Focus 580; Car Care

Good morning welcome to focus 580 our morning talk show. My name's David Inge. Glad to have you with us. We're also pleased to have back here on the program Rick Karcher from Riggs automotive service in Champaign. He is generally here at least four times a year we try to have him on at least every season and occasionally we're not quite so locked into a real tight schedule like that but at least several times a year he's here to answer questions about cars. If you have a problem all you have to is call him here tell us about what kind of car it is. Give us the make and the model give us the best description that you can of the problem and Rick will do his best to suggest where the problem lies and how to deal with it. Questions are certainly welcome 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 toll free 800 2 2 2 9 4. Well good to have you again. Thank you. We were just talking a bit here about. Well we sort of talk about hybrid cars and I guess the reason that that was in my mind is just that because of the cost of gasoline I don't think anybody really thinks that it's going to go back down that it's going at least we'd be where it is and maybe get to to be more maybe I guess a question you know supposing you just have a conventional gasoline

engine car. Is there anything in the basic stuff that people could be doing to try to make sure that they get at least the mileage that they should be getting and you know possibly get a little bit better. I mean is there anything that really much you can do in terms of your driving style or maintenance or anything like that. Well in terms of maintenance just the manufacturers scheduled maintenance is important because they get upwards in near a hundred thousand miles it's a good thing to consider replacement of the oxygen sensor the oxygen sensor is pretty influential input to the computer in terms of fuel mileage. Tire pressures are important. Normal tuneup components and we think about that anymore it's typically just spark plugs and fuel filter an air filter you know thing that's recommended four times a year is fuel injector cleaner that you simply purchase a parts store and put in the gas tank yourself. As far as driving habits I think most people

realize that you know there's meant results and studies done where if you're running five 10 miles an hour over the speed limit the Miley's decreases a certain percentage and then of course if you're running an 80 mile an hour it's even less than that. The other thing that affects fuel mileage is accelerating the diesel rating when you're on the highway so cruise control is a very beneficial component to have in terms of fuel mileage because it's most people realize how often they're accelerating their D cell array and every time you're doing that of course you're adding more fuel and affecting mileage. So just the normal process of accelerating in diesel orating contributes to increased mileage. You know one of things we talked about before is trying to make sure you maintain your recommended tire pressure and that's actually a safety issue. Yes. Is that also a mileage issue. Tire pressure yes it is. So you want to make sure that that also you're within what the manufacturer says you

should carry. So if you're if you're too low that can be cut down on the mileage. Yes OK. Well we got a caller here ready to go and anybody else who's out there I'd like to call in here talk with Rick you can do that by dialing the number here in Champaign Urbana 3 3 3 9 4 5 5. We do also have a toll free line good anywhere that you can hear us 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. First caller champagne line number 1. Hello. Either I've got a I think it's a 2000 Ford Ranger and I'm wondering the problem seems to be when we start to accelerate and get going to bounce a 40 miles an hour so it kind of quivers. And then you go a little faster and it seems to even out. But if you slow down again it does about the same thing. And I'm wondering if that could be the alignment or if there's something else that would cause that. Well help me with your with quiver and do something you feel or yeah you feel it if this feels like it it's almost like you know those corrugated

middle sections of the highway it's almost like you're going over that not that intense but it's sort of like that it's a little bumpy quivery feeling like that you're going over a rough road and then it evens out. When the next time I guess first thing I would suggest just doesn't have a tack ometer in the truck. The manual said no. OK not a manual I mean automatic right. OK just to try driving it and not allow it to go into overdrive. That's approximately the speed at which it goes into overdrive and sometimes when they go into overdrive it's kind of a shake shake or maybe a little shutter depending on how how well it actually engages overdrive so try it without the overdrive at that speed and see if the problem goes away. And then if it goes away then D-cell Araik and then come back to that speed that it typically occurred at in the UK and then put it back into overdrive so it might be just switching over to it maybe what you're

referring to. Because if it doesn't happen at any other speeds meaning as the transmission goes from first first gear as you accelerate and then of course it's just a second. If you don't notice it as the engine is accelerating it's probably not related to the engine or the drive train. OK I'll take that up and OK. Thank you. Let's go to Urbana That's our next person here line number two. Hello. Hello Rick. Yes I have a 1990 Ford Intrepid and it is 40000 miles on it and I have Michelin tires the original tires on the car. They're all weather tires. Never had a flat the tread looks excellent. I wonder is is there a problem that after having a car for new tires for a while that the rubber might be curious or a tear or was it all right to keep driving those tires until the tread wears down.

