Ron takes a call to open this segment. Keith has questions about a vibration on his 02 Lincoln Town Car. Ron offers some old school basics of diagnostics for solving the problem. Next up, The Car Doctor goes into his Car Care Corner (a series of tips within the show). Today, Ron talks about servicing automatic transmissions; what to do, what to look for and how to get the longest service life out of the transmission.
In the next half of this segment, Bob from NJ calls in with questions about his VW's engine and transmission repair. Then Ron talks brakes on a 1997 Toyota Corolla. Bad vibrations and shakes; many have tried but no one has been able to diagnose the issue. The Car Dr, Ron Ananian to the rescue. He breaks (no pun intended) it down into simple to understand language for all.
To close this one out, Ron provides us with some final thoughts on the credit & car market in 2007; remember this time period was just prior to the great financial crisis of 2008. Interesting to look back and listen to!
Hey, hey, hey, welcome back ron Any in the car. Doctor here. Let's go over and talk to Keith Hempstead, North Carolina two Lincoln Town Car Yes, sir.
Hey, how you doing good?
Sir.
I've got a problem with when I started to give approach highway speed, I started to feel a viperation of vibration in the car. It's kind of cycles and I know I have the tires rotated and spend a line and everything, and it feels like it's like a mechanical vibration, like I said, goes away when I slower my.
Speed, it feels like it's in the seat of your pants.
Keith.
Yeah, you know, if you're cruising along what speed? Does it come in at about fifty five?
And it starts getting worse as I increased speed, like on the highway speed at seven it seems to be the worst.
Does it ever level off where it just totally disappears.
It totally disappears when I when I slow down, when I get you know, I blow fifty five or just disappear. I can't see.
So it starts at fifty five and it'll get gradually worse. If you were doing eighty's it's just as it's still there in some shape or form that you can.
File it right. I've tried to speed up some and to see if it was just that particular steed. It seems to get maybe a little worse with increasing speed.
Did rotating the tires at all change anything, or just didn't matter, didn't matter, didn't make a difference.
That was word. It could be like a drive train issue.
Or well, what's going on in my mind is, well, first of all, a couple of things. Number one, Even though somebody tells me they had the tires rotated and balanced, I still want to be certain that the tires were balanced properly. Because I probably solve seven out of ten vibration complaints that come into the shop that people have been everywhere and everybody's tried everything, and YadA YadA yah. I end up putting the tires on the balancer because I have a set procedure. I still follow, you know, I still go ABCD, and I still find seven out of ten times somebody's got a tire that's out of balance. That may not solve the problem altogether every time, but it changes it so it becomes a combined, layered issue. So my first thought is be absolutely certain and you know, did it look like they did the tire balance correctly? And that's the first step. The second is, yes, it's very possible once we eliminate tires as a potential source, that they're not chopped cupped, that the tires are in good condition, and that they are in balance. That this is a drive train issue. Specifically, this is a town car, so this is a rear wheel drive vehicle, right, okay, That this could have either a bad universal joint or a drive shaft that is out of balance because a weight fell off of it one word or the other. Now, one of the things your mechanic could try to do if he wants to see if doing work on the drive shaft changes anything, or if it affects the vibration, tell them to take a two hose, clamps and some wheelweights and clamp it. Start off with two ounces, three ounces, four ounces, depends on how he wants to diagnose this and clamp it to the rear of the drive shift. Does it change the vibration? Does it help the vibration all right? For that matter, if he were to run the car up in the air at thirty miles an hour, watch the drive shift. Does it look like it's spinning? Oblong? Does it look like it's spinning? True? Okay, I mean there's a bunch of things you can do before you actually go and pull the shaft out and have it checked for balance and vibrate and square, you know, one important thing. And I don't know what the access is down in North Carolina to a drive shaft shop. I mean, I'm sure they're around, but again I always stress to everybody a good tire balance, a good drive shaft shop. They're all kind of hard to find today, right, But if he's got somebody he can send it to, you may want to consider part of the diagnosis. Hey, here's my drive shift. Is it square? And how do the joints feel? All right? I'd be more thinking along the lines of a balance or a bent drive shaft then a joint, because generally a bad you joint comes in at about thirty two miles an hour, goes out at forty five, comes in at fifty five, goes out at sixty eight. Somewhere in that range. It seems to be about a ten to twelve mile an hour spread starting at thirty two to forty five fifty five to sixty eight and so on. It kind of clip clops works its way up the cycle. But you know, a drive shift could clearly be it as far as a potential source for this.
Okay, all right, Oh, thanks for hill.
