KLZ 560 AM DENVER'S CONSERVATIVE HOME STATION
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Join us on this episode of Drive Radio as we dive into the mechanics and mysteries of automotive care just in time for winter. Our trusted hosts, Ken Rackley from Toontech Automotive and Mark Guernsey from Accountable, share their insights on everything from tackling ignition module issues to maintaining turbochargers in older vehicles. Whether you’re looking to prep your car for colder temperatures or understand the nuances of your vehicle’s performance, this episode got you covered.
SPEAKER 15 :
It’s 106 miles to Chicago. We’ve got a full tank of gas. It’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hit it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Our lady of blessed acceleration, don’t fail me now.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s time for Drive Radio, presented by Colorado’s select auto care centers.
SPEAKER 17 :
Ba-ba-da-ba!
SPEAKER 09 :
Whether you need help diagnosing a problem. I want to ask you a bunch of questions, and I want to have them answered immediately. Or just want to learn about all things automotive.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey, how exactly does a positractor in on a Plymouth work?
SPEAKER 09 :
It just does. Then you’ve come to the right place. So start your engines, buckle up, and get ready to ride. Drive Radio starts now on KLZ 560 The Source.
SPEAKER 17 :
And it’s that time, Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Appreciate you all joining us. Ken Rackley with me from Toontech Automotive. Mark Guernsey as well from Accountable. Good morning, guys. Good morning. How are we all doing?
SPEAKER 06 :
Doing great. And the weather outside? It’s awesome. It’s amazing. It’s getting warmer, right? That’s right.
SPEAKER 17 :
When I came this morning, it wasn’t too bad, but I’m assuming that it’s probably warmer now than when I got here at, you know, whatever, 745.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it was 40-ish when I got up this morning. That’s not bad. When I left, it was, yeah, 745.
SPEAKER 17 :
not bad overnight temps so yeah pretty decent as far as all that goes so anyways we’ve got a lot going on today give us a call uh somebody asked from the follow-up from our last program uh fix it radio which we’re on every saturday from uh nine to ten somebody is asking is christmas music playing at the rush household yet yeah no i i don’t like christmas music a ton maybe a week of it for me even on the show during the day charlie and i’ll do one week of christmas music and Sure. And that’s it. You guys can do that 90 days of Christmas music on your own because I’m not doing that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s too much for me.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
One thing to be in the season, but I don’t want to be over-seasoned.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, that’s fair. Yeah, exactly. It’s kind of funny. I took a driveway out in the country last night to pick some stuff up, and I’m driving, and it’s pitch black, and then all of a sudden I go over this one hill. There’s a small subdivision, probably two, three-acre homes, sites and stuff, and probably 10, 15 houses in there. All lit up with Christmas. And, you know, the weather hasn’t got cold enough for me to get into that. You know, my body clock hasn’t recognized that yet.
SPEAKER 17 :
Mine’s Thanksgiving anyways. Even if they’re up, I don’t light them until Thanksgiving. That’s kind of my rule of thumb.
SPEAKER 06 :
And even my window cleaner, they do Christmas lights also. And he says, we’re doing so much Christmas lights right now because the weather’s good. Yeah, the weather’s great. Can’t blame him. Let’s do it.
SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we’ll get right into the program. 303-477-5600. Any questions for us, please let us know. And question for the day is we’re going to be getting into winter here. Yes, it will come. It’s not going to be this way the rest of winter. So question of the day today is items you should always keep in your car. Also talk about a new sponsor that we have for Drive Radio and one that we’ve been very excited about and been working on for a little bit here, Brighton Auto Body. is now a sponsor of our program so if you need any collision work done at all of course they’re up in brighton we’ll have all their listings up on the website and all of that here i just got that put together here a couple of days ago so we’ll get all that up on the website but talk more about them today in fact dan one of the owners is going to join me for drive radio the extra mile we’ll record that this week and talk about some collision stuff and insurance things and so on steering all of that we’ll talk about that and that’ll be up next week’s program because we’ll record that on Monday. But Brighton Auto Body, now a great sponsor, and we’ll have them on with us here in the near future as well. But any of you guys that have any kind of collision work at all, whatever you need, they’re there for you. And I’ll explain a few things they do differently than a lot of other collision centers, too, as we go through the program. But, George, you’re up next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you, sir. Appreciate your taking my call. I’ve got a 97K1500, a little less than 200,000 miles on it, Driving down the road the other day, hit a bump. Instantly, the engine died. I put it in neutral, turned the key. Instantly, the engine came on. Haven’t had a problem since. I talked to an old dog mechanic up the road, and with a twinkle in his eye, he said, you need to lube your ignition module. And, of course, I fell for it, and I said, okay, you know, where’s the zerk? And he said, no. He said, listen, son, you need to replace it. He said, the problem probably is the lube on that almost 30-year-old truck has dried up and that module is getting cooked. I thought that was a pretty interesting story. I haven’t pursued it further. What do you think?
SPEAKER 06 :
Doubt it, yeah. Usually it’s heat-related on those modules, not so much vibration. I don’t know. What do you think, Mark?