Well typically if there's a deterioration it's a visual observation the sidewall the tire you'll see actual cracks in the tire. So as long as they visually look OK you're fine. OK and then replacing those tires. At the time they were publicizing all the research done on that intrepid it was a new car and they talked about special tires but noticed that there were all kinds of different makes of tires on the Intrepid that year. I just go I should I just when I do replace them just get to. Size. Yeah. Yes and if you're happy with those tires meaning the way they ride in corner and handle then when you go shopping for tires Tony wants something as close to this match as what you presently have in the vehicle. OK thank you. Sure. OK let's go on again line number three is next. Then mayn't there be any yes or no.

I have a 94 Plymouth Voyager with a 2.5 lieder engine and the problem I have is that when it's in the warm up period that is to say it's neither cold nor completely warm. Very often it will lurch and it's particularly troublesome when I go to pull out in traffic and hit the accelerator and practically nothing happens. I just wonder if you have any idea of what's wrong with it I've had it I've had it into my local mechanic twice the first time they cleaned the injectors the second time they put on new plugs and wires they put it on the computer they can't find anything wrong with it they check the Yarra fail and that seems to be functioning normally and they're kind of at their wits end as to what's wrong with it. Well probably best thing to do would be to start with fuel pressure. Monitor fuel pressure while driving. Nope check engine light. Occasionally the check engine light comes on but they can't get any kind of

information from it because the next time they bring it in. It is finished turn it off and turn to start up again. The check engine light stays out until the next time it decides to come on which might be you know another two or three days later. Well it still she would be in memory in the computer. OK yes so they should be able to retrieve that so that may be helpful. OK in diagnosing the problem. OK so it sounds like it might be it could be fuel pressure which would mean what a bad filter bad pumper either. Well maybe a filter related problem. It's one of those things you just have to have the tool hooked up and drive a vehicle and put it into record mode so that you can drive it. Oh so you just carry the computer around with you is that what you're saying. Well the shop can do that for you. Yeah they'll have a skin what's called a scanner. OK and they can plug it in and if you can tell him specifically the process in which you drive it you experience the problem. Then they can do the same thing while they're driving it the machine can record. I say everything that's going

on with the computer OK. OK so the scanner is something small enough to actually fit in the car. Yes. OK. OK but what about things like oxygen sensor or the other the other sort of hypothesis I was working with was that there was something wrong with the way it was sensing temperature. Since this seems to be happening during the warm up phase that it was getting incorrect information about the intake manifold temperature what you know is that you've got a reasonable hypothesis and if so what could cause it. Well I it's one of those things that in two you actually monitor the sensors in the inputs from them to the computer. There's just so many different sounds. I see. OK. But at that point maybe I would probably be paying attention more to the what's the oxygen sensor is doing OK. OK. All right. Thanks very much.

Sure. Thanks for the call and we'll keep going here. Next someone back in Urbana line number one. Oh yeah. Well I'm trying to I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of this big old clunker of a station wagon to have this thing as an old late 80s full size V8 clunker and just try to figure out what I can do other than just selling it to the junkyard you know. Is there a lot wrong with that. First of all the car actually has a carburetor Second of all the. Let me see the. The oil the check the oil light goes on. Even when I've got oil in the car in the in the in the engine and it goes on I have to keep my foot on the pedal too two to get the oil.

The oil like to not to go off if I'm is idling the oil when the light goes on my My mechanic told me it's the crank bearings the leaking pressure. OK so it does have an oil pressure problem. Yeah. And the thing rattles like something terrible. I just I don't. I don't I don't know if it's of my own or my own inexperience or anything. You know I hear about the crank bearings going out at night and I hear the engine rattling I think the whole thing is going to fall apart. Well you've got crankshaft has bearings also for the connecting rods. So there's. But as far as getting rid of it is concerned there's lots of. Organizations in town and of course across the country that would. That you could contact and you could in essence donate it. And then you'd get a form and you basically get. You can't write in what you think the car is worth its fair market value. Is what

