The Best of Car Talk - #2444: The Breath of God

Episode Date: June 1, 2024

Althea's car stalled on a highway up thar in Maine. Then a kindly old priest happens by and offers to 'breathe into her gas tank'. Lo and behold, the car starts again! Click and Clack sermonize on this miracle and other automotive lessons from the good book of the Best of Car Talk.Get access to hundreds of episodes in the Car Talk archive when you sign up for Car Talk+ at plus.npr.org/cartalkLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Last year, over 20,000 people joined the Body Electric study to change their sedentary screen-filled lives. And guess what? We saw amazing effects! Now you can try NPR's Body Electric Challenge yourself. Listen to updated and new episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome to Card Talk from National Public Radio with us clicking clack for Tappet Brothers and we're broadcasting this week from the dubious denomination to division here at Card Talk Plaza. Now for those of you who may have missed it, a while back we received a call from a Linda of our fair city.

I remember it. Cambridge, Mass. Yeah. Linda had a 34-year-old New Yorker and she wanted to know if she should keep it or get rid of it. Now, of course, my brother being the demented fool of the years, tried to convince her that it was probably worth fixing up. And you told her that this 34 year old Chrysler New Yorker was probably a piece of junk. Get rid of it you told her. Well then Linda explained

that the 34 year old New Yorker wasn't a Chrysler. In fact it wasn't even a car. It was our producer Dougie Berman. And I saw the error of my ways. I apologized. You were right. He's no good. He was no good. I told him to dump him. Well, we gave her the thumbs up anyway, and recently, Doug and Sip, as Linda is known to most of her friends and family, were married. Oh, isn't that sweet. Were they really?

Of California, and with yours truly, moi and Stupi, not only in attendance, but officiating at the ceremony. Yes, the right reverend. Yes, and I remember I was the first official of Boa Whistle. I called Duggee for tripping two minutes into the ceremony. He went to the penalty box. Who was his stand-in anyway? Guy Lafleur, I think.

I thought it was a very sweet, no thanks to us of course, it was a very sweet ceremony. Tastefully done. Very tastefully done. With a minimum of bungling. Very minimum. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. We kept our mouths shut as much as possible. We'll have full details and photographs up on the website in minutes. It was a fun time and like Tommy said there will be pictures. Yeah, we have pictures, we have many, many pictures. Yes, we do. Now if you want to call us with a question about your car or to be married here on National Radio. I mean, we can do this, you know, I mean, we are now fully ordained ministers of the Church of what's happening now and we can we can perform wedding ceremonies in any state in these

United States including of course and especially Hawaii. So anyone who Honolulu who would like to get married, we are available. Right, only first-class airfare except the ground number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hello, my name is Althea, and I'm calling from Heartland, Maine. Althea. Althea.

That's a nice name. Heartland, Maine. Heartland, Maine. North of Augusta. Way, way up there. Yeah, I know. Okay, I... All the black flies, Althea.

This is black fly season? The black flies are very heavy black flight is either very heavy right now let me get this right you you subject yourself to about nine and a half months of winter where it's so cold you can't even walk down the street right then that the black for not all that comes mud season that comes mud season and black flies right we have to warm days in August. Two warm days in August.

And that's what we're looking forward to. And I'm looking forward to that. And then two days of beautiful fall foliage, which you might see if it doesn't rain, and then winter again. And then winter again. It's a great life. It is. And then you die. This is the best place in the world to live, you guys. Woo! What's the population of Maine? About a million. About a million. It's good that there are a million people that are living Where else to live, you guys? Woo! What's the population of Maine? 20. About a million. About a million. It's good that there are a million people that are living there and not somewhere else.