SPEAKER 18 :
You know, anything electric over bumps can lose connection. So the ignition switch itself in the steering column could be it. You know, power wires to the coil to any sensor can do the same thing. Right. So it’d be really hard to guess and start throwing parts at it and really know what happened.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Yeah. You know, the best thing to do since it’s been recent, maybe scan it just to see if the computer picked up on anything like Mark was saying, a sensor or something like that. Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
How many miles are on it, George?
SPEAKER 06 :
194 plus 194 okay but even like an ignition module that’s never going to set a code right even cam crank sensors usually won’t set a code except for other reasons yeah and it that would be the first thing it’d be in a 97 yeah there’s so many things that with harnesses it could have shorted out just who knows yeah there’s a lot of things that could cause that
SPEAKER 17 :
And another question, have you done all of your regular maintenance in regards to plugs and wires and cap and rotor, because that has all of that. That’s the older style ignition, so it’s got more components than a new vehicle has. Have you kept up on that, George?
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you for asking that, because I was wondering. I couldn’t, in my mind, see how it could be related, but Less than 1,000 miles ago, I had a total complete tune-up, new wires, rotor, mods, everything. Do you suppose it’s something related to that?
SPEAKER 17 :
Now you’re back to what Mark was even saying. Depending upon who did the install and did they get the module clipped into the plug nice and tight like it should be, did they put – that there’s a special type of grease that goes on the back of the module that we’ve been talking about. Did that get done properly? In other words, was all of that done correctly? And by the way, here’s the other thing. If they did put a module in it, nothing says that that module is 100%. I mean, parts go bad, George. It could be that the part itself is still bad.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, exactly. There’s also quality of parts.
SPEAKER 17 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 18 :
When you use a cheaper part, you just created your own problem by trying to make it better. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, two things, gentlemen. First, I’m barely an adequate parts changer, so you need to tolerate my level of ignorance. You’re fine. Second, thank you, I misspoke. He did not put in a new module. He just did the routine tune-up stuff. Yeah, wires.
SPEAKER 17 :
rotor things like that and you know and you’re at a point with you know that kind of miles where and this is where mark was correct i wouldn’t buy a a generic module buy a good solid quality module for it but you’re at a you’re at a mileage where i’d probably change it regardless just because you’re close to 200k anyways and and they are known to fail that’s right you’re not hurting anything by doing that george and they’re not that expensive is why i say that
SPEAKER 06 :
And they’re not hard to replace. Yeah, that one sits on a block right by the coil, I believe.
SPEAKER 05 :
Should I try that with your understanding of my level of competence?
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, it’s not hard to do. Take the cap off. Just make sure that if you take the cap off, don’t pull any wires out because you’ve got to get the timing, your firing order back in the right exact order. So do your best to take the cap off and leave everything intact.
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t think that one’s under the cap on that one.
SPEAKER 17 :
I don’t think so either.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s on the side, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 17 :
It’s all on the side with two screws.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s got its own heat sink on it.
SPEAKER 18 :
You might have to buy a special tool to get torques, screws out of the side. But buy an AC Delco, buy a Delphi Denso, and you’re probably going to be just fine.
SPEAKER 17 :
Do those have, because I’m going back in time, do those have the tamper-proof torques on the sides? I don’t think so.
SPEAKER 18 :
Not on the coil, I don’t think.
SPEAKER 17 :
I think just torques on the ignition module.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, all right. Yep.
SPEAKER 17 :
So two screws, George, is all on that one. It’s pretty easy. Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. Hey, I can handle that.
SPEAKER 17 :
You can. Oh, and a connector.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, screwdrivers and shovels are my level of top. There you go.
SPEAKER 18 :
And buy a little tube of dielectric grease and put that in the connector just to eliminate more possibilities and corrosion.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, because most of the time on the quality modules, they don’t come with that. Right. Right, but for the connector and to put it against that, against the ignition distributor.
SPEAKER 17 :
I’d change it, though, George, at this point. You’re not really out much in doing it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Great. Thank you much. You’re very welcome. No, appreciate it.
SPEAKER 17 :
You bet. No, George, thanks. And I forgot the HEI. It’s a different HEI.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, yeah. They just moved them. They did the smart thing, and they moved it out of the distributor so it wouldn’t fail because of heat. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, because the heat always killed them.
SPEAKER 17 :
Kelly, hang tight. We’ll come back to you on your power stroke. Don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back here. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Thanks for tuning in. 303-477-5600 is our phone number. Kelly, you’re next. Hey, Kelly. Hey, how are you? Good. What’s going on?