you would receive NS for is a tax deduction. Thanks I get money for I don't know where I'm at is going to have to pretty much think in terms of just just getting rid of it period. Well if you do it that way I'd be considered a donation on your taxes. Is there any way I can get any money for it or is that pretty much. Not worth bothering with. Well you can try. I mean just put a sign on it. And see if anybody has any interest in it. You know I mean it sounds like it needs an engine. I don't think I could think of was just find somebody who wants to put in the demolition derby or something you know that that is coming up. It's a thought. Yeah. If you get it you know if it's too late to do it to check for something like that what check for what. But see if somebody wants to do that. For a demolition derby. Yeah Oh sure. You know that's the summer at some point I don't know the date of it now but it was in June I wasn't sure how long it would take somebody to you know to prepare for that.

The I'm not sure. That would be one consideration. So there's there's organizations you can just donate it to can actually use a car like other places that I can actually use a vehicle like that. Well they would they would try first have the car inspected and determine what it's going to cost to get it up to the condition in which it's either sellable. And of course at the expenses to repair it or too high they're just going to. Not repair the vehicle. In one of them that they might actually lose money on it and write it well they will. That wouldn't be their intent. No. I mean I wouldn't want to I mean I don't want to just like fois my problem on somebody else I mean if it's not worth you know selling I don't you know. Well the best thing to do is contact some of those firms and explain to them what you just said or these companies actually know about these companies actually know about cars well enough to take to you have to guess. Yes.

OK. So where were you when were on the four of them. One suggestion is the Urban League. The champagne County. Right contact them. OK. All right and. So it's that the other thing that I that I worry about is. That if I were to would if I were to wait like if I want to hang on to the car for a while it was going to get actually get harder to get rid of it I'm thinking like. That's something I worry about it is like the owner of the car gets the more people are not going to want to you know. Well with the engine making noise the way it is right now I would try to get rid of it as soon as you can because obviously if something breaks internally then the car is really not going to be worth much of anything. So I would start that process soon. All right I guess it's just just trying to figure out what it's kind of just you know get a list of options worked out so we'll see what works best.

All right we're like way I thank our guests here this morning our focus 586 Ricard share. He's an auto mechanic has a business in Champaign Riggs automotive service and every once in a while he's here in prime we talk about cars and if you're having a problem you need some advice you can give us a call. 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. We were talking a bit earlier about tires and just for grins I my computer here I went on to the Sears website and had a look at the tires pages ahead page exactly. And I guess the one of the things I'm wondering about is here there's a tire. There was one that that is less than 30 bucks. And then you could buy a tire that is significantly more than $100 or so. And this is just I just looked at a few and these are all the same tire manufacture and I'm sure that there are there are many others different and different name brands of tires. If you went out to a tire store you could check them out so I guess my question is what exactly is the difference between a $30 tire and a hundred and thirty dollars.

Well this should be on their expected mileage life of the tire. So the $30 tire would as it is say anything aloud have to go back and try to find a fine one and well usually though it will equate to expected life expectancy 30000 40000 miles. I guess it does. I'm not seeing. Where it gives you that maybe if I spent more time it would do that well. OK anyway so that was one of the one of the basic questions you want to ask. Looking at any tire is how many miles do I expect to get. Yes time right. Other than that it is you know what is a is a more expensive tire a safer tire not necessarily new. Regardless if you do purchase tires it's a good idea to have the alignment checked. OK I'm all for wheels. Other than that any anything else in terms of basic maintenance that has to do

with tires. No just normal tire rotation in the first tire rotation is concerned. Typical would give you mileage intervals 5000 or 75 hundred. It's best to actually measure the tire with the tread depth tool and you obviously want the tires to wear at the same rate so what you're trying to do in process of rotation is that if the front tires have less tread than you when with the rear tires to the front the prominent wear occurs on the tires that are on the front of the vehicle. It doesn't it does. Does that matter whether it's got front wheel drive or rear wheels. I don't believe so. So even if it's got rear wheel drive you're still the most of the wear still going to be on the front tires. Yes it is that because those are the ones that steer Well I think I mean in the coarser non-breaking there's a lot of weight transfer to those tires. But a rotation is very important. Our guest here this morning is recursion We've got several people lined up ready to go with call so we'll keep on

going and the next person we'll talk to is in Savoy. One more run right here line one hello. Hi I have a 97 Mazda MPV which I'm very happy with. It has 96000 miles on it and I don't know how much longer it's going to be able to go. I pull a trailer occasionally that is has a weight of fifteen hundred pounds of the hitch weight of a hundred seventy five pounds. If I were to get a newer car what would you advise to do that. Well with that information when you start shopping for a vehicle each vehicle will have a towing capacity rating. So that's the information that you use to help decide what well is there any car out there now that I would prefer not going to a brand new car again because you lose so much in the first year.

