THE Car Show with Dane Donovan - 10/25/2025

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My puppy said, son, you're going to drive me to drinking if you don't stop driving

out hot rod Lincoln.

Good afternoon and welcome to the car show.

I'm 55 KRC, the talk station.

I'm Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto and Tire Center.

Find your nearest location at DonovanTire.com.

I am here.

I am in studio.

In fact, my producer Danny said, hey, are you going to be here because there's a UC football

game this afternoon and unfortunately couldn't make it.

My middle son is in the playoffs for football, goes to All Saints and absolutely loves football

and it's his passion.

So he's we're going to do a little bit of after this, we're going to do a little

bit of tailgating and go to the game and it gets pretty intense when your son's playing.

You know, I have a lot more, you're a lot more involved, right?

So last week, I had to work the chains and actually had to leave a little early so

I could get here, but this week the game got pushed back a little bit.

So it's always it's always fun, but I'll tell you what, sometimes these parents

get in, do they get intense and it gets get a little out of hand every once in a while,

but it's like in the day, it's like, you know, they're in the sixth grade.

It's just it's just a it's just a football game, just a football game.

But some people man, do they take it to the extreme?

So again, I'm taking your phone calls.

It's not a normally I'd say, you know, it's a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, but

it's not.

Kind of gloomy, kind of gray, kind of cold.

You can tell fall is I know we are in fall, but man, as it started early,

it went from 60s and 70s and beautiful.

And we had we had about we had a good good run at it for about two or three

weeks, maybe a month.

And now it's just gloomy and gray and yeah, so.

But I am taking your phone calls again, the number

to call 513-749-5500 that number again, 513-749-5500.

This week was kind of we've been all of the shops have been.

And I know I've called a lot of my buddies, a lot of other owners that have shops.

And again, you know, a lot of people might think that in the automotive

industry, there's there's all this competition and it's like, you don't

want to talk to another repair shop or you don't want that other competition.

But really, it's not like that.

It really isn't.

And we have a lot of other shops that we work with.

I have a real good buddy, mine, Austin from Foreign Exchange West Chester.

And there's a car that I need help with.

We have we have pretty much done everything that we at my end that we think

that we could possibly do.

And he has great expertise as well.

So, you know, sometimes we lean on other repair shops to to to try to

help us with these cars.

And but, you know, they it's it's I think it's important

because you may have it's great to have all the knowledge, but it's not always

the case. And sometimes there's something that sometimes, you know, you get

a repair shop that might have a little bit of, I don't know, tunnel vision

where they're just focused on one thing and don't look at the big picture.

Right. And so it's always important to to work with others and work

with other people.

And at the end, make sure that we get your car fixed, you know.

So again, the number to call 513-749-5500.

Let's go to the phones.

We have Eddie.

Hey, Eddie, welcome to the car show.

How can I help?

Hey, Dean, how are you?

I want your opinion on the new hybrid cars.

My wife's in the market of purchasing either a Toyota RAV4 or the Honda

CIV or something that size and everything she's looking at.

They're hybrids.

And I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around buying a hybrid.

OK, to me, to me, it's more for problems that could go wrong.

And I do my own repairs as much as I can do as far as oil change,

rotate tires, brakes, tune ups, change filters, all that stuff.

And I don't know, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

Well, can you talk me into it?

I can. No, no, no, I can talk you into it.

So hear me out on this one.

So. Yes, there are more components.

And yes, there are.

There is an opportunity for more things to break.

However, if and I've talked about this on my show,

if I was going to buy a hybrid, it would only be a Toyota.

OK, I would not.

I love Honda.

Don't get me wrong.

But Toyota has absolutely nailed how to make a hybrid.

They've they it's they're almost, in my opinion, bulletproof.

Now, you said RAV4, which is fine.

I typically will lead people to the Prius.

But that's a smaller four door SUV or smaller vehicle, smaller car.

That doesn't sit up as high.

I'm telling you, I'm looking for the, you know, the small SUV.

So if if you were going to do that,

the RAV4 would be the one that I would recommend.

I would not buy any other hybrid, in my opinion, I wouldn't.

And I like Honda's if she's going to go Honda,

get the CRV, get the radio, just get the gas engine.

I don't have a hundred percent confidence in Honda's hybrid yet.

