Why Tires Could Start Making Noise, Why Headlights Seem Brighter, Testing The Battery

Had a good Saturday morning to you. This one happens to be the 22nd of November.

It's time to talk cars. There are more likely problems you may be having with

yours, or maybe you always want to ask a auto mechanic a question. We've got one

right here for you. Next awful ASC certified technician at Lloyds Automotive

in St. Paul. Nick, good morning to you. Happy Thanksgiving. Yes sir, thank you

Danny, and to you also and your family. And then your whole crew, all your crews

at your shops, I say that plural. I'm going to be heading to Lloyds. I'm

thinking about getting, I was telling you, some some new tires. I think it's, and

maybe I should ask you about that, because I'm hearing, and I don't think it's

just the weather. Tires can and do get noisy, don't they? Yeah, as they wear, as

the compound starts to change, I guess you could say they kind of dry up a

little bit. You may get some abnormal wear, which when that contacts the road

makes that humming, resonating noise. It doesn't mean that they're bad

necessarily. You know, it needs, maybe needs to need a rotation or a good

inspection to kind of determine what's going on. And some of us are more

sensitive to road noise than others. And for those that of us that are, you know,

you want to actually rotate those tires on a regular basis as they start to age.

If you don't drive a lot, you might notice that the noise becomes a little

more prevalent as the tires do kind of dry up and might be a bit of a heads up

to get a new set. It's kind of like running shoes or tennis shoes that rubber

those soles kind of become almost brittle, I guess, in some cases, right? Yeah,

they will, well actually, not as much as they used to, because obviously with

time things have gotten better. Yeah. But they still, they will start to dry up a

bit and we'll see where the, the tread area will start to crack. And that's

one of the biggest fears you have a crack there, which can create a puncture or

some sort of damage, cause the tire to go flat. I will invite our listeners to

join in on our time goes by so quickly on the Saturday morning. So don't wait if

you have any kind, you don't have to be a motorhead to ask a question. Although we

do get people who do or do as yourself is, but you don't have to be. We'd love

to hear from you. Any kind of a car care question for Nick at 651-461-9226.

Keep in mind, you can call and chat with Nick or you can just send a text,

whichever is easier, 651-461-9226. I'm looking at a text that just came in.

In fact, I have another question about tires, but what temperature texture

says should it be below for the snow tires to be put on and not wear out

prematurely? That's a good question when we kind of address every season like

this. It is. And I would say this is the time of the year you should do that. You

know, it could happen any day without warning. But usually late October, you

know, once the weather, you know, it's the asphalt temperature, you know, the

day temperatures, even if it's 50 degrees out, that's not the same as it being,

you know, 80, 80, 90 degrees. So I think once we get into the 50s, down into the

40s, your time is kind of ticking a bit. So I would say, you know, come early

November, late October, it'd be a good time for him to do that because after that

point, you know, there's no, it's anyone's guess when that white stuff is gonna fall.

You know, I'm noticing, so we're going back to the tires. I'm noticing I have,

and I think I'd want to have a car without the tire pressure indicator on the

dash. I can see the PSA. I don't know how accurate those are. Are those pretty

accurate that you see in the dash for cars so equipped?

I think they're fairly accurate for sure. But most importantly, they're consistent.

So if you'd noticed that, but they've always said 34, 32, whatever, have

else and you see once it's 28, something changed. And that's, I guess, the biggest

key is when it was consistently, you know, and we've talked in the past, too, as

you start to drive the vehicle from that cold air temperature as it warms up,

they might increase or they will increase a couple of PSI completely normal. But if

you know, notice one of them that you saw we say 32, 34, 36 is starting to dip a

bit. That's giving you a heads up that there's a tire that's getting low. At

some point when that threshold is met, the light's going to come on because

it's too low. And the last thing we want to have is that we're headed, you know,

Thanksgiving, for example, and have a flat tire inside the highway.

Another question we get from time to time, and I noticed too on one of my

vehicles is who sits outside that sits outside. The tires are when it gets

colder, the temperature, the air is leaking out of them. And I know that

could be for the most part, unless there's a tire issue. Is it not repairable

like those wheels, those rims could be cleaned?

