#2620: Hubby's Fuelishness
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Car
Subaru Outback
The Subaru Impreza Outback Sport is a type of car that mixes a small car with some SUV features, like higher ground clearance and all-wheel drive. The 1997 model is an older version that people liked for being good in different driving conditions.
Car
Subaru Impreza
The Subaru Impreza is a small car that can drive well in different weather because it has power to all its wheels. If the brakes are making noise, it usually means they need to be checked or fixed to keep the car safe.
Term
metal to metal grinding
Metal to metal grinding is a loud noise you hear when the parts that stop your car rub together without the soft pads in between. It means the brake parts are worn out and need fixing.
Part
semi-metallic brake pads
Semi-metallic brake pads are a kind of brake pad that has some metal in them. They help stop your car well but can sometimes make noise when you brake.
Term
brake noise
Sometimes brakes make sounds like squeaks or squeals. This can happen because of the brake parts or if the car hasn't been used for some time.
Term
metal on metal
When the brake pads wear out, the metal part of the pad touches the metal disc, making a loud sound. The brakes still work for a little while, but it's a sign they need fixing soon.
Car
Dodge Van
A Dodge Van is a big vehicle used for carrying stuff or people. The 1987 one is an older model that many people used for work or travel.
Car
Dodge B-150
The Dodge B350 Van is a big van made by Dodge that can carry heavy loads or lots of people. It's called B350 because it can handle about one ton of weight.
Part
air pump
The air pump is a part that helps clean the car's exhaust by pushing air into it. If it gets worn out, it can make bad sounds or stop working.
Part
O2 sensor
The O2 sensor checks how much oxygen is in the car's exhaust to help the engine run better and pollute less.
Part
coolant temp sensor
This sensor tells the car how hot the engine is so it can add the right amount of fuel and keep the engine running well.
Term
catalytic converter
This part cleans the car's exhaust gases to make them less bad for the air we breathe.
Term
sulfur dioxide gas
Sulfur dioxide is a bad gas that comes from burning certain fuels and can pollute the air.
Term
fuel air mixture
Fuel air mixture means how much gas and air get mixed together for the engine to burn and make the car go.
Part
thermostat
The thermostat is a part that helps keep the engine at the right temperature. If it gets stuck open, the engine might not warm up properly.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a classic American car famous for being fast and strong. A 1973 Charger found hidden in a barn is special because it might be in good shape and worth fixing up or keeping.
Concept
barn find
A barn find is an old car that was kept hidden away in a barn or garage for a long time and is found later, often in good shape.
Part
fan belt
The fan belt is like a rubber band that helps the engine's fan and electrical parts work by spinning them. It keeps the engine cool and the car's electricity running.
Concept
belt with a twist
If you twist a belt before joining its ends, it can last longer because both sides get used evenly. It's a clever way to make the belt last without changing what it's made of.
Part
fuel pump
The fuel pump is a part inside the car that sends gas from the tank to the engine so the car can run. It sits inside the gas tank and stays cool because of the gas around it.
Term
miles to empty
"Miles to empty" tells you how far you can drive before your car runs out of gas. It uses information from the car to guess this number.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a popular fast car that many people like because it looks cool and goes really fast. It’s been around for a long time and is a symbol of American muscle cars.
Term
LS trim
LS is a name car companies use to describe a certain version of a car, but it can mean different things for different brands.
Car
Nissan Altima
The Nissan Altima is a comfortable car that many people use every day because it doesn't use too much gas and usually runs well. A 1995 model is an older car but can still work fine if taken care of.
Term
flat truck
A flat truck is a big truck with a flat back that can carry a car safely when it breaks down.
Concept
dealership
A dealership is a place where you buy cars and get them fixed if they have problems.
Part
fuel filter
The fuel filter makes sure the gas going into the engine is clean so the car runs smoothly.
Part
distributor rotor
The distributor rotor helps send the spark to the right part of the engine so it can start and run properly.
Part
spark plug
The spark plug makes a small spark that helps the car's engine start and keep running.
LIVE
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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 new products division here at
Car Talk Plaza. And once again, someone has beaten us to a million-dollar idea. I mean,
why didn't we think of this first? We get in the mail a little spray bottle. It says reduce
road rage on the bottle and all kinds of printed propaganda along with it.
I'll read you the propaganda. Yeah, go ahead because this...
Reduce road rage and all natural herbal vitamin spray that is safe and effective.
