Tire pressure is how much air is in your tires. If it’s too low or too high, the tire can wear out faster and not grip the road as well. Summer heat can change tire pressure, so it’s smart to check it.
A dipstick is a simple stick you use to check fluid levels in the engine. You pull it out, look at the marks, and see if the fluid is low. It’s one of the easiest ways to notice a problem early.
A sealed A/C system means the cooling fluid is supposed to stay inside the system. If it’s not cooling well, it usually means something is leaking or broken, not that you can just add more refrigerant. A shop typically checks for leaks before recharging.
Refrigerant is the substance your car’s A/C uses to make cold air. If there isn’t enough of it, the A/C won’t work as well. Mechanics usually check for leaks before adding more.
The charging system includes components like the alternator and related wiring that keep the battery charged while the engine runs. If it’s failing, the battery can’t maintain enough voltage, leading to starting and electrical issues. Heat can accelerate battery aging, so testing both the battery and charging system is a smart summer check.
A car battery provides the electricity your car needs to start and run electronics. Heat can wear the battery out faster, so it may feel fine until later. Testing in summer can help prevent a no-start situation.
Battery capacity is basically how much starting power the battery can provide. Over time, the battery can hold less power, so starting becomes harder. Cold weather often makes that weakness show up.
A windshield sunshade is a cover you put in front of your windshield to block the sun. It helps keep the inside of the car from getting extremely hot. That can protect the dashboard and make the car more comfortable when you get in.
Clear coating is the shiny, transparent layer on top of your car’s paint. It acts like a shield from the sun and helps keep the paint from breaking down as fast.
Oxidizing is basically “weathering” from the air and sunlight. On a car, it can make paint look dull or worn out over time, so protecting the surface helps slow that down.
UV rays are ultraviolet radiation from the sun that can damage automotive finishes. The host connects wax and protective coatings to reducing UV-related paint and surface degradation, which helps preserve appearance and can make the car easier to clean.
This is a Toyota RAV4 from 2020. The caller says the transmission doesn’t seem to shift correctly, which is a serious drivability problem that usually needs a proper check, not just a quick reset.
A scan tool is a device a mechanic plugs into the car to read error codes. It helps find what the car’s computer thinks is wrong with systems like the transmission.
The transmission controller is the car’s computer for the transmission. It decides when to shift, and if it finds a problem it can log an error and the shifting can feel wrong.
Solenoids are electrically controlled switches that move fluid or change pressure inside the car. If they don’t work right, the car may shift poorly or throw warning codes.
In an automatic transmission, the torque converter can slip a bit to help the car move smoothly. Lockup is when it “grabs” more directly to improve efficiency, and if it doesn’t lock/unlock correctly you can feel problems.
Fuel injection is how the engine gets fuel using electronically controlled valves (injectors). It helps the engine deliver the right amount of fuel for different conditions.
Direct injection is a modern fuel system where fuel is sprayed straight into the engine’s cylinders. It lets the engine control fuel more precisely than older systems, which can improve efficiency and emissions.
Heated seats are seats with built-in electric heaters. If something goes wrong electrically, the car may log a fault code even though the seat isn’t physically broken.
Cooled seats are seats that help keep you cooler, usually by moving cooled air through the seat. If the cooling system has an electrical or airflow problem, the car can detect it and set a code.
Lane assist is a safety feature that watches the lane lines and helps prevent you from drifting out of your lane. It can warn you and sometimes help steer back.
A warning light is the car’s way of saying “something isn’t right.” It usually means the computer noticed a problem, but it doesn’t always tell you exactly what part is broken.
A diagnostic trouble tree is like a troubleshooting checklist for a specific error code. It tells the mechanic what to test next until they find the exact part or wiring issue causing the problem.
Sludge and crud are gunky deposits that can form inside an engine when oil breaks down or isn’t changed often enough. They can clog passages and keep parts from getting properly lubricated.
Synthetic oil is a type of engine oil designed to stay effective longer and protect engine parts better. It’s often recommended because it helps reduce wear and buildup inside the engine.
Oil weight is the rating that tells you how thick the oil is when it’s cold and when the engine is hot. Using the right one helps the engine get proper lubrication.
A thorough inspection goes beyond just changing oil and typically checks multiple wear items and potential issues (leaks, brakes, tires, wipers, and other components). The host contrasts this with quick-lube style services that may only visually check a limited set of items.