Right. What is there anything in particular that you think is a good one to do that. Well not really I mean I know. I don't know that I really want to give any specific recommendations and I'll just kind rather let you know it's kind of a personal choice but Consumer Reports is an excellent resource. I know I use them a lot. Right now they don't like my car and they don't like them. Well they don't like that and I understand because and so if it is. You know it's not as convertible with some of the other ones. But as far as tree care records it's an excellent. I just haven't had a problem good so I'm pleased with it I hope the new ones are just good. I'm sure they are MOS was an excellent product and OK well thank you very much already and we have somebody here on the cell phone calling from their car so I will go there line number 4. Hello. Hi. This is probably an atypical question I have a nineteen fifty seven be a Pontiac starchy. My

question here is when the going the cold weather and damp weather I have a problem starting it. What are the best B for starting boat and I've been told that you should prompt the accelerator five times and then lightly pap to get what would you recommend. Well. It's kind of a hard thing to answer because if the car sits a lot which I'm sure it probably does that when you first start cranking the car there's actually not any gasoline in the carburetor it's probably evaporated. So the reason for your question is I wouldn't his pain is that it takes a long time to start the thing you have to crank and crank and crank and pump and pump the accelerator and it finally starts for you. If that's the case then there really isn't any point in pumping the accelerator. You might as well just crank the car for

30 seconds or so and stop and let the starter cool down a little bit and crank it another 30 seconds to that gasoline actually gets into the carburetor and then pump the accelerator three or four times and then it should start fine. I've had a situation where the car starts cranking and it I'm talking about even letting it get a week in the cold weather. Cooler weather in the spring I drive it. And it. Will. Be. I remember a concept called flooding the engine and I crank the car. It sort of wants to ignite the engine and catch it and then it doesn't and I've got to crank it a long time if you have any comment on that. Well if I would have somebody take a look at the choke. To make sure it's operating correctly it sounds like you have a problem with the choke. It starts ok when it's hot.

Oh yeah yeah. Start right up OK. Have someone take a look at the choke choke pull off diaphragm in the choke thermostatic coil and one one other question this is more charismatic. I want to get an AM FM TV but I don't want it because the metal dashboard you have any recommendations. If you even can visualize the kind of simplicity again AM FM CD player that I can install on the dashboard or underneath there for it and it may be that you can visualize we're dealing of course with those old metal dashboard really original radios and it works and I don't want to pull that out and so you want to mount some separate like. But yeah some people put them in the glove box. Hardly some people mount them in the glove box. Yeah I mean it's entirely up to you. OK. Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks for the call we're already on midpoint here with our guest red car chase an auto mechanic his business is Rick's automotive in Champaign. And every once in a while he's here on the

program we talk about car care and if you have a problem call in and he will do his best to help you out. 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 toll free 800 2 2 2 9 4 5 5. Champagne is next in line number two right here. Hello. Hello. Yes a couple different things. I know I get in or I'll change some of these places. Talk me into an extra $20 for it like synthetic oil. Is that worth it. The idea that you go much farther much much more mileage than the regular oil change. How many miles are on your car. Fifty thousand. It's a Ford Escort. I'm I'm a strong believer in synthetic oil. It's and I think it's it was worth it. I think it is. Particularly in cars that sit outside in the winter the sort of cool oil tends to lubricate

much better because the viscosity or the thickness of it doesn't change as dramatically. OK. Well now the question is pulling up to a like a red light or a stop sign something like that. A car starts kind of a muffled knock like knock knock knock. As I take a foot off the accelerator and coast to a red light and seem like it is on an off topic thing it runs fine is no knock or anything when it's in gear or well I can say that when it's running normally but just when I'm slowing up and taking my foot off the accelerator. And I did take it into a shop several weeks ago and then the guy went out with me and it course you might know it. It didn't do it but do you have any idea what that would be. Does seem the is coming from the front. Yeah I just kind of threw the dice board type of thing is kind of a muffled