This special formula promotes calmness to reduce stress without losing alertness,
which helps reduce road rage. So, when you have that feeling that you've got to kill somebody...
You pop the little top off of this thing and you spray one spray in your mouth. Now I was
reading the thing. It has some interesting ingredients. It has St. John's Warts.
I'm a chlorophyll. It has Siberian Husky or Siberian Ginseng. It has Rocky Balboa
and Essence of Dingleberry. I mean, it has all the important ingredients.
It's great stuff, and I'm going to keep this handy so if Tommy starts ranting during the show,
I'll be able to give him a shot. Actually, I was working on a similar product.
You were?
Well, yes.
How does it work?
Not similar really, quite different. Well, it's a...
Well, firearms involved.
Close. It's a spray, but you spray it in the face of the guy.
It has the same effect. You immediately feel better.
The trouble with this stuff is that the person who's responsible for the road rage is the person
who has to take it. He's the one who's going nuts.
This requires that you recognize that you are a raging type.
And they don't. I mean, they don't know. What they need is something like the automatic dope slap.
I mean, how do you know? For example, do you think you're the road rage type?
No, I'm not.
Well, there you go. Here's the sign.
Now, this stuff is made by a company called Creative Health and Spirit Products.
Guess where they are?
Got to be in Southern California.
And guess exactly where?
La Cienega Boulevard.
No, Manhattan Beach.
Yeah.
Yeah. That's a good place for them.
That's... Have been to Manhattan Beach?
Yes.
They're all there.
Dimitri used to live in Manhattan Beach. I'll go talk to him.
If you want to talk to us about your car or road rage or anything else,
the number to call is 1-888-CAR-TALK. That's 888-227-8255.
If you want to talk to Avogadro, his number is 1.022 times 10 to the 23rd.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hi, my name's Kerry.
Hi, Kerry.
K-E-R-R. Don't tell us how to spell it. Just tell us where you're from.
Okay. I'm from Columbus, Ohio.
K-E-R-R-Y.
Close.
Aye.
K-E-R-R-I.
Oh, you moved from California.
You weren't born in Columbus, Ohio with a name like K-E-R-R-I.
You're right. I was born in Kansas City, Missouri.
No, that doesn't work either.
Anyway, what's up, Kerry?
Well, I have a 97 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport.
My brakes are making sort of a grinding noise.
It sounds like metal to metal grinding when I first apply the brakes,
even on a small incline.
Like...
Yeah, I mean, it really, it sounds like metal to metal.
Like, I need my brake pads to change.
But you don't.
You've had them checked and they've assured you that they're okay.
Exactly. They told me there was dust in there and that I was, you know, just being nutty,
and that there was no problem at all.
And so, you know, I didn't believe them.
I thought they were nutty.
And so I went ahead and had the brake pads replaced
and had them change to semi-metallic rather than metallic.
So these pads that you put on were not from Subaru?
Right.
All right. And so you thought that because you were reducing the metal
content of the brakes that you would reduce them?
The metal on metal sound would go away.
So it should be about half, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Because they're about semi-metallic.
Is it?
Makes sense to me.
Yeah, is it about half?
Yeah, it's about half.
No, actually, it didn't change at all.
Didn't change at all?
No.
Well, first of all, I wouldn't worry about it because you know that there's nothing wrong
with the brake pads.
Obviously, there was nothing wrong with the ones you took out.
Right.
And you can choose to try to live with the noise.
Wait, wait, so if that's true, we go back a few steps.
The guys at the shop thought she was crazy.
She thought they were crazy.
So we've just assured her that it was her that was crazy.
Well, I was trying to break it to it gently.
Okay.
Yeah, so.
So I just wanted to make the point clear.
Well, you're not crazy.
I mean, you're hearing the noise, but I think you were crazy to have changed the brake pads.
For no reason.
For no reason.
And the truth is that some cars just do this.
And you can, there are certain chemicals that you can actually immerse the pads in
that can cut down this noise, but it's only temporary.
And we have some cars where we've never been able to get rid of it.
And it's especially bad if the car sits for a day or two.
Right.
Well, you know, it seems to happen more often when I first pulled the car out of the garage.
And what's really peculiar, I think, is that I have a friend who has a 99 of the exact same car,
and her brakes make the exact same noise.
Well, there you go.
Yeah.
