way to put a maintainer,
a little battery tender on that, that'll help.
But, you know, short of that, you know,
try to keep it away from any critters,
any rodents that might find its way into it.
You know, those types of things help obviously go a long ways.
But just keeping the, you know, make sure the fluids
are topped up, you know, maybe fresh oil,
full tank of gas, and unfortunately
you won't see it for six months, right?
So, put it away nice and clean
and, you know, you'll see it in the spring.
For those that don't want to go to the bother
of taking out the battery and all that stuff,
and they park it, maybe they're lucky enough
to have a heated garage.
Whatever the case may be, would you ever recommend
during the next six months that this car is in storage
to start it, or does that do more damage
than getting it out in the road
and, you know, working it out for an hour or so?
You know, everyone has their opinion,
it's just my opinion.
I think the start of the vehicle
doesn't do much if you can't drive it
because you really need to get everything warmed up,
heated up, exercised.
If you start the vehicle, let it run for a few minutes,
that condensation from running the vehicle
is going to collect in the exhaust,
more potential for moisture,
which is more potential for maybe some rust.
You know, and if it's a vehicle,
you want to keep that clean,
you obviously don't want to be out on the roads
when there's salt on them.
So, I would probably, I'd probably advise against that.
I think if you get that battery tender on there,
you put it away nice and clean,
you know, set the alarm clock for April,
whatever it is, and, you know,
when that day comes, take it out and go for a spin.
Let's talk a little bit about that battery tender.
I'm not sure if we talked about that last week or not,
but when I was in Deloitte's, a week or two ago,
I was talking to one of your mechanics about that.
And he recommended, don't,
if you have a vehicle that you don't start that often,
and you want to use a battery tender,
and when I'm finished there,
you can tell me what a battery tender is.
But he suggested, don't leave it on
for a long, lengthy periods of time.
Get out and drive the vehicle if you can.
And he tried to explain to me
that you leave a battery tender on too long.
It does something to the battery.
And I'm not sure what he was talking about.
Well, the batteries need to be cycled,
meaning that, you know, that discharge, recharge,
cycle, the battery's important to keep it in its longevity.
We'll put it, now, obviously,
over the winter months, if you have that classic vehicle
or the one that's your spare vehicle
that's only for that Sunday drive, convertible,
whatever you have there,
I think having that battery tender,
which what it does is it keeps the battery topped off.
It's not really a charger, per se.
It's only maybe put in an amp or less of batteries
to keep it, you know, like it's topped off.
Now, leaving that on there,
and definitely, you know,
can shorten that duty cycle, that life of that battery.
So it's something that you don't want to,
this, you know, set it and forget about it.
But obviously over the winter months,
if you have that classic vehicle
you don't want to be driving around on the road with,
it'll work just for that.
Sometimes I feel like that's how they were invented
is for that vehicle that you only drive
periodically, you know, a couple thousand miles a year.
Obviously nothing in the winter months,
you know, because we have our cold winters.
So you can install that.
And the biggest thing is gonna remember it,
when you go to start the vehicle, it's plugged in.
So don't drive back out of that garage with it plugged in.
You end up with a car falling you down the road.
That's a good point.
They do a good job of keeping that battery topped off.
It's not a permanent thing.
It's not a battery charger.
So if your battery has gone dead,
that's not gonna do the job.
It's just a maintenance thing.
I guess that's the best way to put it.
Battery maintainer, we'll call it.
Sure helped me last winter with my wife's vehicle
that she really drives.
Good morning, Denny and Nick.
Texter says I have a 2016 Honda Pilot.
The ignition switch needs to be pushed multiple times
to start the car.
Do you think it can be changed out easily?
Well, in the ignition switch,
in its own isn't complicated if it's a push start one.
You know, if it's ignition switch behind that,
if it's still like a key type vehicle,
we had to cycle the cylinder.
That could be a little more complicated.
Obviously, you can look online,
find a repair manual, find that procedure.
If you have the proper tools in the know-how,
as always, I love the fact that we have so many listeners
that work on their own vehicles.
But if you don't have the know-how or the proper tools,
don't create a bigger problem for yourself
because we do see that from time to time.
I think we just had one in here
where they had a, I can't remember the making model,
but they had a timing chain issue
and they try to take it on themselves.
And unfortunately, if you don't have the right tools
to get everything lined up,
it doesn't go back together lined up.
And that became a bigger problem
for those folks than they intended.
So if you don't have the know-how or the proper tools,
leave it to the professionals, that being said,
if you're a do-it-yourselfer, by all means,
follow the procedure, you know.