And it's 90% trees. 90% trees. Of those million, 900,000 trees. This is just living things of all types and species. I don't make fun of your fair state. Well, feel free to. We don't care. Hey,'re here that will feel free to let us know that they were not proud of ourselves

you didn't have any car question anything like that you know i don't know if you know that uh... marital problem question as well that's pretty i got my own car that i have a nineteen fifty seven metropolitan all really i'd just love it's a car that i'm absolutely in love with what a car it is it's just beautiful awesome and my

husband is a body man he restores cars and it is in just beautiful shape the body of it but i have a big mechanical problem and i would be a great body man you know mechanics and he put a new motor in it and ever since he put the new motor in it every time i drive it installed and installed white on me and i'd i've got really upset about it and it was raining really hard and he said that the reason why it's always because it was raining really hard and he said that the reason why it stalled was because it was raining really hard and that didn't seem to make sense. I was in Pittsfield, which is just a little ways from Heartland

and it stalled and I pulled over to the side of the road and a man came along and he told me he used to have a Metropolitan and what was the problem and I said, well I don't know, but it just stalled. So I was a little nervous about getting out of the car and talking to him i don't know but it just stopped so i was a little nervous about getting out of the car and talking to him and he told me he was a minister so because he said he was a minister i believed him sure i can hear giggling no no no you can certainly trust a man of the cloth and he had a wife in the

car so i felt a lot more comfortable so we went around the back of my metro and he blew in the gas tank and he told me to get back up front and turn the key and it started right up when he blew in the gas tank and so i drove it back to heartland told my husband what happened and he said that had nothing to do with anything on it it was damp and that's why it wouldn't go on its own. So a week later, I was with my friend Elizabeth and drove to Newport, which is about eight miles from Heartland, and the same thing happened all over again. It stalled on me.

Was it raining? Pardon? Was it raining? No, this is the thing. So it stalled on me and I got around the back of the car and I blew in the gas tank and it really started up again so i went back to my husband shop

and he said that i couldn't possibly blow hard enough in the gas tank for it to make a difference he's right about that so he had our son-in-law who's a wonderful mechanic they changed that uh... the lines in the gap from the gas tank to the motor however you do that yeah and they put a filter on it which it didn't have a get the right to look at the put a gas

filter on it changed the gas and all this kind of stuff and it still keeps stalling and i haven't bought it going in the gas tank again because he said that that make any difference but i can't get it started again when it stopped well i suspect that that going in the gas tank again because he says it doesn't make any difference but I can't get it started again when it stalls. Well I suspect that blowing in the gas tank probably doesn't have anything to do with it. You really didn't think it did? No I don't think it does. However taking the gas cap off might because if you have a the wrong gas cap on there it's very likely that over the years the original gas cap got lost. Is that true? Yeah, could be. And it's possible that somebody put on a non-vented gas cap.

In the old days, gas caps had like a little hole in them. So as the fuel was used up from the tank, air would be allowed to rush in to replace it. And nowadays, the gas tank is sealed so that air can in fact get in, but fumes cannot escape through that little pinhole because it no longer exists. Those fumes that accumulate in the gas tank as a result of increased temperature wind up going to a charcoal canister. But that's another story. But if somebody took the gas cap and lost it and put a

non-vented cap on there, After you drove a while, the fuel pump would be unable to overcome the vacuum created in the tank by the absence of the vent in the gas tank. So just taking the cap off... Is allowing air to go in. It's possible that this one was even vented, but maybe it's plugged up over the years. So try another gas cap. And if that doesn't work, then it's possible that it's the fuel pump or something like that. And you can test this theory by just taking off the cap next time it stalls and just all you have to do is unscrew it and then screw it back on again and see if it starts

right up and if it does then that's it. Pretty good huh? Well I hate to think that he might have been right all along. Who might have been right? My husband saying that it didn't make any difference to blow on him. Well, it doesn't make any difference. You probably couldn't blow into that thing hard enough to make a difference. Yeah, the guy, the minister, he had his head up his keister. Well, it almost made a Christian out of me. The minister didn't know what he was talking about.