Well, I just initially thought, you know, that one day I was going to be headed down a hill
and go careening into someone's front door.
No, that's not going to happen.
Okay.
Well, the brakes will work perfectly fine.
Okay.
It has nothing to do.
And so if you can live with the noise, even if the pads were worn out,
the brakes would still work perfectly fine for a while.
They work great.
Metal on metal is great.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
It beats a foot out the door.
It does beat a foot out the door.
So don't worry about that.
You're not going to go careening into someone's front living room.
And I would recommend that when you get in the car in the morning,
the first thing you do after starting the engine is that you turn the radio on.
Turn it up really loud.
Turn it up really loud.
For that first few minutes.
If you listen to the stuff my son listens to,
your nuclear explosions could be going on around your car and you wouldn't hear them.
Okay.
Well, that's good advice.
Thank you very much.
See you, Kerry.
Don't worry.
Everything's fine.
Be happy.
All is right with the world.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
1-888-CARTALK.
That's 888-227-8282-5.
A lawyer on CARTALK.
Yeah, I'm David Circe.
I'm calling from Palatine, Virginia.
Hi, David.
Palatine?
Palatine as in Chief Palatine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
VA.
Got it.
Virginia, what's up, David?
Well, I got an 87 Dodge Van, unfortunately.
And as I drive it, I go through an area of swamp gas that happens
inside the car.
Softer stench, really bad smell.
Well, if you go to Taco Bell every day, that's what'll happen.
Yes.
It's not the food, luckily.
I eat at home.
In my humble opinion, of course.
But what kind of, is this a full-size van, like a Ram Van?
This is a 1-ton Dodge Van 360 motor.
So it's a B350 or something like that, right?
Yeah, I think it's a 350 model.
Yeah.
Okay, got it.
And one guy told me it was the air pump because the bearings in the air pump are bad,
and it's making a pretty bad sound there that it could be the air pump.
So I get about 15 miles into the drive, and I reach for a respirator, which I use in my work.
And I put that on in order to get where I'm going.
It's that bad.
And it takes 15 miles before it happens, though.
Yeah, it's about 14 or 15 miles in it.
I don't know whether there's something to do with the temperature at that point.
All of a sudden, it's not accepting the exhaust.
And how long does it last?
Oh, once it kicks in, you're done.
Have you tried changing brands of gasoline?
Tried that.
Has anyone tried anything else, like replacing parts, like the catalytic converter?
Many people have told me it wouldn't run as good as it runs if the catalytic converter was bad.
That's not true.
That's not true.
Another, I went to a Dodge dealership, and he said,
well, I got to put it on the computer because it might be O2 sensors, and it might be some sort of
throttle thing that has to do with the choke.
Well, it could be a lot of things.
I mean, it could be a bad O2 sensor.
It could be a bad coolant temp sensor, for example, that's changing the mixture
and not accounting for the fact that the engine's warmed up, so it's putting in too much fuel.
It's burning very black on the exhaust.
That was my next question.
Do you have black exhaust?
Yeah, it says yes.
Oh, really?
But what happens when they put it on the emission tester?
Does it pass?
Well, he says that it's getting too much gas, but...
Here's what can happen.
If, in fact, the carburetor is flooding out and there is therefore...
Pouring in way too much gas.
Too much gas.
What that does is it cools down the combustion mixture.
So when the spark plugs explode, the gasoline, it doesn't reach the optimum temperature.
When that exhaust stream reaches the catalytic converter, it cools it off.
And in doing so, it renders the catalytic converter unable to absorb the sulfur
that is a byproduct of combustion.
Yes, the active sulfur, yes.
And then what it's doing is it's allowing oxygen that's present in that mixture
to combine with that sulfur and make sulfur dioxide gas, which is what you smell.
So there may be nothing wrong with the converter.
It's merely malfunctioning because it's running too cool.
It's overloaded.
And it's overloaded with gas, but it's being cooled down by the very rich mixture.
And what you need to do is correct that first.
So rebuilding the carburetor might be...
I've checked and for $50, you can get a kit to rebuild the carburetor.
Yeah, well, you can try rebuilding it and it may work.
Okay.
It's 50 bucks worth versus 500 bucks.
Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm thinking.
The word miracle on the rebuild kit.
I mean, it might work, but it might not.
Yeah, I mean, the pieces that you need might not be in the rebuild kit.
You won't have the...
