#2617: Definitely Not OK
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Term
four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive means the car can send power to all four wheels at the same time, which helps it drive better on slippery or rough roads.
Car
Dodge Ram
The Dodge Ram is a big truck that can drive on tough roads and carry heavy things. People like it because it can go off-road and pull trailers, so it's good for work or outdoor activities.
Part
differential
The differential is a part in your car that helps the wheels turn at different speeds when you go around corners, so your car drives smoothly without the tires slipping.
Part
spider gears
Spider gears are tiny gears inside the differential that help your car's wheels spin at different speeds when you turn, so the car handles better.
Term
transfer case
A transfer case is a part that helps send power to both the front and back wheels so the car can drive all four wheels at once.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means the car can send power to all four wheels all the time, helping it stay stable and grip the road better.
Brand
Subaru
Subaru is a car company that makes cars with special engines and all-wheel drive, which helps cars drive better on slippery roads.
Car
Ford Explorer
The 1993 Ford Explorer is a type of SUV made by Ford. It was popular in the 1990s because it could handle different types of roads and was good for families or outdoor activities.
Term
ignition
The ignition is what you use to start or stop the car's engine, usually by turning a key or pressing a button.
Term
engine idling
Engine idling means the car's engine is running but the car isn't moving. Leaving it on for a long time can waste gas and might hurt the engine.
Term
carburetor
A carburetor is like a simple machine that mixes gas and air for a car's engine to run. Older cars used it before computers helped control this process.
Term
fuel injection
Fuel injection is a way cars get gas into the engine using computers to make sure the right amount is used. This helps the car run better and cleaner.
Term
fuel-air mixture
The fuel-air mixture is how much gas and air get mixed together for the car to run. Getting this mix right helps the car work well.
Concept
engine control computer
A computer in the car helps control how the engine works by making sure everything is just right. It helps the car run better without the driver needing to do anything.
Part
fan belt
The fan belt is a rubber band inside the car's engine that helps keep the engine cool and powers some important parts. If it breaks, the car can get too hot or stop working properly.
Term
shutdown mechanisms
Shutdown mechanisms help protect your car's engine by turning it off if something goes wrong, like if it doesn't have enough oil pressure.
Part
throw-out bearing
This is a part inside a manual car that helps you change gears smoothly. When you press the clutch pedal, this part moves to let the gears change without grinding.
Part
clutch kit
A clutch kit is a set of parts that helps your car change gears smoothly. It connects the engine to the wheels and lets you switch gears when driving.
Part
gasket
A gasket is like a seal or a sticker that stops oil or other fluids from leaking out where two parts of the engine meet.
Part
pressure plate
The pressure plate is a part that pushes the clutch disc to connect the engine to the wheels. When you press the clutch pedal, it lets go so you can change gears.
Part
rubber boot
A rubber boot is like a soft cover made of rubber that keeps dirt and water out of important parts in your car, helping them work better and last longer.
Part
bell housing
The bell housing is a metal cover that connects the engine to the transmission and keeps important parts inside safe. It looks like a bell shape and helps hold everything together.
Part
grease
Grease is a slippery stuff you put on car parts so they move easily and don't make noise or get damaged.
Part
thrust bearing
The thrust bearing is a part inside the engine that stops the main spinning shaft from moving too much forward or backward. If it gets worn out, the shaft can move too much and break things inside the engine.
Part
crankshaft
The crankshaft is the part inside the engine that turns the up-and-down movement of the engine parts into spinning that makes the car move. If it moves too much, it can break the engine.
Term
oil leak
An oil leak means the engine's oil is dripping out somewhere, which can cause problems if it runs too low. It's important to find and fix the leak to keep the car running well.
Term
black light process
A black light process is a way mechanics find leaks by adding a glowing dye to the oil and shining a special light that makes the leak show up bright. This helps find exactly where the oil is coming from.
Brand
Volvo
Volvo is a car company from Sweden that makes cars known for being safe and lasting a long time.
Car
GMC S-15
The GMC S-15 pickup is a small truck made by GMC a long time ago. It was like a smaller version of bigger trucks and was good for people who wanted a truck that used less gas.
Term
starter fluid
Starter fluid is a spray that helps your car's engine start when it's having trouble. You spray it into the engine to help it catch fire and run.
Part
air filter cover
The air filter cover is a part that keeps the air filter safe. The air filter cleans the air before it goes into the engine.
Part
dry chemical fire extinguisher
A dry chemical fire extinguisher sprays powder to put out fires. Using it inside an engine is unusual but usually won't cause damage.