I haven't seen a ton of problems with them, but I have.

Where Toyota, I mean, those things are almost bulletproof.

I mean, the cars, they they do for not Toyota figured it out.

So I'm not. That's what I'm.

Yeah, I mean, the only the only downside

is it depends on how long you want to keep it.

But, you know, I have a Prius at my shop right now,

and it has 200,000 miles on it.

Two, I think it's 209, 209,000 miles on it.

Ladies never.

She goes, nothing's ever broke on it.

I've just put tires, changed the oil and still running good,

still has a hybrid battery in it.

That's the only thing that I see.

The hybrid batteries will eventually, at some point, go bad.

There are four or five grand to replace.

And then the inverters, which is, you know,

I've seen those go bad, but that was like earlier.

The earlier Toyota Priuses and whatnot, you see the inverters go bad.

But really, as far as what's out there today,

I don't as long as you go to Toyota, you'll be fine.

OK, she's got a 2018 Volvo right now and that's 60.

And it just hit 50,000 miles.

But it's been an electronic nightmare.

So she just wants to get rid of it.

Plus, for me, we're in our seventies.

It's not that easy getting in and out of it.

Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

So she's she's looking at, you know, like I said, the RAV4, the CIV.

Yeah, I mean, I get rid of that Volvo in a heartbeat.

I've never been a fan of Volvo.

I don't like Volvo.

They're hard to work on.

They're a nightmare.

Extremely. Yeah.

I just I've never been a fan of Volvo.

But I would tell you I would lead

lean on and have your wife by the Toyota.

There's nothing wrong with the hybrids.

I'm not I personally don't like them just because I just don't.

I don't know. You get in them.

You push the button and you don't hear an engine run in or or what.

It's just not for me.

But hey, they get great gas mileage.

And like I said, Toyota does a phenomenal job with their hybrid.

So lean to that and get the Toyota.

I would not if you're going to get a Honda,

just get the regular gas engine.

But what I would tell you, though, and what I see a lot of

and I'm not picking on Honda,

Hyundai and Kia are the worst when it comes to this.

But the Honda's over time, around 50,000 miles, they start burning oil.

And people don't know it.

People a lot of times associate that there's

there'll be an oil like that kicks on when the, you know,

when it's low on oil and they just don't.

They do not. So yeah, I would I would stick with the Toyota.

I myself have a 2013 Honda pilot

and it's got 98,000 and every week I check the tire pressure,

I check the oil, check all the fluids and mine, for some reason,

does not burn a drop of oil.

That's great.

The pilots usually don't.

The V6 is the it's the four cylinders.

Oh, it's the four cylinders that burn oil.

Yeah. But the pilots usually don't.

Usually don't.

But they put that same engine in the odysseys

and there's some odysseys that'll do it.

It's it's certain years, but I love Honda's.

I my one of my first cars was the Honda Civic.

I still have it.

I it's it's actually 25 years old this year.

So I can put historical tags on it this year.

So yeah, a friend of mine just bought a Mazda CX-50.

Oh, CX-50. OK.

Brand new five. I'm five.

That's yeah, a very nice car, a little tight.

But I'm doing research and everything.

I guess it's not a good DIY type of vehicle.

For some reason.

Yeah, I mean, I love Mazda's.

I tell they Mazda's for some reason.

Nobody thinks about them.

They kind of fly on the radar.

They don't do a ton of advertising, but I tell you what,

I'd buy a Mazda in a heartbeat.

In fact, my cousin, Kyle, that works with me.

I mean, he bought one for his wife.

I'm telling you, they fly on the radio.

Nobody thinks about Mazda.

Everybody wants.

Everybody thinks about Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Toyota,

but nobody thinks about Mazda.

And I'm telling you, they're cheap to work on.

They never have problems.

Mazda is a great brand.

And I just I don't think anybody gives them enough credit,

but hardly ever do I have problems with the Mazda ever.

Oh, I'll have to take a look at those then.

But they don't.

I don't think they make a hybrid, but no, they don't,

which is good.

Exactly. Yeah, I like it.

Like I said, I'm not into the hybrids, just not my forte.

Just not what I like.

You know, everybody's got to be comfortable.

If you're going to spend 40, 50,

$60,000 on a car, better be something you like, right?

