Avoid common car-buying pitfalls with expert advice as we address listener questions about purchasing a vehicle with potential mechanical issues. Discover how to apply the right maintenance strategies using products like BG’s EPR for improved engine performance and longevity. As the episode unfolds, our hosts tackle questions about vehicle noise diagnostics and the importance of understanding what your car needs before you buy. Plus, we offer practical solutions for seasonal storage challenges for trailers and larger vehicles.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s a mighty fancy automobile. Oh, she’s a real road king, all right. Zero to 60 in 7.5. She’ll do a quarter mile, 13.40. 390 horsepower, 500 foot-pounds of torque. Whatever that is. Performance and image, that’s what it’s all about.
SPEAKER 17 :
There’s no such thing as a stupid question. This is Drive Radio. All of your automotive questions are just one phone call away. 303-477-5600. Drive Radio is made possible by the member shops of Colorado Select Auto Care Centers. To find one near you, go to drive-radio.com. Now, Drive Radio on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Myself, Steve Horvath from Geno’s Auto Service. Larry Ingerkorst answering phones. And Charlie Grimes, sorry, is our engineer. And I did do some checking during the break. So, Bill, if you’re still listening, I, from just a little bit of research I could do quickly, the ECM. in that car is controlling those coil packs there’s four pins on those coil packs and of course they’re grounded to the engine uh when you ground them and there was some special uh uh grease, I guess you could call it almost, or some material that you would put underneath those as you mounted them to, you know. Like dielectric grease. Yeah, to keep them cool. Anyways, long story short, the ECM, there’s four pins on those. From what I can see in the picture, the ECM is controlling those pins according to what they want that coil to fire as far as the plugs are concerned. And the ECM, of course, is picking up the rotation of the engine based upon cam sensor, crank sensor, and I don’t know if it’s got both, but I’m assuming it probably does. At least crank sensor for sure in 1991. And that’s how that system, the basic system of that is working. And yes, they’re firing that second plug on the downstream to try to clean up the emission site. And the reason why, really quick also, Steve and I and others probably in our area didn’t see too many of those back in the day is because They weren’t super powerful, so the majority of dealers in our area ordered Rangers and Explorers and so on with V6s versus the four-cylinders. And so you didn’t see a lot of those floating around, and it’s partially why Steve and I, I don’t know that I’ve ever even seen one of these in real life, to be honest with you. Sure. So we just didn’t work on many of them because of that reason. So, John, what’s going on?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I got a two-part question on a tool. Sure. I’m interested in getting a set of these things called Torque Limiting Extension Bar Set. They come in different colors.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, yes, yes, yes. They work great. Torque sticks, we call them. Torque sticks. I’ve had mine so long I’ve worn off the paint. The short name is Torque Stick.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, but the problem is I’m new to these, and I’m wondering if I can use them with a breaker bar versus an air or electric torque wrench, and how do you use them, and how do you know it’s working right? If I want to pick one that’s 85 pounds versus one that’s 120 pounds. I’m not familiar… They’re designed to be used with an impact.
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t think you can use them with a breaker bar, John. They’re just not going to work. They’re not designed that way. They’re designed to work with an impact, and the reason why they work with an impact is because of the flex… that unit has on an impact, once it gets to that particular setting, even though the impact is continuing to drive it, the torque stick is moving enough, flexing, quote-unquote, enough, you could say, to where it’s not adding any additional pressure to the nut.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. I’m having trouble understanding. So let’s say I put it on my electric torque wrench.
SPEAKER 06 :
Uh-huh. Not torque wrench, impact.
SPEAKER 09 :
Impact. Excuse me. You’re right. I forgot the word. Okay. So I put it on there, and I’m doing a lug nut to 85 or 100 pounds. And how do I know when to stop, and how does it work?
SPEAKER 05 :
It won’t turn anymore. Yeah, you’ll see it. You’ll see it. It won’t be moving. Yeah, it just stops. Yeah, it won’t be going anymore.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, because I was always interested in getting a set, but I didn’t know how to work them.
SPEAKER 05 :
You could take like a piece of whiteout or something like that and kind of watch it. Once it stops, it’ll stop and it won’t go anymore. It’ll kind of give you a mark. Yeah, put a line on it. But they work great.
SPEAKER 06 :
They work really well.