Brake fluid is the fluid that makes your brakes work when you press the pedal. If it gets old or contaminated, braking can feel worse and parts can wear faster.
They’re talking about inspecting the parts that control steering, ride/suspension, and braking. Problems in these areas can cause noises, uneven handling, or unsafe braking.
The Ford Edge is a crossover SUV. This is about the power seat height—whether the driver’s seat can be adjusted to match the passenger’s seat—and the idea that the seat movement is limited by the factory parts.
The Ford Taurus is a long-running midsize sedan, and this segment is about diagnosing a front-end noise on a 2008 example. The host explains a practical diagnostic approach: reproduce the noise, note when it happens (braking, turning, driving), then inspect the area with the car safely lifted.
This means the mechanic tries to make the sound happen again. They watch for when it happens—like while turning or braking—so they can figure out what part is causing it.
Car
1997 Volvo wagon
They’re talking about a 1997 Volvo wagon whose AC is leaking refrigerant. The question is whether to replace the whole AC compressor or just a small seal (an O-ring), based on where the leak shows up.
Recharging the AC means adding refrigerant back into the system so it can cool properly. If refrigerant leaked out, recharging alone won’t fix the problem unless the leak is found and repaired.
Tracer dye is a special fluid mixed into the AC refrigerant. If the AC leaks again, the dye shows you exactly where the leak is so you can fix the right part.
A black light is a special light that helps you see the dye glow. Since the dye was added to the AC, the black light helps pinpoint where the refrigerant is leaking.
An O-ring is a small rubber seal that helps keep the AC connections from leaking. If the leak is coming from a connection, replacing the O-ring can be the fix instead of replacing the whole compressor.
Your car’s A/C compressor is the part that makes the air-conditioning system work by pressurizing the refrigerant. If a seal inside it wears out and can’t be replaced by itself, mechanics often replace the entire compressor.
The Buick Park Avenue is a comfort-oriented luxury car. Here, the question is about a 2005 model where the air-conditioning engages when it shouldn’t, even if you’re only using heat.
The A/C clutch is the engagement mechanism that connects the engine to the A/C compressor when the system decides cooling is needed. If it’s engaging when you aren’t requesting A/C/defrost, it usually points to a control input or sensor/logic issue that’s commanding the compressor to run.
The Ford F-150 is a popular full-size pickup. The issue described is hesitation when shifting into drive, which could be caused by transmission fluid/shift behavior or something in the engine ignition that makes the car feel like it’s not engaging smoothly.
Fluid service means checking and possibly changing the fluid that helps the transmission shift. If the fluid is old, the shifts can feel delayed or not as smooth.
The Chevrolet Equinox is an SUV. In this story, the front grille area came loose after a small crash, and that can affect airflow to the engine cooling system.
The fan is a spinning part that can grab something if it’s not secured. That’s why loose pieces should be fastened down so they can’t get pulled into moving parts.
Going faster usually uses more gas. Driving closer to the speed limit helps because the car has to work harder to push through the air.
LIVE
Good morning. It is 707 on WCCO. I am Laura Oaks. We miss our Denny Long. Yes, we do. Thank you so
much for listening in this morning. And that song means only one thing. It's time for car care
with Nick Stoffel from Lloyd's Automotive in St. Paul. Good morning, Nick.
Good morning.
Now, I understand you are having a luxurious time in Mexico right now. Where are you?
We are. You know, kids finish up school and through one of our parts vendors, Nap Auto parts,
they're having a kind of a customer appreciation trip here in Playa del Carmen. And we took them
up on that opportunity and arrived yesterday. We're here, I think until Tuesday or Wednesday,
and come back for some more heat. So we're just, we're going to go wherever where it's warm.
Wonderful. And you're making the time to still chat with us up here. Thank you very much.
