AM not switched off just yet
Q: Your recent comment, “… btw, cars are coming with no AM at all” provides me a great opportunity to bring to your attention a current effort in Congress to prevent that from happening, and for good reason, as AM radio plays a critical role in America’s Emergency Alert System. Ford, apparently realizing their error, just reversed their decision to remove AM radio from their 2024 vehicles but has yet to commit beyond 2024, giving even more reason for the bill’s passage. I enjoy your column!
Dennis Lyle, president and CEO, Illinois Broadcasters
Association
Q: I have a 2017 Ford Flex Limited. It appears no matter where I am driving, my fuel average gauge is almost always showing 15.9 to 16.2 mpg. On a long road trip, it was up to
19.6 but immediately returned to that previous range. My mechanic says everything is showing normal.
M.C., Niles, Illinois
Q: A few years ago, we relocated from Illinois to Tucson. With summer pavement temperatures reaching north of 150, I’m wondering how much of a negative impact this has on my tires and what, if anything, I can do to minimize excessive wear.
F.N., Tucson, Arizona
Q: Regarding the recent article about a Chevy Malibu stop/start not working, I have a 2019 Chevy Cruze with stop/start, which stopped working when it was about three years old. I took it to the Chevy dealer to get it fixed just before the three-year warranty was up. The tech diagnosed it as a weak battery. They replaced the battery under warranty, and stop/start worked fine after that. The stop/start technology requires a full battery charge at all times since the battery must handle the starting of the engine over and over. This is then a good indicator that a new battery is needed.
S.H., Henderson, Nevada
A: Good point and worth reminding my readers. When the battery gets low, the stop/ start feature is disabled to allow available power to be routed to more vital circuits.