The Best of Car Talk - #2466: Hi Sierra, Bye Sierra

Episode Date: August 17, 2024

Sierra's Dodge groans when she's steering it and the boys want her to test it before they give her an answer. So what will our two hosts do while their guest hangs up to go for a short drive? Adventures in 'dead air' on this episode 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

This summer on Planet Money, we're bringing you the entire history of the world. At least the economics part. It's Planet Money Summer School. Every week we'll invite in a brilliant professor and play classic episodes about the birth of money, banks and finance. There will be rogues and revolutionaries and a lot of panics. Summer School, every Wednesday till Labor Day on the Planet Money podcast from NPR. Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us clicking clack the Tappert brothers and we're broadcasting this week

with a concession speed delivery wing here at Car Talk Plaza. Well, we might as well just come out and say it. We lost. And we, maybe we can congratulate the winner. When all the results came in we ended up with what? Two stinking votes. Yours and mine. I can't understand it. So we immediately did what? Two stinking votes. Yours and mine. I can't understand it.

So we immediately did what? We demanded a recount because we figured we had at least four votes in the bag, right? We couldn't figure out what happened to the other two. So we assumed the only thing you could logically assume... Of course. Fraud! Fraud! Exactly. But as soon as we made the official request for the recount, Dougie shuffled over sheepishly

and said, uh, guys, uh, I didn't vote for you after all. What a no-grace. I mean, he promised. He said, you're it, guys. I mean, if your own producer, campaign manager... He even had one of our bumper stickers on his 76 BMW that runs on three cylinders. But we still figured we'd get at least three votes, right? Yeah

Yeah, I mean, how could this not happen? Well, the official the official results said no two was all we got So after we accused each other of treason We called mom and put the heat on her and after some hemming and hawing she finally fessed up that she had in fact Voted for Clinton. Yeah. And we asked her why. She said that she had serious concerns about our character. Mom, geez, two stinking votes. Well, hey, it's more than many, many people got. And more than we deserved.

And certainly two more than we deserved. I was considering not voting for us, actually. Well, I was certainly gonna vote for us, but I realized that voting for us meant I had to vote for you. Well, that was my reservation also. I mean, it's very likely we could have gotten no votes. Yeah, I wanted to vote for me. You were on the ticket with me. The truth is, the two votes might not have been you and me.

Maybe I was gonna lose. Do you want the truth? I didn't vote for us. All right, I didn't either. If you want to talk to us about your car, you can call us at 1-800-332-9287. But before we take a call, I have a letter here. You remember a few weeks ago we talked about Dougie's subway incident in Washington, D.C.? Yeah, well, we've talked about it many times. Doug is a subway fugitive, having been accosted by the subway police on the metro in Washington, D.C. a year ago.

This email comes from Bruce Beck, who says, as usual, when they stray from their area of expertise, whatever that is, they stumble around in the fog and muddle. Is he talking about us? I think so. Be sure to consult your attorney, Mr. Dewey. He no doubt will explain to you that statutes of limitation only run while you are physically within the jurisdiction.

Because you fled the jurisdiction, the statute of limitation is suspended and does not run. So for example, if the statute of limitations is a year on this. Oh, if you left the next day. Then all he shaved off of it was a day. No kidding? I wasn't aware of that. Well that's because you're out of your area of expertise, whatever that is. Whatever that is.

So Dougie, the only way he can get out of this is to sneak back into the DC area, take up residence in a YMCA someplace and hang around for a year or whatever the statute for the day is. But he's got to have proof that he lived in the YMCA. Well, he's going to have those canceled checks for $3 a night. Young man, YMCA. Okey dokey. So Dougie's not out of the woods. We thought he was out of the woods. No, he's was out of the woods

1-800-332-9287 is the number hello you're on car talk hi my name is Sierra and I'm out in Seattle your name is what? Sierra is that like the Osobeel or the Chevrolet? I like the club. Actually the Chevrolet on the club the and what i you know i've heard of before but i don't know if it works just fine you know the old bill is felt c i e r a uh... i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i think you might okay i've got a nineteen eighty nine dot call

and when i turn left you make a funky sound and act away from found that you make other sounds that don't bother me quite so much but this particular found is a bit trouble them uh... it's kind of a cranking kind of a panel uh... but it's only when I turn left Like that yeah a creaking sound yeah, well yeah, I guess I guess more of a creaking than a cranking then creaking Pardon hmm. I'm just talking out loud okay as opposed to talking to myself

