Live from the Car Care Studios, it's the CNC Auto Show with your personal on-air and online automotive service advisors, Aaron Clements and John Ryan Mooney. So climb in, buckle up, and enjoy the ride on the CNC Auto Show. And we do welcome you to the CNC Auto Show. I'm Aaron Clements here with co-host of the show and co-owner and district manager of CNC Automotive, Amanda Drake.
And she loves cars. Good morning. And good morning, Amanda. Good morning.
Glad to be here. Yeah. Amanda grew up around cars and she works with people and she worked for cars. So that makes her the perfect person to help answer automotive questions. And we appreciate her being here. And I think most of you that call in to ask questions will be pleasantly surprised with the knowledge base that you'll have available because she's, Amanda, you work on talking with customers a lot during the day and talking with technicians a lot during the day.
Is that right? Yes. I've been helping the front counter staff at CNC Automotive for about 15 plus years now. So a lot of experience interacting between the technician and the customer to explain what their vehicles need.
Yeah. And in doing that, in that length of time, you gain a lot of knowledge. So we're here to share some information on ways to make your car, truck or SUV safer and to make it more dependable, to make it last longer for less money. And in some cases, if you want to determine what's wrong with your car, you have to follow your nose because sometimes a car smell may very well help you to determine what's wrong with the vehicle. And at the very minimum, it can help you relay information to the service advisor that's working on the car.
Yes. If you, when you're having a vehicle concern, if it involves a certain smell at all, definitely let your advisor know about it. It is definitely some good information when they're trying to diagnose the vehicle later. Yes, it is. So if you have, if you want to describe a car smell that you might have, or if you have a question about your car, truck or SUV, all you have to do is give us a call.
And that number is 800-224-9090. You give us a call, we can answer that. You can also watch us live on Facebook and you can listen to us on iHeart. You can go to ccautoshow.com.
Yeah, YouTube. You just tune right in and we would very much love to talk to you. You can submit a question at Aaron at ccautoshow.com and we would love to answer that on there.
So buckle up and let's ride. Amanda, last week, we pretty much had an answer to the Tech Tip quiz. But the gentleman was right there at it and he said that he would like to defer it to the next person. So we'll give the question and we'll give it a few tries.
But if we don't get that answer pretty quick, we'll probably just give the answer. But here's the question to the Tech Tip quiz. Sean owns a 2006 Chevrolet Colorado with a 2.8 gas engine. He'd been driving for a while when a light came on. He had to pull over, repair something and loosen the belt.
Why? So why did he have to do all that stuff and what light was it to come on? If you know the answer, you give us a call and you can be in the Tech Tip quiz hall of fame. Amanda, it's kind of a big deal. Yes. And what all do they win again? I know there's a... Well, it's actually a prize package.
They'll win a, it includes a coffee mug, includes a little key chain typed in, includes a pen, a new car. Oh, okay. You might get some calls. Oh, look, you got one.
All right. Let's go over to the calls here and let's go to David. David, welcome to the CNC Auto Show.
And what can we help you with? Hey, I've got a 2000 Jeep Wrangler, got about 125,000 miles on it. And two days ago, my wife was pulling it into the carport and I was inside and I found out she had put it in park to shut it off. Well, it sounded like she hit the starter inadvertently while it was still running, that kind of screeching noise. And I went out there and if you put it in neutral, it would make that noise. Or if you put it in park, it would make that noise. And so we ended up keeping it in drive, shutting it off, turn the key back on to get it in park. And then we parked it. And I went out there and it did the same thing for me once. I got a starter while it was in park, but then backed it up. And then as soon as I hit neutral, it made that scratching sound like it's a starter when it's running. And it did it in park again too. Well, it hasn't done it since. And it's got me baffled.
Have you ever heard of such? Well, what I lean toward, David, is there's a chance that your starter might be sticking in the flywheel when it cranks up. Does that sound like a possibility, Amanda?
Oh yeah, I was going to say a possibility with the flywheel. So it only did it a few times, right? Yeah.
Okay. Now when it was making this noise, David, you mentioned that you turned the key. Now did the engine start up when you turned the key or did it just make that noise and wouldn't spin the engine over?