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, bud. Just got a 99 Powerstroke, the 7.3 motor, the early version of 99. Right. Okay, you know, I got a reader, whatever, that gives me live, pretty sure all the sensors are working, you know, the throttle position sensor, all the temperature sensors, all that. There’s no mass airflow sensor on this motor. They get the boost pressure from the MAP sensor.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Is where they get it. And according to how much boost pressure you’re getting is how much fuel your computer is going to allow your motor to have. Right. So because, for some reason, I’m sometimes in a low-boost situation, I hooked up what they call a fueler to the, using an air compressor, so I could tell the MAP sensor how much boost pressure there is. And it does. It does. You can feel the computer give the truck a whole lot more fuel. Okay. But I’m still not getting the boost pressure that I need at the high end. Through the first five gears and into the sixth gear, you know, it’s okay. It’s just… on that very, very high end is where I’m losing boost at. So my question is, is there a way to tell if it’s a mechanical problem with the turbo or if I come down to a computer issue? And I will say, and another question, I was up to the point where it’s going to change the internal pressure regulator or the sensor, the ICP sensor that controls the internal pressure regulator. But according to my seeing, I’m getting 2,250 PSI of fuel pressure on the high end, on the higher side. Is that at around 2,300 RPMs? Is that enough fuel pressure? Number one. Number two, is there a way to tell… if the turbo mechanically isn’t able capable of putting out the boost or do i still have a com a computer issue when you scan it do you get anything you know you’ve got a reader you said you get anything out of it when you scan it no i get i get typically i get just a low boost pressure um low boost pressure okay so you’re getting a low boost pressure code okay sometimes i will get this thing that says um I guess it has to do with ECM module memory storage not working correctly, but I don’t get it all the time. Okay. And the IDM, I check the IDM by firing. You can trigger each injector, and if you have trouble with the IDM, each injector won’t hit. So I know the IDM is telling, is controlling ECM, each of the injectors because they all fired up. So I’m pretty sure the IDM is good. I’m sure the regulator, the sensor, all that’s working. I’m just losing it on the high end. I’ve checked for leaks. I did have a few leaks. I fixed them, which did seem to give me a little bit more, but it’s still quite not there.
SPEAKER 06 :
What specific code are you getting?
SPEAKER 13 :
The bad thing about the computers, these computers, I guess, You know, we’re programmed with Windows 95, you know, and now, you know, they’re older now.
SPEAKER 17 :
And, Kelly, what code are you getting when you scan it? Do you know?
SPEAKER 13 :
The only codes I typically get is just low boost pressure.
SPEAKER 18 :
Is it like the 1247, 1248 codes? Yeah, it was a 12.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. Sometimes I get a 16. Like I said, once in a while I’ll get that one. I don’t know the number.
SPEAKER 17 :
And another thing, Kelly, so do you have on the truck, does it have a boost gauge? I can’t remember on those early 99s if it actually has one or not. In other words, do you know what the actual turbo boost is at any given time?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes, in case I had like a faulty BAP sensor, you know, I don’t think it is because you know what… No, no, what I mean is can you tell exactly how much boost is coming out of the turbo?
SPEAKER 17 :
Do you have a gauge on the truck? I don’t remember those if they had one or not.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, I don’t, but I’ve actually since I’ve hooked up a manual and it sticks out the hood between the hood and the… And what kind of boost is the turbo giving you throughout the range?
SPEAKER 17 :
I can only get it up to around eight. No, that’s not enough. Yeah, that’s way low.
SPEAKER 13 :
I know.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, and that’s more, if that’s all the boost you’re getting, that’s a mechanic. I’m assuming, and again, I’m not looking at the truck. It’s not in front of me, but I would assume we’ve got a mechanical issue with the turbo. not spinning up enough not getting enough boost coming out of it is the issue because you should be as you know you know wide open throttle that should be pushing 18 to 20 psi uh max i mean even running around on low throttle that eight is kind of the minimum end of things at the end of the day so if you’ve got any kind of throttle in it at all eight is kind of the bottom and it just keeps climbing as you put your foot in it so my gut feeling is we have a turbo issue
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, turbo or leaks.
SPEAKER 17 :
Or leaks, yeah, or it’s going somewhere.
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s right. I pretty much checked for leaks, and like I said, I did have a couple. I fixed the leaks, and that did seem to help. I replaced the gasket between the turbo and the… and the spider, just in case it was older or whatever.
SPEAKER 17 :
And when you look inside the turbo, because you can look in, have you spun it? Does it feel okay? Do the bearings feel rough?
SPEAKER 13 :
From what I can tell on the cold air side, it doesn’t have any side-to-side play, and it spins really free. From what I can tell without, of course, taking it apart, it seems okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
You can’t see the exhaust side. That’s the part that’s hard. We don’t know what it looks like.
SPEAKER 18 :
But one thing worth testing is back pressure. If we have a plug-catalytic converter, if that converter is open.
SPEAKER 17 :
I don’t think that 99 had one, though.
SPEAKER 18 :
It does have one.
SPEAKER 13 :
Does it? Oh, yeah. It has a back pressure. It has an exhaust pressure sensor or whatever. I’ve changed it. Does it? I get anywhere.
SPEAKER 17 :
Did you change the exhaust? So does it still have, I mean, a lot of those, the cats went away early on when guys bought those trucks. So does it still have a cat on it by chance?
SPEAKER 13 :
Right now, I’m about four feet from where it comes down out of the motor, and I cut it just to eliminate it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 18 :
So then that pretty much leaves the mechanical and the turbos itself.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s about it. You’re on the right track, Kelly.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. Okay, but my question is, is the 2250 PSI on that very high end, am I getting the fuel pressure that I need?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, here’s the thing. It doesn’t matter because if you’re not getting boost out of the turbo, what the fuel pressure is doing is irrelevant. I mean, it’s relevant, but not to what we’re talking about with the problem you have.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, it’s not going to be able to add more fuel than what your boost is.