And generally it's only on a hard left turn. And is it usually at a very slow speed? Um, I was wondering about that when I was driving last night and I tried it out and it didn't seem to matter that much. Oh, so even if you're driving along at like 40 miles an hour and you can't... No, I'm not really making sharp left turns at 40 miles an hour. 20 miles an hour. Um, yeah. Six, six, we'll go for six. We hear seven? Um, yeah, fairly low speeds, but not all the time, and in both when I'm making a turn and when I'm straightening out. As the wheel is turning to the left and then back to center again, you hear

Yeah, exactly. But you cannot get this noise if you turn the wheel left and right when you're again you hear, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Yeah, it's on the street. Go ahead, we'll wait. Okay. We'll put you on hold, we'll take another call. Okay. And we'll come back to you. Okay. And do it two ways, one with the engine off and one with the engine running. Okay. Cool. All right, I'll be right back.

We'll put you on hold. Okay. Okay. Okay, 1-800-332-9... No, let's just wait, let's just wait for her. No, wait, we're gonna be here all day. We'll just sit here. We'll take another call. We'll sing, we little whistle songs. Okay, we'll take another call

We'll take another call when Sierra comes back. I think public radio people need some dead air There's always something on they got dead heads when we're on 3329 287 hello, you're on car talk. This is Caesar Alvarez from Phoenix Arizona Caesar yeah great name Phoenix Phoenix Arizona actually in Scottsdale right now I'm at work calling from work using their phone lines yeah what's up Caesar well here's the deal I have a 89 Mazda B2200 cap plus pickup it's got a hundred twenty thousand hundred twenty three thousand miles on it it's uh... it's been super reliable one of the few trucks that uh... mark the made that has uh... autopilot

uh... here's our problem car idling it'll almost shudder for back half a second the lights will go down and they'll recover and continue idling and it's an intimate problem uh... sometimes i'll be uh... sit not lighting cover and continue idling. And it's an intermittent problem. Sometimes I'll be sitting at the light and it's almost like sitting next to a Harley at a stoplight that does that potato, potato, potato sound.

It sounds like it's going to die. Sometimes I'll hit the gas and there you go. So the RPM goes way down, it's down far enough so that the lights will flicker and you think it's going to stall but it doesn't. Exactly. Exactly. And I've also noticed a little hesitation when I stomp on it to get on the freeway or something. The thing is that I've had this car tuned up within the last 30,000 miles, and I think they did the new plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, all that kind of stuff. Does it have a tachometer?

No, it doesn't. No. This is the bare-bones version. Yeah. Yeah. He's lucky. Does it have a tachometer? No it doesn't. No, this is the bare bones version. Yeah. Yeah, he's lucky. Do you have seats? Did you get seats? I've got one seat. I've got two passenger seats and two jump seats. I had to pay extra for the jump seats. My suspicion is that you have a fuel pump that's about to fail. Yeah. That's my guess. I mean it's been in there for 120,000 miles. Just a momentary fader of that fuel pump for split seconds is enough to cause that to happen. And I would have to put the gauges on it. I would leave it at the shop for a whole day, ask them to let it run and see if they can

reproduce the problem. And when it does do it, if someone happens to be walking by... They're not going to reproduce the problem? Well ask them to replace a few things. One second out of eight hours and some guy's gonna be standing, just luckily gonna be standing, oh, there it was, and at the same second, he's gonna notice what all the gauges are doing. What are you, nuts?

I can think of at least three guys at my shop who would be happy to stand around and stare at the gauges all day long. Just find that one second where the RPM drops down and say, ah, that fuel pump pressure dropped down 10 pounds. You're gonna have to have three guys standing there, each one looking at a different gauge. Yeah. that one second where the RPM drops down and say, ah, that fuel pump pressure dropped down ten pounds. You're going to have to have three guys standing there, each one looking at a different gauge. Yeah. So you're going to have to pay a day's wages to three guys, potentially, unless it happens

in the first minute, which it isn't. This is my other concern about whether they would be able to find a problem or not. I've never understood how they tell you that a job is going to take two hours, but you have to leave your car there all day. And then they tell me, well, it's because he works a little bit on your car, and then he goes and works a little bit on someone else's car, and then he goes and works on someone else's car. No, it's really lunch.