Part
catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is a part of the car that cleans dirty gases from the engine so the air is cleaner when it comes out.
LIVE
This is Hourglass. On This American Life, we look for stories that are surprising and
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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 more better English department
here at Car Talk Plaza. Now, we don't know who sent this to us and as the case with email,
the last person to send it, of course, takes credit for it, but this is a list of alternative
definitions you may not be aware of.
Flabbergasted. You know what that means? Appalled over how much weight you have gained.
Flabbergasted.
All right, I got the idea now.
You got it? How about this? Flatulence. A flatulence is the emergency vehicle that
picks you up after you've been run over by a steamroller.
Lymph. Lymph. Lymph.
To walk with a lisp. This is one of my favorites.
Macadam. Macadam.
Okay, go ahead.
The first man on earth, according to the Scottish Bible, is one, abdicate.
To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
He's a brilliant and bustard. A very rude bus driver.
You're no good bustard.
That's it. That was a lot of fun.
If you want to call us and talk about your car or offer new definitions for any word
that might be in the lexicon, our number is 888-CAR-TALK. That's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hello, this is Brother Roger calling from Christ in the Desert Monastery in Apecu, New Mexico.
Wait, wait. Start again. Brother who?
Roger.
Brother Roger from Christ in the Desert Monastery in Apecu, New Mexico.
Christ in the Desert Monastery.
I got it. Well, that's cool.
Yeah, it is. It's really nice.
And we're way up here in the wilderness of northern New Mexico.
So how long have you been a brother, brother?
Well, I'm actually a lay brother and I've been here for seven years.
And I'm responsible for taking care of the community's cars.
We have like seven four-wheel drive vehicles.
Ah, four-wheel drive for the desert?
Well, we have a 13-mile clay surface road that gets wet.
And we really have to fight our way through Greece to get to the main road.
Oh, that gets pretty slick, I imagine.
Very slick. It's like black ice.
Yeah.
And that's what leads me into this question,
because we have four-wheel drive vehicles, summer SUVs, summer pickup trucks.
Well, let me get this straight.
Now, this is a question that prayers have not helped to answer, I presume.
Not so far, no.
Okay.
Not so far.
But does that mean we couldn't recommend for the praying?
You could, yes.
If we don't know any other answers.
You could.
That would be okay with you.
That would be your last ditch effort.
We frequently pray ourselves when we give an answer.
Okay.
Okay.
Well, this is really a generic question about the four-wheel drive vehicles,
but what triggered it was when I took our Dodge Ram four-wheel drive truck into the Dodge dealer
and the service advisor, and I use that word very loosely,
said that on a four-wheel drive vehicle,
in order to avoid damage to the four-wheel drive system,
you should have four exactly matching tires.
Now, not only in terms of size, but also tread pattern.
And shape.
And shape.
And shape.
Exactly.
Don't mix a firestone with a Michelin or a Goodyear with a Dunlop
because you'll wreck before-wheel drive system.
That sounds like hogwash to me, bro.
Having the same diameter tire is essential to almost any vehicle that has a differential.
Right.
And because you have a differential in the front and the back on these things,
it's important that you don't have an oddball-sized tire on either front or rear.
If you'd never used the four-wheel drive,
it wouldn't matter what you had in the front.
The front wheels wouldn't care.
But the back would.
Because the front wheels would turn independently of one another.
Right.
But because the back tires or back wheels, rather,
are linked by the gears and the differential,
if you have two different-sized tires,
you will be spinning what's called the spider gears.
And they will be spinning all the time
and they're not designed to spin all the time.
Right.
They're only designed to spin when you take turns.
Because when you take turns,
the two rear wheels obviously have a necessity turn at different speeds.
Right.
And so do the front ones, but the front ones aren't connected to one another
unless you have four-wheel drive.
Unless we throw the transfer case in.
Right, correct.
So his heart may be in the right place.
But his mouth wasn't.
Now, the only variation I heard on this
was when I talked to our tire man and he said,
no, that's not true unless the vehicle is an all-wheel drive vehicle
like a Subaru, for example,
where the four-wheel drive is engaged all the time.
Well, in fact, in a vehicle like a Subaru,
it's more important.
Yes.
So the entire guy was correct.
The dealer was full of baloney.
Was that something new?
So let's pray.
He was the service advisor.
Service advisor.
Well, he was giving bad advice.
Well, he was not advising you on service.
He was advising you on tires.
Yes.
Yeah, well.
Your advice would be match them as closely as you can,
but don't worry if they're not exact.
But the size you want to match perfectly.