Absolutely. It's part of my routine. I'm used to it that actually keeps me keeps me
up early on Saturday. So thank you. That's good. That's awesome. Alright, so we don't really have
a solid topic for this morning. If anybody has a car care question for Nick, please call or text
us. The number is the same 651-461-9226. He will answer your questions as best he can,
as he does each and every week here on Saturday morning. But Nick, I did a little bit of research
about some basic must-dos as we head into summer. And I came up with a couple of things that I
wanted to ask you about that most people should maybe be thinking about doing with their cars
this time of the year. And one of them surprised me a little bit because I thought this was just
kind of a winter thing. And that is to check your tire pressure. Why is that important to do in the
summer? Well, the summer, you mentioned winter, the summer months have their own list of items we
got to keep an eye on. You know, obviously, the obvious things are like, you know, your tires,
pressure, your fluids, the air conditioning, obviously, you know, we need that we use that in
the winter months to keep the windshield clear from frost. But in the summer months, we usually
keep us cool, especially this with the forecast is upcoming week here, we're going to want to have
that air conditioned working. Now air conditioning is a sealed system. So it doesn't have like a
fluid that you can per se check it. Like the tires, for example, you take a gauge measure amount of
tire pressure, oily check the dipstick with air conditioning. It's a sealed system meaning if
it's not operating properly, you likely need to bring it in so they can evacuate the system,
measure the amount of refrigerant based on the level it's in there, determine if there's a leak
or not refill it to the appropriate amount to get it working. Oftentimes, if there's a leak,
it's going to require some sort of replacement of a seal or component. So there are a lot of
things in the summer months, especially before you go on a road trip that we're going to look at.
So if you've written in for service, do mention that you're taking a road trip or, you know,
go to the cabin or check in college is one of your might be where you might be headed,
but make sure that card looked over thoroughly to try to make your travels painless.
Yeah, I also saw that it's a good idea to check the battery and the charging system that extreme
heat is actually harder on car batteries than the cold. Is that really the heat is harder on the
battery, but typically we don't notice the results of that trouble until it's cold when we need the
capacity. So as the batteries age, they start to lose their capacity, the heat and vibrations are
really hard on the capacity of a battery. However, in the winter months, when we need that capacity
on a very cold day, if you don't have it, the car might not start. So yes, you definitely should
have the charging system, the battery tested, inspected, part of that routine maintenance
that we should be doing. You know, you just don't go in and drain the oil and refill it.
There's a list of items we're going to look at, make sure that the car is in good working order.
If you have a car related question for Nick Stoffel from Lloyd's Automotive of St. Paul,
give us a call, text. The number is 6514619226. 6514619226. Another one, Nick,
that I wouldn't have thought of. This mentions protecting both the interior and the exterior
from the sun. And they did recommend using a windshield sunshade to protect the dashboard
from cracking and to help keep the interior temperature down. I don't know what I think
about those things. Yeah, we don't see those as much as they used to. I think the materials
that they make the dashboards out of, it's different. I think a couple of decades ago,
the materials that they used, the sun was very hard and they would crack. If you're old enough,
you'd remember seeing that. But I think cars today, and same with the paint on the vehicle,
I think the way that they're clear coating and whatever materials are in the paint,
they do a better job of not oxidizing. Now, obviously, the thing that you can do as an owner
is wash the car, rent it to them. When you fill up with gas, get the car wash every so often,
pay the extra dollar or two for the wax. In the winter months, we like to pay for the extra
dollars so it sprays the undercarriage, not call that salt off. But keeping your car clean will
make it happy and keep it working longer for you. Yeah, and that was the next thing I was going to
mention, that running it through the car wash and actually springing for that wax is important
because it helps protect the car from the harsh UV rays, right? And then it also makes it easier
to rinse off when you get those baked on bugs and the bird poop and all of that comes off easier
if you have the coating. All that is very true. Just in the winter months too, you get all that
salt and the grime and in the summer, you know, the monopoly, you know, where my house is with
a lot of trees and it's hopefully starting to clear out now. But there's a while you come out in
the morning hopping your vehicle, there'll be this green film of all this stuff. So no, there's
very true. You're keeping your car clean, keeping your wood shield clear, keeping your headlights
clear, help us driving down the road at night or during when the weather is poor. So definitely
keeping your car, keep on top of those things help you out.
All right, we do have a text question here, Nick. My 2020 RAV4 transmission doesn't feel like it
shifts any gears. What is up? Good question. I guess what we do obviously take it for a test drive.
We would check the fluid if there is a dipstick or the capacity to check the fluid,
look for any kind of leak while we're doing that, probably connect the scan tool,
access the transmission controller, see if there's any fault code stored, try to drive the vehicle
and see what kind of data we can see. So a lot of times when we have a drivability problem with
a vehicle, we will take our scan tool, take it for a test drive, record that data to see if the
solenoids are operating properly or whatever the inputs, you know, the input of this input speed,
the output speed, the torque converter lockup, all these different components likely have a
sensor or a solenoid that we can measure and watch. If something's not working properly,
we can determine why and how. It's just fascinating to me how many diagnostics
you guys have in your world these days and how so much is run by a computer having to do with
our cars. Is that, I mean, I know that that's just modern day technology, but did that develop over
many decades or was there like a burst of technology in cars at some point or what do you think?