Lunch is the big problem. I'm just waiting to get some Toyota parts put on my Mazda, because this guy doesn't know which car he's working in. This is similar to the three-month lifetime warranty. Exactly. No, it does take all day sometimes, because what you don't realize is that when Scratch This is similar to the three-month lifetime warranty. No, it does take all day sometimes because what you don't realize is that we're scratching our heads a lot of the time. Figuring out which parts go on which car. I would certainly spend a few dollars in diagnostic work. I would certainly give them authority to spend 50 or 100 bucks to try to figure this out. But short of that, if they don't come up with anything, I would drive it until the problem

gets worse. Exactly. If it's a fuel pump that's about to fail, pretty soon the duration of this missing will get longer, it'll get more frequent, it'll leave you stranded on the highway a few times, you'll be attacked by armadillos, and then you'll get the problem solved when it gets worse. I would forget about this completely, Caesar. I mean, this is not even worth thinking about. Don't worry about it until it gets much

much worse and it may even go away. Yeah, well you know I don't... You need a hobby. I mean if you're worried about the car doing one time a second out of the day then you you need a hobby. Come on, get a life. Well it's kind of embarrassing when you have a date sitting next to you. She's you why did your car do that? Come up with some clever answer probably gasping for breath in you up in the beauty of your presence Just as just as I Am gasping for breath in the presence of your it too It too it too is overwhelmed by your pulchritude Your truck is an extension of you and it too is overwhelmed by your pulchritude. Yeah, you're what pulchritude means beauty

Okay. Yeah, don't use it it's too pretentious no pretty it's too pretentious beauty's good beauty's good yeah thank you guys a lot I really love your show see you later man good luck bye bye okay do we see era still out of her car or what hey she took you long enough oh wasn't? Okay you went out to your car. Yes I went out to the car and I turned it left and right in the spot when I went to the end of the block and I went around in a tight circle, it did it a little bit, but not as much as it sometimes does. So, so we're sitting here waiting for you to come back to the phone. And you're driving around?

And you're driving around? You probably start for a slurpee. Oh, no, no. Come on. I'm running from my house. You guys weren't still talking to the same guy, Alvarez and Phoenix or whatever. Don't put this on me, no, no, no. So like I said, does that give you any more information to work with?

Well, I've been thinking about, I wish I could say I was thinking about your problem, but I forgot even who you were. Okay, this is the one that I can even... Doug said Sierra is back on the line and I said, ooh. That's okay, where I turn left and it makes that funky sound. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember. But not the crank, but the crank or whatever it was. Yeah, a creak, not a crank.

Creak, not a crank, right. Yeah, it's very similar to that. I think it's the spring. A spring. Yeah. It could be the coil spring on the McPherson strut that's making the noise. The spring could even be broken, but it's unlikely. Or it could be that bearing at the top of the strut is worn out.

Yeah. It does not sound like a terribly serious problem to me, but our lawyers have instructed us never to say that to anybody. Our lawyers have instructed us to tell everyone that everything is everything is a potentially fatal accident waiting to happen sound like diddly if you've taken this into anyone to have it looked at yeah you haven't been concerned about it to that extent it's not it's it's it's hard to prioritize when you're going to the shop. That's an interesting, we find this true all the time, people, and I don't know how, I

suppose I can understand how it happens, let's say for example in the last six months you put a thousand dollars into this car, no matter what goes on, no matter what happens to it after that, you figure you've spent your money for the year, you have no more money earmarked for this car until fiscal 97. So if the engine light came on and smoke started pouring out of the passenger compartment... You'd say, I can't take it in now. I can't do it. I'm going to have to wait. Well, you know, if smoke started to come out, I can read a signal like that.

But a cranking on a turning left now, I don't know so much about that. You're right. It's not much. It might also be a bad ball joint. And ball joints that have run out of grease can make the same kind of a noise. And it's more apt to make it when the thing is under load, i.e. when you're making that left-hand turn, the ball joint on the right side, that ball is being pushed into the socket, and it could make that... So then that's in the wheel? No, it's's in the wheel? Well the ball joint...

