This is a 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier, and it’s the convertible version. The point here is that it’s an older, basic car where fixing problems (like AC parts) usually means replacing specific worn components.
The blower fan is what moves air through the car’s heating and air-conditioning vents. You can have the fan working but still have no cold air if the AC system isn’t engaging.
Freon is the refrigerant fluid that the AC uses to make air cold. If you open the system, it can leak out, and you typically have to refill it correctly afterward.
Manifold gauges are tools that measure AC pressure. A mechanic uses them to figure out what’s wrong—like whether the refrigerant level is too low or the system isn’t working.
A Dodge Dakota is a pickup truck. Here they’re talking about a fuel/emissions problem—basically something in the system that controls fuel vapors—after a code comes and goes and after they notice fuel leaking/venting.
A smoke test is a way to find where a system is leaking. They put smoke into the system and look for where it comes out, so they can see the exact spot that’s not sealed.
The charcoal canister is like a filter/storage container for fuel vapors. If you overfill or liquid fuel gets into it, it can get “soaked” and start causing problems, which is why they’re worried about ruining it.
Your car’s air conditioner has a compressor that needs to be turned on. The AC clutch is the part that “connects” the compressor so it can run when you turn the A/C on.
The compressor is the heart of the A/C system—it squeezes the refrigerant so the system can cool the air. If the compressor is worn out, fixing something else nearby (like the clutch) might not bring back cold air.
The vacuum machine is the tool that pulls air and moisture out of the A/C lines. It helps make sure the system is clean and also helps check whether it’s leaking.
When they “evacuate” the A/C, they use a machine to suck out the refrigerant and clear out air and moisture from the lines. That way, when they add refrigerant back, the system can work correctly.
The A/C system is sealed and runs with refrigerant under pressure. If there’s a leak and the pressure drops, the A/C can’t move heat the way it’s supposed to.
A black light is used to make the dye glow so the technician can spot where the A/C is leaking. It’s like using a special flashlight to reveal the leak location.
Rubber O-rings are small seal pieces that prevent refrigerant from leaking at the joints. When you take A/C lines apart, the old seals can get damaged, so new O-rings help stop future leaks.
The evaporator is where the AC actually makes the air feel cold. Refrigerant turns into a gas inside it, pulling heat out of the air before it comes out of your vents.
The Kia Soul is a small Kia car that many people use every day. Here, they’re talking about how to keep a 2019 model running well by changing the oil on time and checking the oil level.
Transmission fluid is the fluid that helps the car’s shifting parts work smoothly. Replacing it helps reduce wear and can prevent shifting problems later.
The oil change interval is how many miles (or time) you drive between oil changes. This segment argues that for certain Kia/Hyundai engines, changing oil more frequently than the book schedule helps reduce oil consumption and lowers the risk of serious engine problems.
Hyundai is another car brand being mentioned. The point is that some Hyundai engines may use oil, so you should change oil regularly and watch the oil level.
A class action lawsuit is when a group of customers join together to complain about the same problem. In this case, it’s mentioned to support the idea that some engines burn oil.
Engine lock up is when the engine effectively seizes and can’t turn. The concern is that burning oil can leave the engine without enough lubrication, which can cause major damage.
Suspension parts are what help the wheels stay planted and control how the car rides. If they’re worn out, the car can feel less stable and tires can wear faster.
Brake fluid is what makes the brakes work when you press the pedal. It can get contaminated over time, so it’s sometimes replaced as part of maintenance.
The oil light is a warning that something is wrong with the engine oil. If it turns on, you should stop and check right away to avoid damaging the engine.
Oil consumption means the engine is using up oil faster than it should. If the oil level gets too low, the engine can be damaged. Checking the oil regularly helps catch the problem early.
Oil thickness matters. Labels like 10W-30 or 0W-8 tell you how the oil flows when the engine is cold and when it’s hot. Thinner oil can move around easier, but if the engine isn’t sealing well, it can also end up being burned or leaking where it shouldn’t.
Toyota is mentioned as an example in the discussion about oil types. The speaker is saying newer Toyota vehicles use thinner oils than older vehicles did.
Mazda is one of the brands the speaker recommends. They’re saying Mazda doesn’t get as much attention, but they don’t see the same issues they’re complaining about.
A 2018 Equinox is a newer SUV with computer-controlled engine timing. If you hear ticking and then the check-engine light comes on, it often means the car detected a problem with how the engine timing is being controlled.
VVT is the system that helps the engine open its valves at the right times for different driving conditions. If something in that system fails, the car can turn on the check-engine light and may run or sound differently.
These sensors report to the car’s computer where key engine parts are positioned. If the readings are wrong, the computer can’t control timing correctly and will often trigger the check-engine light.
Part
intake and exhaust solenoids
The intake and exhaust solenoids are small electrical valves that help the engine adjust valve timing. If they fail, the engine may not time things correctly and can make unusual noises or turn on the check-engine light.
The oil filter cleans the oil as it circulates. If you find metal bits, it can be a sign that something inside the engine is wearing out or has broken.
