#2603: Back to Nature
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Car
Chevy Cavalier
The Chevy Cavalier is a small car that many people bought because it was cheap and useful. It was made by Chevrolet and sold for many years.
Term
steering wheel
The steering wheel is what you hold to turn the car left or right. It's how you control where the car goes.
Term
power steering
Power steering makes it easier to turn the steering wheel, so you don't have to use as much strength to steer the car. It helps you steer smoothly, especially when you're going slow or parking.
Term
counterclockwise
Counterclockwise means turning to the left, like the way the hands of a clock move. In racing, it describes how cars go around a track.
Car
Lucid Air
The Lucid Air is a fancy electric car that doesn't need gas to run. It's designed to be really fast and can go a long way on a single charge, making it a big deal in the world of electric vehicles.
Term
tire pressure
Tire pressure is how much air is in your car's tires. If the pressure is too low, it can make the car harder to control and wear out the tires faster.
Car
Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger is a small truck that can be used for carrying things or driving off-road. The 1987 version is known for being tough and reliable.
Term
injectors
Injectors are parts of a car's engine that spray fuel into the engine for it to run. If they get blocked, the car might not work well and could even stop running.
Part
fuel pump
The fuel pump moves fuel from the tank to the engine. If it's not working well, the engine might not get enough fuel to run properly.
Part
fuel filter
The fuel filter cleans the fuel before it goes to the engine. If it gets clogged, the engine might not get enough fuel.
Part
coil
The coil helps create the spark that ignites the fuel in the engine. If it's not working, the engine might misfire or run poorly.
Part
spark plug wire
Spark plug wires connect the coil to the spark plugs. If they're bad, the engine might not start or run smoothly.
Car
BMW 740I
The BMW 7 Series is a high-end car that's known for being very comfortable and packed with cool features. People often choose it for its smooth ride and luxury feel, making it a popular choice for those who want a fancy car.
Term
curb impact noise
Curb impact noise is the sound you hear when a car hits the curb. It can mean that something might be wrong with the car, like the wheels or suspension.
Term
fuel tank vent hose
The fuel tank vent hose helps air get into the gas tank so that it doesn't create a vacuum when you use fuel. If it's blocked, it can cause problems with the gas tank.
Part
vent breather hose
The vent breather hose helps gases escape from the gas tank, which is important for safety and to keep the car running well. If it's not working, it can cause problems with the fuel system.
Concept
spider issue in gas tank
Sometimes, spiders can get into the gas tank and cause problems. Car makers have made changes to stop this from happening, so it's less of an issue now.
Term
Bimmer
'Bimmer' is a nickname for BMW cars. People who love BMWs often use this term to talk about their vehicles.
Car
BMW 740
The BMW 740 is a high-end car that offers a lot of luxury and comfort. It's part of the BMW 7 Series, which is known for being very nice to drive and full of technology.
LIVE
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Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio.
With us, Click & Clack, the Tappet Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week
from the Division of Unintended Consequences here at Car Talk Plaza.
I'm going to read this letter.
As it arrived, I don't know if I should mention his name, but why not?
Phil, it's probably not often that you are thanked for helping someone's business,
but that's exactly the reason I'm writing.
About six months ago, you were helping a caller with a problem with his Honda.
I can recall your words.
You suggested that he take his Honda repair manual and go read through it while sitting on the John.
I remember that call.
I don't.
And it is this seemingly innocuous suggestion which has been a tremendous boom for my business.
You see, I am a colorectal surgeon, colorectal surgeon,
and as most good mechanics and many of my colleagues know from experience,
performing your research while sitting on the John is an outstanding way to produce the most gargantuan hemorrhoids.
Since your suggestion on the air, I have seen my business grow at a phenomenal rate.
In fact, I've begun a little medical research study to see if I can tell the make and model of a patient's car
by the size of his hemorrhoids.
Isn't that interesting?
Anyway, I can't thank you enough to help with my business.
Should you ever need any duff remodeling?
I would be pleased to offer you my services at automotive mechanics rates.