No. Like I said, it was running. And when you would go into neutral, it would make the noise. And if you passed neutral and went to reverse, it would do it real quick while you were passing neutral to go to reverse. Then it wouldn't make the noise. But then if you put it in park, it would make the noise. So what I did was I put it back in gear to turn it off. So it wasn't making the noise. And then just turned the key on. I didn't try to start it so I could move the shifter into park and get the key out. But then when I started it in park, it didn't make the noise. And then I brought it back to reverse and backed up a little bit. And when I went to go to drive, I passed through neutral and it made that noise real quick. I believe Amanda hit on it.
Don't drive. What were you saying, Amanda? I believe you hit on the issue. Well, I just wondered if there was like a bad spot in the flywheel, maybe. Well, and that's possible or possibly a crack in the flywheel. The reason I say that is the engine is turning the same direction and it's turning the same speed.
Well, I take that back. It's not quite as under much load when it's in neutral, but it's turning the same direction. And so the only thing that's making the difference between reverse and neutral and drive is to load. So if it's not making neutral, it's making it in drive or vice versa, then it has to be something that's transferring that power to the transmission or in the transmission. That the starter engages. And I lean towards you may have an issue with your flywheel.
I would recommend either if you like to do it yourself, you can, or if you like for a shop to do it. But I would recommend dropping, there's an access plate that you can see all that with. Drop that access plate and take a flashlight and look in there. Now also make sure those flywheel bolts are tight, but look up around the engine where the crankshaft comes out of the engine itself in the center part. You have to look up real closely to be able to see that. But you may see some cracks around in that area. Or damage.
Yeah, that's what I'm leaning towards too. You think that maybe the flywheel's flexing and coming in contact, but I don't understand because the starter's not, you know, we're not turning the key to start while the engine's running. I'm just wondering how, if there's somehow the Bendix is kicking out and, you know, it's just like I said, it's just baffling.
Because then I drove it yesterday and it didn't do it. David, I'm going to put you on hold just a second. I'm going to put you on hold just a second.
We'll come back to that right after this. Let's head back down to the car care studio with Airman Clements and John Ryan Mooney. The CNC Auto Show is brought to you in part by Dorman Products.
It's absolutely freezing in many parts of the country. If your climate controls have stopped working, you can seamlessly and quickly restore operation with a new or remanufactured climate control unit from Dorman. Learn more at DormanProducts.com. And we are back with you with the CNC Auto Show.
If you want to give us call number 800-224-9090, we would be very happy to answer your question. Amanda is here with us and she is ready to help. And we were talking with David. David, are you there? Yes, sir, I am.
David, we had a conference. We have a room back here and it's full of technicians from all around the country. And we all sit in there for a period of time discussing your Jeep that is making a noise that almost sounds like the starters engaging. We come to the conclusion that you need a flywheel area inspection. And this would include looking at the flywheel, the flywheel bolts, but also looking to see if the Bendix on the starter is really close to that flywheel. And if it is, we don't think your Bendix is pulling back all the way. And at times when that flex plate is moving a little bit, it's moving just enough to contact that starter, which is not fully disengaged.
What do you think? Yeah, that makes sense. I thought she had inadvertently, instead of turning the key off for whatever reason, tried to start it while it was running, because that's exactly what it sounded like. It could make sense.
It could be a loose bolt and the flex plate is actually flexing too much. David, that room full of people back there, these technicians, it looks like NASA did when they landed on the moon, all of them back there. They're going crazy back there.
I mean, it's wild. Well, let us know how it goes, David, if you do check it out. I will. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, David. Bye-bye.
The only number to call is 800-224-9090. You can watch us live on Facebook, iHeart, listen on iHeart. What is it? YouTube. YouTube, 60 Auto Show.
It don't matter. Just tune in. We want to talk to you also. Okay, let's go over to Jim.
Hey, Jim, welcome to the CNC Auto Show and what can we help you with? I'm going to look backwards a little bit today if I could. Good morning to you both. Yes.
Good morning. I have a little idea about the gentleman that was just ahead of me. I was listening to that story. That's an interesting problem he has there.
I had another angle my mind was coming at it. May I share that with you? Of course. Absolutely.