Resetting the code means clearing the computer’s “fault memory” after you fix the problem. If the fix worked, the warning light should stop coming back.
Timing chains synchronize the crankshaft and camshaft(s), controlling when the engine’s valves open and close. If the chain is stretched, damaged, or the timing is off, the engine can run poorly and may trigger protective warnings.
A GMC Safari is a big van. In this part of the show, they’re talking about a problem related to the engine’s timing—basically how the engine’s valves and pistons stay synchronized.
Advancing the timing means changing the engine’s valve timing (and/or ignition timing, depending on the system) to occur earlier than the baseline. In a VVT-equipped engine, the ECU commands the timing change; if the VVT gears or related parts are damaged, the engine may not advance correctly.
Trouble codes are messages stored by the car’s computer when it notices something wrong. A mechanic can read them to figure out what system is causing the problem.
Clearing codes just wipes the warning messages from the computer. If the real problem is still there, the car will usually set the codes again soon.
LIVE
She's re'll find my form nice today.
Good afternoon, and welcome to the car show.
I'm fifty five KARC the talk station. I'm Dane Donovan
from Donovan's Auto entire Center taking your car questions. The
number to call five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. That number again, five one, three seven four
nine fifty five hundred.
It is a kind of a kind of a I am in studio. I'm here. Uh. You know, Danny always
uh does a good job. You know, he lets you know.
He starts texting me like Thursday Friday, like, hey, you're gonna come in today. You're gonna be here today. Sometimes
Wednesday he just said. You know, he's leading up. You
gonna be there, gonna be there. And you know, because
you know my boss Tony Bender, you know, he doesn't typically like when I'm not here, so but he is very demanding. Yes, uh but uh he you know, I
do enjoy being here. I do enjoy taking your car questions.
And again the number call five one three seven fifty five hundred.
I had it was a busy, busy week. This week.
We had our uh Donovan's had the we had our marketing team.
In mister Logan came in, and he came in. He
flew in.
Late, uh late Tuesday, I'm sorry, late Monday night, and he was here Tuesday and Wednesday. Did a advertise or
did a commercial or an advertisement kind of a little bit of a a little bit of a small Donovan's Higher commercial.
And I tell you what it was. I had.
I only had to a couple of lines. And man,
I was struggling with it. You put a you put
a mic in front of me. I can talk all
day long, yeah, you know, you put a camera in my face, and it's like, all of a sudden, I just lock up and I just can't. All of a sudden,
I just lose all function and and can't speak. So
and I was telling that. I was telling the Logan
that thank you, thank you for that. I appreciate them.
So I just, man, you put a camera in front of my face and I just lock up.
But a mike, I'm perfectly fine.
So but he, you know, I asked him, I said, hey, you're going to be in town for He was in town for you know. He flew in late Monday night,
like midnight, and he was in Tuesday night and then flew out Wednesday, and I said, hey, what would you like to do Tuesday night? You want to go out
to dinner and you want to go to Red's game.
What do you think?
And he's like, I would love to go to a Reds game. He's like, every time I'm in town, the
Reds are never in town.
Are day in town?
I said, absolutely, yeah, we can go and and uh so he said, I'd love to go the Reds game.
I said, all right, well, there's only one way to watch a Reds game, and that's go down and sit in the diamond seats. And uh so we, uh my wife,
my lovely wife, dropped us off right at at the gate.
We walked in and he goes and I said, you know, here's all the here's the buffet, here's the food, here's the candy, the ice cream, whatever you need.
And uh he goes, that's the fuel right there.
I said, yeah, it's right, it's right there, and he goes, well, I just want you to know, uh, you've just ruined my baseball experience because I don't think I ever want to watch a baseball game any other way after coming down here and sitting in the dining seat. So if
you ever get the opportunity. It's it's it's it's great.
So he absolutely loved it. We stayed for the whole game. Unfortunately,
if you were watching the game Tuesday night, it was like home run Derby not and not for the Reds Reds loss. But we had a good time, so a
lot of fun. So again he was here too promoting.
We're you know again, we're continuing to promote for the rest of the month. Uh, cool it for a cause, right,
we're leading into summer and it's gonna I'm telling you, I mean it's tomorrow's supposed to be eighty five, eighty six, and uh, it's gonna get hot.
You're gonna turn that AC on.
I had the A C on on my way here, and uh, if you know, if you're in the vehicle, if you're in your vehicle listening to this show right now, turn on the AC just to see if it's working okay, and if it if it's working great, If it's not, you need to come to your You go to donoventire dot com and find your nearest location and we're gonna we're gonna donate the free on. We're gonna give you
the free on up to fifty dollars value, and then the entire AC service itself, we're gonna donate ten percent of that to the Barracks Project to help local veterans. Okay, uh,
my grandfather and that was kind of reason why we we talked about.
I was on the news last week with.