We don't always like to read the instructions
or the manual, but take that extra few moments
and follow those procedures.
I'm sure you can tackle that task.
Well, as Nick knows, you don't have to be a motorhead
or a do-it-yourselfer to join in on the show.
If you have any kind of a car care question, any kind,
keep in mind that Nick will be taking his leave around 7.45,
so let's hear from you as we head into this break.
Call us or text us, whichever is easier.
651-461-9226.
From News Talk 830W, CCO, stay with us.
And welcome back.
CCO's car care show here every Saturday.
We're right after the seven o'clock news break.
Thanks to Nick Stoffel from Lloyd's Automotive
returning every week to help our listeners out.
I know they appreciate it.
I do as well.
Call us or text us with your car care question, any kind.
651-461-9226.
Let's grab another text.
Good morning.
Text just says, I have an older car, 2011,
that does not have the sensors for lane changing,
backup, pedestrian, forward warning, those things.
Are there companies that can install
an aftermarket system like those?
That would be interesting if they could.
Yeah, I'm not sure.
I mean, you'd have to do some research and ask around.
I've not seen that.
There are some outfits that will do some
of those accessories, heated seats and such,
but some of that lane change
and some of those safety features,
those are really kind of designed
into the manufacturing of the vehicle.
So it might be kind of a hard
after the fact add on type opportunity,
but I would look online, look around.
You can find almost anything and everything these days.
So I would, but I'd also caution you,
I would do a lot of research before I would get into that
because I just don't think that to have that system work
as their design is very complex.
And as an add on feature,
I'm not sure it would work quite that well.
I'm thinking, where would you drill hole in the bumpers?
Well, that's where our sensors are.
A lot of those sensors are
than the wiring harnesses and the computer.
So there's a lot that goes into it
that we don't realize.
I would caution if I would do an add on type of project like that.
Well, whatever your need is, automotive wise,
if you have problems
and you'd love to check out Lloyd's Automotive,
tell us, Nick, how do we find you guys?
Yeah, and as you know, Denny,
we're at 982 Grand Avenue,
which is two blacks east of Lexington Parkway.
That being said, if you have a question,
need some advice, we will always help you.
You can call us at 651-228-1316.
And if you don't mind checking out our website,
that's LloydsAutomotive.net.
And we'll get you that info before Nick takes his leave,
about 7.45 or so, if you missed it to this time around.
Looking at a text that came in a bit ago,
2006 Buick Lucerne, you're gonna have to help me with this one.
No communication with the ECM,
both fuse boxes test good.
Communication to BCM and ABS mod good.
Could not find breaks or faults in the wiring harness,
tried different ECM, but cannot program different ECM
because no communication there.
Any idea what to look for next?
What is this person talking about?
The ECM is the engine control module,
the BCM, the body control module.
You know, the interface, the communication
behind the scenes is what they're talking about.
And having access or, you know,
the ability to plug in your scan
to communicate with that is critical.
If you're not able to communicate with it
and you switch it, okay, so we've kind of,
and had the same result, no communication,
we can kind of maybe rule out that item.
I still think wiring, you know,
there's a connection problem somewhere, a fuse,
you know, those types of things can obviously throw us
for a curve ball, you know, we've done this a long time
and, you know, we'll get down this rabbit hole
trying to find this really odd wiring problem
coming to find it was the fuse and sometimes, you know,
oh, it checked good, well, get a new one
and still put it in and see how it works.
That being said, a lot of times,
ECMs might have multiple fuses that feed power to it too.
So, you know, it's one of those deals
where we print out the wiring diagram
laid across the toolbox, you know,
it could be, you know, six, eight, 10 pages even.
And you just go to each individual circuit
and prove it out.
Time consuming, but sometimes, you know,
there's no shortcut, you gotta kind of, you know,
roll up your sleeves and go step-by-step
and hopefully figure out what's going on there.
Do that detective work, yeah.
Nicholas, grab a phone called Linda
is calling in from, I believe, Lakefield this morning.
Thanks, Linda.
What is your question for Nick?
My question is, I have a 3012 Dodge Jamie
and I've had it into the stock several times,
two, maybe three for them to check
why my heater isn't producing heat
on the passenger side of the vehicle
after about an hour's drive.
And I don't think they knew that it was timed
that way because whenever I brought it in,
I just said, the heat's not working on the passenger side
but it's working on the driver's side.
So I'm bringing it in in two weeks
and I'm wondering if you have any hints
for these engineers down there at the body shop
or the mine shop where I'm taking it.
Well, I think the story that you shared with us
is the first step, you know,
we always say that as much information as you can share,
you know, a certain drive cycle,
driving habits, you know,
certain circumstances that we can duplicate.
