0:00

There's no shortage of questions in this

0:02

life. That's where the life kit podcast comes

0:04

in. Why can't I stop buying

0:06

stuff? Oh,

0:06

what if they're like me or what if I'm

0:08

not charming enough.

0:09

Aren't you gonna understand what

0:11

I'm going through? I'm Mary El Segara,

0:14

the new host of Lifayette, a podcast that

0:16

guides you through all the big and small

0:18

questions with the help of experts. Listen

0:20

now to the Life Kit podcast from NPR.

0:39

Hello

0:39

and welcome to car talk on National a public

0:42

radio with us. Click and Collect the Tavern Brothers. And

0:44

we're broadcasting this week from the Constellation

0:46

Center here at Kartrite Plaza. We yeah.

0:48

We're here this week, consulting our distinguished

0:51

chief counsel, you, Louis Dewey, known

0:53

around the office, of course, as you, Louis,

0:55

Dewey, since it now appears all

0:57

but certain, I guess, that he is not

0:59

going to be the next attorney. No.

1:01

I mean, after after they found out that he's

1:03

been associated with us, they figured they'd

1:05

better better chance getting Jimmy Hoff after

1:07

that process. hey,

1:09

that's okay. Don't worry. We've got plenty

1:11

of challenging work for him here. I think

1:13

just got another parking ticket the other day.

1:16

That's about his level. That's about what he

1:18

does. Yeah. He doesn't do too well on that either.

1:20

Hey, Anderson, you've got some great mail. I have

1:22

so much interesting mail. I honestly

1:25

we don't know where to start.

1:27

We we almost didn't start to show on time

1:29

today because because you had

1:31

all this mail that you were pouring over. I

1:33

I got a choice between something that's cute

1:35

and something that's actually useful. Go

1:38

for cute. Go for cute

1:40

and closed.

1:42

please find your very own

1:45

Donna doll

1:46

suitable for display on the wait a minute. Is

1:48

this the useful one of the cute This is the useful

1:51

and cute one. Look at this. An

1:53

an actual doll whose

1:55

name is Donna. It

1:57

says it's like a Barbie doll. Yeah.

1:59

Like a bunch

1:59

is like a Barbie doll except their name is Donna.

2:02

I mean, that this is not a Yeah. So what's so distinguishing

2:04

about this Donna doll. I mean, why don't you

2:06

just be fascinated by this? It's because it's suitable

2:08

for display on the hood or dashboard of

2:10

your dodge doll. I noticed you yesterday. Tased

2:13

hair. cheese hair. Oh, yeah. The little

2:15

the little descriptors there. Read those little labels.

2:18

Oh, yeah. Strong jaw for continuous

2:20

chewing. shoes

2:23

kicked off a proper barefoot driving

2:25

technique. Right. No kidding. Isn't

2:27

that an interesting little product? Yeah. Do you have

2:29

any other letters? No. Okay.

2:32

We'll go right to that is an interesting little

2:34

product and and it is, and it will soon be available

2:37

in stores. In stores everywhere. stores

2:39

everywhere. One eight hundred 3329287

2:43

lousy mail this week. Great mail.

2:45

Hello. You're on car talk. Hello.

2:47

This is Michelle.

2:48

Hi, Michelle. Hello. Where are you

2:50

calling from?

2:51

I'm calling from Minneapolis.

2:52

Minneapolis. Yes.

2:54

Bad spell Minneapolis, Thomas. I can.

2:57

How cold is it these days in Minneapolis? Oh,

2:59

it's it's very cold. We have a phrase for it,

3:01

but I don't think you can Oh, you

3:03

could say anything you want. The FCC doesn't care

3:05

anymore. As long as we don't say it. Is

3:08

that how it works? No. No. This is a family

3:10

show. Yes. Right. So what's on your mind,

3:12

Michelle?

3:13

Well, I have a nineteen sixty five

3:15

Lincoln Continental.

3:15

Oh. I got a hundred

3:18

and twenty

3:18

five thousand miles on it.

3:19

I I bought it out

3:21

in California, and I drove

3:22

it back to Minnesota, which was

3:24

probably not a wise idea now that I think about

3:26

it. Well, we were about to mention that, but you did anyway.

3:28

So Yeah. It was okay at time. It worked.

3:31

The problem I'm having now with it is that whenever

3:34

I accelerate, I get a really loud

3:36

rattle out of the engine compartment.

3:38

Uh-huh. And it mostly

3:41

when the engine is

3:42

warm. Mhmm. When you're climbing a hill when you're

3:44

climbing a hill? Exactly. are accelerating

3:47

very fast. There you go. Oh,

3:49

yes. What's the problem? You're in trouble.

3:53

Well, how close is the airport? Wait.

3:56

What is that? Well, you'll see. I I like

3:58

to get things to things that are roundabout waves.