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I know, but see, I didn’t, you know, like I said, I put that cooler on there. It doesn’t matter.
SPEAKER 17 :
I mean, at the end of the day, if we’re not getting boost out of the turbo, you’re not pushing enough air into the engine for it to really perform. As you know, the non-turboed of those, you know, when they turboed them in 99, well, they turboed prior, but they did the intercoolers in 99, which made them even more, you know, more peppy, I guess you could say, more power, more horsepower. But those 7.3s with no turbos were dogs.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can tell right when that turbo is cooling up. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
Big time.
SPEAKER 13 :
Instantly.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. Yeah. We haven’t, you haven’t turbo issue, mechanical turbo issue is my guess.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. So you think the 2250 is enough fuel pressure to get that, enough exhaust pressure to spool it up to where it should spool up?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, you’ve got, if the engine’s running well, which it sounds like it is, we just don’t have enough boost coming out of the turbo, which is where our lack of power is coming from, which makes total sense. Yes, you’re in the turbo end of things. Something there, and given the fact, to Mark’s point, you’ve cut the exhaust, there’s no blockage, we’ve got free flow from the exhaust through the turbo back out, you’ve fixed all the leaks on the intake side, or you’re on the boost side, I guess I should say, you know, the pressure side, let’s say it that way. And I’m assuming, because I don’t remember, does that have, because they changed intercoolers on that, so that one has the early stage intercooler. You don’t have a leak or a problem in the intercooler, do you?
SPEAKER 13 :
I took it out. I cleaned it. I cleaned all the lines. You know, I did the bubble test. I haven’t found any leaks on it. Okay. All right.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, then you’re good. Yeah. Okay. Good.
SPEAKER 13 :
Perfect. Here’s my one quick question. I’ll throw this one out here real quick. Okay. So you’ve got 2,500, basically, of fuel pressure at the injector. It’s really hard to push that open. So the way I understand it is they use oil pressure – to open that injector.
SPEAKER 17 :
But again, that’s not your issue because you’ve got no boost. So if the engine is running well and its RPM is coming up, which I’m assuming it is, if you’ve got RPM in the engine and we’re still not spooling up the turbo, that’s our problem. The rest of it is irrelevant. Oh, okay, because you think we have enough fuel pressure. Yeah, because if you’re getting RPM of, you know, those engines would run up to, you know, 3,500 RPM total. If you’re getting, you know, 2,500 RPM, 2,000 RPM out of the engine and it’s running that speed, then the turbo should be spooling up. And if it’s not, we have a problem there. Okay. Where I’m going with this, Kelly, is if we didn’t have any engine RPM, then I’d be more on the track of, okay, we’ve got an injector problem or a pressure problem or something’s happening that’s not allowing the engine to actually increase in RPM. That’s not your problem.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, so when we get up to the point where the turbo can’t go past 8 PSI. Yeah, that’s a problem because they won’t.
SPEAKER 17 :
I mean, it’ll be a dog at 8. You’re not, I mean, literally eight is almost nothing. I mean, you’re not hardly even, you’re not, you’re not even compensating for the lack, you know, for the lack of air in our elevation at eight. You’re, you’re, you’re, it’s a dog. The turbo’s robbing the power.
SPEAKER 13 :
Exactly. Right. Okay, now have you, they got some cheap ones out there that they say exact OEM for like $280 compared to the $1,000.
SPEAKER 17 :
I haven’t bought a 7.3 turbo in a long time. You can also just buy the internals of that if you want to. If you’re handy and you can put the internals in, you could do that also. But I would not buy a cheap turbo. Nope. At all. And Josh from Legacy up in Boulder is also saying make sure that your boost sensor, which you did. You checked the boost sensor and the MAP sensor already, so you’ve already figured that’s another problem, right?
SPEAKER 13 :
There’s only one. There is no boost sensor. Right. It’s the boost MAP sensor. It’s all in one. Exactly. People think it’s the boost sensor, but it’s actually a boost solenoid where you get over boost, over 22 PSI. it opens up so you don’t blow stuff up. Correct. And that’s all that is. Okay, and you’ve checked all that, right? Yeah, it’s controlled off the map.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay, that’s what I thought. Okay. Yeah, no, you should be on the right track. Okay.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, Kelly.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, appreciate it very much. Thanks for the phone call. Jim, hang tight. We’ll come right back to you. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
All right, we are back. I got a text message. It was a funny one, actually. It says, how do you guys on this show know so much about diesels? Always thought that all we ever did was, you know, gas engine stuff. No, I mean, I own, you know, off-road four-wheel drive. We did a lot of truck accessories and upgrades and so on and did that for 30-plus years, plus still have a large fleet of diesel and gas trucks as well, but a lot of diesel trucks. So, yeah, I’ve been around some of them. I mean, I grew up around the old stupid 350 converted diesel. gas engine diesels from Oldsmobile way back in the day.