They can be, you know, a lot of times with the corrosion oxidation on that

surface becomes porous, which allows the air to make its way through. The remedy

would be to remove the tire wheel from the vehicle, separate the tire from the

wheel, and then you use some sort of abrasive to clean up that corrosion, put

a sealant down there, and then reinstall the tire. It's kind of what we call a

bead leak, but fairly common. And you know, we do those repairs on a pretty

regular basis.

Looking at a text that just came in about, they love the show, thank you for

that. With the new cars, with all these bright lights on, they seem to have

their brights on in town all the time. Is this switchable on the new units? Do

you know? I've seen that in some vehicles. Granted, depending if you're going

up a hill or down a hill, and you know, the angles are different, but it seems to

me that some of these new vehicles are very bright. Have you seen that?

They, I think the color of the lighting has changed, and with the LED lighting

it's changed. So I think they can do a better job of focusing the light on an

area. Obviously, some vehicles sit up higher, so oncoming traffic might be

somewhat blinded. There is settings, and actually my truck has this. I noticed this

on the way back from up north here last weekend, when it's dark out and there's

nobody in front of me or near me, that the high beams automatically pop up. So

I could startle me at first, but no, it's actually kind of nice. And then in the

great distance as the car starts approaching us, they shut off. So it's,

you know, some of these features on vehicles are kind of fun. You know, I

don't want it to break, obviously, because it can imagine what a class to fix it.

But you know, some of these features, you know, and they're just features, they're

not necessary, obviously. You still have your headlights, but when you're driving

on up north and in this time of the year, when there's a lot of animals running

across the highway, having those high beams, it can be a little safety feature,

actually. Yeah, it's kind of a neat deal. I did not know that in that feature.

I'm not sure about this one, this text. Last week, you said that at Lloyd's, you

can assist in changing batteries and key fobs. Do you also change batteries in

garage door openers? I don't think you come to people's homes and do that.

No, but we, people will come in and, you know, same thing for that fob that you

keep in your visor. If we have the battery for it, sure. And most of them are

just a double A. So they're not too complicated. Once again, you can get

online, enter whatever model that door opener is, and it'll probably show you

fairly easy remedies, probably one set screw. But if you're in the neighborhood

and you, you know, having a difficult time, of course, it'll help you. That's

what we do. Now, I was assuming too much here because you've got the remote, the

actual hard, you know, clicker, as we used to call it, that you can put in your

visor, but now you can just program it and leave in the house. But I was

thinking some of these garage door openers have battery backups, the actual

opener itself. And we used to have one here years ago.

That is true because when, you know, the event that the power goes out, you

don't want to be stuck in your garage. Yeah, it's kind of a neat thing. And even

those, you know, we can't come to your house, but even those aren't too

complicated because every place does also. And, you know, if you climb up

there on the ladder, make sure you're on safe grounds and you've usually flip

open where the light is there. You'll see a spot for an access panel for that

battery. Figure out what battery fits in there. You know, there's a lot of

outfits in town. You can go pick up one of those batteries and slide it in

place and make you back where you need to be. Same with the remote stuck on the

side of your door and the entry for the remote. Yes. That's usually, I think

it was like a nine volt, I think. I'll tell you what, let's do this.

Smoke alarm sending us a whole bunch of things that we need to replace. That's

true. Yes. We need to take a quick break. And we were getting more texts coming

in. If you'd like to be one of them, join us. Any kind of a car care question,

call or text 651-461-9226. Nick Stoffel will be with us till just about 745

this morning. Stay with us. Newstalk A3OWCC are going to be a beautiful weekend.

Had a good Saturday morning to you. Danny Long back at it with Nick Stoffel,

ASC certified technician at Lloyds Automotive. Nick, we always like to ask

the information for folks that maybe need the help from Lloyds or your shops. So

where is Lloyds located? Absolutely. And as you know, you have a question. We will

help you the best that we can. You can reach us at 651-228-1316. And if you're

in St. Paul's, stop and say hi. We're at 982 Grand Avenue on the corner of

Grand and Chatsworth. And finally, if you need any of that information or more,

you can always use our website, which is LloydsAutomotive.net. We'll get to that

info before Nick leaves us, which is about 745. Yeah. Some of the nicest folks

you're ever going to meet there. We also have some nice folks on the line. Nick,

let's get to them on the phone. Nancy's first up here from Brooklyn Center.