No, it's next to the wheel. The ball joint is the thing that actually holds that right front wheel onto the rest of the car. So this is a potentially fatal accident waiting to happen, Sierra. Yeah, so you should really get this looked at because this could be serious. No matter how much you've spent in the last six months in't want it you don't want it to be the last money you spend on it okay so it's worth having someone check out the balls most places will do that almost for nothing now if they put this on the lift and they turn

the wheel left and right they're not going to hear a sound if they're that stupid tell them that it has to be loaded okay would you want the weight of the car down because that's the way you usually drive it with the wheels on the ground okay I mean most mechanics are reluctant to do this because it does of the car down because that's the way you usually drive it with the wheels on the ground. Okay. I mean, most mechanics are reluctant to do this because it does require that they have to lie down under the car and that might get their clothes dirty. Ew, they don't want to get dirty. They don't want to get dirty.

No, you have to catch them during nap time when they're already down there. They're already down there, right. But have it checked out because if it is the ball joint, it could be dangerous. Okay. See you, Sierra. It's been a pleasure talking to you, even though you kept us waiting for an hour. Oh, yeah. Okay.

Well, thank you very much. Thanks for doing that little research, Paul. I enjoyed your show very much. Thanks. Good luck to you both. Bye. Bye-bye. We'll be right back with the answer to the puzzler after these messages.

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Alright, quick! Last week's puzzler. Quick, quick! Larry D'Onofrio! Yeah. Ah! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Larry D'Onofrio and his beetle. Isn't that the puzzler? Well, yeah. Yeah. So do you owe me $150? No, as you noticed, I didn't offer anything. You know, I could have. If you had waited, if you had been coy. I could have.

I could have been devious. You could have asked. But you know me. What's the prize? I'm an honest, straightforward guy. And I was prepared to offer you a 1954 MGTD fully restored if you were able to guess this week's puzzler no kidding but you'll jump the gun and as usual you blew it as you know in 1954 they made the TF that's why I

offered it this was submitted by by our buddy Larry D'Onofrio. Yeah, and a good puzzler it is, I'll tell you. That's why I remembered it so quickly. When he was in college, he told me he had a Volkswagen Beetle and he was, to put it kindly, in his words, mechanically disinclined, or in my words, a klutz. But he was encouraged by the, remember that John Muir book, the Volkswagen Guide for the Complete Idiot? Yeah.

And he said he was amazed by the number of things that he was able to do with the help of that book, and he was even able to replace the clutch. Sure. Which is a pretty big job, and it required taking the engine out. Anyway, one summer when he was home from college, he did a repair that involved something as simple as loosening up some nuts and bolts and tightening them back down. And he said, I think there were three bolts that I loosened, maybe two, I don't know, but it was trivial and everything was fine.

I did this repair. It was something that I had diagnosed myself. I did the repair job myself and the car ran great for weeks. Right. Sounds good. So far, he returns to school in the fall and he and three buddies decided to go off for a night on the

town. They were going off for a tuna sandwich and to see Bambi, I think, which was playing at the local theater. Yeah. So the four of them pile into the car and they're on their way to the movies when suddenly the car bursts into flames. Why do we laugh at something like that? Because...

I mean, it could be... It's life-threatening and yet it's funny to picture Larry and his three buddies and the car. Blowing on the car trying to put it out. What's funny is seeing him trying to escape from this teeny vehicle that they've crammed into, that's funny. I consider it offering a hint because because i expose over a lot of things that a lot of repairs that he could have done for example he could have replaced the fuel pump which would have been to not to bolts rather

and uh... but why did it why did it wait there was uh... there were all kinds of hints embedded in this puzzler and why did it wait until he got back to college yeah and had several other people in the car and the reason it waited is that i mean the fuel pump for example could have failed anytime Right, but the reason it waited until he got back to college and that was not a red herring That going back and putting his buddies in the car Yeah

Was in fact that he had installed a new battery and if you remember those cars had the battery under the seat Backseat under the backseat right and of course if you're gonna take four people in a Volkswagen you must use the back seat. Sometimes even two people requires use of the back seat. So when one of those large roommates of his got in the back seat. Large butted. Large butted, yes. And sat down. Large butt you might say. Sat down on that seat. The seats had metal coil springs underneath and the coil strings were covered by this straw-like material. And of course, as soon as those springs made contact with the positive and negative terminals

of the battery, which was too tall, he put in the wrong battery. And it worked until someone sat in that seat, the springs made contact, short circuited the battery and set the stuffing of the seat on fire. And that was funny. He said, you never saw four guys move faster in your life. But one of them had the presence of mind, he said, on exiting the car to bring the seat with him. To grab the seat and throw it out in the street.