4:00

You do. How close does she live

4:03

from the airport? Is that the question? About

4:06

ten miles. Ten miles. Do

4:09

you know any any ground

4:11

mechanics, flight attendants, pilots,

4:13

copilot navigators or the like Oh,

4:15

Stuadai. No. I'm I'm gonna be the mechanic

4:17

on this one. Oh, yeah. Well, I don't think the

4:19

mechanic is necessarily gonna help

4:22

because what you'll need is higher

4:24

octane fuel. Okay. When

4:26

this car was made, they were making

4:28

gasoline that were close to a hundred

4:30

octane. In fact, for a while,

4:32

and maybe even while this car was made,

4:34

there were gasoline of over a hundred

4:36

octane. Wow. Yeah. Mhmm.

4:39

And now you're forced to buy even the

4:41

highest R team you can get is probably ninety

4:43

three and a half or ninety four or some such

4:45

thing. and and they've lowered

4:47

octanes for they've been forced to lower

4:49

octanes for a lot of reasons, but the the

4:51

the biggest reason was to remove tetracoethylene from

4:54

the gas. Right. And teprothelib was the thing

4:56

that raised the octane rating

4:58

of the gasoline. So now you're you're forced

5:00

to use gasoline without

5:02

lead and without high octane, And

5:04

the thing is pinging or knocking.

5:07

Yeah. Now it may be doing this for some for

5:09

other reasons. Your timing may be off by

5:11

a lot. when did it stop doing

5:13

this? Was it precipitous? I

5:15

mean, did it happen all of a sudden? Did it happen

5:17

gradually? Or

5:18

what? It happened gradually. I've

5:20

had a couple of opinions that it might it

5:22

might even have been a bad hydraulic valve

5:24

lifter.

5:25

I doubt it. Really? Well, I mean,

5:27

it it could be depending on what the sound

5:29

actually is. It's it's like

5:31

rattling metal. I mean, what is you doing?

5:35

No

5:35

one. If you took a

5:37

fork and you put inside of a coffee can and

5:39

you shook the fork around.

5:40

That's it. That's it. It's pinging it's pinging.

5:42

Yeah. We Okay. We've narrowed it

5:44

down. It's it's definitely pinging. If it's pinging

5:46

this badly -- Uh-huh. -- nothing's

5:48

gonna help. You you best hope

5:51

or your only hope is that the timing

5:53

is so far off that it's

5:55

causing it to ping. It's too advanced. The

5:57

first thing to do is check the timing because that's

5:59

the thing that's gonna save you. If the timing

6:01

is off, you don't have to do anything else

6:03

and it will be all fixed. Okay. Maybe

6:05

you you may be required the timing is

6:07

supposed to be, for example, ten degrees

6:09

before top dead center, even

6:11

setting it there may not be enough to keep it from

6:13

pinging. You may have to go down to five degrees

6:15

or some such amount. That's right. You may have to

6:17

ask the mechanic to do this

6:19

by ear. So he he will

6:21

he will set the timing, drive the

6:23

car, and if it still pings because he

6:25

can make it do this anytime he wants to just by

6:27

accelerating hard. going to retard the

6:29

timing to

6:30

the point where it doesn't ping so

6:32

badly, and you've still got at

6:34

least some kind of pick up when

6:36

you step up. Right. And when he's turning that distributor

6:39

so far that it's now in the back seat,

6:42

he may discover that it's hopeless because the

6:44

other thing that can cause it is

6:45

a carbon build up on the pistons?

6:47

Exactly. My next question was going to

6:49

be, do you do mostly city driving

6:51

around Minneapolis with this car?

6:53

Yeah. now I

6:55

do. And this is when it

6:56

started. Yeah.

7:00

It could well be to the combination of

7:03

the octane that you're not getting,

7:05

and the carbon build up that you are getting,

7:07

and a few degrees of advanced timing,

7:09

all those things could be factors or

7:11

if you eliminate two out of the three of

7:13

them, you won't notice the pinging so much. Okay.

7:15

So you gotta get the highest octane you can

7:17

get, have the mechanic retied the timing

7:19

a little bit if he has to

7:21

and take the car out and run it up to, you

7:23

know, real high speeds like thirty five, forty

7:25

miles an hour once in a

7:27

while. Okay. And that will get rid of the carbon.

7:29

Good luck, Michelle. Great. Thanks. Thanks

7:31

for your call. Bye bye. One eight

7:33

hundred 3329287

7:36

You know, I I always feel badly when

7:38

we say goodbye to somebody. Especially

7:40

when we haven't given them a very good answer.

7:42

No. I mean, I I felt badly because

7:44

You knew there was no cure for her? No. Because we

7:46

gave her exactly the right answer. And

7:49

she wasn't ecstatic. She wasn't

7:51

thrilled. It's thrilled. thrilled.

7:53

Thanks. Okay, guys. Yeah. I

7:55

mean, III felt a little

7:57

down. I I have to admit it. I well,

7:59

you'll look a little down. I am. You

8:01

are. Down on the dumps. Well, not down on

8:03

the dumps. just down. Well, I'm just I am a

8:05

little down after that call. No. That's too

8:07

bad. Let's see if we can chipper you up. Hey, bro.