In fact, you won't have the advantage of testing the thing before you put it back on.
Whereas when they rebuild the carburetor, they can actually...
I might still have to wear the respirator to drive it.
You might, but they have a machine they put the carburetor on and they flow test it,
the good rebuilders.
And they see if in fact that it's putting out the right fuel air mixture.
And if it isn't, they reject it and they go ahead and either discard it or rebuild it again.
So if it's not the carburetor, then it could be catalytic?
It could be cataclysmic.
Yeah.
By this point, you may have ruined the catalytic converter and you may need both of them.
Because of being so thick, plugged up or something.
Right.
Great.
Well, they're only about a grand.
Well, then that's 550 plus a grand.
We're doing good.
And then price of gas makes it easy too.
But solve the rich running problem and don't assume that it is the carburetor even necessarily.
I mean, it could be something like a thermostat that's stuck in the open position.
So make sure you have somebody who really is going to check from square one.
Okay.
All right.
All right.
Well, thanks guys.
See you, David.
Good luck, David.
Good luck.
See you later.
Bye.
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 listen to car talk with us, click and clack the Tabret Brothers,
and we're here to talk about cars, car repair, and the answer to last week's puzzler.
I can't remember it.
I could barely remember it myself, but it was good.
Picture this.
It's 1936.
You're in your second year of high school.
Europe is on the brink of yet another war.
Second senior year.
In a secret location in Germany, German officers are gathered around a table
with the designers and builders of its new personnel carrier.
They're going over every little detail and leaving no stone unturned.
They want everything to be flawless.
One of the officers stands up and says,
I have a question about the fan belt, about the longevity of the fan belt.
You with me?
They spoke English there?
Oh, yeah.
Just like in all the movies?
I'm reading the subtitles.
Just like in all the movies.
I often wondered, how come they all spoke English?
Well, it's so close to German after all.
Yeah, you just add an ish or anything to the end of everything.
Anyway, this fan belt looks just like the belt around your waist.
It's a flat piece of rubber and it's designed to run around the fan and the generator.
So he asks, how long do you expect the belt to last?
The engineer says 30,000 to 40,000 kilometers.
The officer says, not good enough.
He said, how many miles is that?
The colonel says, that's why I never made any money in script writing.
Yeah, the colonel says, not good enough.
We need it to last at least 60 K.
The engineer says, not a problem.
It's just a question of taking off the belt and flipping it over, right?
Turn it inside out.
The officer says, that's unacceptable.
Our soldiers will be engaged in battle.
We can't ask them to change fan belts in the middle of the battlefield.
Well, it's a good point.
That's right.
I mean, come on.
You can't tell the guys to stop shooting.
Your fan belt is going to be replaced.
Exactly, like hold your fire.
So the engineers huddled together and they come up with a clever design change.
And I think I mentioned they do not change the material of the belt in any way,
yet they satisfy the new longevity requirement quite easily.
What did they do?
And what they did was they manufactured the belt with a twist in it.
Imagine if you took your own belt and joined the two ends together.
So you'd have an inside of the belt and an outside.
But imagine before joining them, if you gave one end a twist
and made it into what's called a mobius strip.
Of course.
Now it's going to go on both sides all the time.
Exactly.
And in essence, you've doubled the length of the belt.
You allowed it to run on the inside and the outside at the same time.
Does Detroit know about this?
Yes, they do.
We don't have any mobius strip fan belts on Americans.
Well, it's a little known fact that the fan belt lobby is very strong in this country.
They don't want them to last twice as long.
Of course not.
Nor do we who replace belts.
Yes.
Anyway, who's our winner, Tommy?
Boy, are you going to be surprised?
The winner is Liz Walsh from Lexington, Massachusetts.
Get out.
Is it?
What are the chances of that?
Wow.
And for having her correct answer selected at random from all the right answers,
Liz is going to get a gift certificate and she can blow 25 bucks at Car Talk
Shameless Commerce Division on our website.
And with 25 bucks, she can get about one and two-thirds Car Talk CDs.
Not bad.
Not bad.
That's about all you could stand.
I mean, actually, if they leave out the middle two-thirds there,
you can play most of it.
Don't worry, Liz, it'll be good.
Anyway, we will have a new quasi-automotive puzzler coming up in the third half of today's
show.
Yes, master.
So stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, you can call us and ask questions about your car or anything else you
would like.
The number is 1-888-CAR-TALK.