He didn't. Well, no, he didn't, but then again, maybe he knows what he's talking about in some other realm. Yeah. Okay, well, thank you for the help and I'll let you know if it made a difference. Hey, Althea, it's been a real pleasure talking to you. You know, I was gonna say exactly the same thing. Well, I enjoyed the conversation with you guys too. And if I ever come up to Heartland, Maine, the chances of which are close to my

survival if I jumped off a 50-story building, but if I ever should, can I look you up and have a cup of coffee with you? Yeah, and I'll take you down to the body shop. Right now he's finishing up a 1917 Rio and if you like cards you'd like to look at that. Oh I love those Latin American cards. See ya out there. Bye. Bye. Hey we've got more calls and ready for this? The puzzler ads are coming up right after this so don't go anywhere. after this, so don't go anywhere. All that sitting and swiping, your body is adapting to your technology. Learn how and what you can do about it.

I really felt like the cloud in my brain kind of dissipated. Once I started realizing what a difference these little breaks were making, there's no turning back for me. Take NPR's Body Electric Challenge. Listen to the series wherever you get your podcasts. This is my voice. It can tell you a lot about me,

and I'm not changing it for anyone. In NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, you'll find a collection of NPR episodes centered on Black experiences. Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths, you'll find a collection of NPR episodes centered on Black experiences. Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get your podcasts. What does it mean to be Black in America? In NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, a collection of stories as varied, nuanced, and dynamic as the Black experience, you'll hear, it means everything.

Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths wherever you get your podcasts. This message comes from Wondery. It was the biggest scandal in pop music. The stars of Milli Vanilli, the Grammy-winning phenomenon, were exposed as frauds. But none of this was their idea. So whose was it? Follow Blame It on the Fame on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Tommy.

Who's the winner this week? I have a winner actually here. Where is it? I know I didn't give the answer yet. I'm just trying to gauge how severe your memory loss has actually become. I knew you wouldn't remember last week's puzzler. Well see, the point that you were right.

You're right on the money because when you start talking about the puzzler, I know that I'm not gonna remember what it is, and then once in a while, I do remember, but most of the time I just tune out. I take the time to read the mail that's here. So the fact that I asked you about the winner. I looked right away for the winner I mean I looked I didn't have it actually as a matter of fact all right here It is is the puzzler from last week, and I stole this from Joseph Rayleigh from Durham, North Carolina here It is two undergrad chemistry students

Oh, this was major university had had a highly Successful semester in some introductory chemistry class that they were taking. In fact, their confidence was so high, they decided to not study during reading period and go to the fraternity party in a town, they were going to some fraternity party in a town quite a ways away. They had a great time at this party. They probably got a little inebriated

and met some babes, you know, who knows what happens at these parties. It happens. I wouldn't know. And anyway, they didn't make it back for the exam. In a panic, they devised a plan. They agreed to tell the professor that they got a flat tire and this prevented them from getting back in time to take the test. They pleaded and whined and cried and sniveled like men do all the time. And the professor decided to let them take the exam because they said, please we'll be ruined if you don't let us, it won't happen again man.

So he says, all right, all right, all right. He tells them to come the next morning. The boys return the following morning and the professor gives them their exams. But he decides he doesn't want to hang around, so he has them leave their backpacks and books in the office, and he sends them to different rooms to take the exams. On the first page of the test is a five-point question.

Smiling confidently, each answers the question, and then turns the page to the next question. 95 points. Ooh! And the puzzler is this, what was the question? What was the second question? Yeah. Pretty good.

I mean, of course the second question could have been anything. It could have been anything. But with the information you were given here, and if you were the professor and you suspected these two of devising and inventing and fabricating all of what had happened. You might ask this very question, where was the flat tire? Which wheel of the car has a flat tire? Which tire? That's it.

Just two words. Which tire? Oh no! All right, who's the winner? Did you just answer last week's puzzle? Alright, the winner this week is Carol Blomberg. From where? Nashwock, Minnesota.

And imagine Carol's excitement hearing her name mentioned on national public radio as this week's puzzler winner. Now imagine Carol's disappointment as she hears that her prize is a lousy Best of Car Talk CD. We're sorry, Carol, but these things do make excellent coasters, shims, or with the addition of a couple of paperclips, very attractive earrings. They're big, but they're very nice. Congratulations, Carol Blomberg from Nash Walk. Anyway, we have a brand new non-automotive puzzler, but transportation related coming up during the second half of today's show. So don't say I didn't warn you. Now, if you'd like to call us about your car, our number is, or about your upcoming marriage for that matter, our number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk.