8:09

One eight hundred 3329287

8:12

Hello. You're on Kartok. This is Martin

8:14

calling from San Francisco, and I'm hoping

8:16

you can give me an answer that will

8:18

chipper me up a little bit. Well, I

8:20

hope so too. problem is not with my

8:22

car. It's I have a ninety two

8:24

Cadillac sedan, Deville, and I'm quite

8:26

happy with it, actually, as well as you should be.

8:28

Yeah. But

8:29

the problem is with my father.

8:31

Yeah. My father says

8:34

and he always insists on saying this

8:36

in front of third parties. Yeah. So

8:38

that you're embarrassed to to

8:40

contradict him, although you know he's

8:42

completely all wet about it. Whatever

8:44

it is, and you're trying to be a good son and

8:46

not look like a fool at the same time.

8:48

Is that

8:48

the is that the problem? Not exactly. I

8:50

didn't think so. My father says.

8:53

Yeah. Father says and I

8:55

quote, he's not old enough

8:57

to drive a Cadillac. But when he

8:59

is, he's going to buy one.

9:01

Now,

9:01

this man is sixty seven years

9:03

old. Yeah. I'm thirty six years

9:05

old. Yeah. You're old enough to drive a Cadillac.

9:07

Whoa. No. No. He says that his his father

9:09

says that he, his father. It's not

9:11

old enough. Exactly. But he thinks his son,

9:13

Martin -- Oh. -- is Wyatt.

9:15

I'm Oh. Problem

9:18

wise. Yeah. Isn't that

9:20

interesting? Uh-huh. Well, you know, it's interesting that

9:22

you should say that, because the

9:25

moment you said you drive a Sedandville,

9:27

I was going to say you don't

9:30

sound old enough to drive a

9:32

sedan to bill. Well, that's true. It does

9:34

surprise a lot of people when I get out of

9:36

that car. Yeah. What made you choose

9:38

this card? Are you in the mob

9:40

or anything? I have to honestly tell you this

9:42

is my second one.

9:43

Why? That's

9:46

a good question. People always ask that.

9:48

I don't know. You know, I know.

9:50

I've always liked them. I grew up with

9:52

them. It's comfortable, it's

9:54

reliable, safe. You

9:56

grew up with them. How how did you grow up with

9:58

them? My parents my mother always

10:00

had But your father is not old enough to

10:02

have Father is not old enough and has never had

10:04

one. Well, good father had an

10:06

Eldorado. Yeah. When he passed away in

10:08

eighty eight. What what does he drive? What is your old

10:10

dad? You're gonna love this one? No. Let me guess.

10:12

Yeah. Amiana. A

10:15

diesel blazer. A diesel

10:18

blazer? Oh, he'll never be old enough to

10:20

drive a Sedan DeVille. No. It

10:22

won't be. In his case, it's not a matter

10:24

of age. No. It's a completely different

10:26

life science. genetic problem. Yeah. No.

10:28

I mean, the psychographics are all wrong.

10:31

Uh-huh. So this is not a matter of

10:33

demographics like age, but this is a matter

10:35

psychographics lifestyle mindset.

10:38

And, obviously, you're in

10:40

trouble, Martin. You think so?

10:42

on the highway to hell. No.

10:46

I mean, if you like this car,

10:48

fine. But but you're gonna have

10:50

to move from San Francisco

10:52

to Miami. All that

10:54

blue hair. This is a perfectly legitimate

10:57

car. No dark windows. Conservative

11:00

looking. And, yeah, I do

11:02

get a lot of heat for it, but it's a lot of fun

11:04

too. What can I say? It's a good car to take

11:06

to the mountains and Yeah. Well,

11:08

it it certainly does say that you

11:10

are there's no doubt about it. You're

11:12

an independent soul and you will

11:14

do what you think is best and that's the

11:16

right thing to do, I suppose, on the helm of

11:18

everybody else. Okay. If they don't

11:20

like it now, they can't take it, then

11:22

fine. But the the larger question

11:24

looming is this. What are you gonna

11:26

drive when you're sixty seven?

11:28

Probably a Miana convertible?

11:30

No. I think you may be

11:32

ready for, like, Chrysler, New Yorker. Well, that would be

11:34

nice weather. See you,

11:37

Mark. Thanks for

11:39

your talk. Alright. Bye

11:42

bye. Hey,

11:46

we've got more calls in the puzzle oriented

11:48

coming up right after this.