But it's just right.

But again, if it's going to be a hybrid, Toyota is the way to go.

But if it was me between the CR-V, the the RAV4 and the Mazda CX-5,

I'd buy the CX-5 every day of the week.

Oh, good to know.

All right, thank you so much, Dean.

Hey, you're very welcome.

Thank you for the call.

You have a great day.

You too.

Enjoy the weekend.

All right, take care.

Bye-bye.

He was, as you could tell, he was from Boston, Massachusetts.

And I get a lot of phone calls from Boston.

And you guys, I love you guys.

I mean, you always, always call me and I had an opportunity

to go to Boston, Massachusetts.

And it was a gorgeous city.

Loved it.

And but I don't think I can move out of Cincinnati.

This is this is born and raised.

I've pretty much lived most of my life in about a 10,

10, 15 mile radius.

And but, you know, I told my boys,

I was telling a customer the other day, I told all my boys,

I said, once you turn 18, kicking you out,

your mom and I are going down to Florida.

Once it gets cold like this, it's not cold right now.

But I'm moving down to Florida in the in the in the heat.

So but anyway, so all right, again,

taking the phone calls a number to call 513-749-5500.

Phone lines are wide open coming up.

We have Paul, you're listening to the car show on 55 KRC,

the talk station.

This is 55 KRC and I heart radio station.

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All the news and the views of Brian Thomas,

Monday morning at five on 55KRC, The Talk Station.

Welcome back and taking your car questions,

the number two call 513-749-5500.

That number again, 513-749-5500.

I'm Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto & Tire Center.

Here in the Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky tri-state area,

you can find your nearest location at donovantyre.com.

And kind of a gloomy day.

But here, again, to answer all your car questions,

I was trying to track down Tony Bender.

I don't know where he's at.

You know, I can't get ahold of him.

Danny can't get ahold of him.

So he must be napping or something.

So if anybody's around, Tony Bender,

tell him I'm trying to get ahold of him.

He might be napping.

Yeah, exactly.

He's, you know, but I would go to his house,

but it takes me like an hour to get there,

way too far for me to drive.

In fact, there's a rest area on the way to his house

that I have to stop at before I get there.

It's just too far for me.

I'm spoiled with only having to drive

three and a half miles to work every day.

But, you know, Danny's 25 minutes from,

that's just too much driving for me.

So, all right, taking your phone calls,

the number to call, 513-749-5500.

Let's go to Paul.

Hey, Paul, welcome to the car show.

How can I help?

Well, we talked a couple of times about this element.

You know, I pulled an engine that started making a racket

and I pulled the pan off that engine today

and there's like a fine gray sludge in it.

And then pulled the oil pump and balance shaft

assembly apart and there's at least one journal

in there that's bearing that's not in very good shape.

I'm just wondering if that sludge is,

is, you know, wear particles, likely wear particles

from that journal bearing going back?

Yeah.

And would that be enough to have the oil pressure tank on?

Absolutely.

OK.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

So, I mean, it didn't correct me if I'm wrong,

but you had like 300-something thousand on it, didn't you?

Or close to?

That was 260 something, yeah.

It happens.

Yeah.

But I mean, absolutely, absolutely, I would cause it.

All right, well, well, get it, get it, get it, get it rebuilt.

So the.

Yeah, well, that'll be my next project.

Send it to the machine shop and get it new, new, new pistons,

new rings, new main bearings.

Got the pistons and pistons and rings and rod bearings

were only, only about 60,000 miles on those.

And it still wasn't, it wasn't using any oil.

So I mean, I may try and just do the crank bearings

while I got the, while I got it apart.

And yeah, and fix the oil pump and put it back together.

Yeah, put a new oil pump on it, new strainer.

Make sure that there's no debris in there.

I told you.

Yeah, there's no, there's no metal shadings

and just this fine gray.

Did I tell you?

That's all I can call it.

Yeah, did I tell you?

I think I did.

We had, we were putting an oil pan on a, on a truck.

I think it was, it was a truck.

I can't remember.

And anyways, long story short, in the oil pickup tube,

there was an oil change sticker.

Like.

Yeah, I remember you talking about that.

I'll never forget that.

And like the car didn't have any oil pressure issues or anything.