Hi there, it's Nick calling from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Victoria? British Columbia? Did you call the 800 number? Does it work in Canada? Yes, I did. I think, yeah, it was the 800 number I called. Yes. Oh, it works. No kidding. That's cool. So all you Canadians that listen to us can call us. That's right. Actually, we don't get many calls from Canada though.

You're one of the very few. Well, you know, our cars are, I guess, too frozen half of the year to really bother with them. Yeah, and the fact that we're not aired in Canada might make a difference too. The show isn't on in Canada. Well, in minor detail. Ken Rogers just pointed that out to me.

Yeah, well we pick you up out of a Seattle station here. Oh, you're pirating the station, pirating the airwaves. Cool. All right, Nick, what's on your mind today? All right, well, my question follows on the statistics you two gentlemen provided last week on leased and most stolen cars in the U.S. Two years ago, I had my beloved 1984 Honda Accord hatchback stolen. It was in March of 94.

And a fellow phoned me up two years to the date in March of 96. He said, we've got your car here. It sat here for two years behind our apartment building. The manager's been going out and pumping up the tires for two years, but it's now going to be towed. Would you come and get your car? And I said, what car? I I mean I was driving a truck I said describe the car he says it's a Honda Accord so I went over and had a look at it and after two months of

negotiations with the insurance company I bought this car back so I've got the car back but now I'm getting conflicting advice about the procedure to start the car a car that that for as long as two years that someone stole your car parked it behind an apartment building and never used it well it was it was abandoned for two years i think they used it for about two or three months until the insurance expired off to a deckle expired in a may just left it abandoned

how far away was this apartment building five blocks from where i lived uh... no i'm kidding isn't that good but now i want to start it you can write my two principal mechanic advisors are giving me conflicting advice you know what i told you well mechanic number one mechanic number one says my brother-in-law is a fisherman he says i

just fired up the fief Japanese cars are built great just fired up because it'll be fine you know that's your brother-in-law that's my brother-in-law uh... a more mechanically inclined i need to continue to select you to the number of things you got to do with any kind of after this period of time like because first of all you've got bad gas and any fed in and you've got a lubricate the range in the cylinders you've got a

you know in inject some oil and or something overnight and then of course and and turn the engine by hand don't don't do a cold start or who would you like to believe number one of the buto well uh... i'd like to believe your brother-in-law well i'd like to believe the sort of uh... the less expensive alternative you know i'm going to go into a garage but uh... is actually a medic that everyone's brother-in-law is a wacko uh... i know that i certainly have

at least one brother-in-law who's a lack of all you got a few like that that at least i have one of them and i think it was a little one of the work or yeah well he has to be resourceful you know he's a fisherman he felt there are the high season of his boat engine breaks down you know he can't just poet into a garage right that thing is still that your brother-in-law also has a lack of brother-in-law and unfortunately

that you know uh... what are all of to cut to the chase, Nick, the second guy is the guy whose advice you want to take. You really do want to take the spark plugs out. All right. You really do want to shoot a little bit of oil in every cylinder. And you do want to turn it over by hand. Yeah, you don't have to.

Just leave the plugs out and crank it over with the starter motor. It won't start, but it'll give an opportunity for the oil to splash around. If it doesn't turn when you've done this with a fully charged battery in there, then you can just take it to the junkyard because the engine is seized. But I suspect it's going to start. Oh, all right. So it's a write-off if it won't start. If it won't start, it's a junker. But his advice about the gas, I believe this car has a plug on the tank. You can drain the gas out. Yep. you can drain the gas out and just drain it right in this guy's yard because that's what he gets for keeping you think for two years to drain the gas

up dispose of it properly and and put fresh gas in there and hope it starts and when it does start you can take it to your shop and get it checked out and make sure everything is okay yeah there is a small chance that if the rings have frozen to the cylinder walls, they're going to break when you start it up. And either it's going to be wrecked or it's just going to burn oil. There is that chance. Yes. And two years is a long time to sit.