11:50

This

11:53

message comes from NPR sponsor Better

11:55

Help Therapy Online, connecting

11:57

clients with therapists from a wide range

11:59

of

11:59

backgrounds and specialties Therapist, Joy

12:02

Burkheimer, shares how this choice helps

12:04

clients find what they're looking

12:06

for. You may have

12:06

someone who specializes in working with people

12:09

who are struggling with addiction, struggling

12:11

with possibly about to get a divorce,

12:13

you want to understand more about your

12:15

sexuality. There's a therapist that

12:17

pretty much will align with you in all

12:19

of those stages of transition in your

12:21

life. To get

12:22

ten percent off your first month of

12:24

online therapy, go to better help dot

12:26

com slash car talk. This

12:28

message comes from NPR sponsor

12:30

Discover. Did you know you could reduce

12:32

the number of unwanted calls and

12:34

emails with online privacy

12:36

protection? the latest innovation from

12:38

Discover. Discover will help

12:40

regularly remove your personal info,

12:42

like your name and address, from ten

12:44

popular People Search websites

12:46

that could sell your data, and they'll do

12:48

it for free. Activate in the

12:50

discover app, see terms and learn

12:52

more at discover dot com

12:54

slash online privacy protection.

12:56

Well, I'm

12:58

sure you know what it's time for now.

13:00

Of course, you just

13:02

have no idea. Stupid. think

13:04

I can come here week after week and not

13:06

know that it is time right now.

13:09

What

13:09

is it time for? You know, it's time for

13:12

the puzzle. you just don't know which puzzle it

13:14

was supposed to answer. Right? I know that it is

13:16

time for the puzzle answer. Very good.

13:18

Well, here it is. You have a balloon that you

13:20

filled up with air. Yeah. Okay?

13:21

And when you tie the

13:23

knot, you also fix a little string to it and

13:25

you tie a small weight to the other end of the string.

13:27

Got it. You got the picture? I got it. The

13:29

balloon. string. You can even have filled the balloon with helium.

13:31

Everybody doesn't make any difference, but air will suffice. Air

13:34

will suffice because it's easy to get at. Then

13:36

you climb over your neighbor's fence to

13:38

a swimming pool. Okay?

13:40

And and that you place the balloon,

13:42

you've chosen the weight very carefully. You place

13:44

the balloon in the weight and the string in

13:46

the water. such that when

13:48

you release it, the

13:51

weight will keep the balloons top

13:53

just level with the surface of the water. You got

13:55

that now? I've got it. You got it now. Okay. Just

13:57

see the top of the balloon. It's tangential

13:59

to

13:59

the to the

14:01

plane of the surface of the water.

14:03

Right. I got it. Okay. And as you can imagine, balloons

14:06

would like the floats. If you cut the string, what would

14:08

happen? It would go up in

14:10

the sky. The balloon would pop to the surface

14:12

and wait fall down to the bottom. But so you

14:14

don't do that. No. However, you you

14:16

you have the balloon suspended like

14:18

this, and now you take and you push

14:20

the balloon down into the

14:22

water. Yeah. A foot or so. Also about the

14:24

time when their neighbor comes out and says, get away from the

14:26

pool. Not yet. You

14:28

don't get in the deck. What are you doing in my

14:30

pool? Yeah. And then

14:32

you take your hand away. Now you

14:34

you plunge it underwater deeply.

14:37

Yeah. Foot twothree. It it doesn't really Yeah.

14:39

Doesn't look better. and you let go. I got

14:41

it. What happens? Your

14:43

hand gets wet. Let's

14:46

see. neighbor was out and tells me Like, this

14:48

is the long releases the rottweilers.

14:51

Right? What else? I don't know what else happens.

14:53

Yeah. Actually, I got this one right away,

14:55

didn't I?

14:55

You did. And I was amazed, and I and that

14:57

almost convinced that

14:58

I shouldn't use it because

15:00

it would be too hard for the average person.

15:02

No. Not sufficiently shy.

15:04

Wise guy, what happens? sinks

15:06

immediately to the bottom. It goes down like a

15:08

rock. That's right. Yeah. That's

15:10

because what happens when you push the balloon

15:12

down, the water pressure that

15:14

has now increased as you that's why the divers

15:16

have to wear those big suits. They still wear those big suits. You

15:18

know, they screw the head on. You know? Yeah.

15:21

As you as you go Ramon

15:23

Navarro always did that. Gilbert

15:25

rolling. Gilbert rolling. That's As as you push the

15:27

balloon further, further down into the water, the

15:29

water pressure increases and of course reduces

15:31

the volume of the

15:33

balloon, thus reducing its buoyancy.

15:35

Mhmm. And its and its ability to keep

15:37

the weight up

15:40

Therefore, the balloon and the weight will sink. Imagine

15:42

the limiting case if you had enough water pressure

15:44

to shrink the balloon down to the size of my brother's

15:46

head. What would happen?

15:49

sink to the bottom. Sink to the bottom. And that's what I'm Do

15:51

we have a winner? We certainly

15:53

do. Who practically win? is

15:55

Rebecca Guntsleman. from

15:57

Roanoke, Virginia. Now can you imagine

15:59

Rebecca Guzman is sitting around,

16:01

doing nothing, and suddenly

16:03

she's hearing her name, mentioned

16:05

on the radio as the winner. Imagine

16:07

the thrill and excitement that that little Rebecca

16:10

must be going through. Rebecca,

16:12

I'm happy for you. and she's going to

16:14

receive in the mail someday.

