They’re making up a funny show idea: what if a family today had to live like it was 1952, but using a car from that era. The point is to highlight how different old cars feel compared to today’s cars.
They’re talking about a 1992 Ford Escort. The important clue is that the sound happens at certain engine speeds, which helps narrow down what part might be making the noise.
Sometimes one vibrating thing makes another thing vibrate too, even if it’s not directly connected. In a car, the engine can shake loose or nearby parts, and they start rattling at specific RPMs.
Term
forced undamped harmonic motion
It’s a fancy way of saying something keeps getting pushed to vibrate, and it doesn’t quickly calm down. In a car, engine shake can keep a loose part rattling until the vibration frequency changes.
Heat shields are protective metal covers near the exhaust that keep heat from damaging other parts. If one gets loose, it can buzz or rattle like a loose tin can.
Shocks are parts that help your car settle after it hits a bump. If they’re worn out, the ride can feel rough, and replacing them can make the car feel smoother.
Concept
smooth ride
A “smooth ride” means the car doesn’t bounce or jolt as much when you hit bumps. Suspension parts like shocks help the car handle rough roads more gently.
Topic
Cleveland vs. Los Angeles
They compare Cleveland and Los Angeles and how different weather can change how a car feels on the road. That leads into a discussion about what to check when the ride feels wrong.
The Lucid Air is a fully electric car, meaning it runs on a battery instead of gasoline. Because it’s electric, it uses sensors and computer-controlled systems to manage things like driving and safety. If it’s mentioned in a tire-pressure or warning-related context, it’s usually because the car is detecting an issue and alerting the driver.
A tire pressure gauge is a device that tells you how much air is actually in your tires. It’s important because the wrong amount of air can make the ride unsafe.
Suspension is what helps your truck ride smoothly and stay stable over bumps. If something feels bouncy, it could be the suspension—or it could be something like tire pressure.
“Car payments” are the monthly installments someone pays to own a car, usually under an auto loan or lease. In the story, police get involved because the relative believed she was making legitimate car payments, but it turned out to be a repair-billing scheme.
The brake master cylinder is the part that creates the pressure in your brake system when you press the pedal. If it’s going bad, the brakes can feel weak or act strangely, and heat can make the problem show up more.
It means something is wrong with the brakes—like they don’t respond the way they should. If the pedal feels wrong or the car won’t slow down properly, it’s not something to ignore.
Power steering fluid is the liquid that helps the steering work smoothly. If there isn’t enough of it, or it’s not in good condition, the steering can start making scary noises.
Flushing the system means they drained out the old power-steering fluid and replaced it with new fluid. The goal is to get rid of gunk or trapped air that can make the steering act up.
Rack-and-pinion is how a car turns the steering wheel into the wheels actually moving left or right. It uses gears inside the steering system to make the steering feel more direct.
A power steering conditioner is a product you add to the power steering fluid. The idea is it helps the steering system work better and may reduce leaks or noise, but it’s not a substitute for fixing the real problem.
The 1989 Chevrolet Suburban is a big SUV built for long-distance driving and carrying lots of people. The caller is using it to take a family road trip across several states.
The head gasket is a seal inside the engine that keeps fluids and combustion gases where they belong. If it blows, the engine can run poorly and it can be expensive and difficult to fix.
When the car “hesitates,” it doesn’t respond smoothly for a split second. That can feel like a tiny stumble or hiccup while you’re driving.
Term
hiccup
Here, “hiccup” means the vehicle briefly stumbles or jerks for a moment. It’s the kind of symptom you feel while driving, even if nothing obvious is wrong.
Overdrive is an extra “higher gear” in an automatic transmission. It helps the engine spin slower when you’re driving normally, which can improve smoothness and fuel economy.
The fuel filter is a small part that cleans the gas before it gets to the engine. If it gets clogged, the engine may not get enough clean fuel, and it can run poorly.
The transmission filter is like a screen for the transmission fluid. If it gets clogged, the transmission can get dirty fluid and start shifting weirdly.
A scanner is a tool that plugs into the car to read error codes from the computer. It helps mechanics figure out what’s actually wrong instead of guessing.
The crank angle sensor tells the car where the engine crankshaft is and how fast it’s turning. If it’s wrong or failing, the engine can’t time spark and fuel correctly, which can make the car run badly.
The ignition module helps control when the engine makes spark. If it goes bad, the engine may misfire or run rough because it’s not getting spark at the right time.
