What is that spot on the driveway? It could be why you must skip the family vacation this year

Hey folks, Lenny Lawson here, the car guru.

Just walked into the dealership a little while ago and I walked into the Nissan service

drive and it smelled like gasoline.

It hit me in the face hard and both doors were closed, it's cold outside, so all four

garage doors into the Nissan service drive were closed.

So where was the gas smell coming from?

Well, there was only one potential culprit and that was the 1957 Chevrolet that was sitting

right there.

I looked underneath it, there's no drips, nothing, but it's pungent and so I called

my guy who handles all of my older cars and he said well I'll come down, he works up at

the other location.

And he came down a couple hours later and I heard that thing fired up and being pulled

out and about 15 minutes later he calls me and he said hey can you come to the service

drive over on the Ford side, we have an alignment rack there and he had it pulled on top of

the alignment rack and I said sure.

And so I came back there and he said I found your leak, I said super, where is it and he

showed me.

It's the gas tank where the sending unit goes into the upper side of the gas tank.

What is the sending unit?

Well, that's the thing that measures how full or empty your tank is.

The actual level of the gas is the sending unit but also built into that unit are the

vent and then the line that sucks gas all the way up to the carburetor, allows the car

to run.

So it has a gasket that goes around it and it only leaked when the tank was full and

I just filled it up recently and so it's pouring really.

But it's not, what happens is it drips out and then just kind of comes over the lip and

drips a little bit more and then it evaporates but it's evaporating into the air, thus the

smell in the Nissan service drive this morning.

Now you can imagine what my wife would have said if I had that thing in the basement of

our house and that smell was wafting up to our big den just above the garage.

So now, once that is repaired, the sending unit has been ordered, it will be installed

tomorrow as I understand it, then we will be able to put that 57 Chevrolet in the showroom

of a Ford dealership.

But that's okay, I mean we have a lot of Chevrolet history and I think people understand that.

The Lawson's have been around Greenville, Tennessee for a long time, most of our customers

know that we used to be the Chevrolet dealer in town for 35, 36 years.

So my Ford customers will just have to put up with it.

So why am I bringing this up?

Well the reason I am is because vehicles like yours and mine have a lot of fluids in them

and sometimes those fluids don't want to stay where they're supposed to stay.

Now if you have an older car or a collection of older cars like I do, sometimes you just

have to accept the fact that they're going to drip and a lot of that has to do with the

quality or the lack of quality in aftermarket parts that are available and gasket materials.

And okay, so there's going to be a small drip underneath my 1930 Ford Model A and my 34

Model 40 and even my Mustang, 66 Mustang, they're just going to, when they sit over

time, they're going to leak.

And also there are just natural things that happen, like with your vehicle.

As it ages, the gasket material becomes brittle and fails.

All of the different hot and cold cycles can cause gaskets to fail.

One of the worst culprits are valve cover gaskets.

They tend to fail first and then oil pan gaskets and sometimes transmission pan gaskets.

Sometimes you'll see a rear differential leaking over time, but usually, you know, you don't have a

lot of rear differentials anymore unless you're talking about a pickup truck or a big SUV.

Pretty much everything is either front wheel drive or maybe all wheel drive.

And it's possible that you would have a leak, but it's unlikely.

So on a modern vehicle, if you see a leak, it's really a more concern to me than something old.

And if you have a pristine driveway and you pull out one day and you see a drip of fluid,

it's important to identify where it's coming from and not let it get any worse than what it already is.

And different fluids kind of give you an indication, different types of fluids,

different kinds of drips give you an indication of what's leaking.

The transmission fluid is typically red or could be orange.

Coolant can be light green or orange or red.

And it's usually coming from the front part of the engine.

If it's leaking, it's either leaking from the radiator itself or the hoses, the lower hose or

the upper hose of the radiator. It could be a water pump in the front of the engine.

And so there's a lot of different places that it can leak from.

If it's the oil, it's probably coming from either the valve cover gaskets or the oil pan.

Or if you just had your oil changed, maybe they stripped your oil drain plug when they were

putting it back in and it's dripping from there. But you can lose power steering fluid,

you can lose brake fluid, or you can lose gasoline like I happen to be doing.

And sometimes you'll smell them and sometimes you won't. You're not going to smell a drip of oil.

You may smell it if it's a valve cover that's leaking. And then as you're driving down the road,

you smell a burnt oil smell. And that's probably because the oil is leaking out of the valve

cover gasket and it's flowing down to the exhaust manifold. Once it hits that, it burns.