What's done is done, Nick. What's done is done. Yeah, that's true. time to sit you know i'm is done it's done is done yeah i just read a and i hope that you have led a good clean life and if you have this car will start and i think i can tell up for parts like it's got a new clutch in it i'd baby that new clutch of some of the parts in their word and so many ninety

four in for a thousand bucks for a couple of thousand dollars and eighty four eighty four all before i had a little before thousand dollars 84 oh 84 I don't you said 94 no junk it just turn the key I thought you had something worth money here turn the key so they ever catch the hoser that stole it from you or what you know this it's just you know this just so many cars stolen these days it's tough to chase remember years and years ago, I'm sure my brother will remember this when I begin to tell the story.

There was an old Italian guy who was an artist that was a customer of ours and he had a van, a Dodge van that needed an engine rebuilt. And every day he came in and he said, the boys, how you doing on my truck? Oh yeah, I remember him. And I said, nah, it's not done yet. So weeks went by and we were very busy and we hadn't gotten to it and we finally got the thing rebuilt and every

day he had been coming in at like 4.30 or 5 o'clock, how's he doing with my truck? And we hadn't had it done. We finished it at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I park it outside, I call him up, Joe. I said, you won't believe this. Your truck is all set. It's months have gone by now. Certainly many weeks. I'll be right the down. So he comes with a pocket full of money and pays us. And I hand him the key, and he disappears. And he comes back about 10 minutes later,

and he says, he says, some kind of joke. Where's the truck? In the two hours that it was parked outside, somebody had stolen it. And jokes leaves. I give him his money back he says call me what do you find that by year goes by

and we get a call from the fall river mass police department saying that they had the truck and we went down and picked up and somebody had converted into a camper for it had a stove, a refrigerator, he was elated. And all it needed was an engine rebuild. No, and they had broken in the engine very nicely for him. It was a happy ending and Joe was ecstatic to get his van back with all this new equipment that he had never had. Customized. It was indeed customized. You could have been so lucky, but you weren't. But I would just turn the key maybe. I agree my brother throw some oil on those cylinders turn the key and hope for the best. Yeah

Say it Nick I wrote down 94 on the court. I wrote down 84 and I didn't know why you were being so sensitive to this We'll be right back with more calls and the new puzzler after these messages. What does it mean to be black in America? In NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, a collection of stories as varied, nuanced, and dynamic as black experiences, you'll hear.

It means everything. Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get your podcast. In this country, some truths aren't self-evident. In NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, a collection of stories as wide-ranging and real as the people who tell them. We celebrate the black experience for all its soul and richness. Search NPR, Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get podcasts.

I'm Rachel Martin. After hosting Morning Edition for years, I know that the news can wear you down. So we made a new podcast called Wildcard, where a special deck of cards and a whole bunch of fascinating guests help us sort out what makes life meaningful. It's part game show, part existential deep dive, and it is seriously fun. Join me on Wildcard wherever you get your podcasts, only from NPR. A former president found guilty while running for reelection for a story this big, one podcast only from NPR politics podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio with us, clicking clack to tap the brothers, and we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and Bubba shot the jukebox. This is a list of presumably real country western song titles.

Well, I happen to be a country and western aficionado. Yeah? And so is Jennifer. So we'll recognize, I'm sure, some of them. If they're bogus, we'll tell you. I can't tell who actually. This came from various places, but it looks like it came from either Lynn Weisman from Harvard Medical School, or it came from Anne-Marie Burdick from Harvard Business School. Okay. Okay, and here are real, real, I swear, best of the worst country western song titles. Now, this one I know you know, Drop, Drop

Kicked Me Jesus Through the Gold Post of Life. Of course, everyone knows that. How about her? She's been at church every Sunday. How about her, Teeth Were Stained But Her Heart Was Pure? How about Here here's a quarter, call someone who cares. Must be a recent one. It wouldn't be a nickel if it weren't oldie. How can I miss you if you won't go away? I know that one. I would have wrote you a letter but I couldn't spell yuck. If the phone don't ring baby,

you'll know it's me. These are good. If the phone don't ring baby, you'll know it's me These are good if you don't leave me alone, I'll go and find someone else who will Mama get the hammer. There's a fly on Papa's head And my personal favorite they may put me in prison, but they can't stop my face from breaking out. I mean these are real song titles. I'm sure they all are. They're wonderful and I've heard many of them. Okay here's the puzzler. Yeah go ahead. Some years ago when my my son Louis got his driver's license he asked to use my truck. He was gonna take a little trip to the next town over to visit a friend of his.