Channel nineteen talking about what we're doing for the community and and and giving back. And again, my grandfather who
started Donovans sixty eight years ago, came back was a marine when they bombed Pearl Harbor, and I spoke, I said this last week. You know, when they bombed Pearl Harvey,
he enlisted in the Marines, went and the Marines fought World War Two, and when he came back started working for Firestone and decided that, hey, if I'm gonna do this for fire soon, I'm gonna do it for myself.
I'm gonna start Donovan Tire. And so sixty eight years
third generation absolutely love it, and we want to give back to our veterans. So if there isn't, if you
have any AC issues, you bring it to Donovans. And
again we're going to donate ten center of the proceeds to the Barracks Project. So great cause, and I think
it's a win for everybody. So again the number to
call five one, three five hundred. That number again, five
to one, three seven fifty five hundred.
We're gonna go. I'm gonna do the phones right away.
We have Troy. Hey, Troy, welcome to the car show.
How can I help?
Well, I got two things going on.
I've got an older car, thirty year old car actually this year. I got ninety six Cavalier working on the
AC on it. That's convertible, So really don't worry about
too much. I just want to know that it's working.
But I just need to replace the clutch in the bearing and with that without taking everything out. But I
can't find just a clutch like online anywhere, and I want to make sure that was actually removable.
I know I've done it on other vehicles.
I've just removed the removed the clutch and the bearing off of it without taking the compressor out. But I
didn't know if you had any insight on that I'd be able to do.
That or not.
Uh, I think it's gonna So you said it's a ninety six Chevy Cavalier convertible. Yeah, yeah, Jesus man that's
that's I haven't seen a Chevy Cavalier in years.
I mean, is it it's a beauty.
Yeah, it's been garage captain. Uh, it's been, it's been down.
I left that outside a few years ago and and arranged horm and got totally filled with water. So I
had to I've totally restored the inside of it and done everything else. And this is just like one of
the last little things. I could hear it uh uh
grinding the other day. It seemed like when I was
kind of picking out and turning it on, and I thought, well, it sounds like that needs to be replaced, and uh, everything else works on it.
And I got a new uh uh blower.
Fan and all that down and down inside their brand new Well that's working. So but when I hit the AC, nothing,
nothing happens. I do have power, you know, I've already
tested all that. Now I've got I've got power going
all the way up to presser. But I don't have
the clutch. Just as it's engaging, yeah.
Is it?
Yeah?
Is there a particular reason why you wanted to do you want to do just the clutch?
I mean, typically and typically want.
I didn't want to break that. I didn't want to
break the seal.
I'm want to take the compressor out and break the seal and lose the free on and all that. I'm
actually really not even sure I've got manifold gages. I
guess I need to hook them up to see if you've even got any anything in there.
Okay, I mean, you know, whether you bring it to Donovans or not. What I would do is I would
I understand that you don't want to break the seal, but I mean you bring it to me or any other repair shop, just have them hook it up, suck it down, put the compressor in it, and then take it back. I mean what we do is all the time,
we'll suck it down for you because you can't let it just go and you can't just let it out, but you know, and then you bring it back, we put it back in for you. I mean, I would
do the whole compressor. That's just my personal opinion. I
A lot of times some of them recommend shims, and I.
We've We've just never very expensive to do it.
I mean that the price points not not much more, but by the time I do it, but you really have me going when I was listening to that about the whole thing special doing with the.
Uh with the barracks project. I kind of like that.
I mean that might just uh, that might.
Be a win win bringing on up to you to let y'all take care of it and at least that way I know it's done right and then uh just go from there.
Yeah.
But I I mean, I would do a whole compressor that that's just my personal opinion.
I mean, we we've.
Never ever just put a clutch on a compressor ever, not in the twenty six years I've been doing it.
I would just uh, I would just do it that way.
And again, we're running that the whole month of May. Huh,
so it really is would be a great time.
To do it.
You know what.
Actually, I actually am going out out of town at the end at the end of the week. I could
maybe bring it up on a Friday and drop it off and come back up later on the weekenday work.
That might work.
You tell me.
What you want to Are you talking about bringing up.
To either the Ridge Road location. I'd bring it up
to Ridge fifty six oh one, Ridge Road, pleasant Ridge.
Gotcha, Okay, bring it up there.
I'll get taken care of all right.
Okay, Now, second, the second thing I had going on was a twenty ten Dodge Dakota UH four by four.
I was filling it up a couple of months ago, and then I thought maybe I left the gas cap bof because I got one of those codes on my dassboard.
And then it went away and it came back the other day. I went and got a new gas cat
put on, and it seemed like I went away immediately.
I'm at Costco the other day filling up and overfilled my guess tank and I can look down there between the bed and the cab, and I could see where it was starting to bubble out the top of the top of the thing. So I don't know where else
I could have. Can I smoke test that I've got
a smoker at home? I was gonna on our on
my cruise.
Where did you see it bubbling out at?
Look like where where the where the seal was for the actual where the pump fuel pump goes in.
Yeah, that's why that's why it's flagging it because you know it's a pressurized system. You got a you know,
charcoal cancer purge valve valve, So if it's.
