#25103: Bryology Anyone?
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Car
Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla is a small car that many people buy because it's reliable and doesn't cost a lot to keep running. It's very popular around the world, and many drivers choose it because it lasts a long time and is easy to drive.
Car
Hyundai i30
The Hyundai i30 is a small car that looks good and is easy to drive. It's known for being comfortable and having a lot of features for the price, making it a smart choice for many families.
Car
Infiniti I30
The Infiniti I30 is a fancy car that feels more luxurious than a regular car. It was made a while ago but was popular for being comfortable and stylish.
Car
Dodge Caliber
The Dodge Caliber is a small car that looks a bit sporty and has a lot of space inside. It was made for a few years but didn't get the best reviews from critics.
Car
Ford Thunderbird
The Ford Thunderbird is a car made by Ford, known for its unique design and sporty performance. The 1992 version is one of the later models in its long history.
Term
alignment
Alignment is how the wheels of a car are set up. If they're not aligned properly, it can cause uneven tire wear and make the car harder to control.
Term
tire wear
Tire wear is how much the rubber on a tire gets used up as you drive. If the tires wear out unevenly, it can mean there’s something wrong with the car's setup.
Part
struts
Struts are parts of your car's suspension that help keep it stable and smooth when you drive. They absorb bumps from the road, making your ride more comfortable.
Brand
Chevy
Chevy is short for Chevrolet, a popular car brand in the United States that makes many different types of vehicles.
Car
Chevy pickup truck
A Chevy pickup truck is a type of truck made by the Chevrolet brand. They are often used for carrying heavy loads and are popular for both work and everyday driving.
Term
vacuum leak
A vacuum leak is when extra air gets into the engine from a place it shouldn't, which can cause problems with how the engine runs. It can make the engine work harder and not perform well.
Part
spark plug wires
Spark plug wires connect the ignition system to the spark plugs, which help start the engine. If these wires are damaged or not connected properly, the engine may not run well.
Term
backfire
Backfire is when the engine makes a loud popping noise because the fuel ignites at the wrong time or place. It usually happens when there's a problem with how the engine is working.
Part
exhaust manifold
The exhaust manifold is a part of the engine that helps direct the gases produced when fuel is burned. It helps the engine run better and cleaner.
Part
tranny shaft
A tranny shaft is a part of the car that helps move power from the engine to the wheels, allowing the car to drive. It's an important piece of the car's transmission system.
Part
frame
The frame is like the skeleton of a car. If there are cracks in it, the car might not be safe to drive.
Car
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic is a small car that many people drive because it's dependable and gets good gas mileage. It's been around for a long time and has many different versions.
Term
fuel line
The fuel line is a tube that carries fuel from the gas tank to the engine. It's important for the engine to get the right amount of fuel to start and run smoothly.
Term
check valve
A check valve is a part that makes sure fuel only goes one way in the car, so it doesn't flow back when the engine is turned off. This helps keep the fuel system working properly.
Term
fuel injectors
Fuel injectors are parts of the engine that spray fuel into the engine's cylinders. They help the engine run smoothly by making sure it gets the right amount of fuel.
Term
head pressure
Head pressure is the pressure created by the weight of the fuel in the tank. It helps move the fuel to where it needs to go in the car.
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Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio.
With us, click and clack the tappet brothers.
And we're broadcasting this week from the Merritt's Counseling Division
here at Car Talk Plaza.
Marion Haist's office.
Yeah, her office is right around the corner.
And she sent me this as a matter of fact.
She's our, what is she?
A wedding planner?
Marriage counselor.
There you go.
A marriage counselor, Marion Haist.
Oh, Marion Haist.
Yeah, Marion Haist.
Here's a letter from...
March in O'Vara.
What's his name?
You didn't tell us his name.
Here it is.
Dear knuckleheads, I hope you're satisfied with yourselves.
Oops.
You're almost breaking up my marriage after 26 blissful years.
I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be driving a Toyota Corolla.
I didn't know that my karma was off, that I was a cheapskate, a wuss and a snob.
And neither did my wife.
I recently took your caroscope test.