back. But not when it's in gear right. You may be associated with the exhaust or the drive train. Maybe if you it may be affected as far as how quickly you do celebrate. Meaning that if you just try to slip my foot off the exit or literally take your foot out the accelerator or if you light start to release Excel remember that affects the knock but you need to figure out how to duplicate it so that you can go back there and they can actually hear it but once they hear it at least they'll have an idea of what area to look at. Well another thing. Sometimes I drop it down a gear it's automatic I drop it down coming up to a stop. I feel like going to probably another one in the world it does that but saves on breakeven and that sort of thing isn't like everybody else's raises up to a stop sign and then slams on their brakes like on a coast to it when I see

a need to stop down the line but many times I'll just drop the cool gear down one. Well maybe that's what's creating the noises when you drop the gear down of course the engine engages a gear in the rpms go up higher and in the hands of the engine transmission movement type. Problem. But yeah. Well it's interesting but like I said once you figure out how to duplicate it then get back to that shop and do it for them in the right at least know where to look. OK good thank you. All right thanks for the call. There are a lot of cars on the road today that have small four cylinder engines. Do those car do those engines do they have to work hard or do they run hotter then a bigger engine or is it is it just a matter of that. Well yeah it's a small engine but also the car is not that big really reduce the weight of the car and it's so it's in proportion to the amount of weight it's got to move and it doesn't really make that much difference.

Correct and then obviously by downsizing we in terms of the weight of the vehicle the mileage in theory should increase in fuel mileage. So but you're right the majority of the cars are force owners. Yeah and that's is that any harder on the oil then the engines used to be. OK. So that's not now that doesn't necessarily argue for the synthetic oil although you you say you like that. I mean I think it's an excellent product and it's you know it is a little more money. But the major manufacturers import oriented I should say. That's what comes. The vehicle from the factory. In that's what they recommend you always use is synthetic. So you buy a Porsche is going to come with something that's wrecked. OK. But for those of you who can buy a Porsche because I wouldn't be one of those guys but you know some people out there maybe. Let's talk to somebody in Urbana next line 3. Hello. Oh yes I have a problem. Recently

I changed my Honda Civic nine to one. The pads and the brake rotors and also shoes and brake drums on the rear wheels. And after that they got very low and spongy brake pedal and the problem actually gets worse and worse with time. And I went back to mechanic and ask them specifically to believe to believe the brakes which they did or at least they claim they did. And actually the problem gets even worse and worse. Do you have any idea what could be what could it be. Well when you first up on the brake pedal. And then you step on it a second time and then a third time dispell always stop at the same point. Well I have a feeling of actually going lower and lower so I can't. But then. OK so you can't pump the pedal meaning as you pump the pedal your foot doesn't get

closer to you know. OK now if you sit at a stoplight you hold your foot on the brake pedal just moderate pressure. What does your foot do. Well actually to to stop but to stay a red light or something. I actually have to press really hard so it's always almost got to the floor. OK it probably needs a master cylinder. Oh and that's assuming that all of the shoes in the back of the vehicle. The adjustments are correct. Does the handbrake work properly. OK then upright needs a master cylinder. But that's what they are. That's pretty much what they told me the bad thing is that before I actually changed all the hardware. Oldest rotor sound drums everything worked pretty much like eight although they brace for really old and right after they changed it.

I got this problem. Yes well by putting pads and rotors and shoes and drums on did they put wheel soldiers on the back. No I guess not. No. OK then what they did did not create this problem. I say this is what you're experiencing is probably an internal pressure loss within the master cylinder and there's rubber seals in there and they get hard and brittle. They don't seal as well you know it's 91 car. So I say so you recommend to change that on the master cylinder correct. I say thanks a lot. Thanks for the call Lets go up to Aurora for someone else right here. Line number one fellow. To go there in Iraq. Oh yes he U.S. or go ahead. We got you. I just bought my daughter's Chevy Lumina 95 and that is