Hi, Nancy. What is your question? Hi. I have a crack in my windshield. And I know

that I need to get it fixed. Will it hurt to have it done? Will it seal up in this

kind of weather? You know, as the temperatures cool, you'll find a lot of

those places will take it inside just to make sure that the primer and the

sealant adheres and cures the way it should. But no, they replace windshields

around at this thing. As it gets colder, they tend to bring them inside to perform

that task. You don't have to worry about worry about it not sealing up or leaking

or anything like that. So I would say if you get a crack in it before that crack

spreads, have that have that replaced. Oh, yeah, that's definitely safety. Yeah.

Good luck with that, Nancy. Yeah, they'll take good care of it. I know they do

good work. Jerry is calling in from Minnetaka this morning. Glad to hear Jerry.

Jerry, what is your question for Nick?

Sorry, Nick. I got $2,004 motorhome V10 and I was a victim of like seven of my

neighbors at our catalytic converter store. So they want $1,700. So I just put

just a piece of pipe in there and it runs fine. But now I do not have the probe in

there and the check engine might come down, but it runs perfect. So am I gonna

hurt anything? Well, eventually we thought that oxygen sensor in there. What

happens is that the vehicles computer system can't monitor and control those

field trims, the field adjustments. So it's probably in a default mode, but over

time that will start to affect it. And I understand that those converters are

expensive, but technically they are required. And they do clean that exhaust

so it's going out the tailpipe is better for the atmosphere. So I would, I'd

probably look into, you know, maybe you're done with it for the season. But

before you get up back on the road, I would probably look into investing at

that converter replaced. There are ways to secure them a little bit better. You

know, there's some different ways, different attachments and things that

kind of make them a little less likely to be stolen. So you do need that

oxygen sensor in there and you should have the converter in there. Probably not

the news you want to hear, but that's probably the right response.

We don't hear much about that theft, fortunately. Is that quieted down

quite a bit since you and I chatted the last year, let's say?

We're not supposed to talk about it because this one is what we do with

it. You know, I do think that people are smarter. You know, a lot of people

have taken measures to protect themselves from such name. And I think that

they had new legislation, which makes it a little more difficult for these

folks to turn them in for money. So I do believe that we're in a hopefully

that's behind this. We don't have to see much of that anymore. Yeah, I hope

you're right. Before we get back to the text messages, let's grab another

phone call. Joe was checking in for my Sandy this morning. Hi, Joe. What's

your question this morning?

Well, I've got a 2004 7.3 diesel and I just recently did a flush and fill. I

do that every five years on the cooling system. It's got a 32 quart oil oil

cooling capacity. So I know I need a 50 50 mix. So I flushed everything out

till I was getting clear cool into out of the clear water out of the system.

And then I even took a shop vac and sucked on radiator holes on both ends

because you got to get at least 50 50% antifreeze in or you're not going to

get have protection. And but I created an air bubble. I got the four gallons

of antifreeze in. But then I on my mind's going blank. But then I I still

had an air bubble in there is you have any tricks to get that air bubble out? I

finally I drove it down in the ditch out in front of our house and got the front

end up on one side high enough. And I did finally get it out. But boy, it was

terrible. Well, I can tell you from our experience, we we ran into trouble

sewer, there's been you know, over the years, there's been time to actually

lift the front of the vehicle with the hoist with the lift to get that you know,

to raise that's that angle to get there out of there. But oftentimes, you know,

we have we're fortunate enough to have like a little a little canister that

attached to the top of the radiator or the reservoir. And we can fill it and let

the vehicle run and as it bleeds through and as the thermostat opens and the

water pump circulates the air, a lot of time it takes a bit, but you got to work

your way through and let that water cool and circulate and get all the air out of

there. Some vehicles are equipped with bleeders that may be up near the firewall

or near near those heater holes. This so you can, you know, the high point, get the

air out of the high point. But it can be frustrating. You got to heat it all the

up, you know, seal it up, let it cool down, let it pull all that coolant from the

reservoir. And then you got to open it back up and fill it back up. And sometimes

it can be a little cumbersome and frustrating. And unfortunately, there

wasn't always an easy button. But I sympathize with the fact that you got to

your out in the ditch and trying to get the nose of the air out of the system.