And we were just putting an oil pan on it.

And I'm like, there's no, in my opinion, there's no way

somebody dropped it down through the, like it had to have gone through.

Like somebody put that oil change sticker through the drain plug hole.

It had to have.

I just don't see it going down from the, from the top

because the channels to the bottom are, are there, they're just too small.

But.

Crazy what, what I found over the years.

For the, for the rebuilt engine I put in, I, I started, should I have gone

with the conventional oil for break in?

I wound up using, because I always do use synthetic oil.

I'm going to be in the shoe.

No, no, no, no.

And is there any kind of break in I should do other than just

burying the speed and.

You know.

No, not necessarily.

I mean, I probably would just kind of drive it like Miss Daisy, just.

I wouldn't be hammering on it.

I, I, you know, maybe 5,000 miles.

Get about five on it, or maybe 3,000 change the oil because there is going

to be a, probably a little bit of debris in there.

Make sure you have a drain plug that has a magnet on it.

The, a lot of the older GMs used to always have a magnet on it.

So all those medical particles would stick to that magnet and not

get back into the engine.

And so you could probably find one online and, and get a drain

plug again with a little magnet on it that, that will keep those.

All your, I mean, most of your transmission pans or drain plug

gaskets or drain plugs are going to have a magnet on it too, because

you're going to have those gears and the clutches and whatnot.

And it keeps that debris, but I would just drive it.

You know, drive it, drive it slow.

Don't beat on it and change the oil at 3,000.

So, you know, when I, when I bought my new, my newer truck that I have now,

I actually contacted a buddy of mine that worked, has worked at, worked

on Ford's for 35 years.

I said, Hey, look, just bought a brand new truck.

It had zero miles on it.

When I bought it, is there a break in period?

And he goes, no, actually the newer cars have an additive in the

oil that helps break it in.

He goes, just change it at 5,000 miles, you'll be fine.

So in your, in your particular case, I mean, I, if I, if I were you,

I, I probably do it at about three, drive it, drive it easy.

Don't hammer on it and maybe at 3,000 miles, change the oil, change the filter.

And I think it'll be fine.

Yeah, it'll put me on on schedule at about 270,000 for every.

And I typically change it every five.

Yeah.

That's, that's where you need to be at every five.

All right.

Thank you, sir.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

All right.

Bye bye.

You know, again, I talk about that all the time and it's, you know, some of you who

listen to me, you're probably like, oh, here he goes.

He's on his rant again, but I'm telling you, it is so important that you change

your oil regularly.

Please do not listen to your neighbor who, who was a mechanic for 30 years

and says, oh, no, you're good to change it once a year.

Don't listen to the guy who sold you the car.

Don't listen to the salesman.

Don't listen to, you know, what the car says, oh, I've, you know, I still

have 30% life left in the oil.

I'm telling you, I have cars every single day that come in.

They have no oil.

In fact, this morning I had, there was a miscommunication between a customer

and one of my service advisors.

She thought her car, she couldn't find her keys to her car.

They were locked in it.

Long story short, I went over to my oil chain shop and customer

came in and the last three times that that customer had been there, there

was a note in the ticket that, hey, the car was low on oil when it arrived

because we want to check the oil to see if it's low on arrival.

She did have an active oil leak and we did check it and there was no

oil on the dipstick.

So, and again, everybody has this pre-notion that it's like, hey,

my car will let me know when I'm low on oil.

They do not do that.

They're supposed to and they should, but I literally have cars.

I will, a lot of times, you know, we have a car come in, check engine lights

on, it's running rough and, you know, we catch what oil comes out and I mean,

there'll be cars that come to me that have a half a quart or less of oil

in them, a half a quart, that car might hold four, five, six quarts.

It'll have a half a quart of oil in it, no oil in it.

I can't tell you the last time, again, I've been doing this 26 years, I cannot

tell you the last time I had a vehicle in my shop that had a low

oil light on or an oil light period.

They don't come on.

Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but at the same time, I believe

that they're designed to do that.

So you blow them up and then you have to go out buy a new one.

And that's why it's so important and so vital that you change your

oil or check it regularly.

As long as it's full, as long as it's full, I'd be happy.

But so many times these cars come in and have so many problems

and it's going to cost.

I understand that oil changes are expensive.

