Dear Tom and Ray: Last night, my neighbor knocked on my door an hour after I got home. He asked me if I had left my car running for a reason. I told him that I had turned off the car and had the keys in my pocket. He said, “Well, your fan has been running for an hour or so, and real loud!”
He was right! I put the key in, turned it to the “accessory” position without starting the car, and then switched it back off. The fan finally stopped. The car would not start the next morning without a jump. Two to three times, I have returned to my car in a parking lot to find the stereo playing while the key was still in my pocket.
– Brad
Tom: Look to the ignition switch itself.
Ray: I agree. If it had just been the fan, I might have suggested a faulty fan timer, or something like that. But when you threw in the fact that you come back to your car, and it’s listening to Jimmy Buffett all by itself, I think it has to be a bad ignition switch.
Tom: It’s allowing accessories to draw power from the battery without the presence of the key.
Ray: Have your mechanic test the ignition switch. He’ll do that by unplugging it while the fan or the radio are misbehaving. I’m guessing a new switch will solve the problem, Brad.
…
Dear Tom and Ray: My dear husband and I have entered into a heated debate about the quality of gas. He insists gas from quick-stop-
type gas stations is of lesser quality than that of the big oil companies. I say there are only a few oil-refinery companies in our country and that “all gas is created equal.”
– Anne
Tom: The stuff you buy at Fred’s Gas & Herring comes from the same holding tank as the stuff at Chevron, Shell or Texaco. But some brands use an additives package that does a better job of keeping your valves and your electronic throttle clean.
Ray: Back in 2004, several big carmakers – GM, Honda, Toyota and others – were unhappy with the detergent performance of gasoline because they were finding deposits inside their engines. So they got together and created some new gasoline standards that are tougher than the federal standards. They called gasoline that meets them “Top Tier.”
Tom: The companies that agreed to sell only Top Tier gas in the United States are: QuikTrip, Chevron, Conoco, Phillips, 76, Shell, Entec, MFA Oil, Kwik Trip/Kwik Star, Somerset, Aloha Petroleum and Texaco.
Ray: So you won’t find Joe’s Gas and Step Stool Emporium on that list, but you will find a mix of major brands and smaller “no-brand” gasoline distributors. You’ll also notice the absence of some very major brands.
Tom: Does it matter? It depends. Honda, BMW, Audi, VW, Toyota and GM think it does. But if you end up with carbon buildup after 100,000 miles, you can often get rid of it with a few cans of engine cleaner.
To see the latest list of Top Tier gasolines, go to their website, .
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