The hosts dive into humorous and relatable car stories, including a listener's debate about whether a car 'feels' the windshield factor in cold weather, and another's issue with a broken CV joint on a Saab 900 turbo. They explore quirky car designs, like the Saab's backwards engine, and discuss the challenges of dealing with mechanics and dealerships. The episode blends practical car advice with witty banter and listener calls, highlighting the quirks of car ownership and maintenance.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that position and momentum cannot simultaneously be known. Click and Clack’s uncertainty principle is that they may be able to figure out ‘Why’ or ‘What’ and sometimes ‘How’ your car has broken down, but never all three at once(because that’s too much work). Lots of uncertainty on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.
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""I have a 1979 rabbit diesel. Because of these cold mornings that we have in New Hampshire, I'm forced to plug my car in.""
The Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel is a small car from 1979 that uses diesel fuel, which helps it use less gas and go farther. It's a popular older car that some people still drive today.
The Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel is a compact car produced by Volkswagen, known for its diesel engine variant which offers better fuel economy. The 1979 model is part of the first generation Rabbit, popular in the U.S. for its practicality and efficiency.
""Because of these cold mornings that we have in New Hampshire, I'm forced to plug my car in. So, it's easier to start in the morning...""
Plugging in a car means you connect it to electricity to help it start better when it's very cold outside.
Plugging in a car refers to connecting it to an external power source, often to use an engine block heater or battery warmer to help the engine start more easily in cold weather.
"Well, I have an 84 sob 900 turbo. And recently it's left axle just broke."
The Saab 900 Turbo is a car from the 1980s that has a special engine part called a turbocharger to make it go faster. It's a unique and older model that some people like to keep and drive.
The Saab 900 Turbo is a turbocharged variant of the Saab 900, a compact executive car produced by Saab. The 1984 model year is part of the classic first-generation Saab 900, known for its distinctive design and turbocharged engine which was advanced for its time.
"In fact, there was an 84 sob 900. And he's looking at the thing. And of course you may not realize it, but the engine in this vehicle is in backwards."
The Saab 900 is a car made by a Swedish company called Saab. The 1984 version has its engine placed in a way that is different from most cars, which can make working on it a bit unusual.
The Saab 900 is a compact executive car produced by the Swedish manufacturer Saab. The 1984 model is part of the classic first generation, known for its unique design and front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout with the engine mounted longitudinally but reversed compared to typical cars.
""It is interesting. Air filter. And it took me, you know, probably about an hour and a half just to find it.""
The air filter is like a screen that cleans the air before it goes into the car's engine, so the engine stays healthy and runs well.
An air filter is a component in a car's intake system that cleans the air entering the engine, preventing dirt and debris from causing damage or reducing performance.
""But anyway, that's the CV joint broke. The axle fell out into the street. You stopped dead, of course.""
The CV joint is a part that helps the wheels turn and move up and down without breaking. It makes sure the car can drive smoothly even when you turn the steering wheel.
A CV joint (constant velocity joint) is a flexible coupling in a car's axle that allows power to be transmitted smoothly while accommodating steering and suspension movement. It's essential for front-wheel drive and many all-wheel drive vehicles.
"I think you may have even something as simple as a broken motor mount or maybe somehow the shift linkage got disturbed. Oh, I see. Yeah. And my vote is for a broken motor mount."
A motor mount holds the engine in place and stops it from shaking too much. If it breaks, the engine can move around and cause problems.
A motor mount is a component that secures the engine to the vehicle's frame and helps absorb vibrations and shocks. If broken, it can cause misalignment and unusual vibrations affecting engine and transmission performance.
"I think you may have even something as simple as a broken motor mount or maybe somehow the shift linkage got disturbed."
Shift linkage is the part that connects the gear stick to the car's transmission so you can change gears. If it gets moved or broken, the car might not shift properly.
Shift linkage refers to the mechanical or electronic components that connect the gear shifter to the transmission, enabling gear changes. If disturbed or misaligned, it can cause shifting problems.
An automatic transmission is a system in a car that changes gears by itself so the driver doesn't have to do it manually. This makes driving easier, especially in stop-and-go traffic.
An automatic transmission is a type of vehicle transmission that automatically changes gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to manually shift gears. It is common in many trucks and passenger vehicles for ease of use.
"Because it's either, in this case, the neutral safety switch or the ignition switch itself."
This part makes sure your car only starts when it's safe, like when the gear is in neutral or park, so the car doesn't jump forward or backward unexpectedly.
The neutral safety switch is a safety device that prevents the engine from starting unless the transmission is in neutral or park, helping to avoid unintended vehicle movement.
"Because it's either, in this case, the neutral safety switch or the ignition switch itself."
This is the part you turn or press to start your car, which powers up everything needed to get the engine running.
The ignition switch is the electrical switch that activates the vehicle's main electrical systems and starts the engine when turned by the key or push button.
"But if I get powered to the solenoid, to that thin wire, that means it's not the ignition switch. ... It's the solenoid. ... Yeah, the solenoid only costs seven bucks. You might as well try one of those first."
It's a small part that helps start your car by connecting the battery to the starter motor when you turn the key.
A solenoid in a car starter system is an electromagnetic switch that engages the starter motor to crank the engine when the ignition key is turned.