They, you know, the twenty nine ninety five oil change is gone.

All right.

It's in our rearview mirror.

You're not going to see them anymore because of the synthetic oil.

And most cars require it and the oils become thinner and thinner and thinner.

Heck Toyota now has a zero W eight oil.

When I got into this business, it was 1540 or 1030.

That was about it.

Now there's 520, 020, 016.

Now we're down to 08.

I mean, it is like water.

I mean, pretty soon we're just going to be put water on our engines.

Don't don't do that.

It would never advise you to do that, but it's that thin.

It's almost that thin.

So and these cars are burning it and they do not tell you.

They do not tell you when the car is low.

They don't tell you when they're empty.

You'll have running issues or check engine lights.

If you could just take your time while you're getting gas, most of you,

even if you have a hybrid, you still got to put gas in it.

OK, unless you have a Tesla, which would be the only electric car

that I would recommend you buy.

But unless you're when you're at the gas station, instead of getting

on your phone, just check your oil.

I promise you, you'll get to 300,000 miles out of your vehicle

if you just make sure it's full and change it regularly.

That's what we need to do.

That's the conversation that we need to be having and talking about.

And I try to harp on it as much as I possibly can.

But it's just I, you know, we tell people all the time, hey, look,

you know, we call customer, hey, you need this, this, this, this.

And by the way, you're overdue for an oil change.

Well, don't do the oil change right now.

My car says it has 30 percent life left in it.

That's fine.

That does not tell you that's not the level.

That is just the life.

Your car literally could have a half a quart of oil in it.

And you're you're you're if you've got a Honda and it says you have 30 percent life

left, guess what?

You're going to keep driving it.

And all you're doing is damaging your your car.

It's and it's going to cost you a fortune.

Cars are expensive.

Doesn't look like they're going to come down any time soon or ever.

So why not invest the time or invest the money in just making sure

that you check it and change it regularly?

Make it a make it a, you know, a weekly habit on Saturday mornings

or Saturdays from one to two.

When you listen to me, get out there, pop your hood, just check your oil.

I do it on my vehicles.

It's so simple.

It takes less than a minute and it will prolong the life of your vehicle tenfold.

If you just make sure it's full of oil.

So something to think about.

So again, taking your phone calls, remember to call 513-749-5500.

Phone lines wide open coming up.

We have Bill.

You're listening to the car show 55 KRC.

The talk station.

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The best way to wake up in the morning?

A hot cup of coffee and Brian Thomas.

Monday morning at five on 55KRC, The Talk Station.

You're listening to the car show on 55KRC, The Talk Station.

I'm Dane Donovan here every Saturday from one to two

to answer all of your car questions.

You can always call me and I shouldn't say any of them,

but a majority of them.

You can always usually get a hold of me.

There was a gentleman that actually called last Saturday

and they could not find his name is Mike.

I think it's Mike.

I have his business card on my phone or on my on my desk at work.

But the ambient air, he had a check in to light on

for an ambient air temperature sensor.

And he goes, dealer can't even find it.

I said, I'm up for the challenge, bring it to me.

And sure enough, he brought it to me and guess what?

We could we found it.

A remnants of it, but a lot of the Fords would put him.

It was it's really weird.

It's like right in the middle of the year it changed models.

It was an early model.

The dealer says it's in the passenger side mirror,

which we popped off the cab.

There was a connector in there, but there was no sensor,

which again, he had explained to me.

And then there, but then if you pulled up a wiring diagram,

it said that it was underneath the hood.

Right in front of the radiator, which we had the wires.

We found the wires, but it was plugged into just a dummy plug.

And I ordered both sensors and neither one of them are going to work.

So I I personally think

he's got an aftermarket mirror in the car in the truck.

I think that's where we need to be at.

And I think we're going to have to replace them.

However, in order to get this gentleman's check engine light

out, I have to put a mirror in it.

A new one, 700 used ones are like 900.

I don't know why.

I use ones more than a new one.

And he's like, well, Dan, why was it out?

Why when I bought the truck that I have it for six months and now it's come on?

And I'm like, I'm not quite sure, but we are not able to locate.

We found two connectors for potential ambient air temperature sensors,

but neither one of them are going to work.

And I explained to me, he's like, well, I'll just get a used one.