Spark plugs create the spark that lights the fuel in the engine. If a spark plug is worn or dirty, the engine can misfire and feel like it’s struggling, particularly when you push it.
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 reality ain't all it's cracked
up to be department here at Car Talk Plaza.
Well, I mean, we saw all these other networks that have huge hits with the so-called what
they say reality shows, so we decided NPR needs and reality show too.
I mean, you may be familiar with the one that PBS came up with, it's called 1900 House.
The idea is that an English family moves into an authentic 1900 Victorian House
built in 1900.
Right, right.
And it's got not the no dishwashers, no microwave, no email, no not like the houses they have now,
right?
Yeah.
The cameras roll and they capture these poor schleps trying to cope with reality as it was
in 1900.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we have a concept here for a similar show and it's called not 1900 House but 1952 Car.
You want to see?
Well, what would happen if a typical American family tried to live life the way they did in
1952 in an authentic 1952 car?
Just happens the family's yours.
Which we happen to have, we happen to have a 1952 MGTD, right?
So here's a brief synopsis of the first season, episode one.
While the family watches, chief mechanic Vinny Gumbatz prepares the MG by going through it and
stripping it of any modern conveniences and finds, there are none, right?
Episode two.
To prepare for authentic 1952 life, the entire family watches reruns of Father Knows Best.
Yeah.
Tommy realizes that fathers went to work in the 50s and he tries to back out of the whole deal.
The kids realize that kids listen to their fathers in the 50s.
They try to back out of the whole deal.
The little woman, as she was known in 1952, realizes that since men always drove in the 50s,
she'll have to let Tom drive every place they go and she wants out also.
Episode three, good news and bad news episode.
Good news, NPR's publicity department is thrilled that 1952 Car leads all three network newscasts.
Bad news, it's because MG's top speed of 28 miles an hour creates a 1500 mile
traffic style during evening rush hour.
Children and little woman again, trying to back out in one case,
begging Dan Rather to put them on the survivor island.
Episode four, the father son born in the episode.
Yes, my favorite.
Tommy teaches his son how to repair a 1952 engine.
Tommy ends up learning how to chase the son down, bind him with a studio rope,
drag him back to the radio show set, kicking and screaming,
and the little woman tries to back out again.
Episode five, a marital spat breaks out at the drive-in when little woman comments during
perfect storm that life on a cap-sized fishing boat doesn't look half bad.
Episode six, a surprise hail storm turns a Sunday outing into a desperate battle for survival.
The pathos as the thin canvas convertible roof fails
and Tommy suffers frostbite on half his butt.
The rest of the family survives by huddling over an impromptu campfire
in the back seat, of which there ain't none.
That's why it was impromptu.
Episode seven, the kids get caught sending SOS emails from their palm pilots.
The little woman gets caught ordering fleece earmuffs on eBay.
NPR finally cancels the show after family tosses Tom and audio equipment overboard
and car is found abandoned in Ritz-Couttson parking garage.
This is going to be a hit, man.
Oh, I like, I can see it.
Well, if you're fed up with reality, or if you have a problem with your car
or anything else, the number is 888-CAR-TALK that's 888-227-8255, a lawyer on CAR-TALK.
This is Mitch and I'm calling from Brooklyn.
Mitch from Brooklyn. What's up?
All right, here's the deal. I have a 92 Ford Escort with about 55,000 miles.
My son and I have noticed the car has a whirring noise, kind of a
like when you used to put a baseball card in a...
In the spokes of your bike.
Yeah.
Right. Now, it only occurs, though, at 1400 RPM.
At 13, it stops. When you go beyond the 14, it stops.
Now, that whirring noise, though, and this is where we might need some MIT grads,
because that might be an acoustic quirk, because when we notice when you start the car
in the garage, when the wall is much closer, the sound instead of being a brrrrrrr morning
is more of an air.
You all right?
More of a metallic sound than that pleasing sound of a Romanmehiac card going through the schwin.