Oh, yeah, that I understood.
But we sometimes get them from different sources
or sometimes you go to the same source
and you discover two years later they've changed the pattern.
Yeah.
And Brother Roger.
Yes.
Pray for us.
We need it.
Long and hard.
See you later.
Okay, bye-bye.
One-eight-eight-eight car talk that's 888-227-8255,
a lawyer on car talk.
This is Kay from Colorado.
Kay with an AY?
Yeah.
Kay with an AY.
From Colorado.
A lot of people from Colorado
simply identify themselves
as being from the state of Colorado.
And I guess that must mean something.
Well, because the state of Colorado is a state of mind.
A state of mind and it doesn't matter where in Colorado
you could be on the top of a mountain
or in one of the oceans that are out there.
Right.
And you would be in the same.
Doesn't matter where you are.
Well, actually I'm on the western slope
in a little town called Montrose.
Do you know where that is?
Never heard of it.
Of course not.
We'll see what difference would it have made
if I said I'm from Montrose.
I don't even know where Colorado is.
Oh, you've missed life.
My brother is such a yahoo
that I could get him to Colorado
if my life or his life depended on it.
I've never been west of Pennsylvania.
Well, that's okay.
We don't let yahoo's in the state.
Yeah, I know that.
Well, we'd have to sneak him in.
Maybe there's hope for him.
I don't know.
Anyway, Kay, why are you calling us?
Well, I'm calling you because I think I have a problem.
I have a 1993 Ford Explorer with 120,000 miles on it.
My daughter, who lives next door,
and is 38 years old,
it's important I tell you her age,
borrowed my car one evening to take her boys home.
They live about a quarter of a mile
if you have to walk and it was dark.
We have coyotes and mountain lions.
Oh yeah, you don't walk at night if you don't have to.
We let her borrow the car.
She brought it back and I kept saying,
I hear a car and my husband kept saying,
no you don't.
Well, in the morning at five o'clock
when he went out to feed our animals,
the car was in the driveway and it was still running.
He got out of the car and forgot to shut the ignition off.
Really?
Yeah, but she's not a yahoo.
She's a little preoccupied perhaps.
So the car idled for seven hours or more.
Yeah.
And I'm wondering if we need to take the compressor
and blow out the engine
or if carbon builds up or something.
Why is her age important to this?
Because she's old enough to know better.
Oh, I thought she was having some kind of midlife crisis
or something.
I won't tell her that.
But she's a little too young for a midlife crisis.
Although I'm not sure with women when it happens.
These kind of things are happening an awful lot lately.
And does the car run fine now?
Well, yeah, but I'm not going to drive it very far
or very fast because I don't want something to happen to me
and I don't know if there's a bunch of carbon in there.
No, there's forget about it.
Just forget about it.
As they say in Boston's North End, forget about it.
But my dad used to say if the car had sat a while,
he had to get it out on the highway and open it up.
Yeah, and he was right.
He was right.
Because his car had a carburetor in it.
And this thing is fuel injected
and it has many devices which are designed
to keep the fuel-air mixture exactly right
and to change it when it goes astray.
Well, did it go astray?
It may have, but you wouldn't have known it
because you were sleeping.
And the computer kept everything going perfectly all night long.
You mean those cars now?
I don't have to worry about them.
You don't have to worry about that anymore.
Just drive it.
Just drive it, forget about it,
and tell your daughter that she didn't do anything wrong.
But not to do it ever again.
Okay, I'll try it.
I mean, if something had happened in the night,
for example, if the fan belt had broken
and rendering the water pump inactive,
then, in fact, the thing could have overheated
and it could have ruined the engine.
Okay.
But there are many of engines the world over
that run unsupervised for hours at a time,
including, God knows how many police cars.
Yeah, in front of a donut shop.
If you go to a donut shop and you see a police car,
they got it locked up.
Who would steal a police car?
The windows are down, the heat's on,
the things were running for four hours
while they were investigating the latest donut felony.
And nothing happens to those things.
And there are stationary engines
that literally run all day and all night.
But they do have shutdown mechanisms,
which your car doesn't have.
For example, if the oil pressure drops off,
the engine would shut down over those stationary engines.
Your Explorer doesn't have that.
If it had anything like that happened,
the engine would have been melted.
The fact that it didn't melt meant that everything worked okay
and you can just forget about it and forget that it ever happened.
Okay.
Fortunately, and fortunately, it was my daughter
and our son-in-law that did it.
Oh, better yet, not you.
Because you already think he's a dope, right?
Because she'd have accused you of having a senior moment.
See you, Kay.