SPEAKER 09 :
So it turns around, but it’ll stop turning the… Once you reach 80 pounds or 100.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, whatever the stick is marked as its rating, once it reaches that torque spec, it stops allowing that torque to be applied to the end socket.
SPEAKER 09 :
So if I put like a line or a dot with some whiteout on it, just for a beginner like me, and I put it on there and I start tightening it, it’ll be turning around. Then all of a sudden I’ll see it stop turning?
SPEAKER 06 :
Correct. Correct.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. I didn’t know.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the ones to buy, in my opinion, and maybe some others would argue with me on this, but I – because you can buy these – I’m looking at Amazon, for example. You can buy these where they just have a half-inch, you know, like a half-inch extension. Mm-hmm. color-coded, and then you put a socket of your choice on the end. I like the ones that are all one piece. So if you buy a 19-millimeter or a three-quarter and it’s set for 80 pounds, I would buy those sticks, not the ones that are actual quote-unquote extensions.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, so when you’re buying the actual socket built with it?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, those are the higher quality ones. Those are the ones to buy. So, you know, like if yours is a 21-millimeter, you know, that’s the one you buy. You buy that torque stick for that with that amount of torque you want, and that’s what I would do. And, yes, there are going to be more money.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I was thinking just the regular ones, maybe like at Harbor Freight or something, because I’m a shade tree mechanic.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think Harbor Freight sells the torque stick like that. I think they do with the actual, quote-unquote, socket on the end, and that’s the way I would buy those.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. I learned something new. Thank you, sir.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. No, you’re very welcome, John. By the way, great question for a lot of you guys that are doing things at home. They work really well. They allow you to use an impact, which nowadays most everybody’s using electric impacts again. Back in the day, you had them with a cord on them. Now they’re cordless, and they work extremely well. In fact, there’s even some smaller handheld devices. units that milwaukee makes that if you’re somebody that torques which a lot of shops now actually use a torque wrench for the final torque setting milwaukee’s got a nice little small handheld half inch unit that’ll go up to 250 uh you know 250 uh pound and the reality is you can actually use that to take Believe it or not, take tires and wheels on and off, and it’s the smallest little thing. They work great. I saw one that was like $700. Is it not that one? No, they’re like $230 or something. Oh, really?
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 06 :
They work fabulous. So for those of you listening, yeah, shade tree mechanics, whatever, they work fabulous. Kevin in Colorado Springs, you’re next.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hi. Good morning, guys. How are you all doing?
SPEAKER 06 :
Good morning. Good.
SPEAKER 08 :
I am looking at updating a vehicle. I looked at a 2015 GMC Terrain with the 2.4 motor in it, and it was started up cold at the dealer when I looked at the car, and the timing chain and the tensioner was extremely noisy. Should I stay away from this?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 08 :
Walk away? Yep. That’s what I was thinking, but I thought I’d talk to the experts first.
SPEAKER 06 :
That is a pretty good indicator that those are going to need replaced in the, really, not too distant. I mean, they need replaced now, not too distant future, but now. Meaning that unless you get them to do that job on that vehicle now, yeah, I wouldn’t buy it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Nice vehicle.