It's not a test, it's just a little, a simple little psychographic battery of questions.
Battery?
Simple.
And I recently took your caroscope test and my wife got into my email and now we both know.
She suggested we go to a marriage counselor, but I'm too cheap to spend the money.
So I decided to email you guys.
You see, the real dilemma is that my caroscope suggested that I dump the Corolla and get,
of all things, a dodge cold vista.
My wife took the test.
Now get this.
Two different people.
The same car, though.
Same household.
Same car.
They drive the same car.
She thought she owned it.
He thought he owned it.
My wife took the test.
They told her to dump the Corolla, same car, and go for an infinity I-30.
We only have one Corolla, and one of us is going to have to be in bad karma.
The question is, can an infinity type person find happiness in a dodge cold vista, or
do I also have to dump my wife, or does she have to dump you?
What a dilemma.
Isn't that interesting?
Two people who clearly are not meant for each other.
He can't possibly have had 26 blissful years of marriage.
He might not know.
A dodge cold vista person as opposed to an I-30 person.
Don't forget, the caroscope never makes a mistake.
Never.
People are always surprised, are frequently surprised, only because they have hidden
issues.
Right.
And the caroscope has had its many detractors.
It has.
It certainly has.
Tons of males saying this is absolutely wrong.
Vitriolic male.
We got one letter from a guy who owned a Porsche, and the caroscope told him the Porsche was
not for him.
He went nuts.
This is the love of my life.
It went on and on and on.
Little does he know that it isn't for him.
No, he's trying to be something that he shouldn't be.
That he isn't.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So do we answer this guy?
Well, maybe the caroscope will enlighten him with the Porsche.
I don't know what to do with these folks.
These folks.
This is tough, man.
Well, I think she has to dump them.
I think she has to dump him.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's what I think.
Yeah.
And 26 years ain't bad.
It's a lot of years.
Oh, plenty.
It is plenty.
Sure.
Maybe too many.
I've never had a marriage last 26 years.
Well, not yet.
Anyway, if you want your very own caroscopes, you can break up your own marriage.
You can go to the cartalksessionofcars.com and you can answer a few simple, innocuous,
harmless little questions and make the rest of your life miserable.
If you'd like to be miserable right now, you can call us at 1-888-CAR-TALK, that's 8-888-227-8255.
Hello, your aunt, Car Talk.
Hello, this is Diane Young with Cordova, Tennessee.
Diane?
Yes.
Cordova, huh?
Uh-huh.
Tennessee.
Outside of Memphis, Tennessee.
In the deep southwest corner of Tennessee.
That is correct.
What's up?
Well, I have a car that I acquired from my mother-in-law, and it's a 92 Thunderbird, and I've had it
for about two weeks.
Now, even before I got the car from her, I knew it had this problem, but it was still
such a deal.
You know, it was being from my mother-in-law and all.
We had to get the car.
Yeah.
You were in the pressure, in some ways.
Well, not necessarily.
I don't want to get you into any trouble with the old MIL.
There you go.
Okay, but I understand.
I'm reading between the lines here, Diane, and I'm with...
That you couldn't have said no to this car for a variety of reasons.
Whatever they may have been, and we won't discuss that.
We won't discuss that.
Okay.
Okay.
She's a great mother-in-law.
Oh, I'm sure.
It's almost redundant, isn't it, to say great and mother-in-law in the same sense.
It's not even necessary.
No.
Perhaps it isn't oxymoron for people.
Perhaps it is.
All right.
What I have is, if I'm taking the car on an interstate, smooth road, interstate, go on
anywhere from like 60 miles an hour, 65 miles an hour, up to whatever, 75, how fast you can
drive around here.
What it feels like is the back end is doing a real soft, subtle fishtail, almost all
on its own.
It kind of swings to the left, and it swings back to the right, and it'll swing back to
the left.
What's the rhythm?
Yeah, what is the rhythm?
There is no specific rhythm.
But is it at a high frequency or a low?
So if you're doing 60, is it...
Or is it more...
Well, it's not making any noise.
No, no.
I mean, is that the rhythm?