That's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hi, this is Whitney, calling from Holderness, New Hampshire.
Holderness?
Yes, Whitney.
Holderness.
Holderness.
It's right...
Next to Colderness?
It's right across the river from Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Ah, that's good.
That's where the pilgrims landed, right?
Right, Plymouth Rock.
The home of Plymouth State College, actually.
Ah, I knew that.
Yeah.
Just give us a rough idea.
How far north?
It takes about an hour and a half to get to Boston on 93.
Oh, oh, it's close.
Yeah, it's not bad at all.
Yeah, yeah.
It's unfortunate we've never heard of it.
Really?
Well, we're only kidding.
We're boys and yahoos, I mean, we don't go killing animals, so why would we go to New Hampshire?
So what's up, Whitney?
Well, I actually, I'll tell you my problem.
I've got like a two-part question for you guys.
Good, I love those.
Yeah, and it's kind of a conflict with my husband type thing.
I love those too.
Yeah.
Um, he, okay, we have a Jeep Cherokee Laredo, and that's like a 97, and we have a 97 Volvo
850 station wagon.
And my husband has this thing with not filling.
He likes to let the lights go on until he gets gas.
You know?
And our, for instance, I'll be like, well, I'm gonna run down and pick up the pizza.
I'll take the Volvo.
We switch back and forth sometimes.
We're gonna have to get some gas, you know?
I'll get in the car and the light will go on, and I'll go back and go, what are you doing?
I'm like, oh, we're just going down and get some gas.
I'm like, why do you let it go that far?
It's not good for the car.
He thinks that I'm completely wrong.
But my question is, like, isn't it bad for cars like that are few injected if we run out of gas?
It's not, no, it isn't bad to run out of gas.
It's always bad to run out of gas in general.
Yeah, not because it's detrimental necessarily, but
we are of the belief, however, that it is not good for the fuel pump,
which in both of these cars resides inside the gas tank to run with the tank close to empty,
because the fuel actually cools the pump.
Well, make it close to empty.
This is what he does.
I'll get in the Jeep and it's got one of those computer consoles, the top, the deal.
Miles to empty, it tells you.
Yeah, right.
So I'll get in.
We live two and a half miles up on top of this hill.
Thank God.
And I'll get in the Jeep and it'll say, OK, Miles to empty, zero.
And he'll look at me and he'll be like, we can make it, honey.
It's like that episode of Seinfeld.
You know, as we coast into the gas station.
Has he ever explained to you why he does this?
I don't know.
Adventure?
I don't know.
Is that it?
I don't know.
Is there not enough excitement in his life?
We just had a baby in September.
I think there would be.
No, evidently not enough.
You know, he clearly, it's there's no question this guy does not have enough
excitement in his life.
He needs to take a bungee jumping, spelunkering.
I mean, this guy needs to do, you got to get him help right away.
You think?
Next thing you know, he's going to be calling you from Nepal.
He's going to be studying yak husbandry.
If we're coasting down the hill on fumes quite often, is that bad for the environment?
No.
It's not?
No, no, that doesn't, the first part of your question, does it harm the engine?
No, it doesn't.
It might harm the fuel pump.
That's my brother's theory.
Unsubstantiated by anybody, but it might be true because we know he's a genius.
I just have empirical evidence.
And he owes me money.
But the second thing, I mean, this is not very mature behavior.
I know.
Now he needs help.
He doesn't need help.
He's crying out.
My brother's right.
Don't ignore him.
I think it's for me, we need a vacation.
He needs more than a vacation.
Maybe like parachuting.
There you go.
He needs something.
I don't know what it is.
Maybe he needs to work on like the bomb squad or something.
He needs more excitement.
What does he do for a living?
He works for the Holderness School.
He's in development.
Oh, not good enough.
Oh, yeah, he needs a little development himself.
See, I would be careful here with me because how long have you been married?
A little over three years.
Yeah, I'd be careful because I think he's having a little bit of an adjustment problem.
I can see it that he's yearning for his carefree days.
Well, I said to him the other day, we're like someone that's big lottery thing.
And I said, honey, I said, what would you do if you won the lottery?
And he goes, you don't want to know.
He goes, I go by it like a, he likes to, he wants a convertible Mustang with a 56 Mustang.
Why are we not surprised?
And I said, you'd be in Helen and I and you take off in this fast car and he goes,
no, I come back and get Helen.