What's also funny is that not just that the car was on fire, but their butts were on fire. Probably. Now that's even funnier. But I really have to wonder how long that one guy who was sitting directly over the battery sat there before he realized that he was on fire. Anyway, who's our winner, man? The winner is Patrick Fisher from San Pablo, San Pablo. San Pablo.

California. And for having his correct answer chosen at random from the thousands of correct answers that we had. Our buddy Patrick, Patrick Fisher that is, from San Pablo California will win, will get from us a copy of the brand new second best of Car Talk CD. Not the second best, the second best of Car Talk CD, not the second best, the second best of Car Talk CD. This new album. Yes, album. Album. Features 70 minutes of Car Talk classic moments, including Clinton sends vowels to Bosnia,

Max and the Schnauzer. I mean, these are some winners here. Wowzy. Yahoo. Not lousy, I meant wowzy. Anyway, we have another new puzzler coming up during the second half of car talk today It is a non-automotive yet challenging and interesting puzzler left brain. All right brain. Are we still accepting essay answers? Oh, yes, we accept this answer. This is this is a year. This might be a no brain

If you'd like you can call us at 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Kyle, I'm in Chicago. Hi Kyle, what's up? Well, I got a chauvinistic mechanic who doesn't like to deal with my girlfriend. Oh really? Oh. Yeah. What the deal is,

we, or she actually bought a 72-beetle convertible. Beautiful car. We promised the previous owner we would continue to take it to the mechanic who had read started for like ten years well was the previous or mail if you are gotcha we went i went back to the can a great guy hit it off with them he loved the car

he loved volkswagen but we had a little trouble with the car we took a long trip brought it back and uh... it's cutting out the it's stuttering. You know, it's kind of spinning off the line. Sounds like the choke's open or something. So we took it to the mechanic, got it tuned up,

and it doesn't run properly. I picked it up, he loves me. We put my girlfriend's number on the receipt. He called her but refused to talk to her. He has to talk to me all the time. So I went and picked it up and like I said, went over, we went around the car, he put up on the lifts, told me what he did to it. We had a great conversation, it didn't run properly, so my girlfriend took it back in, he called me again and

I said, you know, I can't pick it up uh... my girlfriend can of course he goes okay and she came to pick it up he through the key to our that's on the street that's it greece prince all over the white car beautiful car all and he refused to talk to work at it scary want to take a back to the still not running properly well first of all was this a deathbed promise that you made to the guy from who you bought it so i'm not that that promise my girlfriend still pretty strong about it like to keep that you made to the guy from whom you bought it? It wasn't a deathbed promise. My girlfriend feels pretty strongly about it. She likes to keep her word to the guy.

Yeah, but clearly he doesn't want your business anymore. He likes me fine. Yeah, I've had a lot of I like him too. I have the same problem. You ought to use the time-honored method whenever you have a problem like that. I think you ought to go in some night when he's closing and there are no other customers there. You grab him by the coveralls, I think you ought to go in some night when he's closing and there are no other customers there. You grab them by the coveralls, push them against the wall and tell them if he treats your girlfriend like that anymore, you're going to make him swallow half the wrenches

in his toolbox. Get a life. I could do that, but... The diplomatic approach. Yeah, the diplomatic approach. Yeah. My other problem is the car is still not running right. Whenever you put on it, you have to feed the gas gradually, or of course it'll stutter

out. It'll just go into this void of power. Does it idle smoothly? No, it idles rough. No, it sounds like the carburetor is flooding out. Yeah. It wouldn't be simple enough. I'll tell you why it's flooding out, too.