So I'm glad you got it done. But in the future, unfortunately, it's done an easy

button. Wow. Thank you, Joe. I'm looking at, we got a bunch of text. I want to help

some folks out here. Here's one 2003 Mercedes coupe. Texas says my seat belt is

stuck in the fully extended position. It will not retract. Where can I get it

fixed?

Not likely to repair unless there's some sort of obstruction. And you know, if

you're looking at it, you're kind of kind of like an old shade where you got to

kind of pull out a little bit and jiggle it and hopefully it releases. But

unfortunately, if that retractors failed, you're looking at a new seat belt

buckle there. So I would, you know, likely end up with the dealership trying to

find that or a shop can get one for you, obviously. But if that seat belt is not

retracting, that can be a problem. You don't want that either. Because that means

that you'll be sliding around in the event that there's a unfortunate accident.

So get that, get that replaced. It's doable. It's fixable. Is it is an

interesting question, a sound question, a Toyota RAV4. Texas says when I opened

one of the rear windows at a higher speed, maybe 40 miles an hour or more, I

get a really loud sound, almost a booming sound, unless I open a front

window, even a little bit. Same with my previous RAV4. Is this an SUV issue? I

didn't get this in my Camry.

I think it's just where the air flows through the vehicle, across the vehicle.

You know, I think that's not uncommon. Sometimes you get an abnormal noise,

depending which window you open. But you know, I would say in my wife's vehicle,

like one of the kids will roll down the back window and you get that resonating

humming or popping noise, I guess. If you correct the front window, it goes away

because you're balancing the air. So it's just an air pressure thing. And I don't

think there's anything wrong with the vehicle. It's just the way the air flows

across the vehicles. You're headed down the road.

It's about another call before we look at that forecast. Bill calling in from

Monticello this morning. Bill, what is your question for Nick?

Thanks, Danny and Nick. I enjoy the show. Yeah, I've got a 2016 Jeep Cherokee at

149,000 miles on it. A month or so ago, I started noticing a light on a dashboard.

Service four-wheel drive, a four-wheel drive unavailable. It's an all-wheel vehicle.

I had it, I took it to my local shop. They diagnosed it as a TPU or transfer case

that needs to be replaced. That's not cheap. The part is on back order.

It's about $2,800 a pair. Here's my question.

Can I, I'm continuing to drive the vehicle. Am I doing any damage to the vehicle

because I haven't replaced the TPU unit? And that's my question.

No, that's a fair question. And we come across it from time to time where there's

these common failed items and the supply can't keep up with the demand. Make sure

you get your name put in the hat there because they will one day get a surplus

of them right at the depot and the dealerships will be flooded with them.

So make sure your, your name is on that list. And I don't think you're creating

any further damage. My fears always were things, depending on how it's designed,

you know, when these units are attached to the transmission or differential, if

they share any kind of fluid, I always worry that there's some sort of failure

that there's contamination on the other component. So it might be fair to follow

up with that dealership and say, is this a standalone unit where it's okay to keep

driving it? Or do I run the risk of contamination that could create more

problems on another, another part of the vehicle?

All right, Nick. Thank you, Bill. Thanks for the comment. Nick, we'll take a break

for that forecast. Come back with more. We've got a bunch of text messages. I'd

like to get answered to stay with us. News stock 830. This is W CCO. Good morning.

Welcome back to CCO's car care show. Dending along here along with ASU

certified technician, Nick Staffel from Lloyd's Automotive answering those

particular questions. We still have time for years. I have a bunch of texts. See

how many folks we can help out this morning. Here's 2015 Acura MDX. Texture says

for the last few years, whenever I turn into a driveway, I hear a slight rubbing

slash squeaking sound from under the car. It hasn't gotten any worse. One shop was

able to replicate the sound but could not figure out what was causing it. I

suspect the struts, but when I push down in all four corners, the car doesn't

bounce, make any noise. Do you have any thoughts before I take it to the dealer?

No, you know, that that's another common thing where folks come in with

the abnormal noise that's different than it used to be. And it's just that one

of those components, a rubber component is just drying up to tear it into a

point where it's where you flex the vehicle. As you've mentioned, turning

pulling into the driveway. So you turn in the wheels and you have that angle

changing. So you put a little more load on one of those components than usual.