Well, good luck.
I hope you can nip this in the bud, but it's going to take something creative.
I'll take it something.
Fast.
Thank you so much.
See you Whitney.
We'll be right back with more calls and the new puzzle right after these important messages.
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This message comes from eBay.
The cars found in eBay often come with a story worth sharing.
Like a 1973 Dodge Charger tucked away in an Arizona barn for more than 40 years,
just 55,000 miles on it, still in great writing order with a rare sunroof.
A car hidden for decades can be delivered through eBay's secure purchase with paperwork handled.
There are thousands of cars like this in eBay from unique finds to everyday drivers,
eBay, things people love.
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International Women's Day is this March.
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Ha! We're back. You'll just leave the car talk with us.
Click and click to tap it, brothers.
And we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and the new puzzler.
Yeah. Okay.
Oh, here it is.
A few weeks ago, Tommy calls me up one day at work and he says,
our sister Lucille is sick and she needs some care.
And he says, I'll make her some chicken soup if you will deliver it to her.
So after work, I show up at his house and he's pouring chicken soup into this plastic container
and he's mumbling something about not being able to find the right cover for it.
So we try to cover it, pops off.
We put another cover on it, pops off.
And he says, well, do your best.
I try to put tape on it.
The tape won't stick to the plastic.
And he says, be careful because you could make a mess with this thing.
So I carefully carried out to the car, my cold vista, and I, this is the automotive part.
And I put it on the floor of the, in the front, on the passenger side.
And with great trepidation, I pull away from the curb.
You with me so far?
I'm with you.
Yeah.
Worried that the slightest little abrupt stop or turn, it's too sharp.
There goes the chicken soup.
It's going to spill this stuff all over the place.
Now I realize as I'm driving that my house is between his house and her house,
and I should stop off at home and, you know, maybe see the wife and kids in the hounds and
maybe have supper.
You're married?
Well, so in fact, I do that.
I stop at home, I go to the house, how you doing, huh?
We hug and kiss, son and I hug and kiss, exchange pleasantries.
The dogs come and we, we pet the dogs and I have supper.
Yeah.
And I sit in front of the TV and I fall asleep watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Hours later, I wake up remembering that my sister is probably at the front door,
clawing at the door, waiting for, waiting for her soup.
So at like midnight, I say, oh, the soup.
And you go back to sleep.
I go back to sleep.
I wake up again at 1.30.
Yeah.
And I grab, I hardly grab a few old National Geographic magazines and some fruit that we
were going to throw away.
And I jump in the car and I drive to her house, which is several miles from my house.
Yeah.
Never once concerned that I'm going to spill the soup.
And in fact, I don't spill a drop of it.
Although you were concerned when you left my house.
I was very concerned.
In fact, I drive like a maniac.
Yeah.
And it's nothing to do with the National Geographic magazines or the rotten fruit.
Now, if you think you know the answer, what's your problem?
The answer to what?
What's the question?
Why didn't, why didn't this happen?
Why didn't, why wasn't I concerned?
Why weren't you concerned?
So that's the question.
You know, sometimes we say things like send your answer on the back of a piece of
overripe fruit or an old two by four and people actually do it.
Yeah.
In fact, in the last couple of weeks, we've received correct answers on a half eaten apple
and a frosted pop tart slash roofing shingle.
And given our success, I thought I'd try something a little different this week.
So if you think you know the answer, write it on a postcard or a 47 inch high definition TV set.
I mean, there's always one cuckoo that does it, right?
Or two tickets to Honolulu.
Yeah.
That's next week.
I like it.
Excellent idea.
And send that answer to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Our fair city.
Mat 02238.
Of course, email your answer from the CarTalk section of cars.com.
If you'd like to call us, the number is 1-888-CARTALK.
That's 888-227-8255.
Hello, you're on Car Talk.
Hi, this is Kim von Miller from Austin, Texas.
Kim.
Austin, one of my favorite towns in the whole world.
Oh, you guys are celebrities here.
We are?
We are?
Yeah.
Yeah, would they put us up?
So what's cooking?
I called y'all because nobody can answer my questions.
Ah, okay.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with my car.
Cool.
Okay, well, thanks for calling, Kim.
It's been a lot of fun talking to you.
You're going to laugh.
Um, I have this curiosity that's eating me up.
You drive down the road and you see these model letters on the cars.