You have a vacuum leak at the intake manifold. These cars are famous for this. There are rubber couplings that connect the parts of the intake manifold okay these cars are famous for this there are rubber couplings that connect the parts of the intake manifold together at this with a where the the first leg of the joins the cylinders okay and those rubber couplings get get broken all the time and that's what's causing the problem I think you should have your girlfriend tell him that's what's wrong with the car yeah obviously the reason he doesn't want to talk to her is he feels it's beneath him to discuss it with someone who doesn't

understand the nuances exactly and I think he wants to say well who are you for judging my work yeah exactly you told me a woman a meal all that you've told him also that the car doesn't run well or have you you whipped out huh yeah sure you let her do the dirty work he told him yeah I mean if you want to really embarrass this guy right right have her go in and say, you know, I would check those rubber couplings on the intake manifold because I understand that they're notorious for causing vacuum leaks, and that would do this, wouldn't it? Clyde, or whatever his name is?

Mike. Mike. Wouldn't it, Mike? Because it sure sounds like a vacuum leak to me. And of course course I know exactly what if he's as much of a chauvinist as we think he is he would immediately deny that that could ever cause that problem anyone that came up with that answer it was a complete bonehead of course but I've been called

a bonehead before so it doesn't bother me he will go ahead and fix it and claim it's something else. Right. Yeah. Well we'll do that then. Yeah, but at least the cow will be running well and then you can dump this jerk. Okay, great. I think you should grab him by the lapels of his... That's the alternative plan, correct? Yeah.

I think so. Okay. Alright, well you could do both. Is he big? Is he a big guy? He's kind of an older gentleman too, so I don't want to... Oh, all the better. They're slow.

You don't have a chance to get into a couple of quick left jams before he even realizes what's going on. Yo, don't let him get away with this. Who the heck does he think he is? Good luck, Kyle. Thank you very much. See you later. Okay.

Right after these messages, you'll hear more calls and a new puzzler coming right up. The candidates for November are set. I know Donald Trump's tight. Between now and election day. We are not going back. A campaign season unfolding faster. Kamala Harris is not getting a promotion. Than any in recent history.

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us. From stars to dwarf planets to black holes and beyond, we've got you. Listen now to the shortwave podcast from NPR. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio with us, clicking clack for Tappet Brothers, and we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and a unique proposal. Jack Rogers from Fulton Mow. Mow. Get this.

I'm ready, man. I'm just going to show you. I am tired of Mondays. After a long weekend of doing all the things around the house that I so deftly put off all week long, I feel I need to go back to work while life is manageable. But Mondays make me feel rotten. Just the word Monday makes me feel like I've been subjected to go back to work while life is manageable, but Mondays make me feel rotten. Just the word Monday makes me feel like I've been subjected to 12 volumes of the Best of

Car Talks CD on sale through the Shameless Commerce Division. So I have devised a plan. Monday's a terrible day. Why not move it to a time in the week when we can better deal with it and all its problems? Say like Thursday. No, no, Thursday might not be good, but go ahead. We put Monday where Thursday now resides. That leaves the Monday slot open and that's a perfect place for Wednesday to go since it is the mid-week. You have all sorts of

energy. You also know what it is that it's hump day and the weekend is coming. So put Wednesday where we now have Monday. Ah, well that's good. Tuesday's a day when we're all pretty well in the mood to get things going and we've gotten over the problems of Monday. So Tuesday can stay put. Saturday is a day when we have to get ourselves organized to do the weekend work. So it would

be good to give it more organization and energy by moving Tuesday to the Saturday slot. Really? Tch. Tuesday is now open. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. When am I going to watch Frasier? by moving Tuesday to the Saturday slot. Really? Shoo! Tuesday is now open! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! When am I going to watch Frasier? Wait a minute!

Wait, he's not done yet! Tuesday is now open and we need the optimism of a day like Friday where we look forward to the weekend. Since the Tuesday slot is so far from the weekend, it would be a real mind-pleaser to move Friday there. Besides, for all who get paid on Friday, it would be good to have some of the money to spend during the week, instead of having it all gone by Monday as it is now. Now Thursday is pretty much a do-

Oh, Wednesday is the case, would be. Thursday is a pretty much do-nothing day, and that's really what Sunday was intended for until we filled it up with all the stuff we dreamed up on Saturday so we could move Thursday to the Sunday spot. If we move Saturday to the Friday spot that was left over by moving it to Tuesday, are you with me? Oh, you kidding? And if we move Sunday to the Saturday spot that was left open by moving it to Friday, actually reversing the days in the current order and making them up one, we create a

wonderful opportunity to do the work we put off on Saturday a day earlier since we won't have Sunday behind it to put it off to. Are you following this? I even have the new order already worked out. Wednesday, Saturday, Friday, Tuesday, Friday, Monday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. What a Friday. Friday Wow Who was it Jack Rogers now? Here's a man who's thinking just a basic idea in of moving moving it all around this brilliant thing concert with his idea I have decided in as a man as a form of protest. I decided a few weeks ago not to turn my clocks back. Oh