16:16

So as Ken Raj gets around to

16:18

it, either a contactless t

16:20

shirt an autograph copy of our meteoric

16:23

book car talk, which just

16:25

won the nineteen ninety 3NNSA

16:27

price. Did you say that? the non narcotic

16:30

sleep aid. Anyway, we have a

16:32

new puzzle coming up in the second half of

16:34

today's show, so don't dose off just yet.

16:36

In the meantime, one eight

16:38

hundred 3329287

16:40

Hello. You're on Carotac. Hi.

16:41

This is Erica from Chapel Hill,

16:43

North Carolina. Yes. Hi, Erica.

16:46

i. How are you? I'm doing pretty well.

16:48

How are you?

16:48

Pretty good. Good. Considering what I got to

16:50

work with, I'm doing absolutely phenomenal.

16:53

Yeah. More than that. I got

16:57

a question for you about my car. Sure.

17:00

My dad, when he was teaching

17:02

me how to drive, he said, when

17:04

you're shifting gears, there's

17:06

a range. You can either shift

17:08

too early or you can shift pretty much

17:10

right about the same time. that

17:12

you should or you can shift

17:14

too late. Yeah.

17:15

And he said if you're not going to shift right when

17:17

you should, it's better to shift later. than

17:20

sooner. Is that true?

17:22

See, I

17:22

was I was always taught better

17:24

sooner than later. Better

17:27

sooner than later. Well, Daddy's right.

17:29

But, of course, he's Oh,

17:32

it's been a late than never. That's it.

17:34

That's it. Right. Better than never.

17:36

that's better than not shifting at all. Right. He is right. And

17:38

the truth of the matter is that it

17:40

almost doesn't matter whether you shift too early,

17:42

on time, or too low. I think you

17:45

misunderstood Daddy's structures. In other words, if you

17:47

if you had a tachometer on your on your

17:49

dashboard, and and you

17:51

were talking about shifting

17:53

later, shifting at thirty five

17:55

hundred RPM as opposed to earlier

17:57

being twenty five hundred. Yeah. Daddy's

17:59

suggesting

17:59

shifting at thirty five hundred

18:01

Well, it's not quite the scientific.

18:04

It's just sort of it gets real

18:06

tight.

18:06

Right. What does it sound like? It's not

18:08

tight enough. Yeah. I use my usual recommendation is

18:11

to try to make the shift before the engine

18:13

blows up. Or

18:15

stalls in the in like the case

18:18

of Mike. No. The truth

18:20

is, Erica, that it

18:22

hardly makes any difference. It really

18:24

doesn't make just shift I

18:26

mean, if you read your oldest manual, what kind of a kind do

18:28

you have? It's a

18:29

Datsun two ten. Doesn't make any

18:30

difference. See, it doesn't make any difference.

18:33

The the the owner's manual probably

18:35

tells you to shift around twenty five hundred

18:37

RPM, between twenty five hundred and three

18:39

thousand RPM. If you shift it at two

18:41

thousand RPM or

18:43

through thirty five hundred or four thousand,

18:45

no one would ever know the difference.

18:47

Not you, not the car,

18:50

not not Oh. Not

18:50

my dad. Not your dad. Nobody.

18:52

Okay. What would make a difference is if

18:55

the if the difference were

18:57

a huge For example, if you tried to

18:59

shift at six thousand RPM,

19:01

then it would be bad and your

19:03

father would be wrong. Yeah. Then pieces of

19:05

the engine coming through the hood. Exactly.

19:08

But but you would never do that because six

19:10

thousand RPM, that engine is

19:13

screaming. So it's unlikely that a

19:15

normal intelligent person would

19:17

let the car get up to those kinda

19:19

RPMs. Hey. So

19:21

I would say, don't worry about this

19:23

in the slightest.

19:24

What about downshifting? What

19:26

about

19:26

Downshift from

19:27

fourth to third to second as you approach

19:29

a red light? No.

19:30

No. You should not do that. You should not.

19:32

No. No. You should You told you did you tell you

19:34

to do that Well, yeah.

19:36

Yeah. You know? She dad was back

19:38

in a thousand. Now he's back in five hundred. Uh-uh.

19:41

Which isn't bad, but you should not slow you

19:43

should not slow down as an old as a

19:45

regular thing by downshifting, you should use the

19:47

brakes to slow down. Okay. Because

19:49

this tool doesn't make a heck of

19:51

a big difference. I mean, if you get into

19:53

the habit of down shifting all the

19:55

time, then a clutch which could

19:57

last a hundred thousand miles. might

19:59

only last eighty thousand miles.