Yeah, I have a 98 Mazda Prodigy LX.
But I've also seen a car that looks just like mine that's LS.
And so I start looking and I'm thinking, well,
is my car nicer than the others?
Or is my car less?
You know, did I give up?
An ascending order or a descending order?
LX.
X is way down the end of the alphabet.
Or is this maybe Roman numerals?
I can't.
It doesn't make sense.
Yeah.
Kate, can you answer my question?
Well.
Can you give me any specific information?
We're going to try to help you as much as we can, Kim.
We wrote a newspaper column on the subject of, on this subject.
This very subject.
For one thing.
And to be perfectly frank with you,
I don't remember a thing that we said.
Well, I don't remember that there was any specific rhyme or reason to it.
Oh, we know that.
You can't assume that one manufacturer's LS,
if that means, for example, if the LS is the top of the line for your car,
then you can't assume that if you go to a Toyota,
that an LS is going to be the top of the line for their car.
Of course.
I mean, first of all, you have to realize that these letters mean absolutely nothing,
except what the manufacturer decides that they will mean.
That was my idea.
And what they mean, for example, the LX subliminally suggests luxury.
Got it?
Yeah.
We think that they're working on subliminal things completely with all of these letters.
Okay.
And it's obvious, for example, like the the SX, we know what that means.
Yeah.
But more importantly, all of these letters are designed to trick and fool the buying public,
which is what advertising people are very good at in my humble opinion.
That was my theory.
The only thing that they're good at in my humble opinion.
And making you think you're buying something that you ain't really buying.
Like, for example, you live in Austin, TX.
Now, is that good or bad?
Right.
I mean, we don't know.
I mean, is that better than DE?
This is the nicest place I've ever been.
No, or DC.
How about MA?
How about FL?
I mean, we don't know.
There's no way to know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think the deeper you go into the alphabet, the more the more creature comforts you're getting.
Yeah.
But stay away from DC, whatever you do.
Because what is DC?
Evil.
It's evil.
Washington, DC.
Well, anyway, Kim, I'm sure that we helped you.
And you have certainly raised another question worthy of a doctoral dissertation.
Oh, well, thank you.
So there's some kid in Northwestern right now who's dying to get a doctoral dissertation topic.
He's in the marketing department.
And you have just given him an idea that's going to get him through,
get him his doctorate so he can teach somewhere and perpetuate all this BS that is going around.
I don't be an interesting model.
The BS.
The BS.
Well, guys, it's been fun.
Thanks very much.
See you later.
Okay, bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
1-888-CAR-TALK.
That's 888-227-825.
Hello, you're on CAR-TALK.
Hi, guys.
This is Dennis in Louisville, Kentucky.
With one in or two?
With two ends.
Two ends.
There are any ends in Louisville.
Just horses and bourbon, basically.
And not in that order.
And what's happening, Dennis?
Okay, my wife has a 95-need son, Altima.
And occasionally, I like to try to do nice things and wash it, clean up the car.
The last two times I've done this, over the course of the last six months...
Pots have fallen off.
...been cold.
I break the car.
I break the car.
What'd you break?
I mean, what are you used to wash it with?
Like a stick?
A friend said maybe it was too much fluoride in a water.
But here's what happens.
I back it out of my garage, wash it in my driveway, crank it up, pull it back into the garage.
The next morning she goes out to go to work,
car won't start.
That kind of breaking of the car.
I got that.
First time it happened, called AAA.
They put it on a flat truck and they hauled it off to the Nissan dealership.
We went back that evening and the Nissan guy said,
nothing wrong with this car.
Can't figure it out.
Happened again a couple of weeks ago.
Pulled in, we go out in the morning.
Nothing happens.
I love it.
So I say, there's something wrong with this car.
I'm not going to take it back to the Nissan guys.
I'm going to take it to my gas station.
The guys know what's going on.
Yeah, they know and love you.
Exactly.
They tell me basically the same thing.
They call me at work.
They say, hey, car starts.
What's wrong?
I said, car didn't start this morning.
I said, okay, let us work around on it.
So they replaced the distributor rotor, fuel filter, and the spark plug.
Good.
Car started good for them when they started this.
Car started great for them when they finished this.
Yeah.
What am I doing wrong?
Have you watched the car since then?
I'm afraid to, guys.
And my wife's not too picky about the dirt.
Well, here's what's happening.
Okay.
Do you close the garage door?