Sincerely, Dr. Philip Dean from somewhere in cyberspace.
Well, Phil, I'm glad that it worked out.
Well, we try to help out anyway.
And you never know what the unintended consequences could be.
It opens up a whole new world.
It makes our show so dangerous.
If you want to talk just about your rear end and the other part of your car,
our number is 888-CAR-TALK.
That's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hi, I'm Gene from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Hi, Gene.
Gene, you sound like you're right next door.
Yeah, I do, don't I?
Yeah, I mean, this is like the clearest.
Boy, I can't.
They must have run a special wire just for you.
That's right.
Actually, I'm not really from North Carolina in case you couldn't tell.
I'm really from New Jersey, but we've been here seven years.
So are you down there as a student or as a professor or what?
My husband actually retired.
He was a civil engineer, and he retired, and we came here.
Cool.
Well, see, my husband isn't really retired.
He drives all over the place.
That's what this problem is.
He's the executive director of the North Carolina licensed home inspectors,
and he's also a home inspector.
Licensed what?
Home.
Home inspector.
Oh, really?
And he does home inspections himself, so he's driving all over North Carolina constantly.
And in his 1993 Chevy Cavalier station wagon with 125,000 miles on it.
You want to get him out of this beast?
He'd like to sell it, but there's this sound, which I will describe to you.
Yeah.
It's with the steering wheel.
When he goes, like he backs out of the driveway and he turns the wheel, and it sounds like
a baby crying or a cat meowing.
It's like, like that.
And that's as he's backing out and turning.
Not when he's backing, but as he's turning.
As he's turning, even when the car isn't moving.
Good question, huh?
No, then it doesn't do that.
It doesn't?
Are you sure?
I don't think it does that.
Let me ask him.
He's over here.
Oh.
Wake him up.
Wake him up.
Why isn't he out working?
Well, when you're turning, but are you moving and turning?
Yes, moving and turning.
And if he's not moving, it's not making the noise.
Making the noise now.
I don't think.
Well, my original.
No, he said no.
No, okay.
All right.
That's an acceptable answer.
The original conclusion to which I jumped was that the noise was coming from the power steering,
maybe even the belt or some such thing.
But when you added the constraint that the car had to move.
Penetrating question.
Right.
Then we cross off the entire power steering system.
And we're left with pretty much nothing.
Yeah, we're left with what you call squat.
That's what the dealer said.
Nothing.
Did they hear it?
Yeah, they heard it.
They did.
He said it's in the steering column, but it's really nothing that we know what it is.
And we can't do anything about it.
So don't worry about it.
Oh, here's my key.
And it will make the noise if you're in a turn, turning a corner.
Yeah.
A 90 degree turn.
Yes.
It'll make the noise through the entire turn.
Yes.
It only makes noise when you're turning the steering wheel.
Yes, that's it.
And moving.
And moving.
Yes.
And moving.
Yes.
Boy, this is unfortunate.
It's an unfortunate combination of evidence.
And I don't, I think your husband's wrong.
You think he's wrong, huh?
I would have to say that the only way this could happen is if it also occurs when he's,
when the car is not moving.
I say.
I'd have to go with that.
When the car is not moving.
Can you run out and try it right now?
Try it while the car sees it does it while it's not moving.
He's running out very quickly.
Okay.
So he understands.
He understands.
Excuse me.
He's not going to move the car.
He's just going to turn the wheel.
Don't move the car.
Just turn the wheel.
Yes, okay.
With the engine running.
With the engine running.
I hope he's got the key.
Well, the next thing we want him to do is to move the car without the engine running.
Oh, my.
You'll probably have a stroke.
Let's see if he can figure this out for us.
This may be too much for him.
All right.
We'll wait.
After all, he is close to retirement age.
So while he's gone, is there anything else you want to tell us about him?
Is he driving the nuts since he retired?
The only time we ever fight is when we're in the car.
No, he said.
No.
He said no.
It doesn't make the noise when the car is standing still.
All right.
Tell him not to come in yet.
Don't come in yet.
They have something else for you to do.