""I have a car. My car is a 88 Grand Marquis Mercury. Uh-huh.""
The 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis is a big, comfortable car made by Mercury, which is part of Ford. It was known for being roomy and easy to drive.
The 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis is a full-size luxury sedan produced by Mercury, a division of Ford. Known for its spacious interior and smooth ride, it was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
"I'll even come go out the next morning, and I still smell it. It sure sounds like you have a gas leak."
A gas leak means fuel is escaping from your car somewhere it shouldn't, which can smell bad and be dangerous because fuel can catch fire.
A gas leak refers to the unintended escape of fuel vapors or liquid fuel from a vehicle's fuel system, which can cause a strong smell and poses safety risks such as fire hazards.
"Here's what I suggest. I think the leak is probably coming from one of your injectors. Injectors?"
Injectors are parts that put fuel into the engine so it can run. They make sure the right amount of fuel gets in at the right time.
Fuel injectors are components in a car's engine that spray fuel into the combustion chamber or intake manifold. They precisely control the amount and timing of fuel delivery to optimize engine performance and efficiency.
"Yeah, they're going to get a smog check, so maybe that would pick up."
A smog check is a test to see if a car is making too much dirty smoke or pollution. Cars need to pass this test to be allowed on the road.
A smog check is an emissions test that measures pollutants coming from a vehicle's exhaust to ensure it meets environmental standards. It helps reduce air pollution by identifying vehicles that emit excessive harmful gases.
"They're going to use that smog tester to check for the presence of unburned hydrocarbons."
Unburned hydrocarbons are bits of fuel that didn’t burn inside the engine and come out as pollution. They can make the air dirty and cause smog.
Unburned hydrocarbons are fuel molecules that did not fully combust in the engine and are released as pollutants in the exhaust. Their presence indicates incomplete combustion and contributes to smog and air pollution.
"On the hottest day of the summer, my mother was driving her decrepit 88 Toyota Corolla from New York City to Philadelphia with her significant other."
The Toyota Corolla is a small car that many people use because it is reliable and doesn't use much gas. The 1988 Corolla is an older version from the 1980s.
The Toyota Corolla is a compact car known for its reliability and fuel efficiency. The 1988 model is part of the fourth generation of Corollas, which were popular in the 1980s.
"Okay. I'm calling actually about a 1992 Geo Prism with about 135,000 miles on it. And it's got thi..."
The Geo Prism is a small, simple car from the early 1990s that was made to be reliable and easy to drive. It’s good for people who want a car that doesn’t cost a lot to fix or use a lot of gas. A 1992 one with 135,000 miles means it’s been driven a lot but could still work well if taken care of.
The Geo Prism was a compact car produced in the late 1980s and early 1990s, essentially a rebadged Toyota Corolla. It is known for its reliability and fuel efficiency, making it a practical choice for budget-conscious buyers. The 1992 model with 135,000 miles is typical for a car of its age and could still be dependable if well maintained.
""It requires opening the hood and pulling off a spark plug wire, but it's not hard to do.""
A spark plug wire is a cable that sends electricity to the spark plug, which helps start the engine by making a small spark.
A spark plug wire carries the electrical current from the ignition system to the spark plug, enabling the spark plug to ignite the air-fuel mixture in the engine cylinder.
Igniters help control when the spark happens in the engine, making sure the engine runs smoothly.
Igniters are electronic components that control the timing and delivery of the spark to the ignition coil or directly to the spark plugs, ensuring proper engine combustion.
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Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack, the
Tapper Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from the center for a more utopian.
Is the proper say more utopian?
We're perfect.
More perfect.
More perfect.
More utopian society here at Car Talk.
Maybe it's more.
Sir Thomas Moore, utopian society.
Anyway, here's an idea that has been proposed to us by a listener named Eric Schaefer.
We would add that he sent it by email, so he might not be proposing it.
He might be stealing the idea from someone else.
How would we know?
Why would we care?
Why would we care?
It doesn't matter.
You can steal everything.
Here's Eric's idea.
Go ahead.
Here it is, and it knocks your socks off when you hear it.
Stupid people should have to wear a sign that says, I'm stupid.
That way you wouldn't rely on them, would you?
You wouldn't ask them anything.
It would be like, excuse me, oops, never mind, I didn't see your sign.
It's like before my wife and I moved from Texas to California, our house was full of
boxes and there was a U-Haul truck in our driveway.
My neighbor comes over and says, hey, moving?
No, we just pack up our stuff once or twice a week, see how many boxes it takes, and then
we put it back in the house.
Here's your sign.
I'm stupid.
A couple of months ago, I went fishing with a buddy of mine.
We pulled his boat into the dock.
I lifted up this big old stringer of bass and the idiot on the dock says, hey, y'all catch
them fish?
No, I talked them into giving up, here's your sign.
Last time I had a flat tire, I pulled into one of those side of the road gas stations.
The attendant walks out, looks at my truck, looks at me and says, tire go flat?
I couldn't resist.
I said, nope, I was driving around and the other three just swelled up.
I don't know what happened.
Here's your sign.
I'm stupid.
It's so simple.
Yeah.
Well, I would, however, have to wear one.
Yeah.
I think.
Yeah.
I mean, and how would you select people?