Thanks, guys.
Good luck.
Bye-bye.
We'll be right back with the answer to the puzzler
right after these messages.
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Hi, we're back.
You're listening 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 puzzler.
This came in from a listener named Scott Crass.
You ready?
I actually remember the puzzler.
I know you do.
Yeah.
You've been placed on a medication regime
in which you are to take the following medications once a day.
You're to take one tablet of medicine A
and one tablet of medicine B.
That would be like Valium and Prozac.
There you go.
Isn't your case right?
In my case.
So you've got two, you know, little boxes of pills
and you must be careful because taking two or more Bs
can have unpleasant side effects
like severe hemorrhoidal flare-ups.
And taking an A and not a B or vice versa
can also be very serious.
So in order for B to be effective,
it must be accompanied by the A pill.
So you must take exactly one A and one B.
Got it?
I'm with you.
So you open up the A bottle and you tap it
and one A pill falls into your hand.
Got it.
You put that bottle aside.
You take the B bottle and you do the same,
but by mistake two Bs fall into your hand.
Now here's the problem.
The pills look identical.
Oh, bummer!
Same size, same weight, same color, same everything.
And they don't have A's and B's written on them
and they're both, you know, identical.
So what are you going to do?
You can't tell which is which,
but if you'd make, you could go any mini, mini mall.
You could throw them away and start over again.
But there are a hundred bucks apiece.
Did I mention that?
You can throw them away and start over again.
So here's the question.
How do you get your daily dose of exactly one A
and exactly one B without wasting any of the pills?
Wow.
And here's how you do it.
You know that you have one A and two Bs.
You just can't tell which are which.
So let's add another A to the mix.
So now you have two A's and two B's.
So you lay the four pills out in a row,
but you don't know which are which.
No.
Now you could again go any mini, mini mall
and your chances of getting the right thing
are improved by having done this, but not good enough.
No, because you might die.
You could die.
However, if you take each pill and cut it in half
and without mixing up the halves,
in other words the first pill you cut in half,
you leave those two halves near each other.
And the same thing with the second and the third
and the fourth pill.
And then you take one from each of the cut pills.
A half a pill from each of the pairs.
So by definition, because you know you have two A's
and two B's in the mix, you'll take a half an A
from one of the cut pills and a half a B
and then another half an A and then another half a B
and you'll have two half B's and two half A's
making one A and one B.
And then the remaining pills, the cut pieces
will be tomorrow's dose.
Man, who's our winner, Tommy?
I have to say that that is not intuitively obvious.
No?
No.
Well, the only thing that made me a little bit discouraged
about the puzzler was that Berman got it.
He did, huh?
He did, yeah.
Anyway, do we have a winner?
Yeah, we have a winner.
The winner is Tom Mallon from Santa Clara, California.
Tom, for having your answer selected at random
from among the thousands of correct answers that we got,
you're going to get a $25 gift certificate
to the Car Talk Shameless Commerce Division.
And with that $25, you can buy about five eighths
of a Car Talk Tour Jump.
Which five eighths will he get?
Maybe he's got a short torso.
It might work out for him.
Hey, spend it anyway you want, Tommy, baby.
All right, we will have a new non-automotive puzzler.
If I can remember it, in the third half of today's show,
so stay tuned for that.
Sounds fishy to me.
Yeah, it's a fish puzzler.
It is?
Oh, it was.
I don't remember.
Well, you better work on it, man.
You give me such a hard time about...
I got till the third half of the show to think about it.
I'm getting such grief about my puzzlers,
I figured I'll let you take over.
I'm not doing any more puzzlers.
In the meantime, you can call us and ask us questions
about your car at 1-888-CAR-TALK.
That's 8882-278-582-258-227.
Five.
Hello, you're on car talk.
This is Jared Rockwood from Salt Lake City.
Jared?
Jared, yep.
Jared, J-E-R-R-O-D.
Close, J-A-R-E-D.
Ah, that's Jared.
Jared.
From where?
From Salt Lake.
Salt Lake City.
Got it.
That's west of here.
A little bit.
So what's up, Jared?
Well, actually, I have an old truck.
It's an 82 Toyota.
It's a four-wheel drive.
And basically, I had a really bad problem with my throw-out bearing.
One day, I went out to drive.
And whenever I put it in the clutch, it would just start screaming.
Really, really loud.
And so, I have a mechanic buddy who said,
that is your throw-out bearing.
It is bad.
Yeah, it could be.
Okay.
And so, I also had an oil leak.
It's kind of two existing problems.
The oil leak steadily was getting really bad.