Love to. Is it possible that because the modern vehicles will only permit starter engagement because of the neutral safety switch circuit, engagement in park or neutral, is it possible that he's got a signal to start the car, the start cycle that is doing what it thinks it should be doing every time he passes neutral or park after it's been started? And that rather than being a flywheel problem or a starter that's not staying retracted properly, if it's actually energizing the start circuit as he passes the park in neutral position, so if that was a possibility, once he starts the car, if he had a way to interrupt the starter circuit, maybe the positive lead off the battery. I know you should do that for long because of the threat to the alternator, but if he somehow could interrupt the power to the starter and then pass through neutral and park, if it still did it, then it sounds mechanical. But if it won't do it without power to the starter circuit, he could have a problem with his ignition switch or something.
That is possible. Yeah, the ignition switch stuck in the crank position. I wasn't sure if he mentioned it happening in drive and reverse as well, which would be more of a mechanical issue.
But yeah, I mean, if he wasn't, then yeah, that definitely does. I mean, that is a possibility, the neutral safety switch. Jim, I think I heard him mention the intermittent noise as he passed neutral going to reverse. I think I heard him say that.
Okay. Yeah. And I guess it is possible. But Jim, I tell you what they did that that room full of these people in there that they were thrilling.
What they're doing is one of them shook his head and he went up to the chalkboard and he started putting stuff all over the chalkboard. They're in the process now of finding out if what you're saying is realistic or not. I've never seen it, but it is possible.
Being a 2000 Wrangler and the noise he was describing, we lean more towards mechanical because we've seen mechanical issues there. But I mean, it's not out of the question. Well, we'll see what our NASA team comes up with. Well, yeah. And we'll see what David, David's going and inspecting it right now. So maybe he'll be back on later and can let us know what he found. Good.
Good. I have a story about, I guess, in the category of things are not what they seem in a repair. This has a little behind the scenes. Chapter one and Aaron and I spoke about this between Saturdays. And I had a car that was making a noise and we thought it was one thing. And I'll tell you a story about how you just got to really follow your gut sometimes on things.
But keep your mind open to possibilities that are outside of what you expect. And that was this Crown Victoria had a what appeared to be spark detonation. It could only occur with a fair amount of throttle when it was lugging in lock up or in lock up torque converter, that is, or under a hard acceleration. Again, with a decent amount of throttle.
And it was that high pitched tinging sound. And we thought, OK, you might have a carbon buildup. You might have a problem with spark timing. And of course, that could be controlled by EGR valves and the like. So we put a little octane boost in. Nothing happened.
I had another EGR valve here from another car that fit another Ford Crown Victoria, that is, that matched the application. All along the thing that you might remember we were talking about was how it just sounded like one cylinder. It wasn't the normal clatter and it just didn't have quite the normal sound, but it had all the earmarks of when it was happening and how it happened. Jim, I'm going to put you on hold for a second because this is a beautiful story and we're going to go into the break real quick. And as soon as we come out, I'm looking forward to hearing this. You can let us know, yeah, the outcome. Thank you.
Put you on hold. It's time for more good stuff with Aaron Clements and John Ryan Mooney. CNC Auto Show is brought to you in part by Blaster and PB Blaster. Don't bust your knuckles, bust your nuts with PB Blaster, number one for breaking free rusted parts. And we are back with you with the CNC Auto Show. We are answering automotive questions. Amanda's here and we are talking with Jim and Jim was mentioning a story about a vehicle that he was working with. And Jim, give us the overview and then continue with what you were telling us about the car. Good.
Thank you. Ford Crown Victoria 4.6 liter V8, all apparent symptoms were a spark detonation. And you and I had talked on the phone during the week to try to come up with some ideas of where we should start looking. And we had talked about intake cleaning for carbon and possibly there was a timing issue. Maybe it could be a spark, a knock sensor or something's not right causing spark detonation.
So we started to chase those things down. Octane booster didn't do anything. And I looked around and I did have another EGR valve that I took off of another Ford Crown Victoria that I knew was still good.
But all along, the thing that kept bugging me was that it was a rapid onset, did not come on gradually. It didn't have a multi-cylinder sound to it upon the pinging. It was more one or two cylinders.
But nonetheless, we're still chasing it down. And I went up in there and I got my PB Blaster out. Took off the shroud over the top of the engine.
