Ron Ananian The Car Doctor

Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Hour 2 - September 19, 2026
You bought the car. You made the payments. But when it needs repair, who really gets to decide who can fix it?
This week on The Car Doctor, Ron Ananian digs into the growing Right to Repair battle and explains why it goes far beyond getting a wiring diagram. Modern vehicles depend on software, secure gateways, scan tools, programming and telematics—and access to that technology may ultimately determine where your vehicle can be repaired.
Ron explains why Right to Repair is really about something much simpler: consumer choice.
Plus, a BMW M8 Competition that mysteriously needed spark plugs at only 5,000 miles, a longtime listener trying to push his Honda toward 400,000 miles, and Ron finishes the complicated cooling-system repair on a 2021 Ford Escape Hybrid—with a little help from the OPUS IVS platform.
And sometimes the hardest automotive problems have the simplest answers: a Chevy Silverado with an annoying squeak proves once again why good diagnosis still matters.
Real cars. Real problems. Real answers.
Car Advice, Done Right
🌐Visit: CarDoctorShow.com
📸 Follow Ron on Instagram: @ronananian
🎥 Watch repair tips and shop videos on YouTube
📻 Join the conversation LIVE Saturdays 2–4 PM



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Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Hour 1 - September 19, 2026
There’s a storm brewing in the automotive world—and this time it isn’t just about the price of gasoline.
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor™, takes a firsthand look at the growing engine-oil shortage as repair shops and retailers begin facing purchasing restrictions, prices climb and certain viscosities and specifications become harder to find. Why is this happening, how long could it last, and what should you be doing now to protect your vehicle?
Ron explains why modern engines require very specific oils, why simply grabbing the right viscosity off the shelf may not be enough, and why using the wrong specification to get through a shortage could become an expensive mistake.
Then it’s back to the phones: a 2000 Chevy Silverado with mysterious transmission and transfer-case problems raises an important diagnostic question—could something as simple as a bad ground be causing all the trouble?
Plus, with the cost of replacing a vehicle continuing to climb, Ron goes back to basics with practical maintenance advice: air and cabin filters, throttle-body cleaning, fuel-system service and the little things that can help your car run better and last longer.
Because today, it seems you have two choices: car payments or repair bills. Taking care of what you already own has never mattered more.
Real cars. Real problems. Real answers.
Visit us at https://www.cardoctorshow.com

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Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Hour 2 - September 12, 2026
Auto repair doesn’t always go according to plan—and sometimes just getting to the problem is half the battle.
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, takes you inside the service bay with a 2021 Ford Escape Hybrid suffering from a communication fault with its active grille shutter system. Multiple scan tools, OE-level diagnostics, circuit testing and a lot of disassembly eventually reveal the real culprit: a corroded power wire buried deep in the harness. It’s a perfect example of why good diagnostics have to be slow, methodical and proven—not guessed.
Then the phones light up. A listener with a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee has a “Service Shift Selector” warning and suddenly no reverse. Ron explains why the transmission itself may not be the problem and uses an old-fashioned landline telephone system to make today’s vehicle computer networks easy to understand.
Next, what do you do with a 2002 Honda with an incredible 323,000 miles and a slight transmission engagement delay? Repair it, replace the transmission—or leave well enough alone? Ron weighs the economics of keeping an older vehicle alive.
Plus: Ford 3.5L internal water-pump failures, Nissan ABS/VDC problems, wheel-speed diagnostics, and preparing a diesel for winter.
Real cars. Real problems. Real-world diagnosis.
Car Advice, Done Right
🌐Visit: CarDoctorShow.com
📸 Follow Ron on Instagram: @ronananian
🎥 Watch repair tips and shop videos on YouTube
📻 Join the conversation LIVE Saturdays 2–4 PM

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Hour 1 - September 12, 2026
Where do great mechanics come from? Are they born with “the touch,” or can it be taught?
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, looks at the technician shortage from a different angle: maybe the automotive industry hasn’t done enough to nurture the next generation.
Ron remembers a young trade-school graduate named Gus who knew the procedures—but one flat tire at the far end of the shop parking lot revealed something his education hadn’t taught him: how to improvise when the procedure no longer fits the situation. It leads Ron back to one of his father’s lessons: follow steps one through ten—but also know when the repair demands that you think outside the box.
Then there’s Danny. Years ago, Danny walked into Ron’s shop carrying an F-150 steering knuckle and needing help pressing ball joints. Ron handed him the tools and instructions and watched. Within half an hour, Danny had figured it out himself. Ron knew immediately: “Kid, you’ve got it.”
Nature or nurture? Maybe great mechanics require some of both.
Ron also gets back to the nuts and bolts with a 1996 Ford 7.3L Power Stroke water-pump repair—a job that reminds him how much fun working on an older truck can be after spending days diagnosing and disassembling a technology-packed Ford Escape Hybrid.
Plus: hunting down an obsolete Fiat 500 trunk latch, diagnosing P0420/P0430 catalytic-converter faults, aftermarket versus OE catalytic converters, and why a trouble code should begin a diagnosis—not automatically dictate the repair.
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor — Car Advice, Done Right.
Car Advice, Done Right
🌐Visit: CarDoctorShow.com
📸 Follow Ron on Instagram: @ronananian
🎥 Watch repair tips and shop videos on YouTube
📻 Join the conversation LIVE Saturdays 2–4 PM



See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Hour 1 - September 5, 2026
A 2020 GMC Denali arrives at R\A Automotive on a tow truck with an intermittent no-crank—and a history that would make any mechanic stop and think. Nearly three years, five different shops, multiple starters, and the same problem keeps coming back.
Ron starts where every diagnosis should start: at the beginning. Working with GM expert Ernesto through the OPUS IVS diagnostic platform, Ron separates clues from conclusions, uses factory service information and pattern-failure knowledge, and begins proving what the problem ISN’T. The trail eventually leads to a loaded voltage-drop test, a questionable negative battery cable, and a starter-solenoid connection that has seen its share of previous repairs.
It’s a real-world lesson in why replacing parts isn’t the same as diagnosing a car—and why sometimes the most valuable question a technician can ask is: What have I proved right, and what have I proved wrong?
Also this hour: when should you get a wheel alignment, why a car can be out of alignment without pulling, an A/C system that cools until the Florida heat arrives, and why guessing at refrigerant charge can create more problems than it solves.
Real calls. Real cars. Real diagnostics. Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor.
Car Advice, Done Right
🌐Visit: CarDoctorShow.com
📸 Follow Ron on Instagram: @ronananian
🎥 Watch repair tips and shop videos on YouTube
📻 Join the conversation LIVE Saturdays 2–4 PM


See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.