And it's making some noise because it's getting worn. So finding it's always

the trick. So a lot of things that we'll do, if it's some components you can

adjust, some components you can lubricate or get wet to see if that noise will

change. A lot of times we're under the vehicle trying to flex things. You

know, obviously we're not as heavy or strong as the vehicle. So that can be

a little cumbersome. But with little due diligence, a couple test drives, a

couple different approaches. Usually we can narrow it down to a couple things or

to the exact thing and make a recommendation based on an inspection

of that. You know, I mean, the noise means that something is getting worn out or

dried up that needs lubrication or replacement. So figure out what that is

to the extent of it and then make the recommendation based on what we learn.

Now it may not be in this case, but for the first time ever, I had that similar

problem on turning. And I thought, what is this? Well, there was a couple of

reasons, one of which one of your guys, Graham, I think, it was, and you and I've

talked about, is it like, what do they call it, like a backer plate?

Yep, the backing plate, you know, they're ten and they're there to kind of keep

any road debris from interfering with the brakes and with time and things coming

up the road, maybe a little rust swelling that they flex a little bit, make

contact with the braking system, which isn't necessarily dangerous, but that

resonating noise can be quite annoying. And, you know, my best advice to people

is you start to hear an abnormal or different noise than you used to.

The car sounds different, feels different. This haven't inspected.

You know, it doesn't mean you have to go and have whatever is failing

replaced, depending on the severity of it. But at least, you know, and if it's

something that's going to get worse or cost more problems, which will cost more

money, figure that out. Because the last thing you want to do is I'm saying, boy,

you know, how many times are we here? I should have came in last week.

I should have taken care of this before. And, you know, now we have to do one,

two, and three versus just doing one. So keep that in mind when you have

something going on, at least have an inspected assess, get an estimate, get a

game plan, and then you make a better informed decision.

Absolutely. Listener wants to know, and can a battery test tell you to replace

it immediately to avoid it going dead on you?

Well, you're measuring the capacity or the capability of the battery, and it's

a good test, but it doesn't tell you the necessities. It's tomorrow, a month

from now, two months from now. What I can tell you, though, is that the demand on

the battery increases, that temperatures get colder. So as we transition from

fall to winter, the requirement for that battery increases. And if it doesn't have

that capacity, that's where we run into trouble. We have a vehicle that doesn't

start. So if somebody's recommending it based on a test, I would probably, you

know, if they can demonstrate and show you the results, I would probably follow

their recommendation and kind of prevent that from being a problem as we head

into winter. We had a comment about a catalytic converter earlier. This general

question is an interesting one. How long has the catalytic converter been on

vehicles? Has it been since the 1970s? Yeah, it's been a long time. I mean, I

would, 70s for sure, because I had a 77 Mercury cougar that I remember with the

hood that was about 30 feet long. I thought you learned to drive to tell you

that. But, you know, it had one. So I would say probably the 70s some point,

you know, as emissions have changed, obviously, all the converters have

evolved, the management system. So the converter that was on one of those

vehicles is not what's on the vehicle today. And the reason that there was

issues with the theft of them is that those precious materials are very

valuable inside. It certainly makes the models use different amounts of those

precious materials. So some of them became very popular for these thieves that

would take them into these metal places and recycling places and sell them for

money. So, like I said, I think that hopefully in the rear-view mirror, we

don't have those conversations going forward. Yeah, I hope you're right.

Listener says this, Nick. I recently purchased a vehicle that has, quote,

run-flat tires on it. What does that mean and how does that work? So it's not

uncommon for a vehicle that is not equipped with a spare tire to come with

a run-flat tire. It's a heavier tire. It's got thicker sidewalls in the

tread area. And by design, if it loses the pressure of the air, the tire will

support you to a certain distance. It's not endless, you know, enough to get you

off the side of the road to assist some help, I would say. But it's designed to

handle that extra load of the vehicle when there's no air pressure in the

tire. So nice safety feature. They're heavier. They wear a little bit

different. People that are sensitive to air or to road noises might not like

them. So it's a little different thing, but it's a nice feature in the event

you have a flat tire and don't have a spare tire. You can at least get to a

safe place to give help. Very good. Here's a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. When