And I said, well, you better be careful with that

because there's probably many, many options.

Well, sure enough, I looked and I'm telling you it's a it was a 2018.

Oh, for production day.

Oh, four of 18 and there was probably 30.

If not 40 different mirror options for a 2018 for F one 50.

I'm not lying.

Mike saw it.

I showed him.

I'm like, you can't just throw a slap of mirror on this card.

You've got or this truck, you've got to put the right mirror on.

Otherwise, we're going to be in the same boat that we're already in.

And it's just mind boggling to me that a vehicle that they produce

is going to have 30 or 40 different mirror options.

It's ass on it.

It just doesn't make any sense to have that many options for a side view mirror.

But they've got the lane departure.

They've got the blind spot.

They are they're heated.

They have cameras, their power, their power folding, the floodlight.

And then you act, you know, it's just there's so many different options on these things.

So in this particular situation for this gentleman, I'm like, hey,

don't just go buy a used one because if the connector is not right,

that ambient air temperature sensor is it's not going to work.

And now we're back in the same boat.

So it's just crazy that

some of the things that how they make these cars are made in fact,

these cars nowadays, it's just crazy.

So on a side note to Tony Bender finally did get back to me on the radio or on my phone.

I just want to make sure he's OK, because he counts me all the time

about not answering my phone.

And then I call him and Danny called him and neither one of them he answered.

So but we found him, we located him.

He said his phone was on the charger in the kitchen.

That's why he didn't respond to us.

So but he's he's seems to be doing well.

So all right, let's go to the phones.

We have Bill.

Hey, Bill, welcome to the car show.

How can I help?

Well, Bill, you can help me.

I'm pretty sure you want to say start off by saying thanks for giving me

some guidance on the Timing Jane tensioner issues, the exorbitant cost

that I was looking at for repair on that.

I don't remember.

I may remember that cost several weeks ago.

I've got two Toyota related questions.

One's for the Benza and the other one's probably a real quick and a quick one

on my Toyota Tundra 2000 Tundra.

On the Benza, as a periodically, I'll get an interesting variety of

warning lights coming on.

Most of them seem to be related to the all wheel drive steering.

You know, yeah.

Anyway, the stability light, the great I won't see the lights on.

You know, it's maybe for a day or two.

And then Shazam, you know, I've got this display in front of make it holy smoke.

You know, I'm going to break the master cylinders leaking or something like that.

And I'll shut the car off, get back in it a few minutes later.

That array of lights has gone out may not come on again for a while.

You know, I have no idea where to begin to look for where the cause

of that might be.

Yeah. So is it the is it the spill?

Is it the stability light, the traction control and the ABS light coming on?

Yes. OK, it's kind of got a car with the little

swivels and ABS and check engine light pop on when that happens or no?

I I don't recall. OK.

But there's so many lights on.

Yeah. I don't know.

Maybe it's on or maybe it doesn't.

So yeah. So a lot.

Some manufacturers and I think Toyota is I'm almost certain Toyota is one of them.

If the check engine light comes on, the car goes, oh, wait a minute.

Check engine lights on.

Well, let's turn off the traction control, the stability in the ABS

because we there's something wrong with the engine.

So we're going to turn those systems off in order to make sure

that you don't damage them because there's an engine.

There's a problem with the engine.

So double check the next time it happens, find out if the check

engine light is on included with those three lights.

Now, if the check engine light is not on, then, yes, we do have

something going on with traction control stability.

Now, that is nine out of 10 times.

That is usually an indication that there is a bad wheel bearing

or wheel speed sensor.

So the car needs to know exactly what the wheel speed is in order

for the traction control, the stability, ABS.

Those all need to work, but in order for those to work,

they need to know what the wheel speed is.

So if a sensor is dropping out and they can do that, they can

work and then not work and then work and then not work, they can do that.

So if the check engine light is coming on and then all those

lights are coming on and they're all on at the same time,

then we need to focus on why the check engine lights popping on

because it's just shutting those systems down because it sees

something wrong with the engine.

However, if the check engine light is not coming on at all

and it's just those three lights, then what we need to figure out

is we need to you're unfortunately, you're not going to be able to do it.

It needs to be hooked up to a scanner.

Most likely needs to be scanned.