I sprayed it on that port where the exhaust gas pipe fits into the back of the EGR valve. Because it's rusty, over 200,000 miles that the car has on it. And then I let it sit there for a while. It came back and I put the wrench on it. And the thing was finger tight.
I said, whoa. I brought it right back to where I started with the wrench and grabbed it with my fingers. And I could tighten that thing some more. So what I had was an exhaust leak in what you might consider the third exhaust pipe of a dual exhaust car.
This one being quite small and quite short. Coming off of the rear of one manifold. So that came loose spontaneously. And that gave you the single cylinder sound rather than multiple cylinder sound. And where it was up high in the engine like that in such a small opening, it wasn't a typical exhaust leak sound. And the only reason I can think that it made the noise under load or heavy acceleration was maybe that's when the vacuum is lost in the engine.
The EGR valve becomes closed, creating more back pressure in the line. And I just tighten that wrench up and it's been quiet ever since. So just you never know the story. And Jim, you are the Crown Vic King. You do very well with those Crown Vics. Sometimes I'm a Crown Vic slave or Crown Vic cursor sometimes.
But once in a while, they don't hurt me too badly. And that was a nice outcome. Very nice. Yes. Thank you for letting us know how it turned out.
You're welcome. Hey, listen, do you want another wrong answer to that Tech Tip quiz? I would love to. You were all over it before. All right.
Let me read the question one more time. And let's see here. OK, Sean owns a 2006 Chevrolet Colorado 2.6 engine. He had been driving for a while when the light came on.
He had to pull over, repair something and loosen the belt. Why? And Jim, all eyes are on you. What is the answer to today's Tech Tip quiz? Oh, hold on, Jim. OK, now you can run with it.
What is the answer to today's Tech Tip quiz? You've got to give Mason a chance to toot that horn, right? Well, that's not Mason. The gentleman's name is Blue. He's union. And if we were to do this without him getting a chance to do it, we would run into a major legality issue.
So we have to give him the opportunity. Thank you, Blue. That's all for now. OK. All right. Go ahead, Jim. We're ready for you. All right. I think we were down to trying to figure out what the light might be.
Yes. We might have been OK on the bell, but here we go. Let's say the light was related to a loose fuel cap. So he got out and tighten his fuel cap and he did so at a place where they served food.
So he went and had a monster meal, such a monstrous meal that when he got back to drive, the belt he had to loosen was the one around his waist. So maybe I have another wrong answer. Jim, you're very, very close. I mean, I've been there before. You're very, very close.
You're closer than you were before. Yeah. Yeah, you are. I do. I am privileged to the answer this time.
Good. Well, then it's teed up again. I have one of those mugs in the key chain and the pen and I use it all the time. So if it's teed up, someone new this week that wasn't here last week, maybe they come on in and get their first mug.
Wouldn't that be a great? I believe you would help that person. Thank you, Jim. And that person in advance, I'll say thank you for them. What's that called?
Pay it forward or something? There you go. Thank you. Got another caller.
Yeah, we do have another caller and we have John. Welcome to the CNC Auto Show. Well, good morning. I'm enjoying your show again. Thank you.
Glad to have you. You open the show with a comment about smells and tires. I've got one for you. OK, we're ready.
Sounds good. This will guarantee that, you know, when a customer comes into your shop, you can tell if they have grandkids or not. When you open up the back door, you can look between the seats and you can find or smell French fries. Yes. That's true.
You mentioned that a little bit. And a lot of times it's things other than French fries that you can find. Gummy bears. Yeah. You can find all kind of things in my backseat right now. Banana peels from breakfast.
Goldfish. Those are common item. Yeah. It's a it's a it's a it's a big almost like a buffet board full of stuff you can find back there, John.
So, yes, that is absolutely true. John. Do you have a lot of French? Do you have a lot of French fries in your backseat? I got six of them. Yeah. Well, I enjoy your show and thank you very much. Thanks, John. Thank you very much for calling. OK. The number to call is seven. I'm sorry. Eight hundred two two four nine zero nine zero.
Of course, you can call seven zero six eight six three five eight hundred also and still come through. Amanda, we were talking about car smells. And one of the things I would say one of the more common smells that people describe is a musky smell.