starting it in the mornings, Texture says it sometimes has a very rough idle. My

check engine light also randomly comes on during this time. I have a small

inexpensive scanner that indicated a misfire on cylinder five. I cleared the

code and find that the car runs fine after it warms up. I suppose that means

it's a cold start issue as it runs better when it's warm and parts have

expanded such as gaskets. What do you think about that question? No, I think

it's a very good question, very informed listener also. My suggestion is, you

know, is always at least take it in, drop it the night before, let the folks at

your repair shop be the first ones that test it in the morning. They can have

their scan tool that provides a little more information, determine what's going

on. You know, say misfire, because that's great. Well, why is it misfiring? Is a

field injector dripping into that cylinder overnight? So when you fire it up

in the morning, it takes a while for that injector in all that field to burn

off. Is there something with the spark plug or a coil? So there's a variety of

things that could be happening creating that problem. I understand it's only a

problem right now on a cold start, but as always, that's kind of your warning. If

there's a problem with the field injector and it does fail, it doesn't work

anymore. Now you're done defying it. You lost that cylinder. So my best advice is

making a point with somebody, share that story with them, drop it the night before,

let them do their diagnosis in the morning. You know, cost you a little

money to determine that, but at least now you're an informed consumer. And once

again, you make the best decision for you and your vehicle.

I think we have time for maybe one more. And this is kind of a lengthy question,

but it's a good one, I think. It's a cold weather. We're talking about cold

weather coming on. But in cold weather, Texter basically is asking, let's see if

I can narrow this down. Can fluids thicken? Well, certainly I think oil can,

if it's sitting out there. Texter wants to know about various fluids in the car.

Can they thicken? Can the drive belts be affected? And do you still hear about

frozen fuel lines? So there's a couple of questions there.

No, I think on the fluid, everything thickens when it gets colder, right? And

one thing that you'll notice, and I've been guilty of this too, a lot of times

you'll hear some power steering whining or humming noise. Well, the fluid may have,

it hasn't been serviced in a long time. As it gets thicker with that debris and

stuff, it has to work harder to circulate through the system, through the pump.

So there's going to be some noise associated with that. That's also kind

of a heads up saying, maybe I need to have that fluid assessed. Maybe it's due

to be serviced. Frozen fuel lines, I don't think we see that. The fuel all has

alcohol and ethanol in it, which will absorb the moisture. So we don't have

to worry in that sense. You know, you don't need to add that additional heat

or isopropyl alcohol, because it's already in the fuel. And as far as drive

belts go, I guess they've evolved and changed. And we don't really see much

issues at all with them. We don't replace them nearly as much as we used to.

I think the designs of the vehicles and the tolerance have changed enough where

they last a really long time and work really well. So other than keeping on

top of the maintenance of your fluids, even if you do that, you have fresh

fluids, even on a new vehicle, you'll notice on a cold, cold morning that

things might make a little bit of a noise. People will ask, how long do you

let the car run? The car's happy after a moment or two. It's more for our comfort.

So keep on the maintenance, let your car run for a moment on those cold days,

and you should be good to go. Nick, before we let you go, tell us how to

find Lloyd's Automotive again, the various way. Yes, sir. Okay. Absolutely.

Give us a call. 651-228-1316. We're in St. Paul in the corner of

Grand and Chatsworth, which is 982 Grand Avenue. And finally, check out our

website, which is LloydsAutomotive.net. Nick, wish happy Thanksgiving to you,

your family, and your whole crew there at Lloyd's, and have a great holiday.

And we'll talk to you one week from today. That sounds great. And to your family

and all our listeners too, of course, Danny. Thank you. Of course. Thanks,

you're a good point. Thanks, Nick. Nick Stoffel from Lloyds Automotive.

Why Tires Could Start Making Noise, Why Headlights Seem Brighter, Testing The Battery

About this episode

tire wear

road noise

tire rotation

tire pressure indicator

PSI

flat tire

wheel

bead leak

LED lighting

catalytic converter

cooling system

antifreeze

thermostat

water pump

coolant

2003 Mercedes coupe

seat belt retractor

SUV

Toyota RAV4

Toyota Camry

Jeep Cherokee

TPU

back order

differential

Acura Mdx

rubber component

backing plate

Mercury Cougar

Nissan 2007 Nissan

Nissan Pathfinder

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