Would they have to be like nominated or just a self-selection thing?
No, I think everyone's given a supply of signs.
And you just put, hang them on people.
Just like Eric, and you hand them out and if someone hands you one, you got to wear
for at least a month.
Yeah.
I mean, if someone hands you one, it obviously means you need it.
Right.
And you might, it might be just temporary fleeting stupidity.
It might be, but usually it isn't, is it?
No.
And no, not usually.
That's a lifetime.
Well, in your case, anyway, if you have any life-altering ideas that you want to share
with us or you just want to talk to us about your car or anything else, our number is
888-CAR-TALK.
That's 8882-2.
7882-5-5.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hello, this is Ben from Northwood, New Hampshire.
Ben.
Have you got a car problem?
Here, where's my sign?
Where'd you say you're from?
Northwood, New Hampshire.
Northwood.
Northwood.
That sounds like it's way, way up in the Northwoods.
It's actually not that far north at all.
Oh.
It's kind of towards mid-New Hampshire, around Concord and Portsmouth.
Oh.
Oh, really?
Did they give a sign to the guy who named this one?
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
We're ready.
So.
So, what's up, Ben?
Baby?
Well, it's kind of a argument that I'm having with my girlfriend.
I should never argue with your girlfriend.
I know, but I can't let this one go.
It's a...
You can't, huh?
Well, it's about...
I have a 1979 rabbit diesel.
Because of these cold mornings that we have in New Hampshire, I'm forced to plug my car
in.
So, it's easier to start in the morning and then I start up, let the heat take about an
hour to warm the car up.
So, you just let the thing idle in the driveway.
Yeah.
And while you're shaving or having breakfast or whatever you do in the morning.
Yeah.
Okay.
L, because of the new windshield factor, my girlfriend thinks that I need to start my
car up earlier because she believes the car is aware of the windshield factor.
And I'm not buying this at all.
I just need your help.
Please tell me that the car does not know what windshield factor is because that would
terrify me.
Well, it depends on whether or not your car has feelings.
Yeah.
VWs, they don't have feelings because they're made in Germany.
Fiat's, on the other hand, are very sensitive.
Very emotional.
I have...
Very sensitive to windshield factor.
Fiat's, Alfa Romeo's, stuff like that.
Any car made in Mexico, for example, would be susceptible to windshield effects.
I see.
Yeah.
But, you know, those Teutonic countries like Germany and Germany and, you know, like Germany.
Well, Swedes, too.
Well, the Swedes, I'm not so sure.
I don't know about that.
But Germany, no.
Not to my prejudice.
They're tough.
Not to my prejudice.
Well, I mean, how are we going to handle this, Ben?
Delicately.
I mean, you don't want to offend your girlfriend.
On the other hand, you could give her a sign.
I could give her a sign.
She could give me the boot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, of course you're right, because windshield is specifically, how does it feel?
So that when it's zero degrees and the wind is blowing at 40 miles an hour, it feels like
it's minus 30 degrees, not the real temperature of zero.
Right.
If only because the cold air can penetrate your bronch on a Gershky long underwear more
readily when it's blowing at 30 miles an hour than when there's no wind.
And that does have a very minor effect on the car.
And that minor effect is this.
If you park the car, everything is going to cool off much faster.
So you stop the engine and everything in there is hundreds of degrees.
For example, just the coolant is 250 degrees or something.
And within a very short time, it's going to be zero if the temperature outside is zero.
And that short time is going to be shorter if the wind is blowing.
But once it gets to zero, the wind can keep blowing and it ain't going to get any colder
for the car.
Wonderful.
So now the question is, are you going to tell her this and make her feel stupid?
Well, that is a...
It's always a problem, isn't it?
I mean, we people who are so much smarter than everybody else, we have the problem of
wanting to tell them.
And when we do, we don't make any friends.
No.
Right?
And so, I mean, I've learned.
I mean, trust me, I've suffered this through my entire life.
Oh, yes.
That's why he has to tie a pork chop around his neck to get the dog to play with him.
I mean, I got a brother who's just between you and me, Ben.
He's a couple of sandwiches short of a whole picnic.
Oh, we have another brother?
I didn't even know.
He's just...
I don't know what to do, Ben.
I mean, you can just basically kiss this girlfriend goodbye, literally, if you want to tell her this.
I might suggest that it would be helpful for a third party to introduce the correct answer to this.
Ooh.
While you even, in fact, try to support her position and you say, oh, jeez, I guess you
are right.
I guess windshield doesn't really affect internal combustion engines.
But get out of my house, anyway.
Right.
Say ya, Ben.
And get out of my house.
You got it, Ben.
Bye-bye.
Thanks for going there.
Ben, you're absolutely right.
And get out of my...
Yeah, that's about it.
One, eight, eight, eight.
So many wives have done that.
I don't mind.
Eight, eight, two.
What's the number?
Eight, eight, two.
Good.
Two, seven, eight.
Two, five, five.
Something like that.
Seven, eight, two.
Yeah, that's right.
Hello, your own car talk.
Hi.
My name is Sonia.
I'm calling from Seattle.
With an I or a Y?
With a J.
I knew that.
A J.
Sonia.
Like in Sonia Hennies Tutu.