Where was the oil leak?
It's towards the back of the pan gasket.
Oh, perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Oh, yeah.
Exactly.
And so, this is exactly what we do.
We go buy a clutch kit.
Good.
And we buy a gasket.
We put both of those on.
I smell an unhappy ending here.
I'm not sure, you know.
Why would he be calling us?
Just a hunch.
Would he be calling us just to relay to us a very pleasant experience?
Well, I thought about it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was originally my plan.
So, what did you replace?
Just a throw-out bearing?
No, the whole clutch.
Well, we decided, as long as we're carrying the whole transmission apart,
we might as well put a clutch in.
Good thinking.
So, we put in the whole clutch kit with the throw-out bearing and the pressure plate in
the clutch.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I like it.
Okay.
So, I'm driving home and sure enough, that loud squeal has gone away.
It's been replaced with a slight chirp.
That sounds very similar to the squeal, but just a chirpy sound.
And the chirp occurs when you have your foot on the clutch and you're moving?
Well, yeah.
It only happens while I'm taking the clutch out or while I'm pushing it in.
If it's to the floor, it doesn't make the noise.
And so, once your pedal stops moving, then the chirp is gone.
The chirp is gone.
I don't think it's the throw-out bearing.
I don't think it's the clutch.
Okay.
What do you think?
Well, I think I've got a problem because one, my oily didn't go away.
Well, that's...
I still have the chirp.
I don't know exactly what it is.
I had a few friends who have given me an idea, but I haven't got around to...
Well, I have one...
Would you like the simple, inexpensive answer or would you like the...
No, definitely the simple answer.
The expensive junk-the-truck answer.
Yeah, the truck.
No, no.
He wants this truck.
He's had this truck for two decades and we're going to give you the simple answer.
You're getting both answers whether you like it or not.
Okay, good, good.
The simple answer is that...
Forget about it.
Well, that's the third answer.
The simple answer is that the little ball...
If you remember when you had the transmission out, there is a fork to which the throw-out bearing attaches
and there's a ball that that fork pivots on.
Okay.
Okay, made of steel and it's held in by a little spring.
You remember that?
It was a long time ago, huh?
Fagely.
You didn't do this part.
You were getting the sandwiches.
You were in a beer and sandwich run, right?
That's right.
Your buddy will remember it.
You can see that little ball.
There's a little rubber boot on the side of the transmission where that fork enters the bell housing.
If you pull that rubber boot off, you can see that ball.
You might be able to just get in there with a little brush and put some grease on that
and you might, might ever, might be able to get that squeak to go away.
I would squirt it with the little WD-40 first and then put the grease on it.
You could do both of those things.
Yes.
And I honestly think that the little chirp is going to go away when you do that.
Okay.
So it's not a big deal then.
Well, unless you listen to my brother's answer B.
Okay.
His answer B.
Answer B incorporates the chirp and the oil leak too.
Yeah.
I got to ask you one question.
Do you ever have any trouble shifting it?
No, not really.
Good.
That's a good answer, man.
The answer B might be gone.
The answer that I was going to give you that would be disastrous is that something called
the thrust bearing in your engine is worn out.
Uh-huh.
And if that's the case, as you're stepping on the clutch, you're moving the whole crankshaft
towards the front of the car.
Okay.
And don't say okay because this is like...
This is...
This is end of the world stuff, Jared.
Okay, for me...
This isn't okay.
Okay.
He just said okay, I hear you.
Okay.
Well, like Roger.
Roger.
Yeah.
Over and out.
Yeah.
All right.
So hope it isn't that.
Try the grease and if it isn't that, get yourself a real good sound system.
Okay, I like that.
I mean in almost...
I mean, except for the little squirt of WD-40 and the grease, I would say there is nothing
you should be thinking about in the way of doing something.
Yeah, certainly not the thrust bearing.
No, you just forget about it.
Okay.
And just keep driving.
It'll drive forever.
Good, good.
That's good to hear.
Jared, a pleasure talk.
Do you have a good attitude?
Take care.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
We'll be right back with more calls and the new puzzler after these messages.
Listen to Planet Money on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Succeed or fail, we shouldn't be at war without a vote and so members of Congress should be held accountable.
Listen for more on Consider This on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ha!
We're back.
You're listening to Car Talk, well that's Click and Clack the Tap Brothers and we are
here to discuss cars, car repair and my new puzzler which I stole out of a book and I
can't remember what book it was.
So you don't know the answer.
I know the answer.
But you know the question.
I think I know the question.
That's as good as I can ever know.
Here's the question.