I'm hoping, I'm hoping it don't mess up my my my charcoal canister.
But I don't think that's why. That's why it's important.
Like when when it when you're filling up your vehicle and and that uh, you know, it clicks off. You
shouldn't really, you know, I know you're not, but uh, to the listeners out there, when you try to put more a little bit more, a little bit more, that fuel gets into the charcoal canister and then ruins charcoal canister.
So yeah, yeah, just I just happened to be in and they're buying, and I'm like, wait a minute, I've got you know, I've got twenty one gallon tank and I'm got twenty two gallons, you know, and I thought I probably had a gallon in it when I when I pulled up, and I thought, you know, and about that time they finally clicked off.
But I could I could see the I could just where I was standing. I could just I could make
it out.
But oh great, so so smoke it would it be better to smoke it with a few uh the tank fuller or no, so it doesn't have to fill as much?
No, I I no, I mean, I wouldn't smoke it when it's full. Maybe maybe half tank, okay, three quarters
of a tank just because well, yeah, I would do like a half a tank, I'd smoke it.
Okay, good deal, all right.
That's by where I'm at, so that that'll be a good weekend project for me.
I get that taken care of, all right, man, uh all right, I appreciate it.
Help. Thank you.
You don't know you're welcome.
Maybe I'll see you here later on this week.
Sounds great. Love to help you. Take care bye bye.
All right.
Then I'm to call five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred.
The phone lines are wide open.
Love to hear from you, so give me a call the number again, five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. You're listening to the car show on fifty
five KRC the talk station.
This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio station.
The Stain Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center. This may
were launching Cool atf A costs supporting the Barracks Project and their work helping veterans transition back to civilian life right here in Cincinnati.
Here's how you can help.
Come in for an ac service at Donovan's and we'll include up to fifty dollars in complimentary free on. Plus,
Donovans will donate ten percent of that service to support our veterans, so you'll stay cool and help someone rebuild their future. Donovan's aud Entire Center the honest choice for
auto repair since nineteen fifty eight. Book your appointment today
at donovantire dot com.
We may not always agree, but we can agree on one thing. Fifty five KRC is the talk station.
Taking your car questions. The number to call all five
one three seven nine fifty five hundred. That number again,
five one three seven four nine fifty five hundred. I
think Danny jinks me. You know, earlier he was playing
the cricket song or playing the cricket, the cricket Dan, can you do that? There we go, There we go,
There we go. He's quick on it. He's quick on it.
So hey, I'm here taking your car questions again. Dane
donnad from Donovan's Auto entire Center. You know, I want
to talk you know again, if there's anything that you know, everybody has car problems. I have car problems. My wife
has car problems. She hit the trash cans, and then
at the side of her vehicle. I said, there's there
was one.
There was.
I gotta tell you a story. There was one time.
Uh, she'd left the tailgate up when the garage was, you know, open, and UH obviously closed it and there's a big old, two big old scratches right down the tailgate.
Said how that happens. She's like, I don't know.
Maybe I don't know how that happened. I was like, okay,
and uh, I don't know. And about a month later, Uh,
we went to the grocery and we're empty in the groy area and we're getting the groceries out of the back of the vehicle and I closed the grade or She said, you didn't thrush. You didn't scratch the tailgate,
did you. And I'm like, oh, that's where those scratches
came from, because I almost did it.
It.
Luckily where I had it parked, it didn't scratch it.
But I'm like, oh, that's where I happened at And I said, how how did you get those those dents in the side of your car? Shes the guy I
had the trash cans. I like, man, those trash cans
are I'm gonna send I'm gonna send rumpky of Bill.
So but yeah, I had I had a gentleman earlier.
So my oldest son, his last day of school was yesterday.
Aiden.
H Congratulations he graduates on Monday. I can't believe. It
seems like only yesterday that we had a we brought them home from the hospital. But yeah, I've got my first,
my oldest going to high school. And uh so, congratulations
to Aiden. And uh he graduates again on Monday and
had his last day yesterday. I was in a school
golf outing yesterday. Did U did well? There had somewhat
somewhat good weather but uh but uh yeah, so it was a good all for good costs, raised money for the school.
So again I.
Number to call five one three seven fifty five hundred.
That number again, five one three seven fifty five hundred.
The phone lines are wide open. Love to hear from
you again talking AC. And this this is something that
you have to understand. All of these newer vehicles are
on a new free on It's called one two three four yf It's very expensive, double if not triple, not because of what's going on in the economy today. But
I mean it came out early two thousands.
I think it was.
I think it was like twenty sixteen, maybe twenty eighteen, and I mean it was. The price has actually come
down from when it initially came out. But for those
of you out there and again, you can go to donovantire dot com.
You can get all the info you need. Cool it
for a cause.