Oh, okay.
Is it more like a tango or a samba?
Right.
I have a left, then right, then left, then right.
Ah, I like it.
Then right.
I like it.
I like it.
It's not left, right, left, right, left, right.
Yeah, okay, okay.
Not a box truck.
Just...
Ah, got it.
It's not jerky, and I don't feel it in the steering, however, I feel that I must
steer to correct it.
And if I don't, then I feel like I'm going right off into the ditch.
It's going to take me right off one direction.
Yeah, yeah.
Scary, huh?
It kind of is, yeah.
You've assumed, and I don't know why, maybe if I had driven the car, I would make the same
assumption that the problem is in the back.
Because it feels like it's in the back.
Because it feels like it's in the back, but I think that the back and the front are connected.
And you know what?
By the middle.
By the middle.
It feels like it's broken in the middle.
Good description.
Excellent.
Could be so many things.
No, I have two, but go ahead.
You have two.
I have two.
I have two.
Okay.
Are they the same two?
You two first.
It could be something as simple as two tires in the back or the front of different sizes.
Is your mother-in-law, between you and me, Diane, is your mother-in-law a cheapskate?
I don't know.
Is she a specially generous kind of person?
Oh, she's very generous.
She is, okay.
And she wouldn't go like pick up tires by the side of the road.
No, no, no.
She was throwing away and stick them on her back of her car.
No, she wouldn't do that.
So you should check that.
Yeah, she might.
No, remind.
We can cut that part out, Diane.
So it could be tires of different sizes.
It could be tires with different air pressures.
It could be alignment.
Okay.
And that's my two.
Now let me ask you this real quick before I hear the other possibilities.
Yeah.
I had it test driven when I drove the car and I said, Bernice, this is happening.
And she said, I can't feel it.
And she's driven the car for seven years.
And she took it in and she had the mechanics test drive it.
They said they didn't feel anything.
Now she wasn't with them when they drove it.
So I don't know if they drove it 40 miles an hour down, you know, a full lane road
or if they actually took it on the interstate.
And you also don't know how she introduced the problem.
I mean, she could have said there's something terribly wrong with my car.
I'd like you to test drive it.
Oh, she could have said my wacko daughter-in-law insisted that I come over here.
I know she's crazy, but just driving around the block anyway
so I can go tell her that she's nuts.
Yeah, I would guess they didn't drive it.
That way she'll forget the car, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, they probably didn't drive it fast enough.
I'm thinking they probably didn't.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, what are you up to?
Well, when you began, Diane, your little story an hour ago.
Sorry.
That's okay.
The thing that immediately leapt into my mind was that your alignment was off.
Okay.
And if they didn't drive it fast enough to get the sensation,
then they wouldn't have even suspected that.
And if they didn't put it on the alignment machine,
they'd have no way of really knowing
unless the tires were worn out very peculiarly.
Okay.
But if the tires aren't that old,
they may not be showing any signs of this alignment problem.
Okay.
But I would guess that your front-end alignment is out,
and that can make it,
we've had cars go out of our shop in cases where we've installed struts
and haven't aligned the car properly.
And it feels you're riding around on bowling balls.
And every little turn you make,
as soon as you turn the wheel a little bit,
that movement gets exaggerated.
So you turn a little bit to the right to compensate
for maybe a truck going past you.
And next thing you know,
you move 10 feet to the right instead of 10 inches.
Right.
And then you try to correct and you end off over-correcting.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
And then we'll align the thing
because I have a strong suspicion that that's it.
Okay.
Alrighty.
Well, I'll do that.
Thank you very much.
Say it, Diane.
Thanks for your call.
Great.
Okay, bye-bye.
Good luck.
Say hello to the mother-in-law.
Bernice.
Bernice, yeah.
Tell her I said to say hello
and I never met a mother-in-law I didn't like.
There you go.
Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, Diane.
Especially when she was someone else's mother-in-law.
Somebody else is right.
All right, Tommy,
do you remember last week's puzzler?
All right, just give me a hint.
I need a hint and I'll have it.
Give me a hint.
Here's the only hint they can give you.