SPEAKER 06 :
Boat anchor.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I mean, I’ve been around diesels for a long, long time. And, you know, am I an expert on diesels? I mean, just experience. Yeah, I mean, I can work my way around one pretty easily. And those seven threes are pretty simple. They were actually and you could wake those up right away. Did a lot of that back in the day. So they were a fun vehicle to actually, you know, hop up and make run really well. So Jim and Centennial, you’re next.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey, how are you doing today?
SPEAKER 17 :
Good, Jim.
SPEAKER 03 :
Is Ken Reckley with you today? He is. I am. Hey, Ken, this is Jim Holt. Hey, Jim. I heard about Ken many, many, many years ago on your show, and he takes care of all my cars. Awesome.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thanks, Jim.
SPEAKER 03 :
All four of my cars for many years now, so I appreciate it. But anyway, just a really quick question. I have an 044 runner. The dashboard is kind of getting, you know, over time, discolored, faded, stuff like that. Is there a product that you use or you know of that I can put on that to kind of restore the shine or newness of it without damaging it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, let me find it for you. Chemical Guys is who I use, and it’s sold in a lot of places.
SPEAKER 03 :
I have a Chemical Guys interior cleaner and protector, but… Yeah, you don’t want the cleaner.
SPEAKER 17 :
You want the… They make a vinyl rubber plastic product. It’s a cream. I think they call it their VRP product. You can buy it in a regular bottle, or you can buy it by the gallon because you can use it for so many different things. And if you use that, Jim, it’ll bring it back to life. You’ll have to keep reapplying it every probably two or three months, but it works very well. And it doesn’t leave that nasty armor all, you know, greasy filmy thing.
SPEAKER 06 :
It doesn’t do that at all.
SPEAKER 17 :
And it’s a vinyl rubber cleaner from Chemical Guys? It’s not a cleaner. It’s a protectant. So if it’s dirty, clean it first, then put the protectant on. Now, for everybody listening, the nice thing about this particular product, which I use a lot, is you can put it on all of your weather strips. You can use it on any of your outside components.
SPEAKER 08 :
External plastic.
SPEAKER 17 :
External plastic stuff. Even the rubber around the windows, you know, on the outside of the windows. But I use it on the rubber, you know, weather stripping and so on. It keeps all of that nice and pliable. Kind of, you know, in our elevation environment, And where we’re at, Jim, and being so dry, a lot of our weather stripping and stuff over time will start to crack and dry out. This keeps that from happening.
SPEAKER 03 :
Sounds great. I will go get that then. It’s a great product. All right. That’s all I had. Thank you very much. Thanks, Jim. That’s a great question. Good talk to you.
SPEAKER 17 :
Works very well. And thank you for being Ken’s customer as well. Kirk in Fort Morgan, you’re next.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, yes. I’ve got an 08F350 with a 6.4 liter.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I got a coolant leak. Okay. Oh, it seems to be coming off the right side of the front of the motor.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
And trying to see anything up in there is pretty impossible.
SPEAKER 17 :
That wouldn’t shock me on a 6.4, probably a head gasket.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, and where can I look to see that?
SPEAKER 17 :
It’s tough. That’s one of those where you’re probably going to have to, if you’ve got the ability, get it all washed off good, buy some dye. You can put dye in the coolant, and then you need ultraviolet light to actually see the dye that’s in the coolant, and that’s about the only way you can see where it’s coming from. That’s what the shops would have to do, same thing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and they’re so filled up with stuff in there, you know, you really need a camera that has, you know, that’s kind of a pinpoint camera type thing to actually look.
SPEAKER 17 :
But knowing that engine, yeah, it’s a pretty high probability that’s what the problem is.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 17 :
Now, what you can try, and it may or may not work, but it’s an easy try because that’s not an easy fix on that vehicle. That’s an expensive fix to put head gaskets on. Any vehicle. Any, but that one especially is. The K-Seal product, Kirk, which is sold at Napa, buy a bottle of the K-Seal and put it in there and see what happens.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yeah, there’s an option, you bet.
SPEAKER 06 :
And if it works, great. And it’s not pouring out, right? It’s just more of a few drips here and there?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, like it usually happens when it’s cooled off, of course, and leaves a puddle under it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, that’s an indicator of a head gasket.
SPEAKER 06 :
And that can help seal a head gasket. If it continues to leak after you use that, it could be something else.
SPEAKER 17 :
It’s a very cheap, easy, for under $20, it’s an easy test to see if it’ll help. Can’t hurt.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, for sure. So not a water pump or something like that on the front of the motor?
SPEAKER 17 :
Highly. If it’s leaking out the side of the engine, yeah, it’s not coming out of the water pump.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. All right. I mean, they’re not going to blow.
SPEAKER 17 :
It won’t blow back that far. And those are known for having head gasket issues. That was one of, I’m sorry, I’ll just say it. That was one of Ford’s not good ideas. Let’s just say it that way.
SPEAKER 08 :
6.0 and 6.4.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, they had the 6 liter and they had a big fallout with International. Then they did their own 6.4 and it was a piece of crap.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I’ve found that out. This isn’t the first problem.