20:01

No. Because you're using up the clutch

20:03

all the time. These clutches even under

20:05

ideal conditions only last fifty thousand. So

20:07

you wouldn't let down from fifty thousand. twenty

20:10

two. Right? I mean, you're saving the clutch.

20:12

That's what you're saving when you when you

20:14

don't downshift. Okay. So it's

20:16

better to not do it. Okay. Yeah.

20:18

And don't have shift either. In fact, if you don't

20:20

shift at all, I think it'll be great. going through it

20:22

and just going through it. Just

20:23

kinda get it up a hill and point. Exactly.

20:26

Okay. Well, hey. I appreciate it. Sure.

20:28

Thanks thanks for

20:28

your color. Okay. Bye bye. Bye. One

20:30

eight hundred 3329287

20:33

Hello. People worry about that stuff too much. There's no reason.

20:35

You know why? Just try. Because we ask

20:37

exactly right. It doesn't matter. I mean, the many

20:39

years from now who's gonna know what the

20:42

up shifted, down shifted, who cares? Right?

20:44

Right. When those archaeologists dig up your

20:46

car, they're like, down shifted all the

20:48

time. I can see that from the bones.

20:51

We'll be right back with book calls and

20:53

the new puzzle after these

20:56

messages.

21:07

Hi.

21:17

We're back listening to car talk on

21:19

national public radio with us, click and collect the

21:21

Tavern Brothers. We're heading into your questions

21:23

about cars and car repair. and

21:25

linoleum patterns that we've known and loved.

21:27

What'd you have favorite? You know, I

21:29

love the black and white.

21:31

Just plain black and white. that's

21:33

where you like to see things. black and white. Right? Those white things that

21:35

are wrong. There is no gray. Everything

21:38

is black and white in my mind. Yeah. And

21:40

that's probably white.

21:42

feeble little mind. Alright. It's

21:44

time for the new puzzler. Yes.

21:46

The new interesting puzzler. Well,

21:49

Did I say that? You did. I didn't mean to. You said

21:51

stay tuned. Well, the big the

21:53

biggest problem I had with this puzzle was coming up with

21:55

the names of the participants. Really?

21:59

Yeah.

22:00

Oh, because it's husband and a wife were

22:02

driving in this car. I think his name is

22:04

Ferdinand. That's a good name. It'll

22:07

be Ferdinand. thirty. Yeah. Thirty and

22:09

Donna. I like

22:11

oh gertrude.

22:13

Don't you like gertrude? Alright. We'll

22:15

call them Fred and Gertrude. Fred and

22:17

Gertrude. Fred Gertie. Gertie is a nice thing. You

22:19

could tell what a Gertie is. Yes.

22:21

Yeah. Anyway, Fred always drives too fast.

22:23

And on this particular day, Fred Gertie are in

22:25

the car and they are driving.

22:28

No.

22:28

He's driving. Well, the he's riding.

22:30

He's he's driving along. Right?

22:32

And he realizes

22:34

he's driving particularly fast. this day, but he

22:36

realizes that he's about to run out of gas.

22:39

And

22:39

he says, oh my god.

22:41

So he decides to go faster so he run out

22:43

of run out of gas. later. No. He decides to pull

22:45

over on the side of the highway. He

22:47

pulls over to the breakdown lane, and

22:49

he realizes that he went past an exit

22:51

seven and a half point four seven

22:53

miles ago, and he decides to run

22:56

back to the exit to get gas. And he tells

22:58

Gertie, look, lock the

23:00

doors and don't let anyone

23:02

in. I'll be back in a flash.

23:04

He used this puzzle.

23:06

Alright. Alright. Fine.

23:09

Fine. No. I like this one. Okay?

23:11

Yeah. As long as you So he So

23:13

what's

23:13

his name?

23:14

Ferdinand. Ferdinand. Ferdinand goes

23:16

off, Ferdinand Ferdinand Ferdinand Ferdinand Ferdinand Ferdinand Ferdinand Ferdinand

23:18

Ferdinand Ferdinand and he's left Gurdy in in

23:20

the car and the side. with doors and don't

23:22

let anybody. Don't let anyone in no

23:24

matter what. Right. He shows up with

23:26

the sixth full gallon cans of gasoline

23:29

Yeah.

23:29

At some time later, some time

23:32

later. And as he as he

23:34

approaches

23:34

the car, he sees a police car

23:37

approaching. the flashing lights. They approached simultaneously.

23:40

Yeah. They he and the police

23:42

officer both look into the car which

23:44

is still locked. Yeah.

23:46

In

23:46

the car is gray. Yeah.

23:50

Unconscious.

23:50

No. Maybe near

23:53

death's door. and a

23:55

stranger in the car. No.

23:57

Furti, who has the key, of course,

23:59

opens the

24:00

car door.

24:02

Right? And then And the

24:05

police officer then sees Gary

24:07

and confronts Gary and, of course, the

24:09

stranger. Yeah. Okay?