Find out if there's a code for a wheel speed sensor

not sending signal.

Sometimes they don't.

And then what we do is then we'll drive the vehicle while the wheels

while we're while we're driving it, we've got it plugged in

and we're looking at the wheel speeds.

And if one of them is dropping off, a lot of times they drop off.

Do you notice it at higher speeds or lower speeds that the light will kick on?

Do you you may or may not know that?

Well, yeah, I haven't really made any differentiation there,

but I do know certainly at lower speeds.

So, you know, it will call it in town driving.

As you know, I see it probably, you know, four or five times a week, not more.

OK, so probably if you're noticing it more

at like city driving and at lower speeds, usually that means

that the wheel speed sensors dropping or losing signal.

And they'll typically do that at like 10 miles or less.

They'll just drop off and they quit sending signal is usually

just an indication that those are going out.

Now, the wires going to it could be bad and we could go on

and it could be a module, but let's let's just keep it simple.

Focus on what speed you notice it the most at

and whether or not the check engine lights coming on.

That'll be able to give us a better determination.

But again, a scan tool will identify and 100 percent find out exactly

what the result in the cause of that issue is.

There's not there's nothing wrong with all those systems.

It's just like it's not seeing a signal.

So it's like, hey, we're not seeing a signal.

So we don't know what the wheel speed is.

So we're going to shut everything off, turn the lights on,

scare you and then, you know, you'll still have normal braking,

but you won't have the stability, the ABS or the traction

control, but you'll still have normal braking.

So but find that out and then you get back to me.

But most likely you just have a wheel speed sensor that's dropping out.

What I will tell you to most manufacturers will.

Some manufacturers will you can buy just the wheel speed sensor.

I would recommend that you don't buy an aftermarket one.

Try to buy one from the dealer.

They are expensive, probably two, three hundred bucks.

And you're looking at it.

It's like, oh, my gosh, this is just a piece of plastic and wiring.

Now, some manufacturers, the only way you can service

the wheel speed sensor is by replacing the wheel bearing,

which is far more expensive.

So if you get it to a shop and they're like, hey,

you need a wheel speed sensor, but you need a wheel bearing

and it's going to be, you know, eight, nine hundred dollars.

That's that that that can happen.

Yeah, they're they're not jerking me around.

It's it's it's an honest situation.

So yeah. Well, real quick, then on the on the tundra, it's a 2000.

I got to tell you, I love that truck.

It has just been an outstanding worker for me.

What is it? What car was it?

That's a 2000 tundra.

OK, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Four by four.

The rear differential, the plate,

we'll say that's facing the back, not where the drive lines going in.

There's no way to remove that plate cover.

It's welded on there.

Correct. And unfortunately, some thrust is built up there.

And now I've got a couple of pinhole leak in the cover,

which, you know, I've done a little bit.

We'll call it hillbilly engineering, where I've taken a sealer

and sort of open up the hole a little bit, put in a sheet metal screw

and you know, short sheet metal screw and, you know, you know,

and she's amber done, but periodically

it will begin to leak again either because there's a new hole

or it's leaking around the hole.

But is there any reasonable way to to replace that cover?

Yes, absolutely.

It looks like to me it would have to be ground off in a new one.

Well, yeah. So the only thing.

So the only thing and I'm kind of up against the time time here.

But here's what you need to do.

Yes, you're going to have to get it to a machine shop

or you can get it to me, whatever.

What we do is we cut them out, grind down.

You cut them out as best as you can.

You grind down what you can.

There's a company out there.

It's called Dorman Products, D-O-R-M-A-N, Dorman Products.

They sell a kit.

You buy that kit.

I have a guy that comes in.

He wells a new one on.

We paint it out the door.

Now, yes, there's a cost involved there,

but it's way expensive, way cheaper to do that

than replace the whole differential.

But yeah, unfortunately, you got to get it to some type

of metal shop or a fabricator.

You cut out that old, that old one.

You grind it down to a new, you know, flat surface.

You put on the.

You can weld too.

Yeah.

But the part itself is probably, you know, I can't.

I can't remember.

Don't hold me to this.

But it's less than a hundred bucks.

Yeah, less than a hundred bucks.

It's it's like green because it's just as a green primer on it.

You just got to get find somebody that can cut it out.