Something like that.
Yeah, Sonia.
What's your ethnic background?
Ethnic background?
Okay.
I'm part Puerto Rican, part Norwegian, and part Scottish as far as I know.
Puerto Rican?
No, isn't that awesome?
Wow.
We don't want to ask you how that happened.
Somewhere there was a sailor in that group.
Where are you from Sonia?
Seattle.
Seattle.
Sailor.
Never mind.
Never mind.
Well, Seattle.
Seattle Ocean is right.
Okay.
So what could we do?
And it's right near Norway and Puerto Rico.
Exactly.
So Sonia, what's up?
Okay.
Well, I have an 84 sob 900 turbo.
And recently it's left axle just broke.
I mean, it just started choking and then stopped.
And I think it's CV joint actually fell onto the ground.
Yeah.
That happens.
By the way, before we get to your question, I have to tell you a short little story.
Does it involve a sailor?
It involves a sob.
One of our guys in the garage, Howie, who pretty much only works on Japanese cars or
extraterrestrial vehicles happen to be assigned to replace a water pump on.
In fact, there was an 84 sob 900.
And he's looking at the thing.
And of course you may not realize it, but the engine in this vehicle is in backwards.
Yeah.
In other words, the front of the crankshaft that runs all of the accessories like the
water pump, the air conditioner, is closest to the driver.
And that the business end of the crankshaft that is the part that ultimately goes into
the transmission is farthest from the driver.
And I guess not having worked on sobs very much, he looks at this thing and he says,
they must have come up with this design during those six months of darkness.
And I can just see it now.
They put the engine at Nelts.
The engine's in backwards.
We can make it work.
I'll have to make the most of it now.
Yeah.
You betcha.
It is interesting.
Air filter.
And it took me, you know, probably about an hour and a half just to find it.
Yeah.
Well, when the engine's in backwards, then all bets are off.
Yeah.
Who knows what can happen.
The stuff could be any place.
Right.
But anyway, that's the CV joint broke.
The axle fell out into the street.
You stopped dead, of course.
Right.
But anyway, I had it towed to the shop and they fixed it and I got it back a couple of
days later and I noticed a few changes.
I noticed it was a lot easier to shift.
But turning the ignition on suddenly became incredibly difficult like to where it would
hurt my finger and stress the key.
And the headlights used to turn on and off with the ignition, but now they just stay
on even if I turn them off.
You know, a week or so ago, a woman called us and she had been to the dealership and
complained about some symptom.
The dealer basically told her that she was nuts and sent her away.
And I got all in a tizzy saying, why do dealers do this?
Why do they tell women?
And it's mostly women.
Why do they tell them that they're crazy when something is actually happening?
Oh, they did do that.
And now I know.
You're crazy, Sonia.
None of this could possibly have happened.
Was the vehicle was towed?
Yeah, it was towed.
Oh, is that something?
I think something got disturbed in the towing.
I think you may have even something as simple as a broken motor mount or maybe
somehow the shift linkage got disturbed.
Oh, I see.
Yeah.
And my vote is for a broken motor mount.
I mean, everything that you've suggested sort of leans toward the engine and transmission
somehow getting out of whack, literally physically out of whack.
And that's also why the lights won't go off because you're not turning the key all the way off.
Oh, OK.
Take it back to them before you break the key off because then it's going to cost you no more.
Oh, then you have to jump the car.
Oh, that's a pain.
And you're going to have to use a lot of tact and diplomacy to do this.
And while it's there, see if they can move, turn the engine around and have it face the right way.
That's more of most of your problem, I think.
See you, Sonia.
OK.
Good luck.
Bye.
Bye.
Hey, I get to ask you this question this week.
Do you remember last week's puzzler?
Yes, it was about fishes and triplicate.
Very good.
I mean, do you know the answer?
Of course I do.
Would you be willing to share it with your sweet older brother?
Oh, I don't know the answer.
Drop dead, pissed and puss.
We're getting imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
On State of the World, we'll bring you the latest on the operation as well as reaction from the region and around the globe.
Listen to State of the World on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Greenland has said it is not for sale.
Denmark has said it can't even legally sell Greenland.
And whether Trump can or will or should try to control or purchase a territory that does not want to be sold is one question.
But on Planet Money, we are more interested in how we even got to this moment and how we might gracefully get out of it.
Listen to Planet Money on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Three guys go out fishing and they decide they're going to split whatever catch there is.
This is in a boat.
They're deep sea fishing.
They collect a bunch of fish.
They throw them on the deck and they decide they're going to divvy up everything the next morning.
So they pull into the dock.
They sit there and they have a few beers and they sleep over the night.
They sleep the night away in the boat.
However, in the middle of the night, one of the guys has severe cramps and decides he's not going to stay the night.
He's going to go home and he wants some Pepto Bismol.
So he says, I'll take my third.
He goes onto the deck.
He counts the fish and says, not divisible by three.
He throws one of the fish overboard, takes his third and he leaves.
An hour later, one of the other guys wakes up and realizes that he's got to be up real early tomorrow morning to go to a meeting.
He can't stay on the boat all night.
He says, I'll take my third and I'll go home.
So he counts the fish and says, oops, not divisible by three, throws one fish overboard, takes his third and leaves.