We want him to get the car moving, like get it rolling backwards or some such thing.
Get it rolling backwards.
Wait a minute.
Yeah.
During which time it would make the noise, right?
If he were turning the wheel.
If you're turning the wheel.
Then we want him to cut the engine.
Uncut the engine.
And let the car coast.
Now let it coast.
And see if the noise goes away.
Yeah.
Did you get that?
No.
Okay, he got that.
What a guy.
What's his name?
Gus.
Gus.
That's a great name.
Yeah.
So he worked as a civil engineer for 100 years and then he moved down to Chapel Hill and
now he's inspecting houses.
Yeah.
And he used to work in there.
So real estate market is booming down there, right?
Well, I guess you might say, yeah.
Yeah.
Plenty of work for him.
Yes, and it is.
In fact, he might get to inspect the same house two or three times in a year.
Yeah.
Well, that wouldn't be too bad.
He hasn't come back yet.
He hasn't come back.
He barely smacked into a meat truck.
I feel like a truck.
Stuff out there.
No, he's coming, I'm sure.
All right, we want a full report, Gus.
He said nothing.
No noise at all, huh?
Oh, it didn't make the noise.
It didn't make the noise this time.
So you mean that the garage, they were right when they said don't worry about it?
So we learned nothing.
We've learned nothing because it doesn't do it all the time.
No.
But you know what?
It doesn't sound like anything to worry about.
I hate you.
We don't know what it is, but I think they were right that there really isn't anything
to worry about.
You mentioned the steering column.
Yes.
Is the noise prominent, more prominent inside the car than it is outside?
I don't think you hear it outside the car.
Well, it's often the case that the plastic and the vinyl of the steering column cover
and the steering wheel, in fact, can interact in such a way as to make this noise.
And sometimes a spray with like a silicone lube, which you can get at any hardware store.
And it might be enough to change it so that you'd know at least that's the source of it.
Okay.
So I would tell your husband to get a spray cleaner that has a thousand one of the uses
around the home.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Oh, of course.
It's not good for keeping wives' mouths lubricated.
They don't need any lubrication, do they?
Oops.
Anything you want to add to that position?
The other thing you can do is when the noise occurs, not exactly while you're making the
turn so you don't kill yourself, but whack the steering wheel a couple of times.
Right from the edge, whack it in toward the center, top, side, bottom.
Try to spray.
And see if the noise changes or goes away.
Okay.
And I agree with the guys at the dealership.
There's nothing to worry about.
See, I have to change my opinion of it.
It's probably the plastic.
And you've just been a nag for the last two months making the poor guy crazy.
So back off, Jean.
I will.
Try the spray.
I think the noise will go away.
At least enough to let you know that it's nothing to worry about.
Yeah, then he can sell the car and they wouldn't ask us what the noise is, right?
Exactly.
They'll let candy comes rolling out from under the seat.
Say it, Jean.
Thank you.
Thanks for your call.
Bye-bye.
All right, Tommy, do you remember last week's puzzler?
Give me a hint when you help me out.
Well, it had to do with a county fair, an ancient rivalry, and an old guy named Gus.
Come on, you made that up.
Well, I did, but I'll have the answer in just a minute.
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This is our class.
On This American Life, one thing we like is a good mystery.
Sometimes about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.
Our lost and found is currently filled with pants.
I don't know.
I've never seen this happen.
Is this true?
This is true.
Mysteries of every size, each week, This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts.
Ha!
We're back.
You listen to car talk with us, click and clack the Tap It Brothers, and we're here to talk
about cars, car repair, and the answer to last week's quasi-quasi automotive puzzler.
I wasn't, I don't suppose it was that quasi.
Do you want to discuss the issue of Mrs. Woodrow?
Well, I do actually.
Before we get to this week's puzzler, I have something here from the Arata department.
Just a minor little thing.
A minor little thing.
I just want everyone to know that these puzzlers are so carefully researched that it's rare
that we make a mistake, but there was a tiny, tiny, tiny mistake made in a recent puzzler.