When they first cut their AC on, especially if that used it very much in the wintertime and then all of a sudden spring gets here, they cut it on. What's that normally mean? Well, that is a very common one when you have a musky smell coming from your vents. And most people realize that there is a filter back there. It's called your cabin air filter. And a lot of times that means it has gotten some debris in it, some mildew, possibly. And it just plain needs to be replaced. Typically, we recommend replacing that filter about once a year or every twelve thousand miles. Or some people can go closer to two years or twenty four thousand miles.
It just depends on where you live and how often you're driving. But yeah, that filter can get mildewed and very dirty and a lot of smells can start coming from it. So when you turn on that AC, it just goes right past that before it blows in your face. So and they make filters now where they can filter out viruses. I mean, they they filter out very small particles.
The cabin air filters do. And I have seen some nasty ones over the years. Yeah, it's amazing what can get in there.
I mean, leaves, pine straw, you know, all kind of pollen. They can be very, very dirty. And then also at that same time, from time to time, we run into a case where moldy mildew is built up inside the evaporator box. And sometimes that can mean that the little drain pipe can be clogged up, not letting the moisture out. So when you have moisture and then inside that evaporator box is real dark and cool, that's every combination you need for mold and mildew to build up.
So sometimes you might have a moldy mildew problem, but it normally starts a lot of that starts because of that cabin air filter. OK, we wow. We take a real quick break. When we return, we'll be ready to answer your automotive questions, their information on car smells and what they might mean to you.
We'll be right back after these messages. Welcome back to more of the CNC Auto Show with Airman Clements and John Ryan Mooney. The CNC Auto Show is brought to you by Behrman Products and their four step professional air and fuel maintenance kit, helping maximize drivability, fuel economy and injector life.
Learn more at BehrmanProducts.com. And Amanda is here with me. We're here to answer your automotive questions, share information on car smells and what they might mean to you. And the number 800-224-9090, that is 800-224-9090. You can also watch us on Facebook, ccautoshow.com or listen on our YouTube. Yeah, all kind of good stuff. Amanda, where are we going?
I think Nate has been holding the longest. OK, let's go over here. Hey Nate, welcome to the CNC and good morning.
And what can we help you with today? Well, I got a 2016 Jeep Wrangler. This summer I noticed the fans were running quite a bit and had a little bit of a coolant smell, burning coolant smell when I was sitting in idle. This summer or this winter, I realized that some of the heating vents aren't getting hot like they used to. And so I changed the thermostat on it already, but I'm wondering if it might be the heater core or something else. Yeah.
Are you getting any steam? Like if you've been driving for a period of time, cooling up? No, not visibly.
It'll get up to about 215 and then the fan kicks on and kicks it down pretty good. Do you smell the smell more so like if the engine's hot and you cut the AC on or the heater on and you smell it more at that time? No, I notice it more after I've been driving and I either come to a stop light or come to a stop.
I notice it better. I would have the system pressure tested before doing anything because there's a lot of smells that can be picked up from the engine that can be sucked into the AC vent area because it's pulling a certain amount of air from outside the car and a certain amount for inside. And you may be pulling a coolant smell from there. Switching it between outside air and inside air, would that be a way to test to see if that might be the issue?
Some, but I would still have it pressure tested because even if you have a heater core. What about the fact that the heat's not really working? I lean towards a heater core, to be honest, and they can flush that out for you to see if that is clogged or, you know, there's a leak back there, but I recommend having it checked out for sure because it sounds like something in the heater core to me. But he's right. I mean, a smell could be coming more from the engine compartment being pulled through.
Yeah. And plus, if you've got a heater core, there's always a chance other things might be there because heater cores are normally, they normally go bad because of corrosion inside the cooling system. So if you've got a heater core, you want to find out if there's other things that might be going along with it. Now, a technician is probably going to ask to be able to let that car sit and get cold before he or she puts the pressure on it. They'll probably put about 12 PSI pressure, and then that way the coolant won't evaporate before they actually see it, and instead it'll drip on the ground. A pressure tester is not… Yeah, I don't have any drippage on the ground or nothing. Well, there's a chance that that might be because it's not leaking until it's under pressure. It's not under pressure until the engine gets hot. Once the engine gets hot, you might have something leak and evaporate before you ever see it. So I would have it pressure tested with it cold and then find out if anything else shows up, and if the heater core is bad, there's a chance that they may even see some of the coolant dripping out of the evaporator box.