my question is this I have a 91 Oldsmobile ACMA and could you give me any points on what to do with it. I'd like to sell it for possibly a thousand dollars if if if if it if it's worth that much. Could you give me any points about what to do with the old cough. I mean is there any value. Maybe that's the question I may ask is there any actual value to it. True or is it I mean as long as there's anything wrong with it that you know you know and I kept it up that's one thing I don't I have a book and everything I get in the car I have written down. I have been excellent in that area I failed in other areas of my life taking care of my car. It was a wonderful car. If Oldsmobile still made cars I would have boarded models from another world. For me it was a

wonderful. There's nothing the matter with the motor but the bodies and so great great. Well I don't think you'll have much trouble selling it. Do you live in a I live in a of a you know there's a lot of people you know maybe one of your friends knows somebody that's an animal should I warrant the selling value. Well how should I word it. What should I what would be if I can. The fact that it's good running moda. Well I think if you just simply state that it's a money when old Sierra with X amount of miles excellent conditional maintenance records. Well let me write this down you say. You stated so well. Yes and I have the facts to prove it. The whole book that's very important selling point and the mileage you have them I would use them watch. Maybe it's 60000 maybe that's not my kid.

Not at all. No I didn't take it out but I don't go too far. I get home at my each. Well thank you so much. Well I think you will just keep going here and the next person we'll talk to is in Indiana. One for the toll free line. Hello hello I don't have a problem per se but I did have a problem and I thought perhaps from your experience you could give me some information. I've been going to the same mechanic now for almost 25 years and they've always been very honest you know whatever the problem has arisen and gone back and they've corrected it without any hassle. And I had my engine light come on shortly and I took it in and turned out to be the oxygen sensor. And he said that we recommend the original manufactures oxygen sensor and in the after market he says although the price is considerably more we think it would be better if you use that since they've

treated me pretty nicely I thought that they weren't trying to make extra money but I was always that little doubt in your mind and he said that the aftermarket oxygen sensors that you can get known as auto plus or a nap are water so they do don't last very long compared to the I think was it Bill cope anyway it's a it's a Buick. And I just wondered if you got any you know sort of. 30 seconds a minute rap about that kind of situation. You know original manufacturer verses after afterwards. A lot of the aftermarket oxygen sensors know when we talk about aftermarket I should say clarify a little bit. When I purchase one that's not from the dealer I specifically want one that's not universal meaning that it comes in a kit and you have to cut wires and splice things together I don't care for that so I always try to find the sensor that has the factory

connector so I don't have to do any of the splicing or anything like that. But as far as using one of that type. I hate it. I've not seen any problems with them at all. OK OK well thanks for your welcome and let's go to another Indiana listener here in East Chicago. Lie number two. Hello hello yes can you hear me. Yes. OK. I'm calling because I own a 1991 Honda cord and I've been doing some repair on it recently it's been giving me some problems and now there's a problem that I'm really struggling with. It starts just fine and one but the problem occurs when I put it in gear and I doze roughly. And if I take my foot off the brake I pressed on the accelerator and accelerates but not in the proper way. It's accelerates like. It's it feels as if the car is being held back like as if it's stuttering or lugging or something. Even when I get up the highway speeds I will still feel a little bit of

something a little bit of stunt like. Stutter as if it's stuttering and I've done some work on it myself I checked the fuel system fuel pressure. Some of the components in the fuel system have done some checking in the ignition system and I can't find the problem I checked the TPF throttle position sensor and I'm just kind of at a loss. So it lacks power. Kind of yes when I put it into gear. If I doze roughly. Well I'm exaggerating. That may be something to do with the engine mounts. Does it idle the same way as far as the way you feel it in the driver's seat Weather Center reverse or drive. You know I haven't noticed if it does in reverse or not. You might if it's different in reverse than it is in drive. Then it's the engine mounts. OK the other thing is if it obviously if it's idling too low. It can create a problem like that too. But as far as poor acceleration is concerned holds a fuel filter.

Not old I replace the fuel filter on maybe a year ago. Your count for know about timing belt use timing belts OK. It wasn't long ago that I replaced OK did the problem occur after the timing belt. No ok it ran fine just all of a sudden it began this problem. OK. And I said when I even have it up highway speeds I can still see a little and smoothness and it's still like stuttering a little bit. Well if that one has e.g. our own exhaust gas that's right I would disconnect the hose to the valve and drive it ok and see if that resolves the problem. A lot of the those cars only get some age and mileage to him the IGI are a valve overmodulated. Now there is a research relates to much exhaust gases. OK so the problem we are experiencing is a do it when it's cold. Oh yes.