24:11

Yeah? But he asks

24:12

no questions as to

24:14

what

24:14

has happened to

24:16

Gertie.

24:20

Wow.

24:20

And so what's the what's the question?

24:22

Did he have enough gas to

24:24

me? the

24:26

question, it was How did the stranger get into

24:28

the car? Grady did

24:30

not open any of the doors. wanted how you were

24:32

gonna get to And the doors were in fact

24:35

locked when they were locked and the doors

24:37

had never been unlocked.

24:39

Nor the windows. The windows were locked

24:41

and rolled up rolled up. Sunroop

24:44

was closed. So part a In the air vents, the vents were closed.

24:46

The vents were closed. So part a of the

24:48

question was, I

24:50

forget what happened to Gertie? What happened to

24:52

Gertie? Why was she unconscious? Why

24:54

was she in consciousness? Who was the stranger? Who was

24:56

the stranger? The stranger. And how did the stranger get

24:58

in? Part rolling in the world 333

25:01

part Okay? If you think you know the

25:03

answer, this is good. Send your

25:05

answer to Puzzlement Tower,

25:07

Car Talk Plaza, Box

25:09

thirty

25:09

five hundred Harvest

25:12

Square, Cambridge, Tower Fair

25:14

City, MA, 02238

25:16

You got it? I'll do it again.

25:18

Puzzler I'll do it faster this time. In case you just missed a few

25:20

letters, you can just fill them in. Fill them in.

25:22

Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza.

25:25

Box thirty five hundred

25:27

Harvard Square, Cambridge --

25:29

Our fair city. -- map 02238

25:32

If you'd like to call us,

25:34

The number is one eight hundred 3329287

25:38

Hello. You're on CarTalk. My

25:39

name is Laura, and I'm from Washington DC.

25:41

Hi, Laura. How are you? Fine. Thanks. All

25:44

excited about the new administration?

25:45

Yes. Very excited. So

25:47

what's up, Laura? I have a nineteen

25:49

eighty eight Hyundai that is leaking

25:52

antifreeze. And in

25:54

October, it was leaking it a lot. I saw a lot of

25:56

puddles underneath the car.

25:57

So I brought it

25:58

to my mechanic and he

25:59

replaced the water pump. Okay. And I I

26:01

thought that would do it. Then

26:03

in December, I noticed that there was

26:05

more antifreeze under the car but brought

26:08

it back to the mechanic. He

26:10

kept it for two days and he couldn't find

26:12

anything. He said that there were no puddles under

26:14

the car. He did a pressure

26:16

test and nothing leaked.

26:18

He didn't see any

26:20

antifreeze tracks that he said are often

26:22

indicative of a leak. you

26:23

have seen puddles on the ground or drops?

26:25

Yes. You have. I haven't seen

26:27

puddles lately, but I've noticed that

26:29

the reservoir is still going down every three

26:31

weeks or so. it gets down to

26:33

just below the low level. And I have to

26:35

Oh. That was my next question. This

26:38

isn't bode well for a car.

26:40

bolts. Oh, no. What Well, when the water

26:42

pump failed, did it fail

26:44

in

26:44

a catastrophic manner? What I mean by

26:46

that is did the thing overheat with

26:49

billowing clouds of steam, flashing red

26:51

lights, sirens. No. There was

26:53

nothing. Nothing. Just little puddles.

26:56

under the car. Right. But were you what you were you

26:58

on? Had you been losing a cooling for

27:00

a long time prior to the replacement of the

27:02

water pump? I

27:03

had noticed that in July

27:06

it was low, but -- and so I refilled it and I

27:08

didn't really think about it because I thought, well,

27:10

it probably just happens every soft and

27:12

I've had the car for five years

27:13

I thought something's usual to have to refill

27:14

it. And then I didn't really think about it

27:16

until I started noticing it more. I

27:19

noticed it more in September. And then in October,

27:21

I really noticed it in that I brought

27:23

it in. Yeah. That's But it's never

27:25

overheated or anything. Yeah. It will.

27:27

Yeah. Well,

27:27

I mean, if you if you really

27:29

are losing cumin, and you have

27:31

verified that you are losing coolant, then

27:34

obviously you are losing coolant. What

27:37

a

27:37

what a brilliant and

27:39

really introduction. No. I mean, if her

27:41

mechanic did a pressure test and said everything's

27:44

alright, what did he do

27:46

with that piece of information. Try to discourage

27:48

her from coming back. I mean, I

27:50

mean, did you give him the information that you

27:52

were replacing caught

27:54

a soft cold every month. Yes.

27:56

Yeah. I told it, and that's why he kept it for

27:58

two days. And he said he just couldn't find anything.

28:00

So he told me to keep track of it -- Yeah. -- and to bring

28:02

it back when I had more information, but I don't have anything more

28:04

Well, I

28:04

suspect that he he he didn't do the pressure

28:07

test for long enough. He may have had it for two

28:09

days, but had he done the pressure

28:11

test for two days. How many how many

28:13

bays does he have in his garage? Does

28:15

he have room to stick a car in a corner?