Well, I think it's probably evolved, you know, if you're old enough, there was points and
condensers with your ignition system and then we had electronic ignition, we had
carburation and then we had different versions of fuel injection to the latest words direct
injected. So things have definitely evolved. I think we probably noticed with a lot of the safety
systems and the comfort creatures that the computers have really taken off, you know,
you have multiple heated seats, cooled seats, you have cameras on every corner of the vehicle,
lane assist and all these different things that are working within the vehicle. So there are
more computers and the nice piece about it that people don't always understand, like when a warning
light comes on, you don't plug in and tells you what's broken. When the warning, it'd be great
if it did, but it doesn't quite work that way. I'll give you a code. It'll say this system or this
circuit isn't happy and it'll give you some sort of explanation of it's a voltage issue or a current
or some sort of fault and it's up to us to take that data or that code and kind of dissect it,
you know, we'll get into our resources or references, enter that code, find a like a
diagnostic trouble tree which could be several pages of different testing and tests that perform
and through that testing, we'll determine what the component is or where the failure is,
try to come up with a reasonable repair estimate, talk with the customer. So
they're very computerized. We don't, it changes like every year, it really does, but it's also
exciting because with all the electronics and you know, the hybrid vehicles, the EV vehicles,
it's pretty fascinating. So of course, I'm going to give my little two cents about if you had no
young person that wants to get in this industry. The schools are doing much better with enrollment,
which is nice to hear and see, but there's a lot of good opportunities, a lot of good shops out
there. So go to a shop and choir, go to a school and choir, maybe you'll find it's a good fit for
you. Yeah, and it's the kind of work that will always be there, I would think too. Good. Yeah,
I don't think AI is going to replace fixing a car. So I think we're pretty safe. Right. All right,
Nick Stoffel is with us from Lloyd's Automotive in St. Paul. It is 717 on WCCO radio. We're going
to take a quick break. If you have a question for Nick, give us a text or a phone call. The number
for both is 6514619226 back in a moment. 722 on WCCO radio. Thank you for joining us. I'm Laura
Oaks. We are in the middle of car care with Nick Stoffel from Lloyd's Automotive in St. Paul.
We have a few texts coming in. We'll take your calls as well. And if you want to ask Nick a
question, you have about 15 more minutes to get those calls and questions in. The number is 6514619226.
And Nick is joining us this morning from the beautiful beaches of Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
We're so happy to have him. And Nick, you mentioned that this was a trip opportunity through Napa,
one of your partners. And it reminded me of my dad who owned an auto parts store in Shakopee for
my entire life. And I remember him always, he thought it was funny to instead of saying Napa,
he would say N-A-P-A. And somehow I remember that it's not funny at all. But to him, it was funny
to call it N-A-P-A. It is funny. I think I said that too. Do you? Yeah. Sometimes. Yes, it must be
a thing in your industry. But one thing that he drilled into me from the second I got my own car
and got my driver's license was the importance of checking your oil. And that leads me to one of
the questions on our tech stream this morning that I'm hoping you can answer. This person says,
I like to do my own oil changes. I usually do this between 3000 and 5000 miles. On the oil filters,
some of them are good for 15,000 miles. How important is it that I change the oil filter
with each oil change? Sometimes I will leave the filter and only do the oil. What do you think?
I would probably, actually, I strongly think that you should replace the filter and oil together.
We don't really know what's going on inside that filter. I know there's a lot of marketing,
same with oil, about how these things can last so long and certain durations or mileages.