Right, right, right. So, when the engine is cold and you're in a confined spot,
there's a different dynamic at work than when the engine is warmed up and you're out on the road.
so it's not the acoustics of the wall being closer no no i don't think so it
sure that has something to do with it but i think the overriding thing is that the engine is cold
and you're in a confined space i think we have here a case of a sympathetic vibration is that
well i feel i feel a certain i think the connection with your vibration too this is a simple 801
issue oh is it 801 is the freshman physics course at mit my brother knows because he took it four
times right and we might have some forced undamped harmonic motion yeah you you have a
loose uh piece of sheet metal that's vibrating that's vibrating and this piece of sheet metal
is located in the vicinity of the exhaust system uh and usually these things are called heat shields
right not be confused with what they had on the uh space shuttle the space the space shuttle right
so and you need to go to a shop and have them check it out and then you can reproduce this
without driving the car if they put it on the lift and you bring the revs up well he does it in
the garage you get it to do it every time and so but but this is the kind of thing that would only
happen at certain rpms oh sure sure that's how it all works man as soon as that vibration of the
engine reaches a certain point it makes other things vibrate at the same rate and the things
won't vibrate unless you get to that rate all right but it uses what's called a sympathetic
vibration so this is not going to kill me though if i don't bring it in within the next
week or so no of course not it's been doing it for six months anyway right uh actually only
only for the past few weeks or else we just blotted blotted out the noise pretended it wasn't
there and then we had a spoke we had a baseball card in the the tires that probably was what we
thought it was okay guys thanks bitch okay bye bye one eight eight eight car talk that's eight
eight eight double two seven eight two five five a lawyer on car talk hi my name's maryon
and i'm from cleveland ohio hi maryon with an a or an o a maryon yes maryon a and i just asked
with an o or an a well the a was in the front maryon no that would have been morion like moron
it's across the bear it really is where you're from maryon cleveland ohio cleveland now tell us
the truth about everyone makes fun of cleveland what's the story i mean all we know is that the
river caught fire but that happened 20 years ago right and cleveland might be a magnificent
beautiful place now and no one knows about it but you well you're asking the wrong person
because i just moved here from los angeles two years ago and i thought it was coming to a nice
city but you know oh you don't have any great things to say boy i got a raft of nasty mail
remember the couple of weeks ago i was reporting simply reporting i was not offering my my my
opinion on the matter i reported that someone when i was standing in the amens that do it after
no i was standing in the newark train station waiting for amtrak's three hour late train to show up
and a guy who was who was born and grew up in newark was complaining to me how he had moved
out 10 years ago because he was he was mugged every night for five days and he and he he was
running out of wallets and i just mentioned it and i got a raft of nasty mail from citizens of
newark saying newark is a wonderful place i never said that it wasn't a wonderful place and if you
don't retract your statement i'm gonna come here and lay a beat on it until you want it
i would touch my statement about cleveland it is a pretty nice place it is a pretty nice it's nice
it's quiet and it's really different from left angela it's boring much happening but but that's
my problem is cleveland and and so like i have a 93 ford ranger yeah and i moved here two years ago
and now my ranger feels every bump in the road i mean it's like this is it's like the worst drive
you ever had in a car yeah so i saw a commercial on tv get your shocks replaced and you'll have a
smooth ride and i got my back shocks replaced and nothing's changed well understandably uh the roads
in cleveland are worse than those in la because of the snow that cleveland gets when i hit a bump
sometimes i am it is a pickup and it doesn't have the back end fall right sometimes it'll jump over
well sure no all pickups will do that especially if you have too much air in the tire exactly that's
problem and these guys at the at the shock shop uh maybe replace your shocks even though you didn't
need them you know did they offer to check them or you just went in and said i need new shocks
yeah you did that yeah i did that that's pretty dumb huh yeah well not as bad as moving the cleveland
you're on the hairy edge here yeah so i'm coming to boston is that a good thing yeah that's i mean
is the thing okay on the highway yeah it is yeah no i would guess you you have way too much air in
your rear tires or maybe even your front tires too so i would check that because it's it's dangerous
if there's way too much air a tire could explode and at the very least if there's
just a little bit too much air it can make the thing bounce all over the place
and make you think that you need shocks yeah go someplace and at least gas station to check it out
and don't rely on the thing at the gas station that you crank up you know the thing that goes ding
ding ding you need to have someone check it with a bonafide tire pressure gauge see if you can find
a gas station that doesn't just sell uh maritos that has actually like a mechanic in it that will