SPEAKER 06 :
uh sheet warmers all that good stereo but yeah that really turned me away from it yeah that vehicle’s 10 years old now and what would what miles were on it by by my chance about 128 000. that’s about when they’re due yeah yeah so they’re due all right and somebody most likely this is my gut feeling uh somebody probably traded that off knowing that repair was either due or coming due. They could hear the same thing you’re hearing, and they just decided, yep, we’re going to go do something else, and now it’s on somebody else’s lot.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
And honestly, people out there listening saying, well, how did it end up on somebody’s lot? Well, here’s how. Somebody goes and buys a new vehicle, and, of course, when they’re doing all of this transaction, everything is nice and warm, and really nobody knows the difference at that point. As they get into the next day or two after the sale and some used car guy does his inspection and listens to it and says, hey, wholesale manager, this is probably one that we don’t want to retail out. Let’s send this thing to auction. It goes to auction. The next person, Kevin, then buys it or the next, you know, wholesaler, dealer, whatever, buys it. Again, kind of sight unseen, if you would, gets it. It then goes on the lot and there’s where you’re at.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, yeah, yeah, and that’s exactly what they told me. They bought it at auction. There you go. And then they were trying to sell me up on an extended warranty.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, no, we’re just going to buy a good car to begin with and not buy an extended warranty. Yeah, exactly right. No, you’re on the right track in that. It’s funny I gave you the description, and that’s exactly what had happened. That’s hilarious, actually.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, well, you guys are the men to talk to.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you, Kevin. Appreciate you very much. Appreciate you. You bet. Take care. No, go find another car. And that’s just how the system works. I’m not trying to be, you know, it’s not like I have a crystal ball or any insight, and I didn’t know the vehicle or anything along those lines. I just know, Steve, we know the industry well enough to know that’s how those things work, and that’s most likely how it ended up on that lot. Sure. And that poor dealer, they’re just trying to buy some inventory to sell. Yeah, and really what this dealer should do, though, and Kevin, you’re listening, I’m sure, still. What this dealer really should do is go fix it, add that value back into the car, letting the next person know that, hey, we just had this done. Yes, we’re going to get a little bit more money out of the vehicle. They’re doing it the opposite way of how I would. Yeah, they bought a car now that’s got a problem. I get it. So fix the problem. Up the price of the car a little bit to cover for some of that. And quit playing this game of, well, we’ll just sell you an extended warranty and you can fix it then.
SPEAKER 05 :
Pass it on to the next guy. Sorry.
SPEAKER 06 :
But Josh up in Boulder, that’s what he’ll fix it.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s what he would do. Yeah, he’d fix it and sell it.
SPEAKER 06 :
So he’d sell the good car. That’s exactly right. All right, we’ll come right back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 06 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Myself, Steve Horvath, Geno’s Auto Service, and Heath is next. Heath, go ahead. Morning. Good morning.
SPEAKER 11 :
I have a question about, I hear you talk about BG products all the time. Yep. And I’m interested in your EPR thoughts. I have a 2012 F-150 with the coyote motor in it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Coyote motor, okay.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I mean… This is a, you know, it’s a run pickup. It’s got 128,000 miles on it. Given that, would it really make that much difference on a worn engine?
SPEAKER 06 :
Not going to hurt anything at all. What it does is if there’s any carbon buildup, especially on the ring lands and things like that, it will clean that up, so you’re not going to damage anything by using it. In that particular engine, they weren’t super – how should I say this? They didn’t have a common problem of building carbon, although every engine does, and you’re not going to hurt anything by doing it. But is that an engine that was prone for carbon buildup? No.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. Well, I know – I’ve discovered they had some valve problems in the heads, right? Valves with tulip. And we had that happen and ended up having to get that fixed or we just put it, we put a new motor in the truck cause nobody was remanufacturing them at that time. Okay. Uh, except for like Edelbrock, if you wanted to spend 25,000 for a 700 horse version, uh, Anyway, I was just curious if it would really make much difference to the engine.
SPEAKER 06 :
Here’s what I would say. Anything that’s got that kind of miles that you’ve not done this to, you are not going to harm anything by doing it. The only thing that would happen would be beneficial. Are you going to see substantial power increases or anything along those lines? Probably not. But what you may notice is a little less oil consumption and things like that because we can get those rings back working effectively again.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right. Thank you, sir.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re very welcome. Yeah, no, I would definitely use it. And for those of you listening, that’s a great product. It’s engine performance restoration. We call it EPR. And the way that works is you put that in prior to an oil change, typically on a cold or lukewarm surface. engine you usually let it run about 10 minutes and they ask you to run it about a thousand rpm or so and you let that run for 10 minutes and once that’s done you then take that oil out put all fresh back in and what that EPR is doing again is anything where the oil would be touching so the lower end of the rings and things along those lines It’s going to have an effect upon all of that, and it’s a decarbonization is what it’s doing in the oil itself. So it’s not an induction clean. I think a lot of people get that messed up, and they think, oh, yeah, I’m going to do that, and it’ll clean my injectors and everything else. No, no, no, no. It’s not doing anything on that end. It’s only where the motor oil itself would be touching, of course, because if it’s not touching it, it’s not going to have any effect.
SPEAKER 05 :
And it kind of traps all that stuff.
SPEAKER 06 :
It kind of emulsifies it, basically.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and then you can flush it out.