And I gave him the keys with the admonition, don't drive very far because you're not an experienced driver and I certainly don't want you driving on the highway or out of state or anything like that. And he said, don't worry. Don't worry, Dad. Now being the trusting soul that I am, I didn't bother to write down what the mileage was or anything like that. Sucker.

I know, fool. This was the only time I made that mistake. And that night he returns and hands me the key and I go out to the truck and I get inside. Of course, I didn't see anything on the seat or anything. It was dark and I didn't turn on the headlights and therefore I didn't see the 5,000 bugs that were smashed against the windshield. But I got in and I started the engine. I had no idea what the gas cage had read and like I said, I did not know what the odometer

reading was. I started the engine. I sat in the truck for about maybe a half a minute with the engine running and I knew in an instant that he had gone much further than he said he had gone. Much farther from home. Yeah. And I'll give a hint.

Should I give a hint? I hope. The hint is the grateful dead. Whoa. Now if you think you know the answer or if you have access to free postage, you want to take a guess, send your answer to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Orofaciti, Math 02238. And of course you can also email your answer to us at cartalk.com.

And anyway, if we choose your correct answer at random and you catch us, we'll send you a copy of the best of car talk. God knows we got a lot of these kicking around. Now, if you'd like to call us with a question about your car, the number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, my name's Stephanie. I'm calling from Ashland, Oregon. Hi, Stephanie.

How you doing? Good. So, what's up stephanie well uh... i've got a seventy nine volvo station wagon it's got about uh... two hundred fifty thousand miles on it well good for you and uh... yeah and it's going strong and um... what happened is we we moved here to ashland from california

actually about a year ago and uh... prior to moving that this problem didn't i mean it doesn't have existed somewhat intermittently but not not on any kind of uh... consistent basis and what happened is when i start the car in the morning and start driving and i go from first in the second uh... it growl at me in the hot weather it doesn't seem to do that

and uh... uh... and it doesn't do it if i'm de-accelerating or from shifting down yeah i don't know that when i'm accelerating and actually i can get it to not do it if i if i'm accelerating and i take my foot off the gap and kind of let it coast and slow down just a bit you you know, and then I can kind of wedge it in a little bit without it making that noise. So, um, it is a second gear noise only second year only went upshifting. Yeah.

Huh? And you described it as growling? Yeah, I mean, it's not really, it's not kind of quite as harsh as grinding, but definitely it's it's yeah, it's not kind of quite a harsh and grinding they're definitely it do it yet not like going to see like it's coming from all around you are is it pinpointed somewhere like the transmission right on the picture now it's been doing this for years no no no no it's only really been doing it

and we i mean really all right i'm gonna tell you something you know i'm gonna make a prediction i'm gonna make a i'm gonna make a wild guess you know what's no here it is are you ready for this okay when you live in california you lived on a level

street and now in ashland oregon you live on a level street, and now in Ashland, Oregon, you live on a hill. Yeah, it's a... Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! It's not a big hill. How am I doing? It's a steady incline, but it's not a big hill. Hey, hey, hey! It qualifies, right?

Okay, so go ahead. Wait, I gotta go further. I gotta go further. And when you leave your house, you're heading up this incline. Uh-huh. Okay. But no, it doesn't just do it when I'm leaving. Sherlock Holmes, eat your heart out!