come out with his own we sell all kinds of gas and have someone check it it would be nice and if
if the guy's got five minutes and he could check out your front end and your suspension in general
that would be nice too oh well great well thanks a lot see you mary bye bye bye she wasn't exactly a
proponent of cleveland she wasn't on the chamber no she won't be on the brochure right
well marion moved here from la she thinks it's boring on a truck is giving her truck well you
gotta admit i mean after living in la almost any place would be boring wouldn't it i mean
la is like hopping sunshine sunshine sunshine earthquakes i mean all the things that's going
for it floods you know mudslides you know fire wildfires i mean there's stuff going on there man
there's stuff going on looting riots i mean you name it la's got it
come to cleveland it's like you know yeah too predictable so that's what she misses you know
she needs she needs her truck stolen okay look tommy think hard do you remember last week's puzzler
i don't remember no stinkin puzzler that's right there was no puzzler last week the puzzler is on
summer hiatus it's out on the hamptons getting a laser face peel how are we gonna kill all that time
in the second half of the show stay tuned and i'll show you how a real pro does it
this message comes from better health may is mental health awareness month a reminder that you
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winning download the jerry app or visit jerry dot ai slash npr
hi we're back you're listening to car talk with us click and collect the tamper brothers
and we're here to talk about cars car repair and the ultimate boat payment well news item you've
been doing something wrong you you don't have it right here's a note from lois wade from hackles
town new jersey it says talk about your boat payments this guy must have an ocean liner and
here's a little news item from her newspaper a 72 year old retired sussex county auto mechanic
has been charged with bilking a 94 year old woman out of several hundred thousand dollars
during the past eight years in a scheme to continuously fix her car but never finished the job
elwood baldwin of newton had been fraudulently collecting 963 dollars a week from the victim
who's a resident of and over township for supposedly get this supposedly fixing her 1973
plummet valiant well they do need a lot of repairs evidently the woman had an automobile accident
in 1992 and she brings it to this guy and for eight years he sends her a bill for 963 bucks
and says it's not quite ready yet and she pays well she may be on the easy payment plan
isn't that jeez that's 50 000 bucks a year how did he get caught do you want to know well of
course do i want to know the woman lives it says a woman lives alone and the scheme was
uncovered when a distant relative those damn distant relatives contacted the police
of the problem regarding what he thought were car payments he thought she was making car payments
and he finds out she's got a 1973 plummet and she's paying four thousand dollars a month
maserati for nine sixty the thing only cost four thousand dollars in 1973 oh boy so if you could
find one customer like that man you'd be on easy street or in jail i loved it i think it's great
he got greedy yeah he got he didn't know when to stop at some point he should have said your car's
all set yeah he probably sold the car what car what car i'm not in business with cars hey by the way
in case you haven't noticed the puzzler is on vacation this week yeah but if you find yourself
in desperate need of puzzlement unlike my brother and we're going to deal for you just head on over
to the car talk section of cars dot com and you'll find the puzzler that we've selected from the
archives one of those oldie but smelly ones and remember even if you have seen it before what
are the chances you remember the answer i mean we can't we can't even remember the answer the answer
is probably wrong anyway you can always send in a letter of rebuttal in the meantime you can call
us and ask us questions about your car or anything else in the universe quarks you know what i'm
what i've been subscribing to would you even read someone subscribed me to the pawns and
fleshman newsletter that stuff is happening oh man stuff is happening is there yeah are there
are there things about teleportation in there have they asked you for money of course how much
nine there you go
car talk that's eight eight eight two two seven eight two five five hello your own car talk
there's more than a one sucker born every day hello hi guys this is kate in las vegas kate
kate with a k of course kate with a k so what's going on kate well i have a 1995 red acura
in tegra and uh... it's doing something really quirky it uh... when it gets to be about 103
or higher when i stop at red light the car will stop but then my brakes start slipping
and my foot goes closer and closer and closer to hitting the floor and i have to take my foot off
the brake and sort of let the car lurch forward a little then catch it and it'll stop but then
slips again and how long has it been doing this only since it started getting really hot
like since like was 1910 yeah unfortunately it's been about six weeks now here yeah that sounds
dangerous though i mean aren't you nervous about this yeah because you know we have lots of
traffic here in an awful lot of lights and they're long so i'd like to do things well i mean how come
you didn't bring it somewhere take it or take it somewhere i did and they tell me i'm crazy they
told you you were crazy pretty much and you know they didn't say it they gave me the look