The other guy wakes up seven o'clock in the morning.
He doesn't know the other two guys have gone, but he decides, well, it's time to leave.
He looks at the fish.
He looks, counts them, throws one overboard and says, here's my third and he leaves also.
And no fish are left except the two thirds.
No, the fish that are left, he's figuring he's leaving the other guys, they're two thirds.
Third of peace.
Yeah.
Got it.
So everyone did the same thing.
And the question simply was, what is the smallest number, the fewest number of fish by which this could happen?
That each guy does the same thing and blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And?
And?
Now what?
I know I give the answer.
It's as simple as that.
Well, I mean, you could do it simply by trial and error.
Just keep trying numbers.
There isn't this little equation which was in the book that I read and I can't remember where I got this puzzle because I lost the book.
But I did remember the equation and it was very simple.
It was said y equals two thirds is parenthesis x minus one.
So that y is what you end up with.
X is what you start with and you keep plugging in numbers for X what you start with until you can solve that equation three times without running into non integers.
And that doesn't happen until you get to 25.
Wow.
So they caught 25 fish.
They caught 25 fish.
The first guy tosses one overboard because you can't divide 25 by three.
That's 24.
He takes his third, which is eight.
That leaves 16 fish.
The next guy comes.
He can't divide 16 by three.
Throws on overboard.
Throws on overboard is 15.
I can see it's beginning to play out, right?
He takes five.
That leaves 10 fish.
The third guy shows up in the morning.
There's 10 fish.
He thinks he's dividing it up again into threes.
He can't divide it by three.
He throws one fish overboard, takes his three, leaving six fish on the deck.
To what?
To what?
And attract flies.
And attract flies.
And God knows what kind of evil vermin.
But the answer is that they caught 25 fish.
Who's our winner, Raimi?
Our winner this week.
Is this some kind of a sneaky plot to get me to do more work?
We tried.
It's hopeless.
Our winner this week is Konstantin Rusos from Arlington, Virginia, and for having his
correct answer selected at random from among all the correct answers, Konstantin will
get a $25 gift certificate to the Car Talk Shameless Commerce Division with which he
can pick up a Car Talk baseball hat.
Whoopee.
Don't forget, spring training is right around the corner and it's going on right now.
The baseball season is right around the corner.
You don't want to burn your noggin while you're sitting in the bleachers, do you?
No, I want one of those Car Talk baseball hats, man.
25 bucks?
Well, no.
You can get a couple of them for 25 bucks, can't you?
One in a third.
One in an extra visor.
Hey, do you happen to know what time it is?
Time to give up wrong answers for Lent?
No, no, that's not a bad idea, though.
It's time to play Stump the Chumps.
This is the part of the show where we check in on a previous caller and find out whether
our answer gave him courage, solace, spiritual inspiration, or just oxygen.
So who's our supplicant this week?
It's Eddie from New Hampshire.
Fast Eddie from the land of live free or die.
Die young.
That's him.
It says here, Eddie had a thorn.
Must have been a pickup truck, right?
It's mandatory in New Hampshire.
I mean, everyone in New Hampshire has a pickup truck.
And it wouldn't stop.
And after a succession of rapid-fire penetrating questions, we were able to ascertain that
the truck had an automatic transmission.
Now, that's detective work, huh?
Oh, yeah, Dick Tracy.
So he narrowed it down to a couple of possible culprits.
Because it's either, in this case, the neutral safety switch or the ignition switch itself.
But if I get powered to the solenoid, to that thin wire, that means it's not the ignition switch.
And it's not the neutral safety switch.
And in that case, it's the solenoid.
It's the solenoid.
Yeah, the solenoid only costs seven bucks.
You might as well try one of those first.
All right, maybe I'll go.
Or if you really trust yourself, you can bypass the neutral safety switch.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Very dangerous thing to do.
But in New Hampshire, you'll find anyone to do that.
I shouldn't have said that.
That was cruel and unwarranted.
It wasn't unwarranted, but it was cruel.
Funny, no one ever uses the expression kind and unwarranted.
So let's find out how we did.
Eddie, are you there?
I'm here.
Look, Eddie, before we find out whether our advice was cruel and unwarranted or just unwarranted,
we need to verify that the answer you're about to give here in Stump the Chumps
has not been influenced by our staff, the staff of National Public Radio,
or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to New Hampshire rights.
Is that true?
That is absolutely true.
All right.
So were we on the right track with the neutral safety switch and the solenoid?
What do you think?
As we say in Woodshop, you hit the nail right on the head.
So really?
I replaced the solenoid and since then...
Did it cost you seven bucks?
A little bit more.
$17.04.
Really?
Well, that's the import taxes.
Oh, and New Hampshire right there.
No taxes.
This isn't Massachusetts.
No, the taxes they added on before the products get to New Hampshire.
Oh, is that what that was?
Yeah, you guys think you're not paying taxes, but you really are.
That's seven bucks here in Massachusetts.
Oh, yeah.
Hey, thanks for playing Stump the Chumps, Eddie.
Okay, guys.
Nice talking with you.
Make it easy.
All right.
And we'd like to remind our other listeners that if you happen to hear someone on the
show that you'd like us to bring back for this little Stump the Chumps portion of the
show, email us with your suggestion from the cartalksectionofcars.com.