And I'll read the little email we got from Erin Tapscott.
In October, he used a puzzler which asked, which mother of a president, by her own admission,
did not vote for her son in the election?
While the gist of the answer was correct, the wording of the question made it incorrect.
Janet, Jesse Woodrow Wilson, mother of the 28th president of the United States, passed away in 1882.
1982? 1888, actually, 32 years before Woodrow Wilson was elected president.
So by law, she would have been not allowed to vote.
She was not alive to have made the admission that she did not vote for her son.
You've got to be so careful about the wording.
So neither of Wilson's parents were alive when he entered the White House.
Though his father did see Wilson become president of Princeton University, et cetera, et cetera.
And of course, this person, Erin, was Woodrow Wilson authority, so I guess minor little slip.
A minor little slip.
Just because she was there.
But had she been alive?
Had you been able to ask her?
And maybe your channel could have gotten through.
Mrs. Wilson, would you have voted for Woodrow?
And she would have said, I would have tried, but I wouldn't have been allowed.
I was not allowed to vote.
Yeah, so a little, a little, a minor little thing.
Well, let's see how many people can pick up the groups in this puzzler.
This came to our website from a guy named Bob Caulfield, and he says,
I'm disappointed that you have never paid tribute to the venerable patron saint of automotive diagnosticians, Gus Wilson.
Surely you remember Gus, et cetera, et cetera.
Gus was the proprietor of Gus's model garage in popular science, and he's a Gus Wilson classic.
And I remember as a lad reading the Gus Wilson thing.
Gus's garage.
Gus's model garage.
It seems that there was an intense but friendly rivalry between the volunteer fire departments of two nearby towns,
Jeffersonville and East Norerton.
Pride was at stake as their rivalry climaxed each year in the fireman's competition at the county fair.
So closely matched with the two fire brigades in skill and experience that the preliminary hook and ladder events produced a virtual tie leading up to the final showcase event, the race of the fire trucks.
Woo-hoo!
Page two.
20 laps were raced counterclockwise around the quarter mile dirt track at the fairgrounds.
Both brigades drove identical pumpers, scrupulously maintained and adjusted to peak performance.
The rules required that they be set to factory configuration, fully loaded and equipped with crews identical in total weight to the nearest ounce.
Hmm.
Both drivers were skilled in experience.
So you got the idea, at least in principle, that these trucks are exactly alike.
Well, the Jeffersonville team had come up disappointed 27 years in a row, having lost the final event by the smallest of margins.
So they appealed to Gus to provide them with some small competitive advantage.
In other words, fight a creative way.
Can we cheat?
So Gus took a look at the high-wheeled pumpers in the dirt track and mused while he knocked the ashes from his pipe.
Nice touch.
He then stepped forward and without tools and without violating the rules and without even opening the hood of the truck,
he manages to make a quick adjustment that enables Jeffersonville to take the trophy home that year.
What did he do?
Yeah.
Bribed the judge.
He didn't have to use any tools, he just took it out of the wall.
Well, because they were racing counterclockwise around a track,
he wanted to make it so that the Jeffersonville truck would be able to negotiate those constant left-hand turns easier than the East Norrerton truck.
I knew there was something to that counterclockwise thing.
And without using any tools, he simply let a little air out of the left-hand tires of the Jeffersonville truck.
You know, if you have low pressure in one of your tires, your car will tend to pull in that direction.
Yeah.
Okay.
Now, it could be argued that this doesn't...
They're going counterclockwise.
Counterclockwise.
Counterclockwise.
You got it now?
Yeah.
So they're making all these lefts.
All these lefts.
And the lower pressure out of the left side.
So it's leaning.
It wants to go in that direction anyway.
There you go.
There you go.
I like it.
Yeah.
Well, I'm sure we'll get some letters about the fact that the rules required that they'd be set to factory configuration.
That's the thing.
Yeah.
You can interpret that anyway.
And I don't think anyone saw Gus do this, so I don't think you'd be able to get them for rules violation.
No.
Yeah.
No, I think it's great.
Yeah.