SPEAKER 17 :
I’m sorry, but the six liters were actually better motors than the six fours were.
SPEAKER 06 :
Once you got the head bolts fixed on the six, oh, they were. That’s right. And the EGR and the.
SPEAKER 17 :
And everything else, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s so good to know. Yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
I’m sorry, but that’s just the way those were. But in this case, give that K-Seal a whirl and see what happens. You’re out the bottle. Again, it’s under $20. That’s all you’re out. It’s not going to hurt anything.
SPEAKER 04 :
No, it won’t bother a thing. And it’s just K-Seal?
SPEAKER 17 :
K-Seal. Letter K? Seal. It’s an orange and blue bottle. Yep. It’s in a little, I don’t know, like a half pint. Yeah, it’s not a very big bottle. I mean, I say bottle. It’s a pint bottle, roughly.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, six ounces maybe, eight ounces maybe.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And that’s enough for that diesel motor?
SPEAKER 17 :
Should be. Yeah, you wouldn’t need to put any more than one bottle in it. I mean, I have put a bottle in the old six liters with an EGR cooler problem that was leaking in the middle of a snowstorm where you didn’t have time to take it and fix it, and I actually put KCL in it and fixed it for the rest of the season.
SPEAKER 06 :
Nice.
SPEAKER 17 :
Good. So, does it work?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, it does. I’m going to give that a shot.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. Yeah. I’ll give that a shot for sure. And all you need is one bottle. You won’t need any more than that.
SPEAKER 04 :
All righty. We’re good. We’ll go with that.
SPEAKER 17 :
Okay, Kirk. Give it a whirl. Let us know how it works.
SPEAKER 04 :
All righty. Well, thank you much.
SPEAKER 17 :
You bet. And again, for anybody out there listening, I know that’s not the right correct fix. That’s not the repair. I get it. That’s partial diagnostic.
SPEAKER 06 :
Might buy you time and let you know what’s going on. Right. And be able to get a mortgage out to get those head gaskets fixed.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, you have to go borrow money almost to fix those. I mean, literally, you could K-seal it and pre-seal it. probably get by long enough depending upon how many miles you put on it and just leave it call it good and not even fix it yeah because again that engine for those of you listening those six fours and anytime i get anybody asking about used trucks that is like the top truck not to buy yeah period just don’t buy one i don’t care how good a condition it is i don’t care how well it was maintained and cared for and everything else no yeah
SPEAKER 06 :
If it’s a gas truck, then you’re fine.
SPEAKER 17 :
But those 6.4 diesels in the Fords were absolute garbage. I’m sorry. They just were not good. And as one of those on the used market, I would not buy one. Any way, shape, or form. And there’s others I wouldn’t buy, but that’s right at the top of the list. All right. Lines open. 303-477-5600. Again, myself, Ken Rackley. Tune Tech. Mark from Accountable as well up in Broomfield. Give us a call. We’ll get you handled. We’ll be right back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 10 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 17 :
And we are back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Again, Ken Rackley, Toontech Automotive with us. Mark Guernsey from Accountable as well. And as I said earlier, a new sponsor that we have to the program, Brighton Auto Body. You can go to brightonautobody.com and find them. We’ll have stuff up on our website probably today on them, but they’re a new partner. We’ll have them on with us here in the near future as well. and the one difference about them versus a lot of collision centers today and i understand the collision world and why some collision centers do this but a lot of collision centers if you’re not an insurance customer they won’t they won’t look at your vehicle in other words if you’re a customer pay you want to avoid a claim or deductible or whatever and you just want to get the vehicle fixed on your own a lot of collision centers won’t even talk to you they literally uh and and i had an experience with a particular individual this week where they ran into that exact same thing they were going to do a customer pay they took it in the body shop said yeah, no, unless you’re an insurance customer, we’re not dealing with you. Brighton Auto Body is not that way. They’ll work on older vehicles, new vehicles, customer pay, insurance, you name it, they’ll do it all. They have the ability to do some of the mechanical work or all of the mechanical work as well. So if you’ve got a situation where they’ve got, you know, usually those get farmed out to a mechanical shop and then brought back to the collision center and it’s kind of this rigmarole back and forth. They do everything on site and You can do it all in one shot. And, again, they will take care of your older vehicles. And even some of you guys that have custom vehicles and so on where you might need something done, they’ll help you out with that as well. Again, typical collision center will not do all of that. And, again, I’m not blaming them for obvious reasons. Their particular business model is different than what Brighton Auto Bodies is. But I had a long conversation with Dan this week, and they want to do things differently. And they realize that there’s people driving older vehicles that still want to keep them on the road. and even older vehicles like that 7.3 diesel we were talking about, where it’s almost a classic in and of itself, and they want to help those people keep those vehicles on the road running well if they get in an accident or whatever the case may be. So they’re there for you. So brightonautobody.com is the website. Mike in Westminster, you are next.
SPEAKER 14 :
Hey, John, how’s it going? Good, Mike. I was the one that sent you the text about SEMA.