We're donating ten percent of all AC services out there that we're doing it Donovance to the Barracks Project, local program for veterans, right grandfather who started it. You know,
we want to give back to the community. You know,
in the fall we give away a vehicle and then in October we give away, we raise money, give away break free break pads and donate ten percent of the break job to the Karen Wellington Foundation. Again, we want
to give back to the community, and it's something that's very important to us again sixty eight years. Community is
very important. We care about our customers, We love our customers.
We do our absolute best to make sure that we take care of you at Dominance. So it's important. But
I want to talk about a little bit about AC again.
Just blink and wait ten minutes and again I mentioned earlier.
It's it's going to be almost ninety tomorrow, so we're going to need our air conditioning our vehicles. And I
want to talk about and hope that you understand the system itself.
This is something that it's a pretty complex system.
Right, You've got an AC you know, a gentleman just called earlier with the Chevy Cavalier. He wants to replace
just the AC clutch on his compressor.
Now, I.
Would not recommend that the compressors of this small motor itself that has pistons, you know, I would replace the whole compressor. I understand that it's more money. And like
a gentleman said, Troy was his name, I understand he didn't want to open up the system. And you know,
because there's seals in there and and and so on and so forth when you change these compressors. But understand,
and I typically.
Not typically.
On an AC system for a vehicle, okay, free on as a gas. Okay, it's not like sometimes there's a
there's sometimes there's confusion as to coolant and free on coolant.
We'll keep your engine cool free on, We'll keep your AC cool Okay, free on.
As a gas.
So there's no You know, we can check your coolant bottle, you know, pop the top and look at your coolant level.
On an AC system, you cannot do that. Again, free
On is a gas So what we have to do is we have to hook it up to a machine.
The machine has to basically remove Let's for math purposes, let's say your vehicle holds one pound of free on. Okay,
but we don't know that right because we can't check it.
So what we need to do is we need to hook it up to the machine, evacuate that free on, remove it from the system, okay, and then the the computer right, our machine will say, hey, listen, we only evacuated three quarters of a pound. Well, that might be
enough to make an AC system not work, right, So we can't diagnose why the AC system's not working until we know that the freeon is full. Same system as
if let's say you had an inner tube and it's got a hole in it, right, I mean I used to grow up sled riding with an inner tube. My
dad would bring home semi inner tubes and we'd fill them up and we'd go running down, running down the hills.
Right.
So if you if we don't know where the leak is.
Freon doesn't just evaporate, doesn't just go away. It's under
It's a pressurized system, right, so if the free on is low, it leaked out somewhere.
And again it's a gas so we don't know where it leaked out at.
So need to remove what's in the system.
The system.
The machine then pressurizes it to make sure that it holds pressure. If it holds pressure nine or ten times
it does, we then will put your free on back in and then add the correct amount that it needs. Again,
if we evacuated, you know, three quarters of a pound, we need to put a quarter pound in. So and
we charge you for that quarter pound, right, so, okay, now our systems will. Now what we do is then
we inject a fluorescent dye and then an oil for the compressor.
Okay, So let's say, you know, two.
Or three weeks later, you're like, hey, Dane, you know you guys just fix my ac and now it's warm again. Well,
we didn't fix anything, we just filled it back up, Okay, And then the process is, hey, let's use a black light.
Let's try to find that fluorescent dye so we can figure out and determine where the leak is. Now Again,
earlier the gentleman Troy who called about the cavalier, when he if he replaces that compressor, when he removes those lines, there's two rubber O rings in there. Now you've disrupted
the system, which I get and it's highly recommended that when you put that compressor in, you need to put new rubber O rings in.
Right.
So that's kind of the process and how we need to go about it.
Now.
The other thing is uh in which we get a lot of is hey, you fix my AC. No, we
didn't fix it. We filed it back up. But you
also have multiple components. You have an AC compressor, you
have lines that go to what's called the AC evaporator that evaporators in the dash. That's what the blower blows
that cool air and that's you know, through through the evaporator.
That's what you're feeling coming out through the vents.
That free on then travels back to what's called the AC condenser, which is the condenser sits right in front of the radiator, and then that free on is then cooled down and then it goes back into the compressor to be pumped and pressureized and go back into the evaporator.
Right.
So there are very there are a lot of components to the system, so it can be a pretty complex and sometimes takes multiple trips. So if you know, if
you're you know, having frustrations with the hey my mechanic fixed my AC and it's it's not working again. Sometimes
it takes a couple of trips for us to try to find out where that frion's leaking out at or what component isn't working.
Now.
Sometimes people go, well, can you just replace all the components? Well,
we can, but it would be extremely expensive to do that.
And it's kind of one of those you know, I'm going to use an analogy here, but you know, if you went to your doctor and said, hey, my knee hurts, and uh, hey doc, while you're in replacing my right knee, can you just go ahead and replace the left knee, most of us wouldn't recommend that, And so I don't recommend you replacing every component in acc system. It's it's
it just would be too expensive. So understand how that
system works. And again a lot of times it's just
we uh. Sometimes people can get frustrated because they don't
understand how that system works. Now at Donovan's we always
try to explain that, and in our process we don't just charge it up and send you on your way.