Doesn't catch it like a flame. It just kind of smokes and you end up smelling it inside the car.

It's not very pleasant. And some vehicle systems are a whole lot more sensitive to

the loss of a little fluid. I mean, how much oil can you lose before it damages the engine?

That depends on the engine. But as a general rule, if it gets more than like a half a quart

below the ad mark, then you are in danger of damaging different components in your engine.

If you've lost steering fluid, for example, power steering fluid, then you're going to know it

when it starts affecting the handling of the vehicle. You can feel it plus when you turn

the steering wheel, it will moan. It'll groan. You'll hear this groaning sound and you might even

feel a vibration as well. There's a problem. You better get some fluid into that power steering

reservoir. Can you check these fluids? Yeah. If you know where the components are, you sure can.

Just like a technician can check them. You just need to get your owner's manual out,

open the hood and find where everything is and take the cap off. Take a look at it so you understand

how to read the marks and what to look for. Do you want to be totally dependent on a third party

to check pretty simple things like that? I think if I'm a car owner and I don't know really anything

about cars, I should know how to check the fluids in my vehicle and I should know what it feels like

if it's not performing the way it's supposed to. If I'm going down the road and my transmission

is shifting funny or it acts like it hits neutral and it's an automatic transmission,

the first thing I'm going to check is the fluid level. I'm not going to pull into a service

department or go to some other independent shop. I'm going to check it myself. If it's taking me

longer to stop, if I have to push the brake pedal down a little bit harder, it's very possible that

I've lost fluid. Now, I may add fluid, but I'm also going to possibly take it into a shop at that

point and say, where's my brake fluid going? I mean, is it leaking at the wheel cylinder at each wheel

or somewhere else? I mean, I want to know that, especially if my coolant light comes on, low

coolant, where's it going? You know, hopefully it's not an internal engine problem. If it is,

it could indicate that you possibly have a blown head gasket, which is a pretty serious

engine ailment that's going to have to be addressed and expensive as well. But hopefully,

it's just a clamp that has worked its way loose where I've got some minor leak that I can fix.

Worst case scenario, like I say, is an internal engine problem, but it could be like a water pump

that's leaking at the front of the engine. That can be expensive, but it's not near as

expensive as a blown head gasket. Hopefully, like I say, it could be just a loose radiator cap or it

could be just one of the clamps on the upper or lower radiator hose. These are things that I want

to know. I need answers to. If you've got a car with over 50,000 miles on it, it's very possible

that there could be a hose problem. Another very expensive thing could be your heater core,

which is in your dash, which relies on coolant flowing through it to provide heat on those cold

mornings. And if that heater core is leaking, you're probably going to know it because you're

going to smell antifreeze on the inside of the vehicle. And if it's really bad, your coolant

is actually going to be leaking onto your floorboard and making your carpet wet. If your

heater is not working all of a sudden and your fan is working, it's blowing, but you're not getting

any heat, then you've probably got a problem with your heater core. Okay, I'm going to take my first

break. I'll be back here in just a minute. Okay, welcome back. So if you walk into your garage,

you pull your car out and you see a drip, wipe it up, pull the car back in, break down a box,

just a cardboard box and slide it underneath the car. And then, you know, in a couple of hours or

the next morning, get your husband or your girlfriend or somebody to get up under there and

see if they can see where it's coming from. Does it come from the front of the engine,

back of the engine? Does it come from the transmission? You know, does it is not coming

from anywhere in the center of the vehicle? If it's near the wheel, then more than likely,

it's brake fluid that's leaking out one of the wheel cylinders, but sometimes it's hard to

identify where the leak is actually coming from. So you may get up underneath the car and you see

it dripping off the oil pan, but when you take it into the service department, don't just go in there

and say, hey, I need my oil pan gasket changed because it's leaking because that's what they'll

probably do if they're not any good. If they're any good, they're going to actually put the car

on the lift and identify where the leak is coming from. It's very possible that it's coming from

the valve cover gaskets or someplace else. You know, I've seen a rear main seal. It's the main

seal in the back of the engine where the transmission bolts up to it. And that rear main seal typically

will start leaking when the vehicle gets an excess of 100,000 miles on it for some reason.

And so the customer is hoping and the dealership is also hoping that it's just an oil pan gasket

because if it's a rear main oil seal, then they either have to, well, they have to drop the

transmission out of the vehicle so they can get to it. So that involves a lot of labor.