You're welcome, sir. Have him checked that and then, by all means, give me a call back. Hey, let's let's go from here. Good grief, it's carcare corner time. Let's get over there and see what's going on. Your car or truck's transmission needs to have the fluid changed on a regular basis, and it also needs to have the filter replaced if it's so equipped. Now, if you notice I said your vehicles transmission, your car, truck. I didn't say if it was a man annual or an automatic. I said your transmission. Transmissions need to be serviced. That's a fact manufacturers have talked about and pointed out that there are extended drain and change intervals as vehicles have gotten better. And yes, they have gotten better, but the fact remains. Changing fluid and filter on your vehicle's transmission, as well as the rest of the drive train can help increase the longevity and life of the vehicle so that you can drive it longer with less problems. Part of a good transmission service, What are some of the things you need to look for? First of all, for an automatic transmission, you're going to remove the pan, change the filter if it's so equipped, and most of them today are. You're going to replace the fluid in the pan. If there is a drain on the torque converter, you're going to have that drained and then refill it during the refilled process. Or you're going to service the filter the fluid in the pan, put it back up, and do a fluid exchange for a complete fluid replacement. This is done generally while the vehicle is running. It removes all the fluid out of the torque converter and the rest of the transmission that just dropping the pan won't get to, and provides good clean fluid back to the transmission throughout its entirety, and generally it works great. Dirty nasty, rotten fluid comes out and good clean fluid goes back in that transmission. Sure performs a whole heck of a lot better. Manual transmissions are generally a little easier to service. They are a draining fill. The most important thing you need to do there, just as with an automatic transmission, but the choices aren't as great. You need to be certain that you've got the correct type of gear oil going back into that manual trans Not all gear oils are the same, not all automatic transfluids are the same. Bottom line is that your vehicle's transmission, regardless of what it is, needs to be serviced on a regular basis. If it's so equipped, filters along with the fluids, a fresh pan gasket if it needs it if it's not a reusable one, a converter change if it's an automatic, and make sure absolutely that you're putting correct fluid back in it, whether it be an automatic or a manual, and that vehicle's transmission will keep going for more miles and more miles, and more miles and more miles. This has been the Carcare Corner with me ronning Annie in the car doctor. Hey, welcome back, ronnin Anie in the car.
Doc.
Let's go over and talk to Bob Philipsburg, New Jersey, nineteen ninety folkswagon wabbit and see what's going on over there. Yes, Bob, welcome, good morning.
Yeah, last time I talked to you, I got the air conditioning working and the engine just went away with oil pressure and then everything else. So I got the engine and transmission out of the car, took the transmission completely apart to reseal it because it was leaking right, and the ATF oil is really really beat up bad in fact, how to replace some bushings in the clutch packs and everything else, And I'm thinking about putting synthetic oil for the automatic. I did put synthetic oil into final drive with this. Any Fani's over at Dextron three.
Or You're not going to rebuild the trends, right, Bob, You're just gonna it's just a reseal.
Yeah, Basically, I probably wouldn't at this point because I would just use you know, I would probably just use conventional transfluid at this stage of the game I'm concerned with and synthetic transfluid has its place.
Synthetic transfluid works well in a lot of transmissions. I don't know Volkswagen off the top of my head. But the reason I'm hesitating without doing some research on it isn't if you want, you can do the research yourself. Is just because some of the synthetic fluids are so slick they can actually create an issue with friction and clutch packs in the trends and cause an early failure. And I'm not saying that as a negative. I think synthetic transfluid has its place, like synthetic engine oil has its place. Just be sure of what you're putting it in. Some of the early nineties Ford products, for example, synthetic transfluid, we have found that it does cause issues and does create bigger problems, and it can cause an early failure some vehicles. It works really well in now some of the newer vehicles two thousand and six model year and up on. A lot of manufacturers are now going to a synthetic trans fluid. So you know it has its place. It's just like conventional engine oil as far as you know heat breakdown, on all the issues that it'll help prevent. But you've got to know what you're putting it into.
Yeah.
As far as the engine, last time we had talked about this, I had to end up getting a used engine because of my resources. I had two places I could have gotten engines, but the reliability wasn't there. The engine came out of a place is to deal strictly with watercoal volkswag as they keep the cars on the steel racks. You can't even go in there. Angine's guaranteed, but brand new oxygen and sensor. And I don't dropped it in a bucket of waste oil. What do you think.
I think you're buying. I think you're buying an oxygen sensor.
Yeah, it was one of those days. Everything. I just you know, you just dropped the things, you know. I think we do make mistake right, I mean.