You know, we try to explain it as best we can because again, again you're you're spending the money. And again,
if you have the new free on the one, two, three, four yf you know, it could be up to three hundred and fifty dollars for us to fill it up, and then you know, six weeks later it's empty and then you're like, hey, you guys, fix my AC. Now
it's broken again. It's like, well, no, we didn't fix anything.
We just filled it up. Now let's try to figure
out where it came out at, where did it leak out?
So it's it's it's.
Something that you know, just understanding and knowing the system and how it works can somewhat maybe cut down that frustration of maybe, hey, I charged this AC last year and now this year it's not working again, and that can be frustrating for a lot of us because we don't know exactly how the system works. And that's why
I want to explain it and again cool it for a calls go to donovantire dot com.
You can read all about it.
We're donating pro seed ten percent of the whole proceeds on AC services to the Barracks Project, which is a local you know for uh, you know, charity for our veterans.
So it's important. So all right, again the number to
call five one three hundred. That number again, five one
three seven, five one hundred coming up.
We have Nancy, Jeff and Paul.
You're listening to the car show on fifty five KRC the talk station w.
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Some may not want to hear what you have to say, but we do. Fifty five KRC the talk station.
You're listening to the car show of fifty five KRC.
DE talk station on Day Donovan from Donovan's Auto entire Center.
Find your nearest location at donovantire dot com. Let's go
to the phones. We have Nancy who's been patiently waiting.
Hey, Nancy, welcome to the car show. How can I
help well?
Hi, thank you for taking my call.
Very welcome. Thank you for calling. I appreciate it.
It's my first time Colling. I have a twenty nineteen
Kia Soul, which I love, and it seems like this is my third one. How do I keep it healthy?
And what's your opinion of the Kia sold the twenty nineteen and I love it. I've had no problems with it,
but I just had the transmission fluid changed at sixty thousand miles and.
Okay, else?
How often should I change the oil? Like they say
they recommend it in the book. It says like eight
thousand or something, but I've been doing it every four to five thousand, doing a great job.
Yeah, so Kia and Hyundai, which Key and Hyundai are the same company.
The product that they have is a good product. Okay. However,
what we have seen a lot of.
Is these vehicles will use or consume oil and it's not I mean, there's actually a class action lawsuit on the engines burning oil because it happens. It's not a
matter of if, it's just when, and it depends on how often you're changing oil. So I think the key
to longevity of your vehicle if you have a Key r a Hundai, and again it's most vehicles, it's not just Key and Hyundai. You're you hit it, you know,
you hit the hammer right on the on the head there, I mean on the nail. Changing it every four or
five thousand miles is perfect, Okay.
I would recommend checking.
It in between, you know, not every time you go get gas, but just making sure that it's full. What
we see a lot of is these vehicles again consume it, they burn it, and then these engines lock up.
So as far as maintenance.
Goes for the vehicle, every thirty thousand is you know where you want to be at As far as changing the filters, checking the brakes, making sure your tire pressure is properly you making sure your tires are properly inflated.
But the most important thing that you can do is is just making sure that you're changing that oil every four or five thousand miles. And what I recommend to
if you're like Dan, I don't you know, I don't have time or don't want to change check the oil.
Just make sure that when it gets changed that you ask that they check the oil level, you know, because it.
Might not be consuming oil right now, but you want to just.
Be aware of if it is that you're you're making sure that you top it off. And that's really the
only thing that And again, most of these vehicles now you know today don't need a tremendous amount of maintenance, but you're asking the right questions because again that's how you get you know, the most life out of your vehicles, just making sure that you maintain it. So again, four
to five thousand miles, perfect on the oil changes as far as maintenance goes, getting it in thirty thousand miles.
Typically the intervals each manufacturer is a little different. But
if you're not hitting which most people aren't, right, you're not hitting thirty thousand miles in a year.
Most people aren't.
So if you're, if you're not, I get it in at least once a year, and my recommendation would be, you know, right before winter. I mean, Winner is really
really the toughest time for a vehicle with you know, your battery, making sure your wiper blades are you know, Winner's really really hard on our vehicles. So if if
you're not driving thirty thousand once, you're I mean most people aren't. Just making sure you're getting it in once
a year and just having everything checked. You're checking your
suspension parts, You're making sure that the tires are being removed, You're having the you know breaks inspected and uh again, tune ups and coolant are usually at somewhere over around one hundred and twenty thousand miles. So, but fluids are
you know, every thirty thousand miles break fluid powa stream if it has piastre and it might have electronic powersteerum you know, transmission, Like you said, you just had that done.
So it sounds like you're sounds like you're on top of it. And that's the thing these vehicles are. You know,
the obviously you know, new car prices aren't going down like everything else, our groceries, gas, everything.
So you want to make sure you maintain it. So
I think you're doing.