So if the fact that the car has to be driven
for a period of time,
even if you let the vehicle run
or, you know, if you call them and say,
hey, I'm coming in this week, I have an appointment,
this is a situation that happens only
if the car has been driven for an hour.
So maybe you can, you know,
set it up where you can drive the car
for a long period of time.
Once you get to the shop, it's already been driven.
Maybe somebody can take it from there,
go for the drive and, you know,
bring their thermometer, their test equipment,
try to figure out why that heat
is giving out on the passenger side.
If it's been driven for an hour,
obviously it's warmed up.
So we can check that off the list.
We start to wonder about some of those control items, you know,
some, a lot of vehicles have
driver passenger side controls for temperature.
Maybe something for one of those actuators
has kind of given out so that that flap
or that door is closing,
not letting the hot air through
to the passenger side of the vehicle.
You know, there's a couple of variables like that
where if you can share that with them,
once again, ahead of time,
you have the vehicle warmed up,
you've driven for a good portion of that time.
They can hop in the vehicle, finish that drive cycle,
have their testing equipment with them
or available to them,
so they can kind of make quick work of it.
Very good.
Nick, I'm looking at a text for a 2015 GMC Acadia.
My parking brake no longer works.
I depress the pedal fully and feel no tension.
If I park on a slope, put it in neutral,
it will not hold at all.
What might the repair be there?
Well, those parking slash emergency brakes
are temperamental, because we don't use them
and you might say, oh, I use it often,
but it's not like the mechanical brakes
that you might depress that pedal
a hundred times on a drive.
Those parking brakes get set once every couple of weeks,
once every couple of months, or never, to that matter.
I mean, most of us don't ever use it
and the difficulty is that the levers,
the cables, those mechanisms can now get stretched,
get worn, kind of seize up even.
So if you're having an issue with that,
next thing you have the vehicle in,
they can inspect it, depending on the make and the model,
depends on how the parking brake is designed.
A lot of new vehicles actually have
electronic parking brakes that will set
when every time we park the vehicle,
so they could exercise more,
so they will stay lubricated and functional.
So if yours isn't working,
the last thing I wanna have you do
is keep trying to keep working
and have it get stuck on,
which is even worse
because now you have to have the vehicle towed.
So if yours is not working,
you're a person that wants to use
your parking brake from time to time,
when you're in at your shop,
mention that to them,
they can kind of disassemble, lubricate, clean,
repair whatever's not pivoting or applying properly.
All right, very good.
Nick, let's take a break for that forecast.
We'll come back, we'll pick up on more calls
and more text questions.
Any kind of a car crash question,
we'd love to hear from you.
Keep in mind, Nick will be with us
till just about 7.45.
Call us, text us, 651-461-9226
from Newstalk A3.
Of course, this is WCCO.
Good morning, welcome back.
CCO's Car Care Show,
dining along here along with
ASC certified technician, Nick Stoffel
from Lloyd's Automotive in St. Paul.
If you have a car care question,
love to hear from you.
You can phone it in, you can text it in,
whichever is easier.
One number will get you either.
651-461-9226.
All right, let's see how many texts
we can help folks out here
before you take your leave.
Here's a 2019 Pacifica.
Has an auxiliary battery light on,
so the start, stop feature is not working,
which I'm fine with
because I find that feature annoying.
Texture says, are there any other issues
I have to worry about
if I don't get the auxiliary battery replaced?
You know, there's a lot of different features
that might operate off that battery.
Obviously, the start, stop is the main,
not every vehicle with start, stop has auxiliary battery.
I feel like a lot of times
that the manufacturers are working kind of through that.
There's some makes and models that have
a completely different battery setup as it is.
So, you know, that feature,
I know we consider it annoying.
However, it does make a difference
with your fuel economy.
It makes a huge difference with emissions.
And the way it works is, you know,
you can do a stop, light, stop sign
where you're sitting there momentarily.
The vehicle shuts off, the light turns green,
or it's your turn to go.
You take your foot off the brake,
apply it to the gas,
the vehicle fires back up and goes.
We've learned over the years of, you know,
of the emissions that there's a significant amount
of the emissions are emitted at idle, at stop.
So, if we can minimize that,
it's really good for the environment.
So, I know it can be annoying,
but I do think it's a good emissions control item.
I would suggest that you get the battery in place
and use the vehicle as design.
You know, I don't like to take things
and make them different than they were built
because you never know what the side
or the other effects can have
on other parts of the vehicle.
So, I would get that battery placed,
run it as designed, you know,
you'll, we'll adapt, you know.