Three guys go out fishing.
They decide in advance that whatever they catch they're going to divvy it up.
Was this a motorized boat or a sailboat?
This was a sailboat because this is a non-automotive question.
Okay.
Don't forget.
It was just during the week.
Stop interrupting.
Is this what you have to put up with every week?
What a pain in the butt this is.
I'm sorry, I'll try to be good.
So they decide in advance that whatever fish they catch they're going to divvy them up
three ways evenly.
As they catch them?
No.
Okay.
When they get back to port.
So they finish fishing for the day.
They pull back into port and they're going to sleep on the boat overnight.
Get up in the morning, divvy up the fish, go home.
In the middle of the night, however, one of the guys has a severe hemorrhoidal flare up
and he's got to get to the drugstore right away to buy some stuff, preparation, whatever
it is.
Yeah.
GB.
GB.
So he goes to take his third of the fish and he notices that the number that they caught
is not divisible by three unless he throws one of the fish overboard.
So he does.
He throws one of the fish overboard, takes his third.
So like if we were 100 fish, he threw one away and took 33.
He took 33.
I got it.
Okay.
Leaving 66.
Got it.
But it's not the right answer.
No.
No.
So he takes his third and he leaves.
Somehow, a few hours later in the middle of the night, another guy wakes up with horrible
stomach pains.
Got to have the kaopectate.
Got to have it.
So they got to bump into each other at the drugstore.
He says, I'll take my third of the fish and then I'll go home because I can't stay here
like this.
So he goes to take his third and he notices, interestingly, the same thing.
That he can't take a third unless he throws one fish overboard.
So he throws one fish overboard, takes his third and goes home.
Got it.
Third guy whose stomach is fine, whose hemorrhoids have not flared up.
He gets up in the morning and he realizes that he hasn't taken his third of fish, but
he's got to go home anyway.
He figures the other guys are still sleeping.
Got it.
Got it.
So he says, I'll just take my third and I'll go.
When they wake up, they can take their third.
And they'll get stuck paying the fuel bill.
Right.
Right.
However, he realizes that he can't take a third.
Let me guess.
Not divisible by three.
Not divisible by three.
Sonya, Hany's two.
What are the chances of that?
He throws one fish overboard, takes his third and leaves.
Got it.
Question.
What is the smallest number of fish by which this little scenario could have taken place?
Not the smallest fish.
That would be like minnows.
The smallest number that they started out with.
Caught.
Right.
That they started with when they pulled into port.
That's it, man.
If you think you know the answer to this puzzle, you write it on the back of a $20 bill or
an aging corn muffin.
Ah.
And you send it to Puzzle Tower, Cartok Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Our fair city.
Excellent.
Perfectly done.
Massachusetts 02238.
Or you can email your answer from the cartoksectionofcars.com.
And the phone number is 1-888-Cartok, if you want to talk to us.
That's 8882-278-25-5.
Hello, you're on Cartok.
Well done.
So next week, I'm the one that has to forget the answer to the puzzle.
You have to forget the question.
I'll try to remember that.
I have to remember to forget.
I have to figure out the answer between now and then.
Good luck.
Hello, you're on Cartok.
Hi, I'm Dorothea, and I'm calling from Bolesburg, Pennsylvania.
Hi, Dorothea.
Bolesburg?
Bolesburg.
We're three miles outside of State College, home of the Nini Lions.
Got it.
Centrally isolated.
Centrally isolated.
Which is how I feel.
I like it, man.
I didn't grow up here.
I've only been here a year.
Oh, when is your sentence over?
I'm not sure.
I think it's long term.
Long term, man.
Long, settling in.
What did you do?
Who'd you marry to deserve this?
An engineer.
Oh, yeah.
So we're not going anywhere either.
All right, Dorothea.
Sorry about that.
Maybe we can help you plan your getaway.
So what's up?
I'm going to make sure your car's running every day.
That's right.
That's right.
I have a 1990 740 Turbo Volvo wagon.
Really?
We bought used just over three years ago.
So it was in great shape with about 114,000 miles on it.
Well, about a year ago, I was in an accident.
And the car plowed across the front of my car and did about $5,000 in damage.
Wow.
With Volvo, everything's expensive.
So I guess I should.
Oh, yeah.
$5,000.
That's two headlights on a wiper blade.
Exactly.
Exactly.
That's just the headlight cover.
So ever since then, we've noticed, at least we're blaming it on this.
I've had an oil leak and it seemed kind of subtle and it's gotten a little worse.
And my husband checked some bolts and he wants to put on a lift and clean the engine to locate
the leak.