SPEAKER 17 :
Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER 14 :
You’re lucky to get to go there.
SPEAKER 17 :
You know, I am. It’s a lot of work for me, you know, just talking to people, meeting people and so on. And I enjoy it. I mean, you know, I put a lot of steps in. I put 16,000 roughly steps per day in. So there’s a lot of walking, a lot of covering things. But, yeah, I am. I’m fortunate to still be able to go. And, you know, because of the show and so on, I’ve got the ability to do so. And I get to go on a media pass, which gives me even some access that even the regular person, your regular buyer going doesn’t have. So, yeah, I’m very privileged that way.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, I always wanted to go there since way back when. Anyway, I’m putting in some stainless stuff on my bike. Okay. And all my anti-seize is copper-based. Is there something else that wouldn’t be so heat? I mean, when I’m putting stainless into regular steel, you’ve got to use the anti-seize.
SPEAKER 17 :
They make silver NICs. In fact, that’s all I’ve ever used.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’ve seen both.
SPEAKER 17 :
I just don’t know what the difference characteristic is. Yeah, I’ve never used the gold, to be honest with you, Mike.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. See, I always thought that the copper stuff was the only one, but I’ll have to go get some silver stuff.
SPEAKER 17 :
I would say most of it is probably the silver. Yeah, I’ve never used copper, frankly, in all the years I’ve done it. I’ve always had silver.
SPEAKER 1 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 14 :
And my tube right here is loctite from what is copper-based, and that’s why I questioned it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Interesting. In fact, I always use these guys. They’re probably the same. I always use the can, you know, larger can. Steel can has a brush in it, you know, just like you would with any other kind of lubricants that way, and I always just used it and brushed it on. I never even had a tube of it. Still don’t have that. Still just use the can. Permatex is always the stuff I bought. Well, see, and mine’s Loctite, so. Maybe that’s the difference. But, yeah, again, I never cared on the brand. That’s just what always was around, and you’d continue to buy, and it’s just what I always had was Permatex. It’s usually what comes up the first search. And I bought the larger jar of it, I guess you could say. It’s like, I don’t know, I’m looking at it right now. You can buy it at Ace Hardware for $20. I mean, I don’t know, that stuff will last you forever. Right, yeah, and then some.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, but I don’t want to move that stuff when I get out of here.
SPEAKER 17 :
I hear you. And you can buy smaller tubes of it. In the shops, because you use so much of it in the shops, we always just had it in a can. And every technician had one at their bench.
SPEAKER 14 :
Oh, yeah. Well, it’s funny how as much as we talk about
SPEAKER 17 :
using anti-seize people still don’t no they don’t and i think some of that is they just either don’t want to they don’t want to take the time uh i don’t know mike i think there’s all sorts of reasons people don’t but in in certain applications it’s a must yeah especially when you start talking stainless i mean sure right yeah you have to yeah i mean because i’m trying to prevent stuff from rusting absolutely absolutely yeah
SPEAKER 14 :
All righty. Thank you, gentlemen.
SPEAKER 17 :
No, you’re very welcome, Mike. Great question. By the way, that was a new one on me. I mean, I learn something every week when I’m here, but I’ve never used the copper. I didn’t know copper was even a thing.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, there’s copper in all NICs, but it’s not copper color.
SPEAKER 17 :
Interesting.
SPEAKER 18 :
But I see Loctite has the silver and gray as well.
SPEAKER 17 :
There we go. That’s better. Sorry about that. There you go. That’s better.
SPEAKER 18 :
There’s both options. I’ve always used Permatex myself. Yeah. Gray in color.
SPEAKER 17 :
Right. Exactly. Grayish, silver color, whatever. So anyways, for those of you listening, yes. And to Mike’s point, there are certain things that you need to use anti-seize on. And unfortunately, even a lot of technicians and shops probably don’t use it like they should. And I think personally, it’s just more of a they don’t take the time. I don’t know any other way to say it. It’s not ignorance. It’s just typically they just don’t take the time to do it. Yeah. You need to make sure your surfaces are clean before you use it. You just can’t slap it over rust. I mean, there’s some things you need to do before you actually use it, but that’s what it’s there for is to prevent that from happening again. Now, there’s also places where you don’t want to use anti-seize. And I’ve seen technicians, for example, lug studs. We don’t put anti-seize on lug nuts. I’ve seen technicians do it, and it’s like, yeah, no, that’s one of those we don’t want coming apart.
SPEAKER 18 :
Most things you torque, it changes what the torque does.
SPEAKER 17 :
You’re not putting it on those things. That’s exactly right, Mark. Now, if you want to put it on the back of the rotor where it actually meets the hub and so on, that’s where you’re supposed to put it, places like that. And that’s another area where most technicians don’t. sure they should they just don’t take the time to do it and you should get all that cleaned up and put a little anti-seize back on there now you also don’t need to use a ton of anti-seize that’s one of those things where a little bit goes a long way kind of a thing right yeah yeah you don’t want to sling it off right certain spark plugs you want to use it certain spark plugs you don’t want to use it again it’s very application specific and it’s not a cure-all for everything but there are things you need now Around the house, by the way, it’s something most people don’t realize. There’s a lot of things even around the house that anti-seize works really well for. So, for example, you take your door pin out and you’re hanging a new door or something. Put a little anti-seize on there. That stuff will last for a long time.