I I haven't turned mine back. The only one that's turned... From now on, you better show up an hour early to do the show, otherwise I'll be gone. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I know you're gonna go meh Go ahead good. There are some factories in Russia and maybe in other places as well Where the people working on the assembly line so to speak are wearing diving suits I Got it. They make submarines and they want to make sure that everything works before they throw up it No, okay. They're wearing not scuba outfits, not self-contained underwater breeding apparatus. They're wearing the kind that

Gilbert Rowland wore when he was diving for sponges in Greece. Did you see that movie? Yeah, the kind with the thing that screws on the brass thing with the hoses. That's what these workers are wearing as they go about their jobs. Yet they never go in the water. The question is, why? The hint is, they're making submarines. They are making submarines! I made that up! I know you did!

They're making submarines. They're making submarines. But why Russia? Oh, is that part of, I'm sorry, did I? It might be part of it. Did I divulge a red herring? No, no, it is not a red herring as a matter of fact. It's not a red herring. No, no.

Oh. In fact, this whole process was conceived in Russia. Gotcha. It may have extended to other countries, one of them being ours. Yeah. But it started, I believe, in Russia. Now if you think you know the answer to this spine-tingling puzzler,

send it to us at Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge. Our fair city. Ma, 02238. And the suits are not in case they fall into the water, in case you were thinking that might be your answer. This is very interesting. By the way, you can also email us your answer from CarTalk.com by clicking on the Talk to

Car Talk section. And if we choose your correct answer at random as the winner next week and you catch us, we'll send you the new Best of Car Talk cassette or CD, which you can listen to. And if you don't like it, you can wrap it back up and give it to someone else as a Christmas present or whatever. Now, if you'd like to call us with a question about your car or anything else, the number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk.

Tracy, is there an E in that? Yes, there is. Is that the difference between the male Tracy and the female Tracy name? I don't think so. I've seen it spelled both ways with both genders. Really? Yeah. Do you guys have a car?

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don? Um, I don't think so. I've seen it spelled both ways with both genders. Really? Yeah. Do you guys remember

a call last week from a woman that said her her mother had offered her and her boyfriend a car if they got married? Yes I do. Oh, do we remember it? Of course. You wanted to hear from that boyfriend. Uh oh, you are he. I am he. No, kidding. You know, as a matter of fact, do we remember it? Of course. You wanted to hear from that boyfriend. Uh-oh, you are he. I am he. No kidding. You know as a matter of fact, now I remember that she mentioned your name. Yep, that's right. Yeah What was her name? I forgot. Alisa. Oh, how could I forget that? That's my mother's name. That led us to the discussion of Jimmy. Right. Vincent.

So Tracy, this is a very interesting situation you have here. Yes it is. Her mother. Her mother. Came to you. Right. Not to Alisa, as I recall it. And she said, if you guys will get married, I will buy you a car.

Right. Yes. Which put me in kind of a dilemma. Of course. You ain't kidding. I mean, you can't be in kind of a dilemma. Of course. You ain't kidding. I mean you can't be bought for just a car. Yeah, so what was your initial reaction to this? I'm curious.

I mean if my current mother-in-law had come to me with such an offer, I'm not sure what I would have done. Yeah, Lisa and I have been dating about three and a half years and we've been living together Oh a year and a half. Oh, we discussed that as well. Okay, so that's that's what prompted this on mom's part Right. Yeah, right. The thing is is that I've been thinking about Proposing asking her to marry me. Yeah for a little while, you know a few months Yeah, then all this car talk came up. No pun intended. Yeah It's it's kind of it's kind of turned you cold a little bit I suspect well the thing is I didn't want to Propose to her immediately after her mother offered to buy me a car Right, it would look. Yeah, I would be suspicious. Yeah, and

so I kept waiting kept waiting and be suspicious. Yeah. And so I kept waiting, kept waiting, and um... Yeah, but see, waiting isn't gonna help either now. I mean, once she's made the offer, the offer's on the table. It's a standing order. No matter what, your proposal is gonna be tainted. Your proposal is... pshh! Yeah. I mean, how can she believe now? I mean, this could ruin your whole life. Well, the only way you could make it believable would be to refuse the car. That's it. Which would be stupid. That would be stupid. That would be stupid.