a crazy yeah what's the what's the look you know the look where they sort of tilt their head at you
and say well i'm sure it happened but um we don't see anything all right so you weren't you weren't
sufficiently convincing what do you do for a living i'm a professor of what sociology
jeez you should you should be able to handle this you'd think about cars but you must know about
about neanderthals yeah i don't know about people that's how i knew what the look meant
yeah you know you know what the look meant that's right yeah well you have to go back and and tell
them that uh you're pretty sure you're pretty sure you're almost positive you're almost positive
and you've spoken to people who who sound like they know what they're talking about and they're
almost positive too that you need a brake master cylinder oh no yeah that sounds expensive yeah
no no it's a few hundred bucks oh that's not so bad yeah it's nothing if you're in Las Vegas and
you're a sociology professor one roll of the dice you're probably making 12 15 grand a year yeah
and the silly thing is i uh you know i of all things i study the sex industry so the people
that i that i interview and research make more than me i mean it's really silly you study what
industry the sex industry it's an industry yeah oh yeah we have we have little bottles out here
no kidding no kidding yeah only place in the country so it's worth looking at you know do we get
any field work as they say yeah exactly okay just just curious i mean it's it's very very clear
that you need a brake master cylinder okay and it was unconscionable of those guys to send you away
because obviously it's dangerous and the description that you gave leads clearly to a master cylinder
isn't lake powell near las vegas um i don't know we have lake mead which is about 40 minutes away
40 minutes and what and what do people do on lake mead um oh just try and stay cool you know
boating swimming all this stuff so it's likely that the guys to whom you took the car could even
have a boat that they had a boat they have to make what both both payments that's right yeah i mean
they could have made a boat payment and saved your life at the same time so this isn't just
a threatening kind of problem don't wait do it tomorrow got it right thanks guys see you kate
all right take care how can a mechanic send away a person who complains of a brake problem the car
won't stop the pedal it's unconscionable brake problems require some kind of repair even if you
don't know exactly what it is do something of course at least you'll be one step closer to
figuring it out and if you do nothing you can't get any closer yeah don't go anywhere stick around
for more calls coming right up this message comes from bombas your feet hit the ground
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carvana your time is worth more than a waiting game carvana gives you a transparent offer for
your car in minutes and picks it up from your door sell your car today at carvana.com pickup fees
may apply we're back you're listening to car talk with us click and collect the tappard brothers and
we here to discuss cars car repair and anything else you want to talk about but first tommy uh
you've got mail i do i have mail i mean i have all kinds of stuff and this is just a little list of
i don't know little sayings here here we go i'll just give you a few of them good any participation
required on my part no you can fall asleep oh good you might like some never be afraid to try
something no remember amateurs built the ark professionals built the titanic another one
love is grand divorce is a couple hundred grand
one of my favorites politicians and diapers have one thing in common they should both be
changed regularly and for the same reason i like that one too uh
i always wanted to be a procrastinator but i never got around to it
and this you'll like this one a day without sunshine is like night
i love it i like love is grand divorce is a couple hundred grand
anyway if you have mail from my brother you can send it to him at mail for tommy
box 3500 havin square cambridge our first city mat zero two two three eight or you can email him
from the car talk section of cars dot com and by the way the astute among you may have noticed
that this is normally the part of the show where we introduced the what the new puzzler yeah i've
been waiting for it and the non-astute are probably just as surprised as my brother to hear that that's
me but in any case if you're really jonesen for a puzzler you can always check out this week's
arch rival arch rival arch rival arch rival we used to be the archival puzzler but i like i like
arch rival arch rival puzzler over at the website just head on over to the car talk section
of cars dot com uh in the meantime if you would like to call us even if you would not like to call
us the number is eight eight eight car talk we're not going to change the number just because they
don't want to call us that's the number it's the number and we want to call us or you don't want
to call us that's the number we're sticking with eight eight eight two seven eight two five five
hello your own character remember it hello hi this is christine from seattle christine with a c h i
that's correct oh are you as young as you sound um probably not probably not i'm 25 really oh
then you're not as young as you sound yeah everyone thinks i'm like 16 but that's what i
i don't believe that so anyway what what what can we do for you well um i have a old mobile
delta 88 um 1988 and 88 88 yes this was dad's car huh it was my father's old mobile so um i