And if you have a problem with this, don't call us.
Call Gus Wilson.
Who's our winner, Tommy?
The winner is Craig Robbins from Rochester, Minnesota, and for having his correct answer
selected at random from among the thousands of correct answers that we receive every day.
Craig will get a copy of our new brand, new CD called Why You Should Never Listen to Your Father When It Comes to Cars.
Now, we know a lot of people are going to use these as gifts this year, but we should warn Craig and our other three listeners
that this album is not for everybody.
If your father is extremely sensitive about his automotive prowess or his perceived automotive prowess,
you might want to get him something else like maybe a necktie.
So consider yourself warned, Craig, but congratulations.
Wow.
Good work, Tommy.
Thank you.
You're very welcome.
All that with one breath.
Anyway, we'll have a new non-automotive but historic puzzler.
I'm so bad with history.
I don't know anything.
Well, you'll like this one.
Coming up in the third half of today's show, so stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, you can call us and ask questions about your car at 1-888-CAR-TALK, that's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hello, guys.
My name's Nate Madsen.
I'm calling from Freshwater, California from the top of an ancient redwood tree.
Nate, from the top of an ancient redwood tree?
That's what I said, believe it or not.
Is that where you live?
That's where I'm currently living.
I'm living here in order to preserve this ancient tree from being cut by the Pacific Lumber Company.
Also, you're doing this as a form of protest.
Yes, but that's what I'm doing.
I'm doing living here.
How long have you lived there?
It's been a little over a year now.
I just climbed up here on my way home from work one day and thought that my action could make a difference in this world.
If I spent a little time living in this tree, I could make the world a more beautiful place.
So you're like 200 feet off the ground?
Right now I'm about 170.
The top of the tree is actually about a little over 200, yeah.
And Pacific Lumber, whoever they are, would like to cut down this another tree, but why don't they do it while they're at work?
Oh, when you go to the bathroom.
Well, I unfortunately had to give up my job in order to maintain this tree's safety.
Maybe they wouldn't want to cut it while he's going to the bathroom.
Oh, so that would be the wrong time.
So you're in the tree 24 hours a day for a year?
Well, I actually have some wonderful people who are kind enough to come and spend some time up here and make it possible for me to go do things like visit my dog.
Are any of them female?
Yeah, exactly.
There are some beautiful women that take care of the tree.
He has a one-track mind.
So you can't possibly have a car problem here up in the tree?
Well, that's the most interesting thing.
There's this guy who drives by who has a car problem.
There's this, what appears to me to be, I'll give you guys the info here.
It appears to be an 87 Ford Ranger.
I might be off on the air, but that's what it looks like.
It appears to have some kind of problem where it's coming up the hill and it's like doing okay.
I can hear it coming and then all of a sudden it starts chugging out.
Occasionally, it has actually gone so far as to poop out right here in front of the tree.
And I'm sitting up here, I think unbeknownst to them.
I bet.
And here I am yelling out, I think your injectors are clogged.
I was kind of getting a kick out of trying to, you know...
Probably thinks it's a word from God.
Oh my God.
So I was calling to see if you guys had any idea on...
Oh, so next time he comes up, you can give him some other advice.
Yeah, maybe my advice is faulty, maybe my advice is good.
Also, you've made verbal contact.
Well, not really, they didn't say much.
They said, what?
And then they kind of looked dumbfounded and it was like, get in the car, dear, we're out of here.
If some wacko from a tree started talking to me, I'd be out of there too.
Yeah, I guess so.
Now, when you see this thing coming up the hill, do you see anything coming out of the tailpipe?
No, I haven't noticed anything irregular coming out of the tailpipe.
But what you do here is all just coughing and choking.
How steep is the hill?
It's a significantly steep hill.
And it's like a dirt road.
It's like climbing a mountain, but it's not a dirt road, it's a paved road.
It's a paved road.
I mean, for a lot of reasons, we might not be able to help you because without being able to ask the questions.
I can't ask you any questions.
That we would ask them.
Right.