Okay! Oh, thanks for calling, Stephanie! Now that you've given us part one of my hair bring Here's my theory. Okay. My theory is there's nothing wrong with your car whatsoever. Okay, and What's been happening is you have been? shifting too soon Okay, all right, you put it in first thing you throw it into second

when you really don't have enough speed to be in second and the car is shaking it's vibrating and it never did it before because you were going on a level road but now the added power necessary to go up that slight incline is making it a little bit more than that she said is so that's almost as bad as this week's a lot of that we're talking about i pulled out where she lived in california and the downhill and the up the hill how could it be wrong

well how could it be wrong it doesn't answer why it doesn't, why it still continues to do it, even if I'm driving on flat land. Oh. Oh. Sounds so good, doesn't it? It was very good, it was very good. All right, have you had anyone look at this thing?

Has anyone, for example, checked the level of oil in the transmission? Well, you know, I took it back to our mechanic in california when we did it last time uh... and printed in with problem and you know he said that he thought like you've done the yellow-tipped transmission not right or something and he was supposed to adjusted and i don't know if he actually changed the viscosity of it or if he made it higher or something

But it really quite frankly didn't make a whole lot of difference So with all the miles you got in this car, I mean it may be the transmission oil has never been changed And you may look in the owner's manual It may not even mention changing the transmission oil because they never expected the car to go this far So I mean I would definitely change the transmission oil because they never expected the car to go this far. So, I mean, I would definitely change the transmission oil. Okay. Well, either the problem is inside the transmission, there's something wrong with the second gear synchronizer or something, in which case you're not going to fix that, you'll just wait until it breaks, and then you'll shift from first to third, and skip second altogether. It's really overrated, you don't really need second gear.

No, you know our odd even theory, don't don't you know I haven't heard this one well most cars come with five gears and you don't need all five there's no question that you don't need all five and on odd days you use one three and five Monday Wednesday and Friday and on Tuesday Thursday and Saturday you use use two and four and on Tuesday Thursday and Saturday use use two and four and on Sunday you stay home because we ran out of gears I know all your backup I don't know so you really don't need all of them so I would I wouldn't worry about it I would change the transmission oil and I wouldn't do anything else I wouldn't even think about this well I have a funny feeling that the noise is not really coming from the transmission I don't need I think I think it's it's rather as vibrate i think it's rather being telegraphed through a bad

uh... uh... center bearing the driveshaft is a two-piece driveshaft is a support bearing on it i think you can easily have a bad center bearing i would have some of the center bearing in the universal joints i don't think the problems in the transmission but if they look at those things and they're all right just drive until it breaks definitely and it wouldn't hurt at all while they're doing this task of the change the transmission but if they look at those things and they're all right just drive it till it breaks Stephanie yeah and it wouldn't hurt at all while they're

doing this to ask them to change the transmission oil okay and stuff a banana in there maybe. See you later Stephanie. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot for calling. 1-800-332-9287 hello you're on Car Talk. Yeah this is John from Saxons River Vermont. John what's happening? I have an 86 Toyota Tercel wagon two-wheel drive but that's not gonna affect this problem any. No. Right. So anyway it's it's March a few weeks ago and we're sugaring like we do like we do up here in Vermont. Sure. And I'm driving down from the sugar house to my house with a big

milk can full of maple syrup in the back to finish off on my stovetop at home. Oh, I can see it coming. And the milk can empties out all this maple syrup all over the car. So it's a real sweet smelling vehicle. But anyway. No kidding. The syrup gets all over the back. I had the seats folded down for the station wagon part and I immediately got out the towels and hot water and wiped up as much of the syrup as I could. It smelled for a while, but I thought everything was okay. A few days later I'm driving my kids around to, I got some teenagers and I'm driving them around. They pull out the some teenagers and i'm driving around

they pull out the seatbelt and they're covered with maple syrup course back uh... i'm stuck i don't know how to get rid of the maple literally stuck so i don't know uh... what to do that tried pouring boiling water down the little uh... flat for the seatbelt come out and you need to take out an ad in Meg OCM magazine OCM organized crime monthly

And frequently underworld figures have hits where they put people in cars and then they put the car and the dead body Right in the Atlantic Ocean. You need to offer your car right in the Atlantic Ocean. You need to offer your car. Oh, do a submerge. A submerge, and then you can go and pull it back out a week or two later. And it'll be perfect.