New surface, you got to get a welder to weld that on.

Put some, slap some paint on it.

That's really the only way that you can do it.

Now, again, there is costs involved.

You know, probably four or five hundred bucks total invested.

But I mean, to replace the rear differential

on that thing is just going to be too expensive.

So that that's how we do it.

So well, good.

That's that was good to know that that can be done.

I, you know, I'm just going to do it.

Dorman has been a great truck.

Yeah.

They're all they're phenomenal.

Seven liter motors.

Oh, yeah, it's still bullet proof.

Just an outstanding power plant.

So all right, listen, thanks for your help.

And I really appreciate you being here.

And not a problem.

Thank you for the call.

You have a great day.

So all right.

Taking your phone calls.

The number to call 513-749-5500.

Coming up, we have Fred.

You're listening to the car show on 55 KRC.

The talk station around Cincinnati.

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55KRC, an iHeart radio station.

You're listening to the car show on 55KRC

with your one and only truly, Dane Donovan.

And again, from Donovan's auto and tire center.

You can check and find your nearest location

at DonovanTire.com.

So running out of time.

So let's get to, let's go back to the phones.

We've got, we have Fred.

Hey Fred, welcome to the car show.

How can I help?

First time listener, first time caller.

Hey, well, I appreciate the phone call.

How can I help you?

Okay, recently just bought a 2023 Equinox.

30,000 miles, can we do my first oil change?

Yeah.

So I bought mobile one, I got good price on it.

And I always use the factory OEM oil filter.

I don't use nothing else.

Sure.

I have a friend that's a long time engine builder.

And he's really gotten strong on Rotella motor oil.

What are your thoughts on Rotella?

Because I know the majority of their weights

are straight weights.

Yeah.

I mean, if you had a diesel, I would tell you Rotella.

But with the Equinox, I like mobile one.

I'd rather see you put the mobile one in there

than the Rotella.

Again, Rotella is great, but usually we use the Rotella

when we're putting it in diesels.

With your particular car, mobile one, great.

I mean, I like Shell, don't get me wrong.

I mean, Shell makes Rotella, but you know, mobile one

or valvelling, we use Rellodyne, you know,

it's kind of your own preference.

The more important thing than anything, you know,

is just making sure you're changing it regularly

and checking it.

That is, that's the biggest key.

I'll be honest with you.

Again, I've been doing this for 26 years.

I've never told a customer, hey, the reason your cars

broke down is because you put Rotell oil in it

and not mobile one, you know.

The key.

Yeah, I've been in car business myself

for since 77 to work in the auto parts business

for many years.

And then I was an auto mode of detailer for many years.

So I've been around Chrysler products for many years too.

This was actually my first Chevrolet I bought for a long time.

And I've heard pros and cons about their transmissions

and other problems, but it's been a great car so far.

Yeah, the only thing, you know, my wife has a GMC,

she drives a GMC Yukon, which was a Chevy,

but the only thing that I'll tell you

and what I see a lot of in the Equinoxes

is they burn oil.

They're very, very common.

They're not going to do it at 30,000.

You're going to see it at 75, 80, 100,000.

They do that and most manufacturers do.

So as long as you're checking it

and making sure it's full, you know,

again, I'm not really hemmed up on the actual brand

as long as you're putting in what the car is required,

whether who makes it or not,

and making sure that it's full.

That's the best thing that you can do for the car.

But I do like Mobile One as a product.

But, you know, I think I'd go with the Mobile One,

just make sure you're checking it regularly.

It sounds like you, if you're changing your own oil,

factory filter, I recommend I do that on my own vehicle.

And I think you can't go wrong

as long as it's full.

So, all right.

All right, well, thank you so much for it.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

All right, take care.

Bye-bye.

Great question.

These are the questions that I love to answer

because it's so important.

Something that we need to talk about.

We don't talk about it enough.

I know I do, but I want everybody else to know about this.

So this is something that when you sit down

at dinner tonight, you need to talk about checking your oil

and changing it regularly.

Most important thing.

So I'll be back next Saturday to answer your call,

all of your car questions.

I'm Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto & Tire Center.

You're listening to the car show on 55KRC,

the Talk Station.

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THE Car Show with Dane Donovan - 10/25/2025

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