It was fully automotive
and involved an old Chevy,
not unlike the one you used to have.
Yeah.
And a picture of Marilyn Monroe.
No clue, huh?
I was just kidding about Marilyn.
But it does involve an old Chevy
and I'll have the answer in just a minute.
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Hi, we're back.
You're listening to Car Talk with us.
Click and Clack the Tapper Brothers.
And we're here to talk about cars,
car repair and the answer
to last week's fully automotive puzzler.
It was about a Chevy, huh?
An old Chevy.
I don't remember it.
I honestly don't.
Actually, I didn't either
until I looked at my notes here.
Anyway, a few months or weeks ago,
I don't know when this happened.
One of my guys was under the hood
of an old Chevy pickup truck
trying to find a vacuum leak.
Now, a vacuum leak is a hole somewhere
which allows extra air to leak into the engine
or get sucked into the engine.
And since all the air that enters the engine
should get in through the carburetor
or the throttle body
or some controlled mechanism,
any air that comes in anywhere else
is a vacuum leak
and therefore unwanted.
Yeah, because it disrupts.
It disrupts the fine balance.
The stoichiometry.
Oh, man.
And it makes the engine run lousy too.
That too.
Especially if the leak is big enough.
And in this case it was
and the car would not run at all
and certainly wouldn't run at idle.
And in this case, it was stalling
every time you would take your foot off the gas
and that's the problem this thing had.
Anyway, now the way you find vacuum leaks
is either you get lucky
and hear a hissing
and you say, ah, there it is.
Or we use a wand
that has a little nozzle at the end
that shoots propane gas
and when the propane
and the vacuum leak meet.
What happened?
Propane gets sucked in
with the air that's getting sucked in.
It renders the mixture now correct
and the engine suddenly begins to run better
then you move to a different spot
and the engine returns to its lousy performance
and you go back and forth
and you say, aha, that's it.
So there he is with the propane wand
under the hood
and the leak is so big,
I guess are so evasive
that he can't seem to find it.
So in desperation,
he throws the stuff down
and shuts off the engine.
Of course, I would do what?
Walk away.
I don't want to run.
I don't like to micromanage.
You know what I mean?
You fix the cars,
I'll do something else.
That's right.
Call me if you need me.
A few minutes later,
I walk by and he's doing something interesting.
He's pulling off the spark plug wires
and he's putting them back on
but on the wrong plugs.
I say, what a knucklehead.
I walk away again.
Two minutes later,
I hear him on the phone
ordering the part he needs
to fix the vacuum leak.
What did he do?
He put the plugs on the wrong...
The spark plug wires on the wrong...
He does this all the time
so I didn't think it was anything...
Yeah.
What he did by hooking up
the spark plug wires incorrectly
and running the engine,
he made it backfire
through the intake manifold
and when that happens
and you get combustion
taking place in the manifold...
He saw a puff of smoke.
There you go.
A puff of smoke
and he found a gasket
that was blown.
That's where he saw
the puff of smoke escape
and boom, he ordered it
and nine hours later
it was fixed.
And the flat rate book
gave you 21 hours
to do that job so
you're charged for 21 hours.
Absolutely.
That's the way it goes.
Yeah.
And Ken's car's never
run the same since.
Boy, that's very good.
Do we have a winner this week?
I don't know.
I have to look through these little pieces of paper here.
Well, I mean to satisfy
the people who have
an automotive interest.
I have to have an automotive puzzler
at least once.
Once in the current puzzler season.
We have a winner
and his name is Ron Juris
from Saginaw, Michigan
and Ron for having your answer
selected at random
from among all the correct answers
that we got.
You're going to get a copy
of our brand new CD
about fathers and cars.
It just came out
and it's called
why you should never listen
to your father
when it comes to cars.
And that's yours, Ron,
for being so smart
and everyone else
has to call the
Shameless Commerce Division
and shell out 15 bucks for it
but not you
because you're going to get one
for free.
Good work.
Very good.
Ron, anyway,
we will have a new
non-automotive
I would say historically
relevant puzzler
coming up in the third half
of today's show.