And that would let you know that the heater core is leaking also, a sure thing, but they may see some drippage at the radiator that evaporates before you see it. So… How many miles do you have on it? A hundred and ten.
A hundred and ten. Not extreme, no. Yeah, I would have the pressure test run. If the pressure test… That way you'll know for sure. You won't be going at it… Because the heater core is not a small job, and you don't want to do that and find out that it was something else that was causing the problem. I've done one before, and trust me, I know it's not a small job.
Yeah, dash work is never fun. Can I take a stab at the trivia? Oh, absolutely you can, but we're going to need to put you on stage. Is that okay? Alright, I'm ready. Mason didn't wait until you said yes. He went and put you up there anyway.
Alright. Nate, you can take the sunglasses off, and then… Well, let me go ahead and read that bad boy again. Sean owns a 2006 Chevrolet Colorado with a 2.8 gas engine. He'd been driving for a while, a pretty good while actually, and he had to pull over to repair something. Well, a light come on. Then he pulled over to repair something and loosen the belt. What light came on, and why did he have to loosen his belt? Loosen his belt or a belt?
I didn't say. I just said loosen the belt. He said his belt. He's going off of the fact that Jim has already given a hint about the belt that was loosened. Yeah, he had to loosen the belt.
Alright. What happens when you've been driving a long time, Nate? Well, me personally, I'm a man of heavy weight, and so my belt will start digging into my abdomen, but that's a personal issue. But what happens if you've been driving for a long time? What happens to the car, and especially if you've been drinking a lot of coffee, what else happens?
Well, you've got to take a pit stop, and the car is hot, so… What happens to the car when you've been driving a long time? He's overheating. Hold on.
Maybe he was overheating, and, well, you know, he had to get some more fluid in the radiator system, and, well, he had to go anyway, so he may as well just kill two birds with one stone. Oh, Nate. You're close, but not quite.
I thought the coffee would give it away, Nate. Okay. Well, yeah, I think it's the other fluid. Not quite on yet, but thank you.
Oh, it's your wiper fluid. Alright. Thank you.
Oh, no! Hey, thank you, Nate. Okay, the number to call.
It's 800-224-9090. Let's go over. Where are we going, Amanda? Joe. Okay, let's go to Joe.
We only got a couple minutes. Hey, Joe, welcome to the show. Hey, guys.
Hey, I'm doing your show, like, every Saturday morning. Oh, thank you. And I want to apologize. I did, um, hello? Great. Thank you.
And, oh, and I want to apologize. I thought of another question while I was waiting, but it's similar. It's related to the first question.
The first question is, my wife has an 03 Durango and I have an 03 Tundra, Toyota Tundra pickup truck. And as far as I know, they don't have, I've never found anything about them having the filters, the cabin air filters. Is that something that kind of came up more recently? Yeah, well, around 2006 was roughly when they started putting them in. So there's a good chance they don't have them quite yet. And some models had it and some didn't. They didn't just, they didn't change all the cars at one time. Like, you run into a lot of, certain model cars had them in around that range.
Yeah, some in 05, 04. I would next time you have your oil changed, or you can even do YouTube or something like that. You can peek back there, yeah. And look it up just to be sure, but yours may not have one. And is there, is it worth trying to upset a vehicle to get one if you don't... No.
Yeah, you can't, but you can still use, like Frigefresh, things that freshen up your AC by spraying them into the vents, if you would like, that you can still use some of those chemicals that freshen the AC system. Yeah, we went 100 years without it. And so I wouldn't spend any money trying to upgrade unless you had some kind of really weird allergy or something like that.
Beer smelling, mildew or anything. But no, I wouldn't spend money doing it. It's just a feature that can be helpful if it's there. Hey, Joe, we got our fuel tanks on E. That might be a hint for the tech tip quiz. Yeah, if you had another question, if you could just hold just a second for the break. Well, yeah, we're going to go through a regular news break. That's what we're happy to hold, because the other question, I'll hold it on. I love that.
Thank you. Okay, the time clock's on E. I need to pull over for now. We'll be back on the road in no time. I'm Aaron here with Amanda, show producer Mason Rogers. Man, I sure enjoy you being here. And can you stay with us for the next hour? Yes. Fantastic. I think we'll be right back after these messages.