Parts aren't really expensive, but the labor is terrible. And so that's something that you need

to be aware of. Why do they put components in engines that require gaskets and things that you

have to replace that wear out over time? I don't know. That's just the way that things are made.

Maybe it's so that they can generate all kinds of labor and parts charges as people hold on to

vehicles over the long term. Maybe it's that kind of conspiracy. I don't know. I'm not an engineer,

but I do know this, that if we ignore those kind of problems, they become a whole lot worse.

And then it comes to trade-in time or we want to sell the vehicle to somebody and it's got

these leaks. The whole bottom of the engine is covered with oil and now dirt has been attracted

to the oil and the whole underside of the car looks terrible. And so much oil has leaked out

that it's blown as you've driven down the road. It's blown backwards and coated the transmission

that's dripping from everywhere. And then the vehicle is just about impossible to sell.

So you don't want to get to that point. Some people can't help it though. They just don't

have the money to fix things. And I get it. But if you're buying a car and you see that,

then you need to stay away from it until something's done because you don't know what's

going to be involved. You may think, well, it's just an oil pan gasket, which isn't that big of a

deal. However, on some of the vehicles that we sell, like the F-250 with the big diesel engine,

you have to pull the motor to change the oil pan gasket. What did they design it that way?

I don't know. They just did. Thank goodness they don't fail very often, but they do and they get

150 to 250,000 miles on them. And people drive a lot of diesel vehicles that long. I mean,

the longevity of a diesel engine, if it's properly maintained, half a million miles or better.

And occasionally a gasket or a seal or some hose, it's going to fail in that period of time.

The engine may not fail, but members of the supporting cast

are more than likely going to fail. And that's why they're considered to be maintenance items.

So would you think of a radiator hose as a maintenance item? You know, most people think,

well, they've got to just change my oil and change the air filters. I should be good. No.

There's belts. There's hoses. There's clamps. There are certain wires that carry heavy-duty

current. Battery cables fail. Reservoir tanks fail. Coolant overflow tanks.

You know, they're made out of plastic and you have enough heat cycles and cooling cycles and bad

weather and the conditions that a lot of vehicles have to operate in. That plastic is going to

dry up and crack and break and cause leaks. So when you're buying a vehicle and vehicles last a

long time now, when you're buying a vehicle that has, you know, this may be 10 years old and has

150,000 miles on it, there's still life there for a lot of people because that's all that they can

afford. And they don't buy the thing thinking that they're going to have to do a lot of checking

on it. They just say, well, it runs. It starts. It runs. It drives. And so let's just go.

And they don't check some of these other things that really aren't considered maintenance items

by a lot of people. You know, when you talk to a customer about, or a car owner about,

what are some of the things that have to be replaced just from a maintenance standpoint on

your vehicle? They say, well, I got to change my oil, maybe my air filter, and then brake pads,

tires. Okay. Well, those are all important things that if you don't get them taken care of, it could

be an issue. But what about belts and hoses? Yeah, what about a timing belt? You know, that's

another one. I don't understand why manufacturers manufactured vehicles with a replaceable belt

that is inside the engine. And it can cost anywhere from $600 to $2,000 to replace a timing belt,

a rubber belt. See, most cars use a timing chain. It is literally, it doesn't look like the chain

that you would buy at, you know, Walmart or Lowe's or someplace like that. It's a very highly

engineered. It looks like a really expensive bicycle chain, much heavier duty than that.

But you don't have to replace them. They typically don't wear out as long as the

engine oil level doesn't get too low. They get starved of oil and then I guess anything can

wear out. But yeah, there's these timing belts. And if a timing belt breaks, then why do they

call it a timing belt? Because it regulates the timing of the opening and closing of the valves

in the top of the engine with the piston going up and down inside the cylinder. So as a cylinder,

or as the piston goes up, the valves in the top of the engine close so that they don't come into

contact with one another. When the piston goes down, the intake valve opens up to let air into

the cylinder chamber. Then the valve closes as the piston comes up. Then when the piston goes back

down after the power stroke, then the exhaust valve opens up and the piston rises back up and

forces the exhaust out through the exhaust valve and the valve closes before the piston reaches it.

Does that sound like something that would need to be timed just perfectly? Yes, it does.