SPEAKER 06 :
It comes back out the bottom of the pan, and out it goes. And for a lot of engines, if you’ve got a direct injection engine, they’re very prone for carbon buildup. You want to do that on every single oil change. So, Conrad, you’re next.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey, guys, how’s it going today?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER 10 :
Good. Hey, you know, I’m getting ready to bring the Torino up to Evergreen for the summer, and I always holler in my enclosed trailer. And what I’m trying to do is find a place. I can park that trailer for the summertime. I used CubeSmart last year, and it was kind of a hassle. So I was wondering if you know of something that might be even closer to the evergreen area that would be a good place to take it to.
SPEAKER 06 :
Other than like outside RV storage, something along those lines, Conrad, and I don’t know in your area what’s even up in that area for that. That’s what I would be looking for. And typically those places charge you by the foot usually?
SPEAKER 10 :
Right. Well, my buddy Ray, I talked to him a little while ago, and he keeps his place off of Ward Road there. I’m going to check on that Monday. Ward Road Storage, I don’t know if you’re familiar with them. That’s about 15 miles from here.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and I would think that there would be some places, and I haven’t checked, but I would think, Conrad, coming down out of the mountain, that there would be some storage things not far off of I-76 Avenue, Colfax. I would think there would even be some places in that area. But again, honestly, I have not checked. I have not looked.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, I need some places kind of fairly large That’s a 26-foot-long trailer, and I pull it with that 3,500 GMC pickup.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, you need some room to move around. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER 06 :
And you don’t know anybody else up in your area that’s got, you know, a backfield or anything like that that could do that?
SPEAKER 10 :
I’ve talked to several people about it. Nobody seems to know of any place I could do that. So, you know, I’ve turned it down. I get you got trailers and stuff, right, John? I’m not asking to park at your place.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and I do, and even in my case, just like everybody else, you got neighbors and people that are quote-unquote watching. And so even in my case, I watch it pretty closely as far as how it looks and all of that. I mean, the last thing you want is some knock on the door from the county because you got too much junk out back or whatever the case may be. So, yeah, I’m pretty careful on all of that. And I think most are, although there’s still places, Conrad, where people have the ability that don’t have covenants and HOAs and things like that. And I guess the other question would be, there’s no RV storage in Evergreen at all? Not really. Man, we need to buy some property and start one. Yeah, let’s do it. I mean, honestly, I mean, holy cow. I mean, there’s people that are storing stuff all the time. I can’t believe that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, I know. It would be, I mean, if somebody wanted to do that. We’ve got some places that have for storage, but not for anything like trailers and stuff like that, you know.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, no, I’m looking online, and you are correct. Everything that is listed, you’ve got to come all the way down to Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Lakewood, you know, places like that. You’re correct.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, it’s not that bad. I used CubeSmart last year. And that was all right. I’ll tell you what, I had a heck of a time getting it back into that.
SPEAKER 06 :
And you wouldn’t be looking if you had a place at your place, so you don’t have enough room where you’re at.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I could, but our driveway is uphill both directions, and it’s always in the way when we’re trying to get in and out of the garage. I have parking here. Short periods of time.
SPEAKER 06 :
Gotcha. Yeah, long-term summer, that would be tough. Yeah, I hear you. Yeah. I hear you.
SPEAKER 10 :
I’ll look around.
SPEAKER 06 :
I mean, we’ve got each other’s number, Connor. I’ll look around. If I see anything else that I think might be fitting, I’ll let you know.
SPEAKER 10 :
I really would appreciate that.
SPEAKER 06 :
I will do that. I’ll be happy to.
SPEAKER 10 :
I got one more question. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, you’re fine. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER 10 :
Go ahead. Yeah. Toreno, I’m going to do that new engine. We’re moving ahead on that. But my steering kind of seems to be loose on it. And I don’t know why because I always lube the ball joints and the tire hard ends regularly. And we did change out the gearbox a couple years ago because it was leaking, you know. I guess it was a reman in there. I don’t know if that’s what’s getting loose. I’m trying to get it up here to get that taken care of before we go swap the engine.
SPEAKER 06 :
If they did a reman, it’s possible, yes. That would not surprise me. Also got a text message that said any military base, such as Buckley and others, have outside storage lots also.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. They have storage places.