Listen, that's why God put erasers on pencils. Yeah, you could try it, Bob, but I don't think you're gonna get any response out of it. I think for the price of an O two, I've got to say, I don't think I've ever run across that one. My concern is that the oil is saturated into the into the poorest material that the O two sensor contains. Yeah, I don't think it would ever correct itself. I just I think you're throwing it away, yeah, okay, or you're gonna you're gonna mount it on a piece of wood, put it on your toolbox and go. Haste makes waste. And here's an example of it.
I got lots of fabulous veil. I got quite a fabulous Vail here collection.
So there you go, there you go, all right, sir.
Okay, I'll let you know how to make out.
Yep, thank you. Yeah. It's always we alway, you know, it's just and we do it. That's what makes us human. We do tend to rush and we can kind of run around and you know, just not something you really want to go through. If you don't have to, Let's let's go over and talk to Christina out there in Glenburn, Maine. Yes, Christina, Yes.
I have a ninety seven Toyota Corolla, okay, and I've been having problems with it the front end breake wise. They replaced the Toyota the caliber on the passionate side, thinking it was that because you go down the road and you'll be just going down the road and all of a sudden you'll feel the whole front end start shaking, okay, because the calipers the brakes are coming on.
So the brakes are applying by themselves with your foot off. Yeah, all right. Can the mechanic duplicate the problem?
It doesn't happen all the time because it comes, it goes off and on. It doesn't happen all the time.
Does the car pull to one side or the other, or it just stops straight, It just starts to slow down in a fairly straight line.
Right, exactly fairly straight line, starts to slow down. They're thinking that's the proportioning valve, but I'm not really sure.
I'd be thinking more along the lines of a master cylinder, because if the master cylinder wasn't applied and the proportioning valve was stuck one way or the other, it doesn't have any pressure in it that it would allow the system to apply to the calibers to slow the car down. In other words, the proportioning valve is controlled by the master. If the master cylinder isn't activating anything, you could take that proportioning valve and move it all the way to the left of the right in theory from a mechanical understanding of it, and it's not going to matter. It doesn't know, it's not going to affect anything because there's no pressure in the system. What I would suggest the mechanic try to do is if he can duplicate the problem once it gets to the point, and let me ask you this question. If the wheels start to lock up and the car stops. If you wait a certain amount of time, does it free itself? Or does this just go on forever it frees itself? Okay? How long does it take for it to free itself?
An hour or so?
Okay? I bet you this car has a bad master. I bet you the seals and the master are swelling and not releasing the piston. Or this could also have a bad break booster causing the master cylinder to be applied by engine vacuum and affecting it that way. Pulling the pedal down, does the pedal drop it?
All?
No?
All right, try this the next time it happens. Have you tried popping the brake pedal with your foot, hitting it hard, or lifting up from underneath trying to get it to release. Yes, you've pulled up from underneath, yep. Okay.
If you completely stopped right and then try to go right, it sounds like you have your emergency brake on.
Okay. It shutders And this happens while traveling at speed and you have not touched the brake.
Pedal right exactly?
Okay. Get the mechanic to duplicate it. When he does, tell him to break the line. Crack it loose at the master cylinder and see if fluid burps out. If the fluid burps out at the line at the master cylinder, that vehicle's got a bad master or some things causing it to apply and he can diagnose it from there. All right.
He said something about when he pulled, when he pulled the plug on the caliber, that the brake food just squirt it out.
Right, Well, where's the brake fluid coming from the master cylinders? Building pressure? That's your bigger issue. Do it the way I said, I think you'll get to the solution. I'm Ronning a in the Car Doctor. We'll back right after this. Hey, welcome back Ronning Anie in the Card Doctor here. So we're kind of winding things down, finishing off our article about the credit issues and how the housing market has affected the automotive market and how a lot of you are thinking maybe he's now is not a good time to purchase a new vehicle. And I'm sort of sitting here scratching my head thinking maybe now's the time we ought to talk more about fixing cars and repairing cars. So I think in some upcoming shows we're gonna point out some of the things that you need to be looking for, either in a used car purchase or what you consider doing to your vehicle. Trying to help you make that decision fix it or replace it, and we'll kind of talk about that as the week's unfold. The article concludes that the economy weekens further or the housing market weekends further, there will be a continued impact on automotive sales. Sixty percent of new automotive sales or financed, and a significant portion of that comes from home equity loans. If the sources of those down payments try up, it concludes, it may affect future sales figure. So housing market definitely affects automotive market. We'll see where all of the this goes. Hey, till the next time when we get together, continue the quest to fix all of the America's broken cars. I'm running any in the car doctor, reminding you good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you