recently moved to um an apartment in downtown seattle where i have to park on the street yeah
and one day um after i had parked it kind of on a hill um i started it up and it kind of made a
weird noise when i started up and then when i turned the wheel it made a terrible growling
kind of noise when you were on the hill was it was the car pointing down the hill or up the hill
um it was facing up the hill my brother's got that look at his face like what the hell
what's that matter you never know you never know that's one thing you have to be able to
visualize the problem and i actually had just driven it to my dance class and parked it and
then later on in in the evening i was going to my brother goes to dance class oh that's dance class
i'm sorry was this the first time you had used the car that day no no no you had already been
to dunce dance class yeah and you came back and it hadn't made the noise before no okay continue
okay so i drove to my parents house it made a bad noise i took it to um their mechanic um who looked
at it and said oh you need to fill it up with power steering fluid right because yeah slow
on fluid yeah i like that i like that so i took it to one of those you know quicky
yep loop places and they looked at it and it was foamy when they looked at it that's right
and they said you need to flush the system so i said fine flush the system they did and the
noise went away yes um then about a week later again i was on parked on a hill um and i think i
was pointing up again um but i'm not sure about that um it when i turned on the car well if you're
not sure about it we can't go on oh it was pointing up definitely all right we'll accept that so
i'm making the noise again um and i drove it around for about a week before i did anything
about it and i took it to a mechanic who looked at it and said that the power steering act was
leaking oh that's why you've lost the fluid and that's why it was foamy because when they
filled it up they didn't bleed the air out etc etc okay so you need a rack and pinion and and and
is it safe to drive as long as you keep putting fluid in it uh and it's not leaking out faster
than you put it in uh then you could drive this car for decades a few weeks ago on the show we
made some disparaging remarks about all the companies that make all these miracle additives
yeah it's time for you to buy one we got angry letters from all of them and and claiming of
course that they all work and it's time for you to try one okay there was this stuff called
power steering conditioner many companies make it okay i would buy a can of this stuff leave it on
the front seat and at the first hint of of of it needing fluid i.e the noise fill it up with this
juice instead yeah and at some point it'll start leaking out faster than you can put it in and then
you dump the car okay it's not worth fixing it's an oldsmobile oh see you christine no the delta 88
was not a memorable car well not memorable but it's set the mental value it's daddy's car she
hates it i have a hundred and seventy thousand miles that's not bad that's a great that was a great
hundred and seventy thousand miles is pretty darn good no matter what kind of car it is indestructible
those 88's there it is yeah see it's been a pleasure talking to you thank you very much bye bye
one eight eight eight car talk that's eight eight eight double two seven eight two five five a
lawyer on car talk hello this is rob romans from fort sill Oklahoma rob yeah i'm a captain out here
fort sill yeah where's fort sill uh well you know where laughton is no laughton Oklahoma yeah
course laughton fort sill it's actually one town now laughton got smart and annexed fort sill
because they figured there was about 20 000 soldiers they could add to their roles and
start getting some decent restaurants out here what's up well let me tell you i've got a 1989
chevrolet suburban and the reason i'm calling is that my wife's family is coming out here to do the
grand tour of the west during the hottest time of year with the highest gas prices they want to
leave from laughton and drive to the grand canyon and go into colorado and go to Santa Fe and then
go down to uh go down to some caves down in new mexico carlsbad and then back into laughton
that's a 5000 mile round trip is her mother going here's the deal you hit the nail on the head
two years ago when i was stationed in germany i had a 1989 chevy suburban not the same one
but same model would make in year yeah and we took a big trip through austria uh france and down
into italy in switzerland and my mother-in-law blessed her heart never been out on a major trip
started out the trip by saying rob you're driving too fast
and i blew the head gasket down in italy guys can you imagine how hard it is to fix the truck in
italy when all you speak is a little spanglish spanglish oh you must have been there for a
month and i'm amazed that the Italians actually fixed it actually they didn't they put it on a
flatbed truck and drove it back to germany where i was that was smart yeah they knew they knew their
limitations so i cannot afford to have something bad happen on this trip with my mother-in-law
sister-in-law their two kids my brother-in-law my wife and my two kids plus myself how did you
how did you get yourself into this man i have no say in any matter i am the bus driver on this trip
rob you're an officer man take charge yes in the army that don't count for much once i get home
if if they went on their own without you that would be good wouldn't it that would be a wonderful
thing and if i could get you guys to say something to that effect he might have to shoot yourself
in the foot
do we still do that in the army?