SPEAKER 06 :
So there you go. There’s another thought for you, Conrad.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, man.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Appreciate you, man, very much. And I would check that steering box, absolutely.
SPEAKER 10 :
Take it over to cars and remember when they’re going to look at it next week.
SPEAKER 06 :
There you go.
SPEAKER 10 :
There you go.
SPEAKER 06 :
Good deal. Conrad, thank you. Appreciate you very much. We’ll be right back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 06 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Again, myself, Steve Horvath from Geno’s Auto Service with me today. Got a couple lines open, by the way. 303-477-5600. Give us a call. We’ll get you right on air. You can text us as well. 307. 307-200-8222, 307-200-8222. And by the way, thank you guys, by the way, like that last call we got from Conrad, and then somebody texted in really quickly as to where he might find some storage and so on. You guys are great. You really are. You do a lot of helping one another using kind of us as just the go-between, and you guys really do help each other out a lot, and I appreciate that greatly. So thank you all for doing that. Luke and Frederick, you are next.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, John, thanks for taking my call.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
I have a 94 Ford F-150 with a 5.0 liter V8 with 210,000 miles.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
And I had it tuned up about over a year ago, and last fall it started missing, misfire. Okay. So I took it to the shop that did the work. I won’t say the name, but it’s a chain shop. Okay. And he said they inspected it, and he said that everything is as it was when we tuned it up. I said, okay, but what’s the problem? Why is it? He said, we don’t have an OBD-I that year takes. And he said, after that year, it’s OBD-II.
SPEAKER 03 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 07 :
So they couldn’t help me. And I was very disappointed because it was an expensive tune-up to pass emissions. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Really quick, Luke. Did it run okay after that?
SPEAKER 07 :
After they tuned it up, it ran great. No miss at all. Heard like a kitten. But then last fall, it started missing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. So the miss did come after the original quote-unquote tune-up was done?
SPEAKER 07 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
I took it back. They gave me this spiel. They don’t have an OBD-1. And so… I drove it for months, and just last week, I decided to look at it myself. Because I used to work on cars, but not so much anymore, but I can at least do plug wire routing. Sure, sure. So I looked at the battery spark plug wire diagram underneath the hood on top of, well, where the body comes across right before the radiator. Mm-hmm. So I started looking at all the plug wires and it turns out that four of them were misrouted, causing a crossfire. So after figuring, it took me about at least two hours to figure it out. So I rerouted everything, all the plug wires correctly, according to the diagram, which was a pain in the you know what, because of all the accessories and hoses and everything. So anyway, I started it up after rerouting correctly, and the miss is gone. So that’s great. But the check engine light still stays on. So when I started up cold, I can drive one to about four miles with no check engine light. Then it comes on. And then when I recycle, I’ll cool down and start up again. Same thing, one to four miles, and it comes back on. So what do you think the problem is?
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s one where we’re going to have to scan it. OBD-1 scanner to really know what the code says. Now, some OBD-1, this is something to look up on the Internet yourself, Luke. Some OBD-1s, you could jump two leads in the connector itself and count the code off of the OBD. check engine light itself in other words it’ll flash what the code is that some of them would i think that one probably will and the thing to do is go look that up and see exactly which two pins to ground you basically connect them together and it grounds it and and when you in doing so the light will flash whatever the code is and i believe that one will still do that look it up to be sure but i think it probably will and that would tell you the code then you can just decipher it from there
SPEAKER 05 :
I don’t think it’ll set a code for a misfire on a 94. No, I don’t think so either.
SPEAKER 06 :
So it’s got something else going on.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, something different is happening. It’s a 94.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, 94. That was right before OBD-II.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. Okay, so where is the OBD-I connector?
SPEAKER 06 :
In that one, it’s out under the hood, I believe. Yeah, over by the washer bottle.
SPEAKER 05 :
I believe so, yes. Closer to the firewall. Yeah, closer to the firewall, I thought. I’m trying to remember. They’re texting. Our memory is pretty good.
SPEAKER 06 :
Today you guys are because some of this older stuff I don’t remember like I used to.
SPEAKER 05 :
But it’s a connector. It’s not square shaped.
SPEAKER 06 :
Near the driver’s side inner fender wall. I just looked it up. So driver’s side inner fender is where it’s at.