Yeah, he does.
Yes.
Yes, you do.
And we knew that.
You are loading up the car with moisture.
And then you are driving the wet car into the garage and closing the door and leaving.
That's it.
It's like taking an apple and sticking it in a plastic bag, a ziplock.
And what's going to happen is the water is going to, can't really leave the garage.
And what it's doing is it's permeating, in my opinion, the faulty or worn out spark plug
wires that you have on this car.
Which they didn't replace.
We were listening carefully for that on the list.
They replaced the plug, but not the wire.
Yeah, not the wires.
And you are right at the time when you probably need wires.
And the reason that it started when the dealer got it, is that the ride between your house
and the dealership was enough to dry everything off.
In fact, had you just opened the garage door or left the car outside after you washed it?
It would have started the next day.
So you got a choice here.
You can either have the spark plug wires replaced, or you can stop washing the car,
or you can wash the car and not put it in the garage, or...
Not shut off the engine.
Leave the engine running while you're washing the car.
You can put it in the garage and leave the door open, or leave the engine running.
You know, a lot of choices.
A lot of choices.
A lot of things you can do.
Okay, guys.
But I'm going to suggest that if you don't change the wires, the first day it gets left
outside in the rain, it's not going to start either.
You've got to replace the wires, your cheapskate.
See you, Dennis.
I've already put $100.
Okay, thanks a lot, guys.
All right.
Good luck, man.
Bye.
Well, it's happened again.
You vaporized yet another hour listening to car talk.
Our steam producer has dug the subway fugitive,
not a slave to fashion, Punk and Lips Berman.
Our associate producers are Frau Catherine Fenolosa.
Thank you.
And Louis Cronin, the barbarian.
Our engineer is Dennis de Menesfoli.
Our senior web lackey has dug the old gray mare.
And our technical, spiritual, and menu advisor is the bugster,
John Bugsy, free lunch, twinkle toes.
Twinkle toes.
Lawler.
Our public opinion pollster is Paul Merkey of Merkey Research,
assisted by statistician Margin of Era.
Our customer care representative is Haywood 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 staff snow plow driver is Frazier Tushoff.
Frazier Tushoff.
You got it.
Our pseudonym consultant is Norm De Poom.
Our divorce attorney is Carmine, not yours.
Our criminal justice expert is Lauren Order.
Our appeal specialist is Bud Yaroner.
Bud Yaroner.
And our Russian chauffeur is Bekoff and Dropoff.
Our chief counsel from the law firm of Dewey treatment.
How was your Louis Dewey?
Known to the feral cats in Harvard Square as Huey Louie Dewey.
Thanks so much for listening.
We're clicking clack to Tapper Brothers.
And above all, don't drive like Tommy.
And don't drive like Gramey.
We'll be back next week.
Bye-bye.
It is all a pleasure to have in the studio today
Car Talk Plaza's Chief Mechanic, Mr. Vinnie Grumbach.
Vinnie?
Hey, thank you very much.
Now, if you want a copy of this year's show,
which happens to be show number 13,
you can get one on the web.
Just head on over to the Car Talk section of www.cars.com
and click on the Shameless Commerce Division.
And what if I wanted something else?
Like a best of Car Talk CD?
I mean, would I go to the same site, Vinnie?
No, you go to www.flaminfarmanimal.com.
You dope.
Of course, you go to the same site.
It's the Shameless Commerce Division at the Car Talk section of cars.com.
Or you order the old-fashioned way by calling 888-CAD-JUNK.
Thank you, Vinnie.
That was very revealing.
Hey, I got to reveal right here.
Yeah.
Car Talk is a production of Dewey Cheetahman Howe and WB UR in Boston.
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About this episode
Click and Clack tackle common car troubles with their signature humor and practical advice. They discuss a Subaru Impreza's persistent brake noise that’s harmless despite metal-on-metal sounds, and a Dodge van emitting a foul smell likely caused by a rich fuel mixture affecting the catalytic converter. The hosts also joke about a herbal spray to reduce road rage and share amusing banter about automotive quirks. Listeners get a mix of technical insights, troubleshooting tips, and lighthearted stories that make car maintenance approachable and entertaining.
Original notes
Whitney lives in the New Hampshire mountains with her cheapskate hubby who insists on driving the cars bone dry before refueling them. And while this practice does bring a little extra excitement to a quick drive to town, is it bad for the car? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.
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