Timing belt breaks, you're going down the road. Then there is no control over the sequence of when

the valves open and the piston comes to the top. So you have the top of the piston banging against

open valves, which immediately break shattering metal and metal goes throughout the engine and

destroys the engine. That's a very layman's way of describing what happens when a timing belt

breaks and you've got your foot on the gas and you're going down the road. And before long,

the engine just shuts down because it's locked up. There's no way for the pistons to move,

they're just jammed up against pieces of metal. You've destroyed the bearings,

it's just a basket case. Now I have actually heard of people, somehow they know that there's a

serious problem and as soon as they hear a big popping noise, they turn the engine off and

it doesn't give enough time for there to be internal damage when the timing belt breaks,

but that is extremely lucky and very rare. So when you buy a car that has 60,000 miles on it or more,

in some cases they call for a timing belt replacement at 100,000 miles, but most of them are at 60,000

and you're looking at a car and it's got 62,000 miles on it or 80,000 miles on it.

The first question you need to ask is, does this use a rubber timing belt? Is the timing belt in

this vehicle serviceable? If the salesperson doesn't know, then you need to Google it

or use chat GPT and ask it if a, you know, this particular make and model uses a replaceable

timing belt and at what time is it supposed to be done? And if it says yes and the salesperson can't

prove that it was replaced, you call the previous owner or whatever, say, I never replaced it,

then you don't buy the car until that timing belt is replaced. You may love the deal, they're

giving me a great deal, but you need to replace the timing belt. And if the dealership refuses to

do that, then, you know, I guess if you think it's good enough deal and you find out what it

costs to replace the timing belt, then you can possibly just buy it anyway. Don't drive it very

far though. I mean, is it going to break? Odds are no, but it could. And if it does, then it's

all of a sudden eight, $10,000 to replace the engine. Okay, I'll be back in just one minute.

I had a listener ask if I would pull a car fax on a vehicle he was thinking about buying. I said,

well, sure. Now we use auto check, which is the same thing as car fax. It's just different. It's

of statistical information to car dealers and the banks and so forth. But anyway,

that's what we use. And so I pulled it and it showed that the vehicle had three accidents,

had his 159 or 160,000 miles on it, only two owners, but a lot of miles and three previous

accidents to the accidents were within one year of the other, both of them, or it looks like all

three of them were front end type damage. Would you buy that car? I wouldn't, especially with

that many miles and that many accidents. But what does that depend on though? What does that

decision depend on? I think it depends on maybe a independent inspection of the vehicle and the

status that it is right now. Just because a car has been hit in the front end doesn't mean it's

not a usable car. I have pretty high standards when it comes to that. I don't want to buy a car

personally that's been wrecked. I just don't. Not unless they have pictures of it and I can see that

it was, maybe they hit a deer or took out a couple mailboxes or something. I mean, that's okay. But

when two cars come into contact with one another, then I'm concerned about, did it bend the chassis?

Did it bend the frame? How was it repaired? I'd like to see a copy of the estimate. I mean,

these are just things that would matter to me. But let's say it's a $3,000 or $4,000 car. It's

for a new driver. You're in a hurry and you really can't afford anything else. Then is it okay to

buy that vehicle? Yeah, I guess it is. I mean, you're just rolling the dice. And then if it's

got 159,000 miles on it, was the timing belt ever changed? Because if it's not been done,

I mean, you could find yourself stranded on the side of the road in a matter of months.

And then you've sunk $3,000 or $4,000 into something that that's not worth $100.

So I hope this information has been helpful to you. If you have any questions, automotive related,

feel free to send me a text message 423-552-2020. Send me your email address and I'll send you a

copy of the My Car Guru guidebook, which is a good resource for people who want to know

about buying, selling, trading, servicing, getting body shop repairs, all kinds of stuff,

automotive. Any questions that aren't in there, you can ask me personally through my cell phone or

through email to Lenny Lawson 2020 at gmail.com. And I'll see you on the next edition of My Car Guru.

What is that spot on the driveway? It could be why you must skip the family vacation this year

About this episode

gasoline smell

Chevrolet 1957

gas tank

sending unit

carburetor

gasket

Nissan

Chevrolet 57 Chevrolet

Ford Model A

Ford Model

Ford Mustang

rear differential

all wheel drive

front wheel drive

leak

transmission fluid

coolant

radiator

water pump

oil pan

power steering fluid

brake fluid

owner's manual

automatic transmission

heater core

rear main seal

timing chain

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