SPEAKER 05 :
And this one has like a black connector and then it’s a gray connector right next to it, like a smaller one, single wire one. And I think you used to have to hook up both wires, if I remember right. I’m sorry. I think you’re right.
SPEAKER 07 :
So it has two connectors, one gray and one black. Yeah. And so… Now, how would I test the connectors?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and I’m looking to see if that one actually will flash for you. And what I’m reading is I don’t believe, and I’m doing this on the fly, so everybody listening, if you know this more than I, send me a text message and I’ll pass it along. I think you need a scanner for this one. I don’t think it will flash for you.
SPEAKER 07 :
You mean flash as in where the mileage comes?
SPEAKER 05 :
The check engine light flashes. So back in the day, the check engine light, we could put it into a mode where it would flash a code for us. It would be three fast and two slow or something like that. And some cars could do that and some couldn’t, but yours can’t. Yours doesn’t have that ability.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I’m looking, and again, I’m trying to do this on the fly, so it may… You may. Actually, I’m reading one here where you might be able to still jump that and then read the code inside. But I think, I believe you’ve got to have a code reader for this one, I believe.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Okay, so…
SPEAKER 06 :
Since I live in Frederick… And really quick, that one actually has a loose plug, like what you would normally see attached under the dash. It’s a loose plug under the hood in that area that you then plug your scan tool or the jump lead to the scan tool into. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
So… Okay, that’s great. Do you have time for one more quick question?
SPEAKER 06 :
Sure, and also, Luke, that’s something just as a side note. If you’re going to keep this truck long-term, those are the kind of devices that Facebook Marketplace and other places, you might find somebody that’s got a bunch of old stuff they’re trying to sell, a shop or whatever, where they’ve got an old scan tool like that they’re trying to get rid of and you can buy those for not a lot of money because in the industry they’re not really used anymore so you might actually look at a place like that and just buy your own does the old brick work yeah i still have a little old snap on brick would work yes yes that’s what we used to call the snap-on tool so so some of the old scan tools you if you can find one of those you know fairly inexpensively on facebook or something you know buy it luke yeah i would um
SPEAKER 07 :
So is there anybody – I don’t mind traveling from Frederick, Colorado. Is there anybody in your shop network that would be able to scan that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Legacy in Boulder will work on that and scan it for you. Absolutely. And they’re not that far from you. Actually, their Longmont shop could even do it. You could either go to Boulder or Longmont. Either one would do it. What’s the name in Longmont? All-American. All-American. Okay, got it. But if you call the Boulder shop, they can make an appointment for Boulder, Fort Collins, or Longmont, any one of the three, depending upon where you want to go.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. And yes, they can do that for you, Luke, absolutely. Yeah, it’s kind of annoying. So my other question is, real quick, is that the spare tire rack assembly underneath the truck bed. Now, I’ve I need to get the spare tire out and be able to get the spare tire out in case of a flat, and I can’t. So I crawled up underneath there, and it’s got where the brace arm comes across from the frame underneath, and there’s a bolt that goes through one end towards the rear, goes up to the frame, and it’s a big bolt. It’s threaded, but on top where it looks like there’s a flat nut that it screws in and out of, and I’ve tried to turn it counterclockwise to loosen it, and it keeps turning like it’s stripped, like the slag nut is not catching. Would that be correct?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Yeah. And the other problem is that the turn knob in the middle of the tire that you – I think it’s a wire or a cable. It’s a cable. That you turn –
SPEAKER 06 :
table and so i turn it counterclockwise to bring it back down and it it acts like it’s not going anywhere like it’s stripped would that be correct yeah the winch can there’s like a little winch up above there which is what lowers the tire up and down yeah it could be or just so rusted yeah or yeah exactly see it could could either be rusted up luke or sometimes guys would get those too tight putting them back up and then strip them out
SPEAKER 07 :
Would I be able to spray some like WD-40? You could try it. That’s the first thing I would try.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, that or any penetrating type oil. WD-40 is not really a penetrating oil. You could try WD-40, but I would probably try like Rust-Off or something like that that’s got more of a rust penetrant to it than I would WD-40.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I got some of that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, that’s what I would use.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Is it accessible so I can spray some up there?