And for those
non-believers
there are three halves
of this show.
So stay tuned for that.
In the meantime
you can call us
and ask us any question
you'd like.
The number is
1-888-CAR-TALK
that's 888-227-8255
a lawyer on CAR-TALK.
Hey, this is Kobe
from Portland, Oregon.
Kobe.
Kobe.
Wait a minute now.
K-O-B-I.
No.
K.
C-O-B-E-Y.
Close.
C-O-B-Y.
You got it.
C-O-B-Y.
Kobe.
Yep.
That's an interesting name.
Is it short for?
Short for Jacob.
Oh.
Kobe.
Oh, very good.
Yeah.
See, my dad was Jake
and so he had the first half
so they figured
they'd give me the second half.
I like it.
But they added a Y
until it wouldn't
seem so blunt
to me.
You know,
C-O-B, right.
C-O-B would have been all right,
too.
And where are you from?
Portland, Oregon.
Portland.
I'm sorry.
Okay, got it.
Yeah, it's great to talk to you.
I've been a mechanic
for 23 years
and finally got out of it.
Good for you.
How did you do it?
How did you do it?
Well,
I'm a sculptor now.
I make critters
out of car parts.
Ah.
You make critters out
of car parts.
I'm trying to visualize that.
Like, give me an example.
Muffler systems, of course.
No.
Mostly stuff
massive enough
I can do with my mig welder.
So, like,
I've got an exhaust manifold
that's upended
so that the arms
look like a ghost
raising its arms above its head.
Oh, man.
I love it.
Oh, yeah, I do, too.
Yeah.
A tranny shaft
with all those
neat little grooves on it.
I've got eyes on that
and some railroad spike legs.
Like,
a lizard thing.
So, are you making
more money as a sculptor
than you did as an automobile mechanic?
No.
Are you making?
Nothing as a sculptor,
but it's starting to get better.
Hasn't caught on yet, so to speak.
It's just on the verge of it.
I've started my own art movement.
Yeah.
You know, I have to give you credit.
I mean, every time you
extracted one of these parts
from a car,
you saw
hidden in it
some beauty.
Yeah.
We just throw the things in the trash.
And, you know,
I had to stop working on cars
because it was like,
you know, you tell your boss,
but I can't change it.
Look, I'd be tearing off
its little legs.
Yeah.
That pretty much sealed it for you.
Was there a lot of whispering
going on in the shop?
Too much carburetor cleaner.
Well, that's what happens.
So, what did you call us anyway?
Well, I called you
about to get advice on
my truck, Betsy.
Yeah.
Betsy the Wonder Truck.
I bought her when I was 17
and I'm 43 now.
Never owned anything else.
Really?
Yep.
What is it?
66 Chevy, half done pickup.
Wow.
And the deal is
I've had different
evolutions of camper shells
on her for all this time.
And the latest one
about five years ago
was a big John,
a friend of mine
who was a machinist
and a real welder.
And we got together
and we both kind of believe
in overbuilding.
So, I ended up having
as far as I know the only
four ton, half ton pickup.
Yeah, that'll do it.
Yeah.
So, a year ago
I was out with my parents
on the coast
and hit some frost heaves
going into a parking lot
a little fast.
And through the back end
up in the air
enough to raise
the big toolbox
about two and a half feet
my mom said.
Wow.
Sitting next to it.
Yeah.
And the bed of the pickup
truck?
Yes.
Well, in the back
of the pickup truck
camper shell
with all these cushions
and everything.
Oh, oh, she's sitting back
there trying to knit.
Yeah.
And you're taking
these speed bumps
at 45 miles an hour.
I got it.
Okay.
Yeah, you know, like that.
So anyway,
my next oil change
I'm under there
and I'm looking around
and I noticed
that I've got cracks
in the frame.
Duh.
So, you know,
I've got this
MIG welder
because I'm a sculptor.
Yeah.
I've got iron around.
Yeah, you're a set.
So, I've put patches
on all of crack.
Yeah.
So, this is like
a patchwork quilt.
Yeah.