I mean if you're going to marry her anyway, why not get a car out of it? On the other hand, will she always suspect you for the rest of your lives? Right. And someday at Thanksgiving dinner, you'll be Well I think having to be bought. Well Tracy never would have married Lisa was we didn't didn't get him that car. That's right. Yeah boy that'll be thrown up at you many times. Yeah. I think that is too expensive of a gift to give to somebody anyway. I mean I would feel kind of funny. Oh so y'all leaning toward turning down the car. Well I mean what's the car? I

mean do we have any idea what the car is or what the, because that might change everything. No, I don't think they got into that level of negotiation. Did you? No, no, not at all. I mean, in fact, I mean, think about it. Is he going to say, well, Mrs. whatever her name is, what kind of a car did you have in mind?

I mean, that's's gonna be the worst possible answer which means well I might consider doing it but not for any old car. Well that's irrelevant now. Why? You ran away and got married. You joined the circus, you popped the question. Well we went looking for a car and I fell in love with the lady that was selling us the car. You're a liar. We got engaged last weekend. You did? You and the car We got engaged last weekend you did you and the car salesman no no me and Alisa. Oh you did Yeah, how sweet yeah, so and there's no car involved now of course not of course Now if you happen to running joke with us That's all if you happen to get a car as a wedding present, of course you won't refuse it, but

at this point you didn't accept the bribe and I think that I'm proud of both of you. So am I. I'm proud. You are quite a man Tracy. Well thank you very much. And Alisa is quite a woman. Hey we'd like you guys to come to the wedding. We'll be there.

Yeah, we're looking forward. Let us know. You should wait until next September when the new cars come out but that that the elitist right back to us what you've wasted another perfectly good i was with the car talk i was the producer

is dug still the subway fugitive doing not a slave to fashion berman our social producer indeed of the college of auto music colleges can babyface rogers our system producer is kathertuti-Ray. Our engineer is Karen Given. And our technical advisor, who is here today in the studio. Oh! Yes. Where?

Yes, I saw his shadow. Oh my God! And quite a shadow it is. Our technical advisor is John Bugsy, Sebastian, Mr. Height, Sweet Cheeks, Free Lunch, Twinkle Toes, Donut Breath, Hula Lips, 2 Gigabyte, Make That 3 Triple Cheeseburgers, I Saw His Face on a Milk Carton Lawler. Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Margin O'Vara.

Our automotive medical researcher is Dr. Denton Fender. Our marriage counselor is Marion Haste. Our secretary of airline lubrication is Federico Penzoyel. Our director of new product repair is Warranty My Foot. Our director of staff pay increases is Xavier Breath, assisted by Tony Von Thinkett. The manager of our employee refrigerator is Carmen Dating. And our sexual harassment intervention counselor is Pat McCann. The curator of Tom's car collection is Rex Galore.

Our director of country music is Stan Beierman, our head of personal security is See How We Run, new guy, our director of cold weather starting is Martina Never Turnover, the chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff is John Shall I Pop a Wheelie, and of course our chief counsel from a law firm with Dewey Cheatham and Howe is Hugh Lewis Dewey, known to the meter mage as Huey Louie Dewey thanks so much for listening we're clicking clack the Tappert brothers and don't drive like my brother drive like my brother we'll be back next week bye bye if you find yourself in urgent need of a cassette copy of this week's show, it's show number 45 and you can order it on the world wide web by clicking on the Shameless Commerce

Division of CarTalk.com or you can call them at 303-823-8000. You can also order the brand new second best of CarTalk and other useless CarTalk junk the same way, click on the shameless commerce division at cartalk.com or call 303-823-8000. Car Talk is a production of Dewey, Cheetahman Howe and WBUR in Boston. And even though Tom Selleck shivers when he hears us say it, this is NPR National Public Radio. They're all over the internet and bumping out of people's cars.

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