It's a, it's a featured,
a lot of like the, the lanus
are some of the parking stuff
and some of the beeps and warnings are there
for our safety and for our, for the, for the environment.
So, I think it's a good thing to get working
and, you know, you should get that battery done
and drive it as it, as it was designed.
As it was designed, yeah.
Good morning, Texas says the tire pressure light stays on
and my shop said all the batteries are good
in the sensors.
What else could be wrong?
We hear this from time to time.
We do, you know, and, you know,
it's another one of those features, you know,
it's, you know, it can be annoying,
but you know, nobody owns a tire pressure gauge anymore.
So, the fact that we can't check our tire pressures
and make sure they're correct,
we should have the vehicle do that for us.
And if that light is on, my suspicion is
that one of the sensors of the battery might be good,
but maybe it's not programmed
or mated with the vehicle.
So, you go back to your shop,
you should have a handheld tool
that they could walk around to each,
each one of those wheels and make sure
that they are programmed and it's connected to the vehicle.
Just because it has a good battery
doesn't mean it's connected.
So, the fact that the light is still on
tells me that one of them is not communicating
to the car so the car doesn't see it.
So, therefore, the warning light is on.
You know, one of the things we've discovered,
you have, and we've talked about it
from time to time, not in all cases,
but in some vehicles,
there's a tire pressure sensor on the spare.
Yes, that will even trip us up from time to time.
You know, you're like, well, they're all connected,
they're all reading, everything's good,
why's the light on?
And then you say, oh yeah,
there's a spare on the back of the vehicle
and there are some makes and models
where there is a sensor in that full-size spare
and all those space saver spares won't have that,
but a full-size spare tire oftentimes will.
So, you have to make sure
that you check all five tires in those cases.
Here's one of those electronic things
that could be more detective work,
but it's a 2015 Sonata was totally dead.
Dexter says, I took the battery out,
took it in to be checked, brand new battery,
and it was fine, put it back in,
and the car started fine.
Any idea why it didn't for that period of time?
Any guesses?
Well, the only thing that we changed was the connection
where the battery was connected to the vehicle,
that positive and negative terminal.
I suspect there wasn't a good connection there.
When you're installing the battery,
you have to make,
if it's a top-post battery
where the, you know,
those terminals are sticking out the top of the battery,
you have to make sure that that mating surface is clean,
make sure when you put the terminal on,
it's fully seated to the base of the battery,
and it's properly snugged up and tight
that those cables aren't moving.
I suspect either one of the cables wasn't tight
or wasn't fully seated,
therefore not making good connection.
We don't have good connection, we don't have any power.
So that's something that we want to be very mindful of.
If we are replacing our own battery,
you know, it's a perfect do-it-yourself-or-type job,
be able to make sure that those terminals are clean,
the cables are clean, and they're fully installed,
nice and snug.
Okay.
Tess, I'm reading another one about a battery tender.
If I hook an on-board battery tender
to remote positive post and ground on engine,
will I charge the battery?
Yeah, keep in mind,
the only way to get the full effect
is directly at the battery.
Every time you have a connection or remote situation,
every time there's a connection,
you lose a little bit of that power
because it has to bridge that gap.
So, yes, it will help, it will work.
It might not have the same effect
or the full effect of that full tender,
but it will probably do the job.
But just keep in mind that every time you have a connection,
you lose a little bit of that power,
so you might not have to full one amp
or whatever it is that's making way back to the battery.
I had a couple of texts that involved questions about brakes.
This text is a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser.
When it sits in the garage for more than a couple of days,
the brakes squeak when used for the first couple of stops.
Is that normal?
I have 10,000 miles on it.
It is normal, you know, my truck's a year old
and I'll have that two-foot-sits for a day or two.
You know, I don't like to use the word rust,
we'll call it corrosion,
a little bit of build-up surface corrosion
on those brake rotors and those brake pads,
so when you go to a drive the vehicle,
the first stop or two,
you're kind of cleaning up that little bit
and there's no damage, no harm.
You know, it's one or two stops, the noise is gone,
that's the extent of it, don't worry about it.
You know, a lot of times the materials
that we're using in our brake pads and brake rotors
is actually better because it lasts
a lot longer than they used to,
so if that's the trade-off that your brakes last 60,
70, maybe in some cases 80,000 miles,
that if it sits for a day or two
or under really heavy humidity or moisture,
you might have a little squeak the first stop or two,
it's a fair trade-off, so that's normal,
I wouldn't worry about it.