And only assume that it could be there were fuel problem, it could be a weak fuel pump, it could be a clogged fuel filter.
It could be electrical, it could be a bad coil.
A bad spark plug wire, a fouled plug.
Yeah, I mean, what we'd like to know, for example, is do they have the same problem driving on a straightaway
instead of coming up a hill?
That would be nice to know.
I can't help you with that.
Does it happen when the engines cold and hot or both or neither or one or the other or some such thing?
There are so many questions.
What you need to do is make some signs.
Right.
Or make just right notes and toss them down.
Right.
Stop here if you have car problems.
Stop here if you have car problems.
You can lower it down.
You have rope and stuff up there in the tree.
Sure do.
So you can stop here.
I have a question about your car.
And then you can call us next week.
Sounds great.
So we'll be awaiting the next piece of the puzzle.
All right.
So wait, wait, wait.
What question, if he could only ask two questions, which two questions would we want him to ask?
Well, do you have any toilet paper?
Well, I would ask them what they've done to attempt to solve this problem, if anything.
That would be the first, because that would eliminate a lot of things for us.
Sure.
Yeah.
And then ask them if it's a hill climb related only.
Okay.
Yeah.
I'll go with that.
We'll start with that, Nate.
Does it only happen climbing a steep hill, and what have they tried to do to fix it?
Okay.
If you get any information, call us back.
Okay.
I definitely will.
Hey, there's a plane going by.
No, that's a chainsaw.
That's a chainsaw.
Oh, that's a chainsaw.
Look out, Nate.
No.
See you later.
All right.
Thanks for calling.
Yeah.
Thank you.
He'll be calling us from the hospital next to the tree.
How does he charge up his cell phone battery?
He's going to have a lot of friends, boy.
He must have one of the rope, and he lowers stuff down.
And, of course, he doesn't have to stay up there all the time, because if there's no
chainsaws around, all he's going to do is be able to scramble back up there.
I think at night he's going to the Holiday Inn.
At least that's where I'd go.
My God, a year.
Yeah.
Good for him.
Hey, you got to stand up.
A man's got to do what a man's got to do, you know?
You got to stand up or sit down for your rights.
You do.
All right, it's time to take a short break.
My brother has to scoop his brain cells up off the tail and stuff them back in his head.
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We're back.
You're listening to Car Talk with us clicking like the Tapper Brothers.
And we're here to discuss Cars, Car Repair, and the new puzzles.
We are at top of things, you know?
I've lately taken to reading some of my old mail.
I can see that.
And this puzzle suggestion came from a guy named Benjamin Schultz,
who at the time looked like he was probably a high school student or maybe an elementary school student.
He's probably got four kids now.
He's driving a minivan.
The letter was sent to 1231-94.
Well, here it is.
Well, that's only five years ago.
Yeah, he could be married with four kids.
He could indeed if he's a fast worker.
Now, first of all, I should mention that this is the first in a series of World War One puzzlers.
World War One!
You have all these little series.
Yes.
Gus.
Yes.
And Krusty.
Yeah.
String.
String.
Pendula.
Matchsticks.
Oh, yeah, the matchsticks.
The famous matchstick series.
Oh, yeah.
That was great.
This is just the first in the series of World War One puzzles.
World War One.
And here it is.
At the beginning of the First World War, the uniform of the British soldiers included a brown cloth cap.
They were not provided with metal helmets.
What were they thinking?
What were they thinking?
As the war went on, the army authorities in the war office became alarmed at the high proportion of men suffering head injuries.
Yeah.
They therefore decided to replace the cloth headgear with metal helmets.
From then on, all soldiers wore the metal helmets.
Good idea.
However, you ready for this?
Yeah.
The war office was amazed to discover that there were more soldiers hospitalized with head injuries than ever before.
It can be assumed that the intensity of fighting was the same before and after the change.
Yeah.
So why should the recorded number of head injuries, why should the number of soldiers hospitalized for head injuries per battalion,
increase when the men were wearing metal helmets rather than cloth caps?
