Tire wear is how much your tires get used up as you drive. It happens naturally over time and can be affected by how you drive and the roads you drive on.
The tire pressure indicator is a light on your dashboard that tells you if your tires are not inflated properly. It's important to keep your tires at the right pressure for safe driving.
A wheel is the round metal part that holds the tire and helps the car move. Sometimes, wheels can get rusty or damaged, which can cause problems with the tires.
LED lighting is a type of light that uses small diodes to create bright illumination. It's common in car headlights because it lasts a long time and uses less energy than traditional bulbs.
The catalytic converter is a part of the car's exhaust system that helps clean up the gases that come out of the engine. It makes the car less harmful to the environment by changing bad gases into less harmful ones.
A thermostat is like a switch that helps keep the engine at the right temperature. It opens to let coolant flow when the engine gets too hot and closes when it's cool enough.
Coolant is a special liquid that helps keep the engine cool. It moves around the engine and radiator to stop it from getting too hot.
Car
2003 Mercedes coupe
A 2003 Mercedes coupe is a luxury two-door car made by Mercedes-Benz. It's known for being stylish and comfortable, but like any car, it can have issues, such as problems with the seat belt.
The seat belt retractor is the part that helps the seat belt roll in and out. If it breaks, the seat belt won't work properly, which is important for safety.
An SUV is a type of car that's bigger and can hold more people and stuff. It's good for driving on different types of roads and has a lot of space inside.
The Jeep Cherokee is a type of SUV that can handle rough terrain and is good for both city driving and outdoor adventures. The 2016 version has different engine choices and modern features.
TPU means Transfer Case Unit, a part that helps send power to the wheels in vehicles that can drive all four wheels. If it breaks, the vehicle might not be able to use its four-wheel drive feature properly.
The differential is a part of your car that helps the wheels turn at different speeds when you go around corners. This is important for keeping your car stable and making turns smoothly.
The Acura MDX is a luxury SUV that has a lot of space and comfort, making it great for families. It's known for being reliable and has many modern features.
A backing plate is a part of the brakes that helps keep dirt and debris away from them. If it gets bent, it might make noise when you drive, but it doesn't always mean there's a serious problem.
The Mercury Cougar is a type of car made by the Mercury brand, which was part of Ford. The 1977 model is known for its long front end and was popular in the 70s for its style and performance.
The Nissan Pathfinder is a type of SUV that can carry many passengers and is good for driving on different types of roads. The 2007 version has a strong engine and is popular for families.
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.
About this episode
Tire noise, battery testing, and winter vehicle prep are the key topics discussed with ASC certified technician Nick Stoffel. Listeners learn about the causes of tire noise, the importance of timely tire rotations, and when to switch to snow tires. Nick also addresses common concerns like tire pressure indicators, run-flat tires, and the impact of cold weather on vehicle fluids. With practical advice and insights into automotive maintenance, this episode is packed with useful information for keeping your vehicle in top shape as winter approaches.
Why tires could start getting noisy. Accuracy of tire gauges. Are headlights getting brighter? Does temperature impact windshield repair? Is catalytic converter theft still a major problem? Fixing a stuck seatbelt. What to know when testing the battery. Ask our car care expert Nick Stoffel of Lloyds Automotive. Visit lloydsautomotive.net 651-228-1316.