Another kind of related to that one
is, well it's kind of a long paragraph,
but it's basically squeaks,
when the weather's cold, basically he or she is asking,
can my brakes squeak, they go away right away,
but in cold weather, does that make a difference?
Same idea, you know, the brake rotors bare metal,
the temperature change will create some condensation,
a little bit of surface corrosion, like I like to say,
and the first stop or two,
you're cleaning that surface up,
there's no damage there, there's no harm there,
it can be very normal, people will from time to time
call and say, hey, my brakes are squeaking,
but then it goes away and it's just that,
the car is set outside, we have obviously
always fluctuating temperature and humidity,
so that little bit of moisture will create some corrosion,
a stop or two goes away, it's gone, it's fine.
Now, if it's like, it's always squeaking,
well, that's telling us that something might be worn out,
so there's a difference, it goes away or it doesn't go away,
if it goes away, don't worry about it,
if it's like, no, it's always there,
that's the car telling you something's worn out.
All right, now the text, I think we have time for,
listeners says, what should I know about buying
a spare smart key for a 2016 Acura ILX,
there are so many price points online,
what's the deal with that?
You know, you always have to be careful
what you buy online, obviously my safe answer is,
I'd buy it from the manufacturer,
therefore you'd know it's designed
and made for the vehicle, it's gonna work properly,
I'm sure there are aftermarket versions
that work well also, but it's your spare key,
you want it to work when you need it, right?
So, I think it's maybe an extra few dollars
to buy the original manufactured key fob there,
but it's probably worse the price of the mission
because the fact is that when you need it,
if it doesn't work, you're gonna be frustrated,
so spend an extra couple of dollars
to buy the one that was designed specifically
for that vehicle by the manufacturer,
that way you'll know it will work when you need it.
Then we have time for one more,
the text wants to know, is looking online
at wiper blades, and they're so expensive here, she says,
but is it worth the money to spend on a good wiper?
Does it pay, you get what your pay is for?
You absolutely get what you pay for,
and I used to joke, you know,
wipers are one of those things that slowly deteriorate
and we don't realize it, and then, you know,
people will come in, those wipers are just, you know,
because this is the time we start checking them
with the winder coming up and such,
and we're, you know, a little more adamant
about replacing them, and that I always say,
well, let me replace the passenger side one for you,
and you let me know how it goes,
because people don't realize how they do deteriorate,
and that smearing, you know,
they're not supposed to smear, they're supposed to clear,
and if that squeegee's not clearing the glass,
you can't see under the,
in those moments when you need to see,
so there is a lot of different price points.
Wiper blades have evolved, you know,
they used to be, you know,
you could replace the little blade itself,
now for the most part, it's like a beam blade,
so it's a flexible piece of plastic with rubber on it,
and honestly, they work so much better,
they last longer, you don't have to worry
about the ice and snow, if you're old enough,
you can remember when you get that little ice and snow
stuck in your wiper, and part of it
was clearing the windshield, and there was a big streak
in the middle, well, with the new blades out there,
we don't have that problem anymore,
so that's another example where, you know,
it's a couple extra dollars, it's well worth the price
to get a good quality wiper blade
to make sure you can see going down the road,
especially when winter hits.
Well, let's talk some more about this next week, Nick,
what do you say, and folks that need the help
of Lloyd's Automotive, how do we find you?
Yes, sir, you can always call us,
you can reach us at 651-228-1316,
we will always answer your questions
or help you with some advice.
If you're in St. Paul on Grand Avenue, stop and say hi,
we're at 982 Grand Avenue, like I mentioned,
that's two blocks east of lessons of Parkway,
and you can find all that information more
at our website, which is LloydsAutomotive.net.
All right, Nick, have a good week,
let's do this again next week.
Sounds good, thanks, Denny.
Nick Salfall from Lloyds Automotive.
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About this episode
Nick Stoffel from Lloyd's Automotive shares essential tips for winter vehicle storage, including fluid checks and battery maintenance. He discusses the importance of using a battery tender and addresses common listener questions about aftermarket features, ignition switches, and brake issues. The episode also covers the start/stop feature's impact on fuel economy and emissions, emphasizing the need for proper battery function. Listeners gain valuable insights into car care practices and troubleshooting advice for various automotive concerns.
Original notes
Getting vehicles ready for storage. What to do and what not to do before putting your vehicle away for awhile. How to properly use a battery tender. How difficult is it to change the ignition? Can lane change sensors be added to a vehicle? Why heat may only work on one side of the vehicle. Signs of a bad battery connection. Why brakes begin to squeak. Ask our car care expert Nick Stoffel of Lloyds Automotive. Visit lloydsautomotive.net 651-228-1316.
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