SPEAKER 06 :
Keep it from squeaking. That’s right.
SPEAKER 17 :
You’re not lubricating it very often. And those are the sorts of things that it works really well for because it’s a really good lubricant along those lines.
SPEAKER 06 :
And it’s not liquid. It’s right, and it’s not going anywhere. It’s more of a paste. Yeah, it’s like a paste, I guess, is the way to say that. I mean, a thin paste.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, it just doesn’t. So there’s all sorts of things, even door locks and things like that, where anti-seize works really well for some of those things, and most people never use it for that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, not a paste, but like a frosting. Yeah, it’s like cake frosting. No, that’s a good way to say it. Don’t eat it.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah. It is. It’s like a cake frosting. Yeah, right, yeah. All right, real quick, question of the day, which no one said because I probably haven’t said it enough. Items you should always keep in your car. Now, as we head down this stretch into winter, I mentioned this a little bit on Ready Radio yesterday, but yeah, there are certain things, especially in the winter months, and frankly, I think some of these things should be in there all year long, but especially in the winter months that you need to make sure that you have. Now, for some of you… Depending upon where you travel, we have certain laws in Colorado now, traction laws they’re called, where if you’re going to go skiing or you’re going to go up the mountains, do something else, visiting, whatever the case may be, watch those traction laws. You need to understand what they say and what’s required, because in some cases you may actually have to have a chain, a sock, something along those lines, depending upon the vehicle you’re driving, what tires you have on it, and so on. So you need to make sure you’ve got all that dialed in. Now, outside of that, Of course, the common things are, you know, want to make sure you’ve got a good snow brush. You’d be surprised how many people at times don’t. Now, here’s a secret on snow brushes. And I didn’t mention this yesterday, but I’ll mention it here because in my opinion, there’s only one snow brush to buy and they’re cheap. And most people don’t even know they exist. Everybody buys these fancy plastic. They extend out and, you know, these snow brushes and honestly throw those in the trash. They’re garbage.
SPEAKER 06 :
The $299 wood handle.
SPEAKER 17 :
The wooden ones from Napa. They’ve got a plastic end for the scraping. They’ve got a nylon brush for the sweeping. And they’re wooden, and they’ll slip right underneath the seat of your car. They’re easy to have. They rarely break. And yeah, they cost like $3. And I’m not joking. They’re under $5. They’re not beautiful, but very handy and always work. And the thing that’s nice about them, and this is my complaint about most snow brushes, the bigger the snow brush, the heavier it gets. the heavier it gets, the harder it is to use. The snow is already heavy as it is when you’re trying to brush things off. I want something that’s nice and light and easy to maneuver. And that wooden snow brush from Napa is exactly that. In fact, as a fleet, we buy a case at the beginning of every year, throw one in each truck because they’re cheap enough to do that way. And they are slick as all get out. And most people don’t know they exist. A lot of you car dealer guys know what I’m talking about because they’re used big in car dealerships and have been for years and years and years. But Yeah, it is the easiest, slickest snow brush you’ll ever have.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right, exactly. And so I usually don’t have a snow brush in my car until the next day after a snowstorm. Of course, you know. Right, exactly. But if I’m on my way to work and it’s snowing, I order those up from NAPA.
SPEAKER 17 :
In my case, I’ve got enough of those wooden ones kicking around where, again, they’re light enough and small enough where you can, even in the off months, you just go hide that thing somewhere, always keep it in the vehicle. Then when it comes time to actually use it, you just drag it out and off you go. But I’m here to tell you, most people have no idea what I’m talking about. They spend far too much money on snow brushes with built-in gloves and all sorts of nonsense that really, at the end of the day, you just don’t need. That little lightweight wooden snow brush that Napa sells is as easy a snow brush to use as you’ll ever find.
SPEAKER 06 :
So one thing that I have in addition to that, because I use those same brushes, if you get six-plus inches of snow on, nothing’s going to clear that very well. Very true. So a snow squeegee. Good point. Yeah, they work great. You can get some that are two feet long, you know, anyway, especially with these trucks anyway, as big as they are. Getting it off the roof, getting it off the, you know, you just grab and pull and cover your shoes and do it again. Good point. And kick your shoes off, so.
SPEAKER 17 :
And lastly, and I’ll say this today, I said this yesterday, but I want to throw this out again as a reminder. If you have the ability, so some of you have garages. Some of you have garages that you can’t park in. Some of you have garages you can’t park in because you have too much crap, being honest. Throw the crap away and park in the garage, and you make your life way easier because you no longer have to even wipe that snow off. Now, once you’re at work, you might have to, but you’re not having to wipe off that overnight snow from the car sitting outside that entire time. And I’ll talk about this throughout the show, but put one of the garage mats down as well. We usually talk about those this time of year, and I’ll mention that as we come back. Jeff and Golden, hang tight. We’ve got more to come. Two more hours coming your way. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 11 :
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.