I've been checking it
for a year
and the cracks
have not spread.
But, you know,
as a mechanic,
you know,
you grow up
learning as a mechanic
that if the frame cracks
you're done.
Yeah.
And you're insane
to drive a thing
with a cracked frame.
So, I've got
a little voice
in the back of my head
saying,
you're crazy.
But the other thing is,
well, you know,
I've patched them
and I check them every month
or so
and they're not spreading.
So...
Yeah.
Well, I don't think
there's any reason
to be too worried
to tell you the truth.
Huh.
Although,
that sounds good,
doesn't it?
Although,
who am I?
Yeah.
Come right around
in the truck
with me.
But how long ago
did you do this?
About a year.
So, every month
or so,
you've been checking
and I've got the plates welded
to either side of the crack.
So,
it's almost like
either the welds
would have to fail
or the plate would have
to start cracking.
It would seem to me.
Well, I think you probably
have fixed it correctly.
Cool.
And in fact,
that's generally the remedy
for things like this.
Great.
So, you probably are all right,
except it doesn't preclude
it cracking someplace else
without warning.
Right.
Yeah.
And that's the thing
that you always have to
take into account
when you have a vehicle
that's 113 years old,
like yours.
Right.
And 355,555.5 last week.
Really?
And now,
but then you added this
monster cap on it
and all that.
So,
you've gone way beyond
the capacity,
the intended capacity
of the thing too.
And that's,
I'm more worried
about that
than anything else.
Okay.
So,
it may be time
to look for
a replacement
for Betsy.
I know that
Oh man,
you're asking a lot.
I would say,
leisurely,
have your eye out,
like go to the movies
and check out
check out what's out there.
I'll do it.
And I love your show
and I'll send you a critter.
Alrighty.
Great.
A deal.
All right.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Look,
it's time to take a short break.
Yeah.
And when we come back,
my brother will regale us
with this week's spectacular
new puzzler.
It's spectacular
the word I should be using.
No,
spectacular is not
the word I would have
pathetic.
Pathetic.
Yeah.
Pathetic.
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Hi, I'm Zach Mac.
You might have heard my series
Alternate Realities on Embedded.
In it,
my dad bet me $10,000
on 10 conspiracy theories.
He lost.
But it turns out,
he wasn't done trying.
I can't believe you want to do this again.
Hey!
I gotta win my money back, right?
This time, things went very differently.
Listen to Alternate Realities
on the Embedded podcast
from NPR.
Hi, we're back.
Listen to Car Talk with us.
Click and Clack the Tapper Brothers.
And we're here to discuss cars,
car repair,
and the other new puzzler.
Now, last week's puzzler
was automotive in nature.
And it was rather lengthy.
Yes, it was.
So I thought that this week's puzzler
should be non-automotive in nature.
And more lengthy.
And short and sweet.
Yeah, okay.
I will try to make this.
So it's non-automotive
and it's short and sweet.
And it might be pathetic.
We don't know that yet.
Oh, I don't think there's any mic about it.
Yeah.
All right, here it is.
Yeah.
Which of the following presidents,
mothers by her own admission,
would tell you that she did not vote
for her son
when he ran for the presidency
of the United States?
You ready?
Yeah.
I'm gonna give you the names
of three presidents.
And I'll write them down.
Just three.
Four?
I got a one in three chance
right?
I could be the moron that I am.
You could be a millionaire.
I could be the moron that I am
and have a one in three chance
of winning this prize.
Yeah.
I love it.
You ready?
Yeah, it's almost as easy
as passing the Massachusetts
drivers test.
Number one,
John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
JFK.
Number two.
His mother's name is Rose.
William Jefferson Clinton.
His mother's name is Rose also.
Yeah.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson.
That's it.
Rose.
I know her name is,
her first name's Rose.
Because they all have
the first name Rose.
That's a coincidence, isn't it?
I don't want to obfuscate.
Should I give a hint?
No.
Why?
No.
No.
Well, I was just gonna say,
I was merely gonna give a hint.
There's one of these guys.
Each son who was a brilliant student
didn't get it.
Oh, no kidding.