Or give us a call here at 888-CARTALK and maybe you can Stump the Chumps right now.
It's not that hard, you know.
Anyway, the number is 8882-278-255.
Hi.
Hello, your one car talk.
I love it.
What was it?
8882-278-255.
That's it.
Hike.
How can it be?
That's ten digits.
Yeah.
Seven and three is ten.
Son of a gun.
Son of a gun.
Hennie's tutu.
Hello, who's this?
Hello, this is Marge Davis.
Hi, Marge.
Hi, I'm from Long Beach, California.
Long Beach.
Oh, and we have a sunny day out here today.
Oh, rub it in, will you, Marge?
You've had a lot of rain lately, right?
But as you can, when I start talking, you'll know where I'm from.
Oh.
I have a problem with my car.
My car?
Yeah.
You must be from Massachusetts.
Right.
Originally from Lynn.
Lynn, so how did you wind up in Long Beach?
Well, I left Lynn and went to the Philippines and then came back to Long Beach, California.
Oh, were you, was like a shoe buyer for a Melda Marcos?
No.
No, I didn't.
And we were at the Subic Bay.
Oh, ah, CIA.
CIA.
Yeah.
Yeah, spies, spies.
And on the way back, you said, why should I go all the way back to Lynn where it's cold?
Right.
Let's stay right here, huh?
Yeah.
So what's your problem, Marge, baby?
Oh, okay.
Whether I get a problem.
Yeah.
Okay.
I have a car.
My car is a 88 Grand Marquis Mercury.
Uh-huh.
I noticed every once in a while I get a smell of gasoline, and especially sometimes on my
pocket in the garage.
And I brought it to my mechanic, and they checked everything out, and it still went away.
And he said that his son had sometimes had gotten gas someplace and they could smell it.
So anyways, I thought, well, maybe it's a gas.
I don't know, but I still could smell it.
Then occasionally I've also not getting as good a gas mileage.
And when you brought it into these mechanics, they looked for a gas leak and were unable
to find one?
Yeah, they couldn't find a gas leak.
Now, I did get it filled up yesterday at a mobile gas station.
I went out this morning, and I couldn't smell anything today, so I don't know if it is the
gas I use.
It's not the gas.
It's not the gas.
No, gas is the same.
And you notice it mostly when you pull it into the garage.
Yeah, it smells.
I'll even come go out the next morning, and I still smell it.
It sure sounds like you have a gas leak.
Yeah, I think so.
I have to agree with my brother.
You have a gas leak.
And they didn't find it, but they have to look some more because you have a gas leak.
Yeah, and I'm afraid of a fire.
One time we had a car that caught on fire because it was a gas problem.
Sometimes that's a blessing in disguise.
Here's what I suggest.
I think the leak is probably coming from one of your injectors.
Injectors?
Yeah, you have eight fuel injectors in this car, I believe.
Uh-huh.
And they're going to have to sniff the injectors with their emissions tester, with the smog
tester.
Yeah, they're going to get a smog check, so maybe that would pick up.
No, no, they're going to use the smog tester in an unusual way.
Uh-huh.
They're not going to stick it in the tailpipe.
Okay.
They're going to use that smog tester to check for the presence of unburned hydrocarbons.
Which, in this case, would be gasoline, which is leaking out.
Okay, I keep a piece of Cadwood underneath my car.
Never find it that way.
In the garage.
Yeah, when the leak gets that big that you'll find it with the cardboard, the car will have
caught on fire already.
Well, I don't want that to happen.
Yeah.
Okay, well, that sounds good.
Well, all right, I'll tell that to my mechanic and have him do a little more checking on it.
Excellent.
What kind of a dog do you...
Is that a German Shepherd you have?
No, that's a Caucus Spaniel.
He has a German Shepherd's bark.
You're giving him the wrong dog food.
Hey, good luck, Marge.
Okay, well, thank you very much.
Thank you for calling.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
All right, before we get to the new puzzler, we're going to pause so my brother can beg
me to take back responsibility for the puzzler from now on.
I have a newfound respect for you, my brother.
It turns out that you're not quite the moron that I thought you were.
And how's that for begging?
I guess that's about as good as it's going to get.
We'll be back in a minute.
With the rise of prediction markets, you can bet on anything from whether to what President
Trump will say in his next press conference.
I'm not a fan of Trump, though I do spend most of my day listening to him and tracking
what he's doing.
On the Sunday Story, who's winning big on these apps and who's losing?
The Sunday Story from the Up First podcast, listen now on the NPR app.
We talk about her music career, motherhood, and of course, her breakout role.
Penny Lane, man, show some respect.
You can find my interview on the Fresh Air podcast.
Get in loser, we're taking a trip under the sea to a junkyard.
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.
I met this guy on the bar train one time and I had my bass with me and he goes, man, what
do you want to do?
What's your dream?
I'm Jesse Thorn on Bullseye Raphael Siddique.
He's nominated for an Oscar.
He played bass for Prince.
And of course, he co-founded Tony Tony Tony.
Uncle, I want to be in a band with my brother.
That's on the next Bullseye.
Find us in the NPR app at maximumfund.org or wherever you get podcasts.
Ha, we're back.