And it'll be all cleaned up, yeah. Well, aren't you glad you called, John? I think, I mean, obviously must be some solvents you can use and I'm sure somebody more intelligent than we will call and tell us what you should be using. Which narrows it down to about 248,999,000 people somebody more intelligent than we will call and tell us what you should be using which there was a doctor about two hundred forty eight million nine hundred and nine thousand people in this country i was wondering if there's any possibility of like drilling a hole in the bottom of this

container so that it could leak out all doing a whole lot more for this no because a little box in which the seatbelts are they retract where they retracting or whatever the housing yeah I mean if you pull it all the way out you'll be able to get to all the all of the belt yeah except for what's back inside you're right well and it wouldn't hurt to drill a little hole I don't think that bothers it's pretty obvious to me that you're not averse to having liquids in your car right so if you know if you know how many gallons of this stuff did you spill?

Ten gallons? Oh, probably four or five. Four or five gallons. Oh, God. I think you need to get a, a garden hose with one of those adapters you can put on to mix soap in. Oh, yeah, yeah. And you want to use hot water.

Okay. And I think you want to just spray everything. Okay. And then tip the car upside down if you can. I'm going to drain out. But I think if you sprayed right in there with the garden hose with us with a soapy solution Okay, you know you want to you know the thing I'm talking about you can buy it at the hardware store Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah, you put it on the end of the hose and hot water hook it right up to your water heater

You have hot water up there Well, I wasn't sure I lived in Vermont we didn't have hot water Well, I wasn't sure. When I lived in Vermont, we didn't have hot water. That's right. But I think if you blast it out with hot, soapy water, you will dissolve it, and it'll dissolve readily. Okay. And everything will work. But will it leak out of that housing?

Yes. Oh, yes. It is not airtight. Okay. It'll absolutely leak out. Okay. And if it doesn't, you'll just push it out with the water that you're putting in. But the water will eventually leak out or evaporate. I wouldn't worry about that. Okay. And punch some holes in the floor. Like I said, tip the car over. out with the water that you're putting in but the water will eventually leak out or evaporate I wouldn't worry about that. Okay. And punch some holes in the floor like I said tip the car over and the water will come out. And next time put a cover on the thing will you you knucklehead.

Okay. See you John. Hey John it was a pleasure talking to you. Bye. Bye. Well you've squandered another hour of your precious youth listening to car talk. Our esteemed producer is Doug the Subway Fug, not a slave to fashion, punk and lips, yes dear, Berman.

Yeah, I like it. Now that he's married, yes dear. Our associate producer and dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface. Roger's our engineer and assistant producer is Jennifer Travel and Leisure Loeb. And our technical advisor is Mr. John Lawler. Woo. Wow. He's been making statements lately. Jennifer Travel and Leisure Loeb, and our technical advisor is Mr. John Lawler. Woo! Wow.

He's been making statements lately. Our public opinion pollster was Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Marjorie Navarra. Our automotive medical researcher is Dr. Denton Fender. Our literary critics are Ernest and Julio Hemingway. Our staff filmmaker is Bertha Venation. Our director of new product repair is Warren T. Myfoot. Our director of gender studies is Amandaation. Our director of new product repair is Warren T. Myfoot.

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and Howard U. Lewis Dewey, known to all the graduates moving around Harvard Square as Huey Louie Dewey. Thanks so much for listening. We're clicking clocks with the Tappert Brothers, and don't drive like my brother. And don't drive like my brother, and good luck to Marvin Ziperson.

We'll be back next week. Bye bye. If you want a cassette copy of this week's show, which is number 23, you can order it electronically on the World Wide Web through the Shameless Commerce Division of CarTalk.com or the old fashioned way by calling 303-823-8000. You can also order the best of CarTalk the same way. Click on the Shameless Commerce Division at CarTalk.com or call 303-823-8000. CarTalk is a production of Dewey, Cheetah, and Howell and WBUR in Boston. And even though it brings an entire building full of serious journalists

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