And warm also as well. Well if it's if it doesn't do it when it's cold it's probably not e.g. because each year should not be functioning when it's cold. And when I say cold that's before the temperature gauge even starts to move. Yes. Well you know when the car is called me in just cold since I first started I put it in gear and I feel that roughness. OK well that maybe the mounts. Or maybe I lean too low it could be dirty injectors turning into a fuel injector cleaner would be a. Solution to that. Oh I do use fuel injection cleaner I have used it not as regularly as I wish I would ask me a should try to four times a year four times per year. Oh how can a fuel injector kind of fall out stop working or something. Yes you can. If you take like a long screwdriver or a stethoscope and listen to the injector In other words put the screwdriver tip on the injector in the handle on your ear. It should be

a very very crisp clicking type noise. If it's kind of a dull noise as you go along for injectors you'll be able to isolate which one just by its sound. So place the tip of the screwdriver on the injector itself yesterday at the handle against my ear. Correct and it should be a sharp clicking sound. Yes very crisp. Oh it will definitely give it a try. OK thank you very much for the line. We're coming down here to about our last 5 6 minutes and will continue to take calls as many as we can with our guest regards from Rick's automotive in Champaign 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 here in Champaign Urbana toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. The next callers over in Belgium and line 3. Hello hello. Yeah yeah. This goes back to kind of the sum total oil thing. When the when did

honey oil first appear on any oil. Yeah I don't know. But now is that one. That was basically invented as an additive to help the viscosity of the oil. That right. I don't like I said I don't know what honey oil is. OK well it's calm like the viscosity of this. Well treatment this woman honey tells me that it's very thick. Oh yeah oh yeah. So it was probably something that you would add to a car that had an oil pressure problem. Yeah. Be more like a heavy duty. Stop leakage type. Stuff that you would buy in dollar stores.

My experience with those additives has not been good. OK you know things that claim they seal cooling system. If you have a coolant leak you know there's sealers and I just never had any luck with that stuff and even if you do it's really I guess the way I look at it is a bandaid. I mean I know you've got a problem so why not just fix it. Yeah yeah. That's all right well thanks for the CO. Thank you. That's you know you go down the automotive parts store and you can go to sections and there are huge walls full of little plastic bottles of stuff that somebody is trying to say well we'll either solve a problem or will maybe improve performance something you can put in with the gasoline semi-open with oil that will make it do its job better. So it sounds like from you're saying from what you're saying is as long as you're doing your regular maintenance and you're using good quality oil that there's nothing that you would you could put in with the oil that would make that oil do its job any better than just good oil well.

I agree. I guess my take on that is that if there was a product out there that would improve anything on the vehicle related to the engine the cooling system the air conditioning the brakes that the manufacturers would use in from day one because it would save them what the additive would cost versus the expenses during the warranty period. They would use it. Well I mean if they don't. And then as far as fuel additives go the the one thing that as we've discussed that you would recommend is the injector cleaner. Other than that anything else that someone says go ahead and put this in your tank with gasoline and and you'll get better mileage you get per performance you think. Well I don't think so no I don't think so they're the only thing that as far as additives that people should use. The older vehicles back when we had leaded fuel the LED was actually a lubricant for the valves in the valve seats in the cylinder head. There are additives that people should use in those older cars that used to require leaded gas.

OK but other than. That next caller is in Florida line for Hello. Hi thanks for taking my phone call. I have a 1984 Mercury Topaz with about 90000 miles on it. It runs fine don't seem to have any problem but I've noticed lately that when I drive the car that the temperature gauge will start to fluctuate while I'm driving not get out of the range word supposed to be but will move back and forth within that range. And I've checked everything including the level of coolant in the system and I cannot figure out what is causing that. Any ideas. Well what other gauges do you have you have a low pressure gauge sure. I wish but it only has the temperature gauge I believe on that car and tack ometer And of course a fuel gauge in the speedometer. OK when the temperature gauge starts to move.