Just making sure that you're changing that oil every four or five thousand miles, especially if it's a Key or a Hyundai, is the most critical thing that you can do because we see so many of them come in when it's unfortunately it's too late for that vehicle and it needs an engine. We have one at Ridge Road
right now that needs an engine. So, you know, just
making sure that it's that the fluid is the oil is topped off and changed regularly, that's the most important because again, you know, when I bought a new vehicle, I had the opportunity to buy a new vehicle, and they told me, hey, every fifteen thousand and I'm like, well, over my dead body, I'm not doing that. I change
mine every five thousand and miles.
Yeah, you're right about that, because that happened to me with other Kia. My oil light came on.
I'm like, what do you mean?
My oil light came on? And I had absolutely only
no oil left in my other Kia. Yeh, And I
will check it in between oil changes because that's something I totally agree. It's just that these kias just burns.
Oil, I guess.
And like you said, yeah, well.
The oils too, just get thinner and thinner and thinner and thinner, and they just get right past the rings.
I mean, Toyota now sells all their new vehicles or you know, when I got into this business twenty six years ago, ten W thirty was, you know, a pretty thick oil, and then diesels were like on fifteen forty.
Now they have a zero W eight.
Well, I mean it is water that we're putting in these cars, and that oil is going right past those rings, going right out the tail by, and a lot of people associate that, oh well, I don't see any smoke coming out of the tail yer. It's not going to
And it's just bringing awareness to making sure that people check it regularly. A lot of times. You know, people
come into my shop all the time. I'm like, hey,
you're due for an oil change, like, oh, well, the oil, you know it. My percentage is only at thirty percent,
so I'm just gonna wait. And you know, that's fine,
But these cars come to me every single day with no oil in them, and it's it's frustrating because I don't want to see that. I don't want you know,
I just don't want to. It's just a shame because
it leads to a lot of a lot of times, a lot of conversations that I have to have. Hey, listen,
your car needs a fifteen thousand dollars engine, and you know, so making sure that you're checking it and just making sure you're changing it regularly is the most important thing that you can do.
So you're on, You're go ahead.
So is do you think that, like what kind of car is?
Like?
The best are out there, like they're saying, like.
Out there, Honda, Toyota, or Mazda. Those are the three
brands that I would recommend. And again, Masta always flies
under the radar. Nobody ever talks about them. Man, we do.
We never have problems with massas ever.
So Honda, yeah, Honda, Toyota, Mazda would be the three brands that I would i'd recommend.
Okay, that's good to know.
Yeah, and none of them burn oil.
So oh wow, maybe my next car would be in Mansda.
If I check how the tea you feel, I'm.
Telling you, I really really like the way the masses drive and we don't we have. They're very low maintenance,
very inexpensive to repair, and I, you know, twenty six years, I can't. I don't think I've ever seen a Masda
come into my shop that you know, had any major you know, engine failure or transmission issues or anything. Nobody
nobody really talks about, you know, you think about it.
You really don't see a lot of Masa commercials, so I think they just kind of fly under the radar.
But I'm telling you what, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
So yeah, that's good.
I've never driven driven to Maza. But it's a smaller car, which.
Well they I mean they do have they have they have smaller SUVs. They have the c X five. Oh yeah,
c X five is a small suv.
It's about the same size as a UH toilet raft for or a Honda c r vats. They're great, they're
very nice. Go up to go up to them. Yeah,
go test drive one. They're really nice. I think you'll
be very impressed.
So yeah, it's very similar to the Key is Soul.
I really like how the radio is simple to you and everything.
Yes, yep, we'll keep up the good work.
Make sure you're changing it regularly. You're doing great, all right, Well, thank.
You for the call.
Thank you so much.
Uh huh, you take care. Bye bye. That's the questions
we have to have a maintenance questions.
That's the most important thing that we need to have a discussion about. So you're listening, We've coming up. Let's
see here we have Jeff and Paul. You're listening to
the car show on fifty five krc DE talk station.
Way back in nineteen fifty eight, my grandfather opened Donovan's Auto entire Center right here in Cincinnati. A lot has
changed since then, but our commitment to honest auto repair hasn't.
We believe in making sure your vehicle gets everything it needs and nothing it doesn't.
Because as a.
Family owned business with our name on the wall, integrity matters.
From nineteen fifty eight to today, Donovan's Auto entire Center is still Cincinnati's honest choice for auto repair, and we're proud to keep this city moving. Three area locations. Find
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This is fifty five KARC an iHeartRadio station.
Taking your car questions. We I want to get to
we got to get back to them.
Right away.
We have excuse me, we have Jeff. Hey, Jeff, welcome
to the car show. How can I help?
How you doing?
Dale?
I called you last week, but it was right at the end of the show. I'm trying to make it quick.
I had the twenty eighteen equalox and I changed oil and I heard this ticking on the top the top of the motor, and it's like, man, that doesn't make sense.
So I changed the oil anyway, and then the ticking stopped.
But then the ticking was the vacuum breake pump. So
it went out and as soon as it went out, the engine light came on, so and it said, oh, yeah, yeah, the VVT. So I replaced the.
Intaking yeah, the intaking exhausted illinoids.