it was a court martial offense last time i checked but why not why not just fake a shot in the foot
do you know any doctors who had bandaged you up actually there's an army doctor that lives on
our street and i really wouldn't have to fake it yeah actually because they're army doctors i would
avoid the trip at all costs i mean if they go if they're gonna take it let them take the suburban
at their own peril well that's the problem it's that own peril part because of the suburban that
has an odd problem and i can't get a straight answer from the dealership or from any of the
independence about what's causing it okay so we're gonna get to the technical part of this call
the truck hesitates it kind of i'll be driving highway speeds 55 to 65 and it hesitates for
absolutely no reason kind of like a hiccup you know you'll feel it when you're driving you'll
feel yourself lunge against your steering your seatbelt yeah and you know it it comes and goes
comes and goes that's when i'm in overdrive just regular od if i drop it down to uh it's it's next
gear that problem seems to go away the folks at the chevy dealership told me uh oh it's probably
just your uh your fuel filter or your transmission filter now those things are easy to fix i changed
those both out a while ago and the problem never went away what do y'all think i think you have a
sensor problem someplace i would ask them to put the scanner on this thing i think you could
have a bad crank angle sensor crank angle sensor okay uh you could have a bad ignition module all
right but to start guessing at this stuff could be costly you need someone to actually scan these
things or begin to test the individual components this to see if they measure up now could it be
something as silly as i've just got a bad spark plug it could but it would more likely do it
climbing a steep hill yeah and i don't have too many of those out in oklahoma
well you may have to are on hard acceleration yeah on hard acceleration but you're gonna have to
take it to a shop because this is not something you're gonna figure out at the hobby shop and
you may even have to take it to a dealer all right yeah and maybe they can keep it for like
two months now you're not in other words this vehicle could put my family in mortal jeopardy
i need to sell it and buy you go hey cap i wish you the very best and thank god it's you and not
me say some novenas for me you bet we will see you later bye bye bye bye well it's happened again
you've totaled another perfectly good hour listening to car talk our steam producer has dug the
subway fusion of not a slave to fashion cute cute cute burman our associate producers are frau
kathryn pickle fenolosa who we had to fire today after discovering that she was stealing petty cash
to support her shoe habit and we'll miss her but hey what can you do louis crone on the barbarian
and david we don't have a nickname for him yet green our engineer is george hicks our senior
web lackey has dug the old gray mayor and our technical spiritual and menu advisor just back
from the first annual jerry louis free lunchathon is john bugsy lala our public opinion pollster was
paul murky of murky research assisted by statistician margie noveira our customer care representative
is hayward jabuzoff our director of new product repair is warranty my foot our staff acupuncturist
is oh how it hurts and our shop form is luke busy our student consultant is norm de plume our
dermatologist for teenagers is don pickett our emergency room physician is henry at a bad
clam the car talk musical director is donna e mobilee our divorce attorney is carmine not yours
our coordinator of summer visits to the in-laws is don one go our russian chauffeur is peek off
and drop off and our seat cushion tester is mike easter our chief counsel from the law firm of
duity and how is you louis stewie known to the tracy chap and wannabes and halved square as
louis louis thanks so much for listening we're clicking clack the tappet brothers
remember don't drive like my brother remember don't drive like my brother we'll be back next week bye
and now here is car talk glosses chief mechanic mr viny gumbaz viny thank you very much now if
you want to copy this year's show which is number 30 30 30 30 with a d you can get one on the web
just head on over to the online store at the car talk section at cars dot com but what if somebody
wanted something else like a best of car talk cd i mean would they go to that same site then no you
dope you go to www dot boris yeltsin cooks cajun dot com of course you go to the same
site what are you some kind of a moron you'll go to the car talk section at cars dot com or you'll
order the old fashioned way you don't buy phone call 888 car junk uh thank you viny that was totally
over the top the whole thing hey put your top over this will you car talk is a production of
do each human how and wb you are in boston and even though venus woodyms wax one into the stands
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About this episode
The show jumps from a playful parody of a 1952-car reality concept to a string of practical repair calls, including a Ford Escort with a whirring noise at one narrow RPM band and a Ford Ranger that may simply be overinflated and bouncing. It also covers a leaking Oldsmobile power-steering system, a punishing 5,000-mile Suburban road trip, and a later Suburban hesitation problem that points toward sensor trouble and proper scanning. Along the way, the hosts detour into Cleveland jokes and a disturbing repair-scam news story.
Marian’s Ford pickup is bouncing all over Cleveland, so she had a local shop replace her shocks and… it’s still bouncing around Cleveland. Click and Clack figure it out in about 10 seconds and proceed to work on the bigger problem: ‘Why Cleveland?’ on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.
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