I'm not going to get in a tit for tat with that. But what I can say based on our experience,
the repairs that we do on engines these days, a lot of the mechanical repairs we do are a result
of lack of lubrication or sludge and crud built up from the oil. So changing your oil with a good
quality oil, buying a good quality filter, I firmly believe it on the synthetic oil, which is
pretty much everything. Now a 5000 mile interval, I know there's a lot of literature out there
saying longer, but I just feel very strongly about that. It's not just the oil itself,
but the vehicle. Getting that vehicle in a few times a year to have it assessed,
make sure nothing is worn or damaged or leaking is a big way to save yourself money in the
long run also, because if we can fix something before completely fails, it'll be less expensive
than having a failure and then whatever else goes along with it. So it starts with the oil,
a good quality oil, absolutely change the filter when you do the oil change. If you do it yourself,
or I love it, just make sure you follow procedure, make sure you're buying the right weight oil,
make sure the filter is a good quality one. But I like to hear that we have folks out there still
doing some of their own services. Yeah, that's cool. I wanted to ask you too, for people who do
bring their cars in for oil changes, is there any kind of a difference if you bring it to the dealer,
or if you bring it to like a rapid oil change or a quick loop? Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I think the thorough inspection, what it kind of comes down to a lot of those quick loop
places are just that they might be able to look at some filters or wiper blades, but they're
necessarily equipped to give the vehicle a full inspection. Different mileage intervals,
different things that have to be assessed and inspected. And I know the oil change is a thing
we always think of, which is probably one of the more important ones to be honest. However,
there are other items, certain mileage is, you know, maybe it's not the tire rotation,
maybe it's other fluids, transmission fluid like that texture earlier, the coolant, the brake fluid,
there's a lot of different things that we need to assess and inspect steering suspension brakes,
you know, the list goes on and on, and taking it to a reputable place that has the qualified
people and the capacity keeps that vehicle running down the road. Now, if you need a quick oil
change by all means, don't miss out, have that done, but keep in mind that the car needs more than
that from time to time. For sure. If you have a question for Nick, call or text us 6514619226.
Here's a text, Nick. I have a 2024 Ford Edge with power seats. The passenger seat goes up higher
than the driver's seat. Is it possible to adjust the driver's power seat to go up as high as the
passenger seat? Well, I'm not aware of that. I don't know why it would be other than the fact
that maybe they filled it with the steering wheel there that they don't want to squish anyone.
But as far as I know, there's not any other than what the limits of the linkage or the motor allow.
There's not a way to change that as far as I am aware of or any kind of kit you can do to
adjust that. I would be careful because you want that seat firmly mounted in the vehicle. So,
don't take it upon yourself to start moving things around. You could contact a dealer.
That is a fairly newer vehicle. See if there are any adjustments that can be made,
but I'm not aware of anything myself. Good. 2008 Ford Taurus with 115,300 miles on it.
What might be going on with my driver's side front end? They're hearing a high-pitched squeal.
And thank you for your thoughts and insight on this issue. What do you think?
So, anytime we have a noise, the first thing we want to do is duplicate that noise. So,
if it's a matter of driving down the alleyway or the interstate or it's something where we need
to be turning one way or the other, are we applying the brakes? There's a lot of variables
there. So, if you're having a noise or a squeak, rattle, what have, having that detailed information
to share with the shop is really important. So, when we test drive it, we can do what we need to
to try to hear that noise or experience that. So, we get it into the shop, get it up in the air.
We can go to that particular area and try to dissect. You know, usually when there's a noise,
there's some rubbing going on. So, hopefully, there's a visual confirmation there too, but you
just don't know until you get in there and take it for a drive, get it up in the air and do a
visual inspection. All right. Thank you very much, Nick. 729 on WCCO. Time for another quick break.
Call us or text us if you have any car care questions for Nick Stoffel this morning. 651-461-9226
back in a moment. Yes, Josh is digging my yacht rock this morning. Good tunes. I'm kind of thinking
of Denny because the 70s were his era. Are you calling Denny old? No. No. But he, you know. Yes,
he is. He is old. When he was music director here for many, many years and when you look at old
photos of Denny in his pantsuits and the hair and it's just like he's quintessential 70s. So,
I think of Denny whenever I hear you out rock. We miss him. All right, Nick. We have another question.
You are listening to WCCO radio. This is car care with Nick Stoffel from Lloyd's Automotive in
St. Paul. We are taking your calls and your texts 651-461-9226. Okay. Here we are. Here we go. I
have a 1997 Volvo wagon. Refrigerant has leaked out of the AC that had dye. Do you recommend that I
replace the compressor or an O-ring? What do you think? Good question. You know, based on that dye.