Listening to car talk with us, click and collect the Tapper Brothers.
And we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and the new puzzler.
I can hardly.
Well, this is interesting.
On October 15, 1996, I received...
This is a real day.
October 15, 1996.
Well, hey, you're catching up.
Well, I received the following email.
It says, despite your completely incomprehensible failure to use the last puzzler I submitted,
I'm giving you another chance.
By the way, I'm a cute little kid confined to a hospital bed with a wasting disease.
The doctors don't hold out much hope of my surviving past, the end of your show's current season.
And my last wish is to have a puzzler used on car talk.
Oh, man.
But don't let that influence you.
Well, I didn't.
That we not.
On Tuesday, January 18, 2000, I received the following email.
Despite your completely incomprehensible failure to use the last puzzler I submitted.
The exact same one.
Same puzzler.
Same puzzler.
And the kid has survived.
He survived.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Pretty good, huh?
Great.
And maybe it was just the hope that you gave him that someday you would read his puzzler.
Well, in fact, it saved his life.
It was considerable reservation that I used his puzzler.
I know, because now if you use it, the kid will be dead in an hour.
Maybe.
I mean, this has been keeping him alive.
Every week, listen to this.
Bumms it and use my puzzler again.
This is dangerous.
I mean, you sure you want to do this?
Well.
You think he's lying, don't you?
Yeah, I think he's a liar little snot.
Well, let's hope so.
Here we go.
You ready?
I'm just going to read his letter because I think it's...
Don't forget he had four years to revise it and he didn't.
He didn't.
So I must have thought it was pretty good.
Yeah.
On the hottest day of the summer, my mother was driving her decrepit 88 Toyota Corolla
from New York City to Philadelphia with her significant other.
They were going to a wedding and the bride had asked them to courier a shipment of gourmet
frozen sorbet centerpieces from a little known sorbet emporium in Queens.
Believe it or not, sorbet centerpieces are considered quite the thing at wedding receptions,
at least in Philadelphia.
At the emporium, they loaded a crate packed with sorbet centerpieces into the back seat
of the car.
The merchant warned them that they had three hours before the sorbet would begin to melt.
Philadelphia is two hours away.
Flushed with the urgency of their charge, they set out.
Yeah.
All went well until they ran into bumper to bumper traffic.
Oh, man.
Heading over the 59th Street Bridge.
You knew it had to happen.
Sure.
Significant other began showing symptoms of cardiac distress.
And mum changed course to New York Hospital.
Oh, man.
The next thing she knew, a policeman was reviving her.
She had lost consciousness and crashed into a guardrail but was miraculously uninjured.
She recovered sufficiently to drive significant other to the hospital.
A full cardiac workup showed no medical problem.
The sorbet must go through.
So they set out again having lost an hour.
Now they're in trouble.
Significant had a few more rough moments as they passed through the Lincoln Tunnel,
but he seemed to have recovered on the Jersey Turnpike.
The story has a happy ending.
They made it to the wedding with moments to spare and without further incident.
The sorbet was a smashing success.
What could the question possibly be?
Go ahead.
Go ahead.
Keep going.
No, keep going.
I'm done.
You're done.
I'm done.
Is there a question?
I don't know.
A full cardiac workup showed no medical problem.
The question is, what happened?
They loaded the sorbet.
They get into hot days.
Hot hot days!
They have to hurry.
They have to rush to Philadelphia.
The guy says you got three hours.
They know Philadelphia's two hours away.
Yeah.
They're on their crossing the 59th Street Bridge.
The old man starts to show symptoms of a heart attack.
She changes course for New York Hospital.
The next thing she knows, a cop is reviving her.
Her!
Her!
Her!
She takes them to the hospital because she's concerned.
Damn the sorbets.
Yeah, for a moment at least.
For a moment.
When they find out he's all right.
Back in the car.
Back in the car, the sorbets must go on.
Okay, so you just divulged that really her significant other was actually a person.
We didn't know that before.
I did.
Didn't I?
Well the question is, what happened?
Now if you think you know the answer, write it on the back of a $20 bill or a stale croissant
and send it to Puzzler Tower.
Wow.
Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Our fair city.
Matt 02238 or you can email your answer from the Car Talk section of Cars.com.
If you'd like to call us, the number is 1-888-CAR-TALK.
That's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
This is Amy from San Francisco.
Amy, how you been?
Good, how are you?
I've been waiting to hear from you.
Good, I've been waiting to hear from you.
What kind of a Honda do you have?
What kind of Honda?
No, wrong, huh?
No, I don't have a Honda.
Oh, all right.
I just had Honda feelings there.
Oh, and my mom's sell Honda.
Maybe that's how you got this.
Oh, that's it.
That'll do it.
Okay.
I'm calling actually about a 1992 Geo Prism with about 135,000 miles on it.
And it's got this weird thing where if you drive it for any length of time, like over
half an hour, and then stop it, it won't start back up again.
But then if you leave it alone for an hour or sometimes two hours, depending on how
long I was driving it.
Yeah.
It starts right back up, no problem.
It usually starts back right back up right after I've called the tow truck actually.
And then as soon as they get there, it starts right back up and they look at me like I'm
a total fool who doesn't know how to turn on the car.
So you could almost make this do it.