And our old mechanic in Harrisburg, who we trusted, where we moved from told me that I'd
probably need to do a black light process, which he doesn't do.
Wow.
Sounds like a delicate dude.
To find the leak.
But my husband said, if it turns out to be a rear seal, it's going to be expensive and
maybe not worth for the age of our car.
Also, he doesn't want a black light.
He doesn't want to know the results.
Right.
Now, I feel like if it happens since the accident, then if it's the place you fixed it's fault.
You can forget about that strategy.
I don't think the accident caused the oil leak.
No.
And if it did, you'd never prove it.
No, you can forget about that completely.
Unless the block is cracked, for example.
Right.
But it's unlikely.
But your husband is unnecessarily alarmed because he has in his mind the words,
rear main seal, which is the absolute worst possible place that the oil could be leaking
from.
But there are dozens, if not more, other places the oil could be leaking from, which are far
more innocuous and less expensive to fix.
Okay.
Yeah.
And there are a few places that are likely candidates.
The valve cover and cam seal awards one place.
The front seals, the crank and cam seals are another place.
The rear main seal is yet a third place, except in most cases the rear main seal hardly ever
leaks on Volvos.
Oh, really?
Unless, unless something called...
They get smashed in the front.
Right, by an accident.
No, unless something called the flame trap is plugged.
Flame trap.
Yeah.
So have them check the fl...
And it may be just coincidental.
At least that's what we always tell our customers when they complain.
You're not going to believe it, but this is purely coincidental.
I'm going to go in there with my list and say, this is what clicking clock says.
Ask them to check the flame trap.
If they don't, if they're not familiar with Volvos, they won't know what the flame trap
is.
Okay.
But if that is plugged up, it'll cause any of the seals to leak, but first it causes
the rear main seal to leak.
And we've had instances where we've replaced the plugged flame trap and the leak has gone
to zero.
Oh, really?
Pray for the valve cover gasket.
The valve cover gasket.
Or the, or the flame trap.
Or the flame trap.
Thank you.
See you, Dorothea.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
1-888-CAR-TALK.
That's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on CAR-TALK.
Oh, good.
I'm actually on.
Um, listen, I did a bad, bad thing last week.
Yeah.
I did a bad thing.
How bad?
That's my truck on fire.
Oh, that's why you haven't given us your name, huh?
Is this an open investigation?
Did you do this purposely?
No, no, it's not that bad.
Oh, do you have an alias?
My name is Ben.
I'm calling from King Beach, California.
Hi, Ben.
So what kind of a vehicle did you set on fire and why?
Well, I set on fire one of those modern marvels of American engineering called a GMCS-15 pickup.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
And I was trying to get it started and determine what was not making it start.
Yeah.
So I sprayed some of that lovely etherized starter fluid.
Starting fluid.
Ah, yes.
I took off the air filter cover, sprayed some of that in there and tried to start it up
and it turns over just fine.
So I figured the ignition system is working quite well.
But I go around to the front of the car and there's flames inside this central port injection assembly.
Yeah, oh, sure.
Mm.
So I'm blowing like crazy.
I blow all the flames out.
Then I noticed that something was burning and dripping off the back of this whole assembly.
Oh.
Okay.
You sprayed the stuff everywhere.
I really tried not.
You have to be very careful with that stuff.
It's flammable, man.
So I ran into the house and grabbed my fire extinguisher.
Good.
Okay.
And put this stuff out.
But there's dry chemical fire extinguisher everywhere.
And you know, and I have the cover off so it's going straight down into the fuel injection port.
Right into the cylinders, exactly.
So I vacuumed out as much as I could.
Well, that was dangerous.
Well, I'll explain why in a minute.
Yeah.
But I'm wondering, have I done any permanent damage to my engine by having some dry chemical fire extinguisher down inside it?
No.
No, as a matter of fact, it's a little known fact that that's what they put in the catalytic converters to reduce the emissions.
So if anything, if anything, you've reduced.
No, you haven't heard a thing.
Does it start?
Well, yeah, you know, to the tune of $400, I did actually have the fuel pump replaced.
Ah, okay.
Right.
So what you did is you introduced a small amount of ether to replace the larger amount of gasoline that the fuel pump wasn't supplying.
Correct.
And that's why it backfired through the intake.
Oh, it backfired.
Yeah.
That's what set the stuff on fire.
Ah.
That when the valves opened, the presence of the ether in there caused an explosion to take place in the intake plenum.
And it shot back through the intake and it was burning up your fuel injectors.
And the fire extinguisher chemicals won't do it any harm.