So, what a dye is when we recharge the air conditioning systems that are low on refrigerant,
so that refrigerant is a gas. When it leaks out, it evaporates. You have no way of knowing where it
went. So, when we do a test, we'll add some tracer dye to the refrigerant. So, when that leak
reoccurs, you can take a black light, find the source of that leak. Now, in this situation,
depending where it's leaking from, if it's at a fitting where there is an O-ring, that would be the
first thing that would try. It's probably the least expensive option. Now, if it's leaking from a
different part of the compressor, like the front seal of the compressor, if you see that the source
of the leak there, you can't repair that. There's no replacing because of a worn component. You have
to replace the whole unit itself. So, depending where we see that dye, if it's at a point where
there's two fittings that come together or attached to another component, absolutely
take it apart, clean it up, get the appropriate O-ring, you know, recharge it at that point,
put some more dye in it. If it keeps continuing working forward, you've solved your problem.
But like I said, on the compressor itself, the front shaft, there's a seal there,
but that's not a replaceable piece. That's a wear part. Once that's worn out,
you're going to replace the whole compressor. Got you. Next question, a 2005 Buick Park Avenue.
My AC clutch seems to always come on even when not using the defrost or the AC. So,
in the winter, I remove the relay. So, when I use the heat, the clutch does not engage. Any idea why?
Well, there must be a setting that's requesting that the compressor can't or won't come on its
own. So, whether it's the defrost, the temperature, something is requesting that to come on. So, I think,
you know, better safe than sorry, you know, obviously it's isolated to that particular
part of the cooling and heating system. But if it affects something else, you might not have any
heat or air. So, I would think it's probably fair to have somebody do a little bit of diagnostic,
determine why that's happening. Once you have that information, you can make the decisions.
That's for you based on budget, you know, and those other possibilities. But I wouldn't, I don't
like when people say, well, I'm just going to eliminate this just to get me by, because oftentimes
there's something else looming there, and that's where the real problem is lying.
Gotcha. Let's go to the phones. We have a question from Clam. Clam, what's your question for Nick
Stoffel? Yeah, good morning and welcome on your new rule there at CCO or a long-time listener.
Thank you. Yeah, see, I have a hesitation in the drive line when I put it in gear.
It's a 12, F-150 with a few miles on it. It wants to hesitate a little bit. It does not
slip. It does not clunk. But it, I just feel that it doesn't go into gear right. And every time
I go from neutral to drive, not so much neutral to reverse, I'll hang up and listen if he could
diagnose that, that'd be great. And you both have a great day. Bye. Yeah, thanks, Clam. You know,
that's a good question. I wonder if it's just slow to engage, if it's due for a little fluid
service. I also wonder if maybe it's not related to transmission. I wonder if there's not something
ignition-wise. A lot of times, maybe a certain makes a model, we would see a little bit of a
misfire, a little bit of a stumble. Maybe a plug is getting a little bit worn or one of the ignition
coils aren't putting out what it should. What I'd like to do in this situation, obviously,
I'm going to go to my standard ticket for a drive and get some scan tool and collect some information.
But it'd be curious to see how that changes as if it's hot or cold. So, first thing you notice
on a cold start in the morning, or is this something that develops throughout the day.
So, what we always like to ask people to do is, you know, get a notepad, get a journal,
make some of those little notes that you noticed that day. You know, I notice this little slight
hesitation going into gear, but I don't notice it until I've been driving and making a few stops,
or it's the first time in the morning. If it's very humid out, you know, I mentioned the word
misfire. We'll see a lot of misfires when that humidity gets up. It's easier for those electronic
components to short out and have the failure rate. So, having a notepad to keep a journal to
share when you take it into your shop or dealership really helps those folks figure out what's going
on, which oftentimes can save you money because they can find that problem a little bit quicker.
So, in his case, you know, like I said, I think maybe something with the data on the transmission.
I also would wonder about a slight misfire too. So, there's two different avenues we could take.
All right. Good advice. 740 on CCO. We're going to take a question in studio here, Nick,
from our friend Josh. Josh, what's your question?
Hey, Nick. So, I had a little bit of a fender bender about a month ago doing,
doing shipped shopping. So, basically delivering groceries slash target orders to people and
was wondering. So, I drive a Chevy Equinox. It's a 2014. There's, you know, the top little
grill and then there's a bigger bottom grill. The bottom grill kind of popped halfway off and now
I pretty much got to the point where it was kind of dangling. So, I just kind of ripped it off. So,
it didn't, you know, slide underneath my tires or something on the road. So, I'm wondering how
crucial, I guess, is it to have that on the front, like on the front side of that vehicle?