When you say move it moves to the right and then it moves to the left. Is that description correct that that's right it just it it will. It has the word normal on there you know usual to range and it will go like from the an over to the M and then go back to the end and old as you're driving just keep moving back and forth right. Do you ever pay attention to the if the gas gauge is doing the same thing. Yes and it does not change. It doesn't move whatsoever. Well the gas gauge will occasionally move because you know I assume that the way that that stock is set up in the gas tank you know I'm talking about the thing that I assume that the gasket sometimes if you stop or if you start it will kind of vary a bit it doesn't seem to have a pattern anything like temperature gauge. And I see reason I ask is that those gauges don't use battery voltage. They use a lower voltage somewhere around 7 anywhere from 5 to 7 volts so they use what's referred to as a voltage

stabilizer which is in the instrument cluster. And it's basically a transistor. But when you have varying gauges like that in that the temperature is not varying of the engine. Then the voltages probably vary in that's was varying the position of the needle of the gauge. Would you think that that is any kind of a signal of any kind of a danger of any kind or is just kind of like something that I could learn to live with for the forseeable future. Well as long as the swing is still within the normal range then I I would invision a problem now if it's if it's a case where it goes up past halfway and then all of a sudden it goes down below halfway. Then you might have a problem with the thermostat. OK but if it's quivering while driving you might see if the quivering changes if you accelerate and decelerate. I can't get it to seem to do anything other than I just notice if I'm driving down

the road that once it gets fully warmed up you will see this fluctuation where it'll just slowly you know move one way and then move the other way. And quite frankly it never even comes close to getting out of what would be called the normal range. But I'm looking in my mind I keep thinking is it a warning signal. And that's why I started checking everything I could think of and I thought well maybe it's just. I thought maybe it's like a sending unit or something was malfunctioning and and you say you think it's a transistor or that it is something that could be replaced if I wanted to or yes. I would just have somebody monitor the resistance value of the temperature gauge sending unit OK and the other thing is holds the thermostat. Well I think the surge thermostats about 3 years old. OK well I would have a monitor the resistance value of the thermistor. OK. And that seems OK I mean our thermostats fairly inexpensive to her. Just change the coolant at the same time. OK but I would suggest approaching it

that way first. OK well that sounds like a great idea. Nora thank you very much. Roll Call get one more here we got somebody on a cell phone our line number one. Hello. Yeah it's Mike. Yeah I've got a 95 Ford Ranger that runs it actually runs excellent. And but once it gets warmed up it's like you're driving whether you're in town or out on the highway you want and you're trying to maintain the speed and you know how you kind of let up off the accelerator when you get going too fast or whatever. That'll kind of that's it the vehicle should kind of coast along. Well this one when you left. But it's too much it's like it's like you downshifted. It just I mean it really starts slowing down quick when you go to reaccelerate it's like here let me out on the clutch dumping the clutch in other words it's just that you're missing a lot.

Like there's a hesitation there that's an automatic difference that might be this an automatic transmission. Now if the standard for spacing. Oh ok so much faith high speed I'm sorry. OK so as you diesel or accelerate there's kind of yeah it's got like a dance hall or whatever. You know it's just hard to explain but it doesn't want to kill. And just whenever it gets up in the normal operating temperature. When it's cool it runs fine. And also if you keep it in a higher gear and count like you're gone 30 you 25 to 30. If you leave it for gear it's fine but if you get above that then that it starts doing that. But it never of that cell is formed. I guess I still don't really have a sense of what what you're experiencing. But it's like there's I don't know if they had zone or something in the

accelerator pedal or something I don't know. No check engine light or anything. No. So if you decelerate in the next cell or eight. There's no noise. You know there's no noise. It's just like you know if you're trying to maintain 55 you know how you're you know your foot you kind of push down and you let you know that made saying that speed. Well if you let up on it it's just like you know it starts slowing down and then when you go to push the pedal back down to maintain the 55 it's you got to really push it down quite a ways and then it just it will finally start taking the gas to take off. I'm not sure from that description and I'm a bit I'm really sorry but I think we're going to have to leave it there because I don't really have a whole lot more time to give it. My apologies to the caller if you want to try and get in touch with Rick

and talk some more I guess we can do that but we're going to have to quit for right now. Well thanks very much. Thank you. I'm sorry we could solve that problem all problems cannot be solved like I had a hard time deciphering that one. Well any case regards our guest he's an auto mechanic his business is Rick's automotive in Champaign. Occasionally he's here and we talk about car care. Thanks a lot appreciate it.