I shouldn't like go around and get it out of there.
I can't tell you how many times we have to spray those same chemicals on cars in our shop.
I mean, it happens.
It's an occupational hazard.
Cars catch fire.
And what choice do you have?
You can either let the thing burn or you can introduce strange chemicals.
And they're not harmful to the engine, but vacuuming them could have been harmful.
Needless to say, they will inhibit the combustion process as they get sucked in because that's what they do.
But they will just get pushed right out the tailpipe.
I cleaned it out, changed the air filter.
But here's the danger.
When you were vacuuming that thing, which is the throttle body, you ran the risk of sucking gasoline
and or ether vapors into the vacuum cleaner.
And when you do that and those vapors come in contact with the electric motor of the vacuum cleaner,
which they do because the air gets exhausted through the motor and that's what cools the motor down.
You could explode the motor.
You could have exploded your car in your vacuum cleaner on the same day back.
Well, you would have looked real stupid.
That would have been quite spectacular.
You see on television.
You don't want to vacuum flammable things.
That's okay. I vacuumed it the next day.
Well, that saved you.
Good. That saved you.
It's a good thing.
Yeah, luck is good, isn't it?
Luck works.
It's a fine thing.
Yeah, well, now you're all set and drive it and don't worry about a thing.
You haven't heard anything.
All right.
Good luck.
All right, thanks guys.
See you, Ben.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
What?
What a gathering.
Not that any of them helped us with the show, but they're all here.
Our public opinion pollster was Paul Murkey of Murkey Research.
He's here.
Assisted by Statistician Marge and Overeem.
He's here.
Our customer care representative is Haywood Jabuzov.
Our director of new product repair is Warren T. Myfoot.
And our shop foreman is Luke Busy.
Our student and consultant is Norm DePlume, the head of our division of threat assessment is Ewan Whatarmy.
Our director of luxury car horns is Tony Blair.
And our staff divorce attorney is Carmine, not yours.
Carmine, not yours.
And of course, our Russian chauffeur is Peek Off and Drop Off.
Our chief counsel in the law firm of Dewey Cheatman Howe is Uluis Dewey, known to the
obstreperous storekeepers in Harvard Square as Uwee Dewey.
Thanks so much for listening.
We're clicking, clack, the Tabard Brothers.
And above all, don't drive like my brother.
Don't drive like my brother.
We'll be back next week.
Bye-bye.
And now, here with us in the studio is Car Talk Plaza's chief mechanic, Mr. Vinnie Gumbaz.
Vinnie?
Thank you very much.
Now, if you want to copy this here show, which is number nine?
Mm-hmm.
Oh, oh, oh, nine.
In fact, just pick up your phone and call this number, 1-888-CAR-JUNK.
And what if I wanted something else, like a Car Talk t-shirt and a jacket?
Would I call that same number then?
No, you call Leonardo DiCaprio's hairstylist, you dope.
Of course, you call the same number.
There ain't no other number.
You call the shameless commerce division at 888-888-CAR-JUNK.
Or, of course, visit it online at the Car Talk session at cars.com, you know?
Thank you, Vinnie.
That was inspirational.
Hey, inspirate this.
Car Talk is the production of Dewey, Cheetahman Howe, and WBUR in Boston.
And even though NPR president Kevin Close opens his office window and starts to climb
out on the sill whenever he hears us say it, this is NPR, National Public Radio.
Listen to Wait, Wait in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Get in, loser.
We're taking a trip under the sea to a junkyard.
I've done cobra helicopters.
We've seen old washer machines as a second strip boat count.
This junk helped create one of the world's largest artificial reefs
and a new home for many marine animals.
But how did our trash become another fish's treasure?
Find out on Shortwave. Listen in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Life Kit can help you change your life in record time.
In just about 20 minutes, a Life Kit episode gives you evidence-based tips
you can put into practice that day.
No fast-forwarding to get to the good stuff.
Just smart, straightforward advice right away.
Listen to the Life Kit podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
About this episode
Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, dive into quirky car-related stories and listener questions, including a humorous take on alternative word definitions and a detailed discussion about tire matching on four-wheel drive vehicles. They also address a caller’s concern about a 1993 Ford Explorer idling for hours, reassuring that modern fuel-injected engines handle such situations well. The episode blends practical car advice with lighthearted banter, featuring unique callers like Brother Roger from a New Mexico monastery and a Colorado listener worried about her daughter’s car mishap.
Original notes
What’s worse: a screaming clutch, an oil leak, an engine fire or a Tommy Puzzler? You be the judge on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.
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