Now if you think you know the answer, send that answer to Puzzler Tower,
Car Talk Plaza,
Box 3500,
Harvard Square,
Cambridge,
Tower Fair City,
Matt 02238,
or you can email your answer from the Car Talk section of cars.com
and thank you Benjamin Schultz.
If we caught you, we can give you a graduation present or something.
Oh yeah, he might have just gotten out of college.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So we don't know, we don't know where Ben is.
We don't.
We don't.
We'd like to find out.
I'd like to know.
Give us a call Ben.
1-888-CAR-TALK.
That's 1-888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hi, this is Martha Shinton.
Hi Martha, no last names please.
Oh, okay.
It's just for your protection, not ours.
We'd like to know your name, but where are you from Martha?
Newton.
Massachusetts?
Massachusetts, yeah.
Cool.
What's shaking?
Okay, I have a problem that supposedly has been solved, but everyone keeps telling me
that the solution is not possible.
Ah, possibility.
I love that.
Okay.
Yeah.
We leased a BMW in 1997, a 740i, and we just leased it in May.
Gotcha.
Okay.
Okay, so I had backed the car up in the rain and I hit the curb and I thought, oh, two
days later, I heard this noise that sounded like when you put a cookie sheet into the
oven and it expands and contracts like metal.
Yeah, you get that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, got it.
So, I brought my car into the dealer and they said, we'll have a look and I came back
and they said, honestly, there's nothing that we can see, but we have a theory.
And I said, well, what's your theory?
And they said, well, we're going to call the BMW place nationally later, but our theory
is that you've got a spider in the fuel tank vent hose and it's built a web and it's closing
off the air that's going to the gas tank so that your gas tank is like collapsing on itself.
Oh, that sounds so bogus.
Wait a minute.
No.
So, I brought it back two days later and they drove around with me, they could hear the
noise, they verified it.
Oh, they did hear the noise.
Oh, yeah, they heard it.
They heard it.
Yeah, okay.
They said, yep, and that's why we're going to check out this theory and they had a replacement
vent breather hose for the gas tank.
Yeah.
So, they said, they actually replaced it and they gave me a plastic bag with a spider
in it and said, yep, that was it and I asked the spider sitting here in a plastic bag in
front of me and they said, you know, this is something that they fixed after 1997.
They now make a new tube that prevents spiders from getting in and everyone I've told this
to have said, this isn't true, but when I drove away, the car has been fine since.
And the noise is gone.
And the noise is completely gone.
I believe them.
Well, first of all, they didn't just, they didn't just come up with this answer.
They had to have had some experience and I'll bet you 100 bucks, there's a technical service
bulletin on this very issue and it is possible for all of this to happen.
Well, I want to find out and I've never seen, I've seen many a spider web.
And what you were hearing was the tank on, right, the sound is perfectly consistent with
what they describe.
But how do you get a spider?
What people have been saying to me is there's no way it's a closed system.
You can't get a spider in there.
Well, that's right.
He must have, he must have sneaked in when they were putting gas in.
He maybe came in with the gasoline.
It might be, it might, you know, he might be one of those rare South American spiders.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
You don't, you don't run around the house, do you?
One bite, you could be a goner, Martha.
Perhaps.
Well, I just don't think, in order for this to really be true, for this to really happen,
the spider web would somehow have to form an impervious barrier to air.
It would have to be like a membrane.
What about the spider itself?
I mean, they gave me this spider that they said was stuck in the, in the breather hose.
Is he still alive?
No, he squished.
Oh, he is.
Yeah.
Yeah, he gets squished by the pressure.
There's too much pressure.
So he got in there and he, that's how he met his end, huh?
Yeah.
Wow.
Well, that stinks.
Okay, so, but you would say, I mean, you wouldn't believe the dealer.
I would say, especially since the sound is gone, that everything makes perfect sense
to me.
I mean, this is very common, for example, since I am an expert in this area as well.
Yes, we know.
Gas grills.
You may know that it's very common.
My brother almost burned his house down.
What almost?
I have no eyebrows.
He removed the paint from one side of his house by having a spider trapped in the little
venturi tube of his, of his gas grill.