I don't know. I know it's protecting maybe the fan in front and whatnot, but I was just wondering
how essential that is. No, a lot of that stuff, I don't want to use the word cosmetic because,
you know, there's some purpose there. Yep. The bigger key, I think what you'd mentioned,
you don't want something getting tangled up, getting pulled under the vehicle, getting caught up in
the fan or into the wheels and the brakes. So, having it secure is very important. But you also
might want to look at replacing it or getting some fasteners to have what's there make sure it's
still firmly installed because you don't want it to, you know, it's, you kind of pick at one corner
and all of a sudden the whole thing's falling apart on yourself. So, you don't want it to keep
going. But if it's just the one isolated piece, it's out of the way and the rest of it's sound
and tight. I'm sure you're probably fine. Got it. And I have a quick question for you, Nick.
And this has to do with gas prices, which are, yes, they're coming down a little bit here,
but they're still not great. A lot of people are planning their summer vacations and we'll
be doing a lot of driving over the next few weeks. Are there any ways or anything,
is there anything you can do with your car or your driving habits to kind of maximize
your fuel efficiency so you don't blow through your gas so quickly?
You know, I think there are things that do help. You mentioned earlier, tire pressure,
having those tire pressure adjusted appropriately, looking the driver's side door jam. There's a
placard there that's going to give you a recommended pressure. Follow that or maybe go one or two PSI
higher. Don't overinflate the tires, but a little bit of air go a long ways, I guess.
And the maintenance, you know, as the engine air filter cleans, it's allowing the air to work its
way through the engine properly. You know, obviously your speed, try to follow the pulse
and speed limit because, you know, believe it or not, the faster you're going, the more fuel you're
going to use. So try to keep that speed down. You know, you need to be comfortable, but the
air conditioning is a load on the engine, which is going to cause it to be a little less efficient,
meaning using a little more fuel. Is it that measurable? It's not worth being hot in the car,
but are little things you can do to kind of help with your fuel economy, maintaining the vehicles
are big thing. Okay, great. Tell us where Lloyd's is, Nick. Where can people find you?
Yes, if you have a question, we will always answer your questions. You can reach us at 651-228-1316.
And if you're in St. Paul, we're at 982 Grand Avenue, which is on the corner of Grand and
Chatsworth. If you need more information, you can check out our website, which is LloydsAutomotive.net.
And I'll lower real quick, I just realized, I'm not in town, but tomorrow's grand old day. So if the
weather's nice, you go walk down Grand Avenue and you can see the shop. We won't be open, obviously,
but a lot of things to do, a lot of people to see. So might be a good thing for folks to get out and
have a good time. Yeah, good idea. We'll be doing it. I don't live too far from Grand Avenue and I
walk by your place all the time. So we will definitely check it out. Even though you won't be
there, we'll say, oh, that's next place. Now, what about the one on Ford Parkway?
Or did you just mention that? Yeah, we parkway out of care, Ford Parkway
and Snelling. We've had that since 2022. And the third location is called Longfellow Automotive,
which is at 46 and late. So just right off the river there, right behind the Longfellow Grill.
And we're doing great. We have three shops, three awesome crews. We're busier than we can handle
the moment, but we'll get through it. Okay. Good to be busy. Thank you very much. Nick Stoffel
joining us from Mexico on Car Care This Morning on WCCO Radio back in a moment with Ted Ferrell's
wine chat.
About this episode
Summer car-care priorities kick off with tire pressure checks and how the A/C works as a sealed system. The discussion then expands into pre-road-trip habits: diagnosing A/C refrigerant and leaks, and why extreme heat can be harder on batteries. Oil questions follow, with a strong recommendation to change the oil and oil filter together and keep intervals conservative. The hosts also walk through modern diagnostic workflows using scan tools and symptom duplication, plus practical summer driving and fuel-efficiency tips.
Sure we live in Minnesota and we often are warned about the winter to-do list for our cars. But also there is a lengthy and even similar to-do list for our cars in the summer months - we begin the show talking to Nick about this, oil changes in a quick lube location versus taking it into a dealership or auto shop, seat adjustments in your car and much more of your questions! Contact Nick and his team by visiting lloydsautomotive.net or by calling 651-228-1316 for any car care questions or fixtures you might have or need!