SPEAKER 06 :
Not very. You have to use the straw method and see if you can’t get up in there and try to spray it. Worst comes to worst, you’re going to have to just cut the cable, let the tire down, and replace it. If they’re still available. Yeah, look first.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, boy. Yeah. You know, I’m tired of old trucks.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, they can become a project, no doubt about it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, my history is, is that I had a 91 power Ram three 50 with the turbo diesel, and I had 385,000 miles on that. And the axle shaft came out on it while I was driving. Wow. And the second truck Ram I had was a no one Dodge Ram with 292,000 miles on it. And I bet you, I put at least $20,000 worth of parks and labor in that to keep it on the road. Well, someone stole it in December of 23. And so now I have this 94 F-150 because I bought it for a dollar from a relative.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, that’s not bad.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it’s not bad at all, but it needs work. But I’m tired of old trucks.
SPEAKER 06 :
You can. It looks like, just as a side note… I think you can buy – now, also on yours really quick. So does it have a cable for the winch, or is it a fixed frame mount? In other words, does it have like a big bar that just swings up and down with the tire on it? Correct. Okay, so it doesn’t have the cable operating. That one’s pretty easy then. Yeah, if worse comes to worse, you know, what’s happening is probably we call it like a wing nut that’s, I don’t know how to describe those fasteners. They’re called J-nuts, I guess. I’m looking it up on LMC. You can buy all the parts for that, by the way, on LMC Truck. So you can buy the bolt itself, the J-nut and so on. So if worse comes to worse, you may have to cut that bolt out and just put a new one in, and you can buy all that.
SPEAKER 07 :
So that bolt is probably three-eighths inch thick at least. Yep. And so how would I cut that? Just take an angle grinder with a cut blade on it? Yep.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, that would be the best way. Or a sawzall or whatever you can get in there. Wear your safety glasses. It’s 141 and a half millimeters long. Wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, well, I guess that does it.
SPEAKER 06 :
But you can buy those parts for it. So, again, LMC truck, if worse comes to worse, you can pick up new parts for it. L and C truck. L, M, C, like Larry, Mary, Charlie. Got it.
SPEAKER 07 :
And they would be, what, in the Denver metro area?
SPEAKER 06 :
No, that’s online. They’re an online source for old truck parts.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, great. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re very welcome, Luke. Appreciate it very much. Russ, hang tight. We’ll come right back to you. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 06 :
All right, here we go. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Last segment, myself, Steve Horvath from Geno’s Auto Service with us as well. Russ, go ahead, sir.
SPEAKER 11 :
Hey, I just had a real quick question. Yeah. I bought a new tractor, diesel.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 11 :
And I’m wondering if I should run an additive in the fuel full time. There’s like, if it’s necessary on the newer diesels.
SPEAKER 06 :
It doesn’t hurt, especially as you know, as the temps drop and we get into that time of the year. I do during that time of the year, but I don’t the rest of the year. Okay. Just as a side note. Now, granted, for me, I mean, I don’t put a ton of hours on one throughout the rest of the year. So, you know, I guess if you were out doing a bunch of stuff and you were running, but I’ll be honest, Russ, even the equipment we have in the business that we’re running, you know, all of our skids and stuff all summer long, I don’t run any additives in them.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. All right. What do you recommend for winter?
SPEAKER 06 :
I’ll either run the 911 product or the BG product, either one, just to keep it from gelling.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. Yeah, the 911 is pretty easy to get a hold of.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. And unfortunately, and that’s something we need to probably get with BG on, unfortunately, not everybody out there, including the Napa stores, carries the BG fuel stabilizer on the diesel side. So that’s probably something we need to have a little chat with them on, and we’d sell more of it if we had it.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, okay. I just wanted to make sure. What did you buy, by the way? Coyote. Oh, okay. Three-cylinder turbo. Yeah, good. You know, I want it to last as long as possible.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, absolutely. Absolutely. I just wasn’t sure if, you know, because they have some of those treatments for lubrication and stuff, if that’s worth in the new diesels or if it’s just the stuff for the… I mean, you’re never going to hurt anything doing that, but quite honestly, most of the newer… This is something that has changed even since the… You know, when the low sulfur diesel came out and the diesel engines we had at the time, there was sort of this gap of, I think, the manufacturers… even the injector pumps and so on being built for the low sulfur. It’s changed, and they’re better now, although we still have issues on some of the trucks even. As you know, some of the injector pumps on some of the new trucks aren’t any better than they used to be. And is that because of the low sulfur, or is it just the way they’re being manufactured, a combination of the two? Who knows, Russ?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, and I guess that was my concern is the pumps. if adding a little bit of lubricity to things is going to hurt anything or if it’s just not going to matter.