Yep, and the cam shaft crank sensors. I changed those.
I took out, uh, the filter or when I when I took the valve covers off, I found the you know, the the broken parts to the pump and they and I put it all back together and they were big solid pieces and I seen one little uh piece of metal and they're just tiny. Shaving got that out. I
took the oil filter off and I beat that and beat that against the ground. I cut it in half,
the solis all to see if there was any shaving inside there. There was nothing. So but the engine light
keeps coming on and it says reduced. Yes, So do
I just need to reset the code or what? What?
What do I do? Now? Well?
Shoot man?
Yeah, I mean so I'm assuming mean obviously you said you got the metal out.
Did you replace that break vacuum pump?
Yep, yeah, I regip. I replaced that. I looked at
the oil filter to see if there was any shavings and that the oil. I didn't see anything. And they
said reset the code and let them the computer know that everything is new or fixed. Is that true?
Well, you put a new pump on it, right, yep, you got all that. So let me ask you is
the ticking noise is it gone? Or is it still there?
Yeah? No, no, no, the ticking noise, I'm assuming was that.
Pump coming apart? Yeah?
Correct?
Okay, So.
Well, in my personal opinion is probably that it wiped out the It wiped out the chain, the timing chains.
It's out of time, is what I bet.
So I think that you've got you've got what's called VVT gears. So you've got the VVT stillinois what you did,
but you also have the VVT gears and they will advance or retard the timing of the engine. So metal
shavings could have gotten into those gears or because of it those you know, because of you know, was it ever low on oil?
Did it ever consumer use oil?
No?
No, nope, nope, I change. I changed just oil every
three thousand miles. I called you. I called you about
three months ago. I've got the two thousand and two
GMC Safari with three thousand and forty two thousand miles on it and every three baland.
I remember that.
Yeah, I don't care.
I change no.
These these the way they design these cars, they're very finicky.
So most likely it's out of time.
And either metal shaving's got none of those VVT gears or it's it's it's off a tooth on the timing and those gears aren't. And and again if the gears
are bad, they're also gonna flag the sylenoids. But man,
I you know you are in Uh, there's there's a lot going on there. Personally, I think you need You're
gonna have to replace the timing chains, the guides.
And the gears.
I think, uh, I think the damage that unfortunately at this point has already doesn't. Now again, you can try
to clear it, clear it and see if it comes back.
But if it doesn't have that omph like you said it used to have, then again those gears when you go to when you go to hit that gas, those gears will lock up and again they will advance the timing and the engine. So if there's metal shavings in
those gears, or those gears are bad, it's not going to advance that timing like it's supposed to. Okay, So
either either either it's off a tooth or the gears are bad. So you know, call me back next week
with the codes. I want to know exactly what code
you have in it. I would try to clear them.
But if it doesn't have that own f like it's supposed to, most likely it's out of time and either one of those gears are bad or the chains jump time, and that's very common on those vehicles. So Jeff called
me back next week. Hey, I appreciate everybody calling in.
Everybody have a great weekend, take care of each other, and I'll be back next Saturday to answer all of your car questions. You're listening to the Car Show on
fifty five KRC. The talk stations
About this episode
Dane Donovan takes listener calls and shares the show’s phone-in number, then the conversation heats up with summer A/C tips and a detailed air-conditioning diagnosis. A caller’s restored 1996 Cavalier won’t cool because “I don't have the clutch,” leading to discussion of compressor-focused repairs, evacuating refrigerant, leak testing, and fluorescent dye/black-light tracing. Later, they pivot to intermittent evaporative-system codes on a 2010 Dakota and oil-consumption/maintenance advice for Kia/Hyundai, plus VVT/timing-chain troubleshooting on several vehicles.
This week on the car show, Dane Donovan from Donovan's Auto Care is sharing some valuable insights on car maintenance and repair. He's also giving away a free AC service to listeners who bring their vehicles in for an inspection. But that's not all - Dane is also talking about the importance of understanding how your car's AC system works, and how it can be a complex and frustrating process to diagnose and repair.
Dane is joined by several callers who have questions about their own car issues, including a gentleman who wants to replace just the AC clutch on his compressor, and a woman who's concerned about her Kia Soul's oil consumption. Dane offers some sage advice on how to maintain your car's engine and prevent costly repairs down the line. He also recommends checking your oil level regularly, especially if you have a Kia or Hyundai, as these vehicles are prone to oil consumption.
One of the key takeaways from this episode is the importance of understanding how your car's AC system works. Dane explains that it's not just a matter of filling up the system with freon, but rather a complex process that requires specialized equipment and expertise. He also talks about the common issue of oil consumption in newer vehicles, and how it can lead to costly repairs if not addressed.
If you're a car owner who's ever wondered why your AC isn't working, or why your oil light is on, this episode is a must-listen. Dane offers some practical advice and insights that will help you understand your car's systems and prevent costly repairs. Tune in to hear the full episode and learn how to keep your car running smoothly all summer long.