28:17

I think he has two. So that's why

28:19

he doesn't have room doesn't have enough room.

28:21

He's too busy doing break jobs and valve

28:23

jobs. That's right. In and out, in and out, in and

28:25

out. You can have a car sitting there with

28:27

a pressure tester on it for three hours.

28:29

Is it you don't sign? I've got the swarm in

28:32

DC. Go to

28:33

him next Friday night.

28:35

Ask him

28:35

if you can borrow the pressure tester

28:37

for the weekend. He's open

28:39

on weekends though. Oh, alright. You have to

28:41

buy one now. That's the only solution.

28:43

Well, they ask him to put the pressure tester on it

28:45

and stick the thing out in parking lot. Let's stay

28:47

on their old day. Okay. In a nice

28:50

dry spot. And he will

28:52

find

28:52

the leak if it's an externally. I'm

28:54

afraid, however -- Yes. -- that it may be a cylinder head

28:57

gasket. Mhmm. And the cool disaster

28:59

leaking into the engine. Oh, what

29:01

horrible words? I mean,

29:03

usually, if you have a leak, if you if you really

29:05

pressure tested it and there's no

29:07

leak, then what's happening is that

29:09

the coolant is getting into the combustion

29:11

chamber and you're burning it up and blowing it

29:13

out the tailpipe. But I'd be willing to bet that he

29:15

runs the engine and gets it hot and

29:17

then puts the pressure tester on it.

29:19

That

29:19

it'll begin to drop down because that's the way it

29:21

leaks for you. It doesn't leak when the engine's ice cold,

29:24

which is perhaps when he did the test, at least

29:26

when the engine is hot. So you have to pray that

29:28

there really is an external leak and the only way

29:30

he's gonna find it is by leaving the

29:32

pressure tester on it for hours and

29:34

Right? But whether it's internal or external, he will find it when he does the

29:36

test the right way. Get the engine hot, put

29:38

the tester on it, and he'll watch as

29:40

the needle goes down over the course of

29:43

the day, and that coolant will either be on

29:45

the ground or in one of the

29:47

cylinders. And what happens

29:47

if it's in the cylinder? That's expensive, hon.

29:49

Yeah.

29:49

That's just several hundred dollars.

29:52

not bad for a wonderful

29:53

car like this eighty eight Hyundai? That's right. I

29:55

think that's great. Yeah. I mean,

29:56

that's not so bad. So Okay.

29:59

all good news. We only give good

30:01

news. See you, Lauren. Thanks for your call. Thank

30:03

you. Bye bye. Well, another precious hour

30:05

of your has been scorned and

30:07

listening to car. All the hours of my

30:09

youth have been scorned. A long time

30:11

ago too. Our producer was Doug

30:13

Berman. I don't know exactly what he does, but he does have

30:15

an impressive tight. I saw him the other

30:17

day, the elusive Doug Berman. Yeah.

30:19

Yeah. He's like a dodo. Or introduced

30:21

myself for the next Tink species.

30:23

Tink species is right. Our associate producer and

30:25

dean of the College of Auto Musicology is Ken

30:27

babyface Rogers. Our engineer, and the one

30:29

who does most of the work here is also our

30:31

assistant producer, and that's Jennifer

30:33

Globe. Our technical adviser, Jiffy.

30:35

We call Oh, Jennifer. Jiffy Loeb. Jiffy Loeb.

30:37

Right? Our technical adviser is

30:39

John Bugsy, mister white sweet cheek sebastian.

30:42

What else did I miss? Three lunch. Three lunch

30:45

long. And our It

30:47

rolls off a ton. Our chief bottle

30:49

watcher this week is Ken Okano. Our public opinion pollster

30:51

is Paul Murphy, Murphy Research. Our

30:53

automotive medical researcher is doctor Denton

30:56

Center, our direct her of long

30:58

range strategic play in this case, Suraj, who's married to Frank Suraj, now

31:00

she's known as. Hey Suraj Suraj.

31:02

Suraj. Of course. I know you love saying that. Our

31:04

staff geneticist is doctor

31:06

a team pool, our transportation coordinator, Rich

31:09

Shaw, and our director of

31:11

Far East relations is Tai Ming

31:13

Chang. Our distinguished chief council from the

31:15

law firm of Dewey Xi win Hao. is you

31:17

Lewis Dewey, known to Washington Insiders

31:19

as Yoyey Dewey Dewey. We're clicking

31:21

clap the taverns brothers. Don't drive like my brother.

31:23

Drive like my brother. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next

31:25

week. Bye

31:26

bye. Current

31:30

talk is a

31:30

production of Dewey Chi Minhau and

31:33

WWF R and Bob. And

31:35

although it hasn't been up to its usual high

31:37

standards for the last hour or so, take our

31:39

award for it. This is NPR National

31:41

Public Radio.