SPEAKER 06 :
What tier emissions is on yours? Does it have a DPF?
SPEAKER 11 :
No, it doesn’t have. It’s just got the catalyst. It doesn’t have the fluid.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, you can always, and it never hurts anything, even if it doesn’t have all the other emission stuff on it, it wouldn’t hurt anything. You can always run just a tad bit of ATF in it, and it’ll be lubricity for it, and it’s cheap, and off you go. Do that in the summertime. You wouldn’t have any issues.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. Okay, that’ll work.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, if it’s got a, you know, let’s say it’s got a 10-gallon tank, you know, put a half a quart in it, not going to hurt a thing.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, awesome.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’d have no issues.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I just kind of want to protect those parts because I know they’re expensive and sometimes they’re no fun to change.
SPEAKER 06 :
I hear you. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. We’ll make sure you help.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re very welcome, Russ. Appreciate it. And, yeah, congratulations. Always nice to have a new piece of, you know, around the farm or around the house.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, wasn’t it John Deere that’s having the proprietary stuff with their tractors? Absolutely. Still do. That’s not fair.
SPEAKER 06 :
And a lot of the right to repair on ag stuff is supposed to be opening that up, and I haven’t talked to any farmers of late to see exactly what that’s done. If you’re listening and you’re a farmer, you might want to text me and tell me how that’s working out. But it should be opening things up like it did for us in the automotive world. And, again, what the ag guys missed is they should have jumped on what we did all the way back, I don’t know, 20 years ago.
SPEAKER 05 :
Was it the 80s or 70s?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, the original magazine. Well, when it came on OBE2 stuff and that, and we got into that end of things and legislation, and that was a big deal at the time. And that’s, again, I want to say that’s been 20 years ago or so. They should have jumped on with us at that time and expanded that into the, you know, ag and off-road market. And And they didn’t. And I don’t know really. I mean, I have my own theories as to why they didn’t jump on that. I think if they had, they wouldn’t be where they have been the past decade or so with what John Deere and others have done. And they would have been well off to have jumped on what we did on the automotive side years and years ago. Not that ours is perfect. But it’s better than what theirs has been. Let’s say it that way. You know, the farmers have a challenge enough. They don’t need it.
SPEAKER 05 :
You don’t need any extra headaches, extra roadblocks.
SPEAKER 06 :
And what happens is and there’s there’s even been some some widely spread videos on this. Essentially, the way John Deere looked at it was you think you’re buying our tractor. You’re buying the rights. to use our tractor but you’re not really buying our tractor we actually own everything proprietary with that tractor including software and so on so you think you’re buying your own tractor but at the end of the day you’re buying the rights to use our tractor i’m simplifying it but that’s exactly how john deere looks at it they don’t look at it as they’re selling you the tractor really no they’re it’s like it’s like computer software we’re allowing you the rights to use it that’s our license agreement but at the end of the day we own it you don’t
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s fascinating.
SPEAKER 06 :
Which I think is total hogwash. Well, yeah, it’s a different way of looking at things. And they should have, again, they should have jumped on the bandwagon with us on our side of the industry long ago. All right, we’ll get things wrapped up here, Steve Horvath. Again, Geno’s Auto Service over in Littleton. Give folks your number so they can get a hold of you if need be. 303-794-6700. Larry Unger answering phones for us today. Charlie Unger, or sorry, Charlie Unger. Charlie Grimes, our engineer as well, thank you guys both for doing what you do on the other side of the glass. And again, for all of you listening, drive-radio.com is our website. If you need something, be sure to send us a message either through the website itself to contact us or via text line. Either way works. We’ll see you next week. This is Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 17 :
Still haven’t had enough? Go to drive-radio.com. Email your questions and comments. Download previous programs and find lots of useful information, including your nearest Colorado Select Auto Care Center. That’s drive-radio.com. Thanks for listening to Drive Radio, sponsored by the member shops of Colorado Select Auto Care Centers. On KLZ 560.