That's right.
So the gas couldn't get to the burner, but it lit his pants on fire.
Yeah.
So anything can happen.
Spiders do cause this very kind of thing to happen.
And I believe that they had enough experience with it.
That's why they were able to simply say, we have a theory.
I mean, spiders usually a little more clever than...
How big is the spider?
The spider is, I'm looking at him, a body.
The body's about the size of a pencil eraser.
Oh.
That could do it.
That could do it.
Yeah.
Could do it.
I mean, you know, he sits there and he makes his little thing.
Well, he must have died an agonizing death, being subjected to the pressure, enough pressure.
Enough pressure to have caused the gas tank to collapse.
Man.
And still, and he remained intact.
Yeah.
Yeah.
His little, his poor little body is not torn apart.
He gave his life mark.
Absolutely.
You could drive a 740 Bimmer.
This spider gave his life.
What a guy.
What a guy.
Don't throw that little plastic bag away.
I want a suitable memorial built in Newton's Center commemorating.
Right.
We expect to see a plaques.
Sammy the spider gave his life so that I could drive a Bimmer without, well, I believe
it Martha.
I'm going to have to admit that I do believe it, although it seems very unlikely, but
it's certainly possible.
It is.
And that was all you asked us, right?
Is it possible?
It is possible.
It is.
See you, Martha.
Okay.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Well, it's happened again.
You squandered another perfectly good hour listening to car talk.
Was it just an hour today?
Just an hour.
Did we do the three halves?
Yes, we did.
I don't think so.
Our esteemed producer is Doug the Subway Fugitive, not a slave to fashion Berman.
Our social producer is Ken the Diaper Slayer Rogers.
Our assistant producer is Frau Catherine Finnellosa.
Our engineer is Dennis de Menesfoli.
Our senior web lackey is Doug Sheep, boy mayor, and our technical, spiritual and menu
advisor is the bugster.
I don't see him today.
John Bugsy did somebody say free lunch?
Ah, that's who it must be.
Lawler.
Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murkey of Murkey Research, assisted by Statistician
Margin of Era.
Tom's personal matchmaker is Robin Decretel, and our sexual harassment counselor is Pat
McCann.
And of course, our director of sickle-fantic activity is Eileen Yourway, and our chief
counselor from the law firm of Dewey Chudam and Howe.
Dewey Dewey, known to the Tweety professors in Harvard Square as Dewey Dewey.
Thanks so much for listening.
We're clicking clack for Tappet Brothers, and don't drive like my brother.
Don't drive like my brother.
We'll be back next week.
Bye-bye.
And now we have here in the studio Cartalk Plaza's chief mechanic, Mr. Vinnie Gumbaz.
Hey, thank you very much.
Now, who's won a copy of this year's show, which is number 46?
Just pick up your phone and call this number 1-888-COT-JUNK.
And what if somebody wanted the new Cartalk CD, Vinnie?
You know, why you should never listen to your father when it comes to cars.
Would they call that same number?
No, you just sit around and watch Regis and Cathy Leak, the one show up, maybe, you stope.
Of course you'll call the same number.
You'll call the Shameless Commerce Division at 888-COT-JUNK, or visit it online at the
Cartalk section of cars.com, you know?
Thank you, Vinnie.
That was very imaginative.
Oh, you imagined this, okay?
Cartalk is a production of Do-E-Cheat-Em-In-How and WBUR in Boston.
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About this episode
A humorous and light-hearted episode featuring the Tappet Brothers as they tackle quirky car problems and unexpected consequences of their advice. Highlights include a caller whose husband's car makes a strange noise, leading to a playful investigation into its cause. The episode also features a unique story about a colorectal surgeon who credits the brothers for boosting his business through their unconventional suggestions. Listeners will enjoy the banter, puzzlers, and the charm of the brothers as they navigate automotive dilemmas with wit and wisdom.
Original notes
Holy ‘Mutual of Omaha’, Marlin Perkins! Spiders and Cats and cell phone calls from the top of a California Redwood on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.
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