So for example, if you wanted to demonstrate this to your mechanic, you could drive the
car for an hour.
And make sure you ended up at the shop.
And right and pull into his shop and shut the thing off and demonstrate to him that
it didn't restart.
Well, we could do that if it wasn't so.
It's deliberately thwarting us from trying to figure out what it is.
Like one time my husband did exactly that.
He had an hour and a half drive and he drove, he drove right to the gas station.
Excellent.
Our mechanic stopped, went inside, talked to the guy, went back out, tried to turn it
back on, started right back up.
Then drove the three blocks back to our house, turned off the car.
And just out of curiosity, turned it back on, wouldn't start up again.
Well, either you or your husband has to become the detective here because otherwise this
is going to drive you to the loony bin.
Well, it's really, it's a hassle.
We can't ever drive any place where we're not going to be there more than an hour or
two hours.
Yeah.
Well, maybe it's the causeway of dictating your social life.
Yeah.
So we're going out too much.
This is either a fuel problem or a spark problem.
Oh, a spark.
Yeah.
Or oxygen.
And I don't think the car is suffering from lack of oxygen.
So it's going to be fuel or spark.
And the way to determine easily is to, the way to go about this easily is to test the
spark first.
And the easiest way to do this is to take it to your mechanic and have him show you
how to determine when the engine has spark.
Okay.
Okay.
When the ignition system is creating spark.
And it's, you can do it very simply with a screwdriver on the car like this.
It requires opening the hood and pulling off a spark plug wire, but it's not hard to do.
Okay.
We can figure it out.
But you're going to figure out, you're going to say to him, one of two things, either when
it doesn't start, it has great spark or it has no spark.
Okay.
And if it has no spark, then he's going to go ahead and replace the coil and the igniter.
And if it does have good spark, then he's going to begin to look at the fuel system,
but at least he'll know that the ignition system is okay and have eliminated many costly pieces.
Okay.
But he's not going to replace my vote.
If I had to, if I had to guess here, I'd say coil, I'd say it's the coil or the igniter.
I'm with you, man.
Why does it happen only after we've been driving for a while?
Oh, we can't answer that.
I mean, why?
We're having enough trouble with that.
We don't want to kill you then, Amy.
Come on.
You can't ask all these questions.
Why and what?
You want what?
You want why?
Come on.
Next thing you're going to be asking us, how?
We don't even know how.
Oh, who?
No, when the coil heats up, it's often the case that when the engine is shut off, that
the built up heat will prevent the coil from working.
And the same thing happens with igniters.
So, and the heat actually, the under hood temperature goes higher when you've turned
the key off for a short period of time.
Okay.
Okay, because you've stopped moving the car and the heat that the engine has built up
is liberated to these parts.
And then once they get hot enough to create what's called an open circuit, they won't
work.
And you'll have to think cool off for a while and boom, it starts up and it runs perfectly.
Yeah.
And if you, if you check for spark and you get no spark, that'll tell the mechanic that
one of those two things has done this.
Okay.
And that's the answer to what?
The answer to why we'll have to wait for our next book.
Okay.
See you Amy.
Okay, thanks a lot.
Right, bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Well, it's happened again, you've squandered under the perfectly good hour listening to
car talk.
Our esteemed producer is Doug the Subway Fugitive, not a slave to fashion, punk and lips Berman.
Our associate producers are Frau Catherine Fenolosa and Louie Cronin the Barbarian.
Our engineer is Dennis the co-worker menace Foley, our senior web lackey is Doug, the
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Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murkey of Murky Research, assisted of course by
statistician Marge Inovera.
Our customer care representative is Hayward Jabuzoff.
Our director of new product repair is Warren T. Myfoot.
Our official spokesperson is Lou Scanan and our shop foreman is Luke Busy.
Our student and consultant is a great people.
The head of our division of threat assessment is Ewan Whatarmy.
Our director of luxury car horn is Tony Blair and our staff divorce attorney is Carmine
Not yours.
And our Russian chauffeur is Bekoff and Dropoff.
Our chief counsel from the law firm of Dewey Cheetov and Howe is Uluis Dewey, known to
the sidewalk snowboarders in Harvard Square as UiLui Dewey.
Thanks so much for listening.
We're clicking clack to Tappett Brothers and above all, don't drive like my brother.
And above all, don't drive like my brother.
We'll be back next week.
And now it's a special treat because we have here in the studio Karatok Plaza's chief
mechanic, Mr. Vinnie Gumbatz.
Vinnie, thank you very much.
Now look, if you want to copy this year's show, which is number 10, just pick up your
phone and call this number 1-888-KAT-JUNK.
Hey Vinnie, what if I wanted something else, like maybe a Karatok CD, a baseball hat.
What do I call that same number Vinnie?
No, you call Bajigaloo, Bajigaloo, Bajigaloo for Pasquale, attorneys of law you dope.
Of course you call that same number, there's only one number.
You call the Shameless Commerce Division at 888-KAT-JUNK or visit it online at the
Karatok section at kars.com.
Thank you Vinnie.
You stayed right on message today.
Hey, message this radio boy.
Karatok is a production of Dewey, Cheetahman Howe and WBOR in Boston.
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No fast forwarding to get to the good stuff.
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