Yeah.
And he is brilliant.
Brilliant.
We know that.
Well, yeah, he's like his mother.
Yeah.
That.
Da.
You didn't have to say that.
Oh, yeah.
That went without saying.
Okay, that's it.
Now what if someone thought
he or she knew the answer
to this puzzler?
Well, if you think
you know the answer
or you know you know the answer,
write that answer
on the back of a $10 bill.
I can't get in any 20,
so I'm dropping down,
lowering my expectations.
Really?
Yeah.
So write that answer
on the back of a...
Maybe 10 is a more reasonable price.
I think so too.
So write that answer
on the back of a $10 bill
or a frozen fish stick
and send it to
Puzzler Tower,
Car Talk Plaza,
Box 3500,
Harvard Square,
Cambridge,
Our Fair City,
Matt 02238
or of course you can email
your answer
from the Car Talk section
of cars.com.
Our number is
1-888-CAR-TALK
that's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hi, this is Jenny calling
from Durham, North Carolina.
How are you, Jenny?
Good, how are you doing?
Oh, not bad, not bad.
Not bad.
Well, I'm calling
because I'm hoping
that you can maybe
help with a dispute
between me and my fiancé.
Fiancé?
Yeah.
Whoa!
How long have you
been a-fianced?
I've been a-fianced
about three months
and I plan to be a-fianced
for about another year
before I'm actually married.
Yeah.
What is an appropriate time?
What is an appropriate time?
What is an appropriate-
How long have you
been going out with him?
About almost two years.
Two plus three,
another one will be
three in a little bit.
Yeah, but I've known
him for much longer
than that.
See that?
Now, I-
I've been taken
heat from my wife
for all the years
we've been married
because I knew her
and didn't marry her
until four years later.
She thinks that that four years
is an unconscionable number.
She thinks I was dragging
my feet.
Well, to be honest,
I mean, my brother
is quite a bit older
than his wife
and she wanted to marry him
while he still had a few
earning years left.
Come on.
And I told her-
You want to marry the guy
when he's just about
to get his social security
checks?
Plus, I had to wait
until she turned 18.
Right?
That too.
That too.
She never-
she never mentions that.
No.
No.
Well, her parents
would have signed for her.
All right, Jenny,
I'm sorry to change
the subject here,
but I got-
Not at all.
I got carried away.
Yeah.
What's the story
with you and him?
Okay.
Well, the story is
that when my car
is very low on gas,
like when it's way down
in the red,
and I go to start
the car,
when I turn the key,
it doesn't immediately
turn over.
It kind of goes,
you know,
it starts.
But when the gas tank
is full,
when I turn the key,
it engages immediately.
Uh-huh.
And I just happened
to, you know,
mention this
to my fiancé,
and he said,
that's ridiculous.
That's ridiculous.
There's no connection
between the amount of gas
in the tank
and the starter.
That's electrical.
That has nothing to do
with the fuel.
And I said,
you know,
I have no actual
facts to back
that.
You just have
observation.
Exactly.
Anecdotal information.
Which car do you have?
Ah,
Honda Civic.
You all right?
We did.
Have a gulp of water, will you?
Drink some water,
you'll be all right.
This is serious.
So you have a Honda Civic
and you've noticed
that it takes long,
you have to crank it longer
when the tank
is closer to empty.
Exactly.
And,
what does he do
for a living?
He's in finance,
I can tell.
Well,
no,
studies something even more obscure than art history even less marketable
Oh archaeology no what bryology he studies moss it's called bryology bryology
bryology B.R.Y. B.R.Y. Exactly study of moss bryophytes moss no moss
off
and i thought i was more yes i said stuff that's growing in your car in my
car
biology
by all of the and what
nevermind i mean what i'm just curious i mean what are the uh... uh...
would if you future opportunities in this field
i'm curious about that
yeah
do you do you have a good job
i do i'm a nurse
all that's good so you'll be able to eat at least exactly
i'll have control over our future so so this budding bryologist
yes
actually it's good because people just confused with being a biologist
i'm into biology
if you say it fast enough
you can fake them up
marine bryology
well the answer is that you were right
excellent
you could be right you could be right i could it could be completely bogus
but we could make a case
that you're right
now i mean that bear in mind that that the uh... and this is more most
noticeable i'm sure when the car has sat
overnight
definitely first thing in the morning
yeah because because what happens is the rest pressure in the system the
maintained pressure in the fuel line between the pump
and the engine will eventually drop to zero
because it just doesn't does a check valve in there
but it can hold the pressure indefinitely
and over a long period of time like overnight
the pressure in the line will drop to zero and the pump must now pump the
pressure up
to get it to the injectors so they can squirt fuel into the engine right
you can you can you can visualize the thing right you got a big long pipe
during the day after you've been starting the car on and off and on and off
when you turn the key to start at that whole pipe is full and pressurized
and ready to fly
so the second you turn that key boom
it starts
but if you emptied out the pipe a little bit
then every time you turn the key you'd have to first fill up the pipe and then
go through the bing
and a full tank would help fill up the pipe faster because you'd be using
what's called the head pressure
of the of the full gas tank to push the fuel down the line by
by means of gravity in addition to the pump is doing
so you could well be right in your observation
i i think i am well i think you are too i think you are too and even if you're
not right we could you we just made a very powerful argument for you being right
and that's all that matters
the question now is do you tell them and how do you tell them
oh i know exactly then i'm not gonna ask
and we'll leave that to you
we actually have a little wager riding oh do we we do
so right now i think he owes me a dinner at the cattleman steakhouse
so oh how are you going to break it to him i mean give us the specifics if you
don't mind well let's see i think i'm probably going to call him
he'll answer the phone and i'll say
jenny you have a mean streak
you have a you have a mean streak
hey bryol is you this pal
well we wish you all the best
good luck jane see you later
bye bye
bryology
all right marie i like yours marie and bryol
i like that that sort of confuses it just enough
it clouds it just enough just enough
nobody really asks yeah well it's happening and you squandered another
perfectly good hour listening to car talk our esteemed producer has dug the
subway fugitive not a slave to fashion burman
our associate producer is kanda diaper slayer rogers our assistant
producer is frau kathryn fenolosa
what was that sorry that must have been some interference out to read that again
our assistant producer is frau kathryn fenolosa
our our engineer is denis de menisfolio
he has nothing to do with our senior web blackie is dug sheep boy mare
and our technical spiritual and menu advisor is the bugster john bugsy
did somebody say free lunch lawler our public opinion pollster is paul
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of dui chidam and how is uluas dui known to the ups guy as ului dui
thanks so much for listening we're clicking clack the tappet brothers
don't drive like my brother don't drive like my brother we'll be back next week
bye bye
and now here is car talk plazas chief mechanic mr vincen q boombox
thank you very much now if you want a coffee is to see a show which is
number 40 told me just pick up your phone and call this here number
1-888 card junk and what if i wanted the new car talk
collection why you should never listen to your father when it comes to
cars uh would i call that same number vinnie no you call chai chai raw rigas
you go chai chai of course you call the same number
you call the shameless commerce division at 888 card junk or visit it online at
the card talk section of cars dot com you got it thank you vinnie that was
quite illuminating i'll illuminate this jerk
car talk is a production of dui chidam how and wb ur in boston
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About this episode
A light-hearted episode featuring Click and Clack as they tackle quirky car dilemmas and personal anecdotes. A listener grapples with marital tensions over a caroscope test suggesting incompatible vehicles for him and his wife. The brothers humorously debate the implications of the test while offering advice on a listener's 1992 Thunderbird experiencing a fishtailing issue. They also engage with a caller who creatively repurposes car parts into art, showcasing the blend of automotive knowledge and personal stories that make the show entertaining.
Original notes
Typically when arbiting marital car disputes, it helps to know what each spouse does for a living. Lawyers, for instance, are always right because lawyers can sue radio hosts. Physicists and other scientists are usually wrong because they’re know-it-alls. And then there are Bryologists -whatever they do. Click and Clack are just as clueless as the rest of us, so let’s all find out together on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.
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