The Show - Car Talk

AC Blower Fan Stopped on 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee

LanDoctor — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:57:18 +0000

With regards the caller who was drying her cloths with the defroster and lost the fan. I had the same issue (not drying cloths), but the fan stopped. What makes this hard to diagnose is the fan has the 12v + source and the switch is the ground so diagnostics can be deceiving. In my case, it turns out the connector under the dash C206 is a bit undersized and after pealing away the foam, I found was the terminal was burnt. Has 14g DG on one end and 12g BK on the other side (Pin J). Had to do a bypass and the fan is a happy camper again. So don't be too quick to swap fans on this one.

Ethical clutch mistake

iceracer — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:42:19 +0000

I Have been a listener for years and although my first guess is often different from your answer, I always agree with your answer after hearing the logic. Today you had a case with a VW clutch that a friend may have ruined when she "borrowed" the car. I think that for the first time since I have been listening to your show, your answer was a mistake. The one hundred dollar part of your answer was okay, but I think you missed a very important clue. Remember she said that her friend said that the car would not go into first gear, so she somehow managed to jam it into second gear and then limped it to the church. That is NOT a worn out clutch, that is a hydraulic issue with the slave or master cylinder or hose. A worn clutch would easily go into first gear, but when you let it out, it would just slip. Whereas a hydraulic issue would not allow you to easily put it into gear, but once you manage to get it into gear, it will go without slipping whether you want it to or not. In that case if you are trying to get home, you can turn off the motor, put it into gear, and then start the motor in gear and the car will go and then you have to be good at shifting to use the other gears.
Of course she quoted the price of a complete clutch replacement, but I suspect that all she really needed was the hydraulic problem fixed. On the other hand with that many miles, it probably didn't hurt to replace the clutch disc and pressure plate anyway.

Resuscitating an old Little British Car

PapaHertz — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:23:01 +0000

Your advice to the man wanting to buy the 1962 Austin-Healey was only partly on target. Always good to fear the worst, but many long stored cars do very well when a little TLC is applied. The absolutely best advice for anyone new to classic British sports cars (LBCs, for little British cars) is to Join A Club. Our Healey club in Atlanta has *Tech Sessions*, where the person needing help buys lots of food and drinks (usually nonalcoholic) and the other club members bring their expertise to help fix the car (when they are not eating), and many members know a LOT about their cars. Now to your caller's dream: I have a 1962 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II with 188,000 miles on it. It only quit once, after pulling into a gas station and running over a nail. I did have the spare so no big problem. HOWEVER, I stored it for 7 years and found two aging events happened: carburetor connections leaked (cracked rubber) and steering box leaked its oil. So ALWAYS check all fluids before doing anything to the car, and replace the oil (as you advised the guy from Sitka). And replace any hoses that look cracked or worn.
Otherwise, the old LBCs are great fun and usually overdesigned for today's roads, so are pretty reliable.

Tire pressure goblins

tkitt — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:16:22 +0000

I would like to offer a suggestion for the caller (Bruce) who had a tire that appeared to be fine most of the time, but then seemed to lose a large amount of air overnight. I had something similar happen. After many months, several trips to different mechanics, and being told that there was no leak, I finally concluded that it might be the rim. My thought was that the leak might occur only when the wheel (and rim) were stopped in a certain position. I ordered a new rim from the dealer, and to the surprise of the mechanics who installed it, my old one had a hairline crack that was clearly visible with the tire removed. Replacing the rim fixed the problem for good. The same thing may be happening to the listener, or if he's never had his tire checked, there may be an object in the tire that causes a leak only when the wheel is stopped in a certain position. I believe Ray suggested the latter possibility.

Watching the Show

LanDoctor — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:02:04 +0000

Hey guys, when are you going to put a camera in the studio so we can watch you live or see a video podcast? I'd love to see all the animations and gestures expressed by you two.

Transmission oil from speedo-cable flows uphill, violates laws of physics?

GeorgeSanJose — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:21:49 +0000

Dave called and said oil was leaking onto his pants from underneath the dashboard. Tom and Ray said it was a leaky seal in the speedo-cable, allowing xmission fluid to come up the cable and drip onto Dave's Dockers.

But doesn't this violate the laws of physics? After all, the transmission is considerably below Dave's leg. Can oil really flow uphill?

I'm guessing there must be some sort of Archimedes Screw effect pumping the oil up the speedo-cable as the shaft turns. But for this to happen, the speedo-shaft would have to be helically shaped, like a spring, and oriented in the right direction for pumping action, clockwise or counterclockwise, right?

My question: Wouldn't the manufacturer orient the speedo-cable helix so that as the cable spun, it would push the fluid back down into the transmission, instead of pumping it up the cable? Help! Help! This has been bothering my poor brain!

No turn signals on freeway

HunterJE — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:38:35 +0000

One thought on the caller whose significant other doesn't use turn signals when "weaving in and out of traffic" at high speeds on the freeway -- the moment as a young driver when I realized I don't want to drive like my father involved a piece of advice possibly related to the same phenomenon. We were on the way to a duck hunting trip half a state away, and had gotten a later start than intended and as a result were crossing a mountain pass at 90 in an 10-year-old early-90s Jeep Cherokee (in my father's defense, we were following another vehicle, the driver of which knew where we were going and, based on his driving, may have been criminally insane). When he changed lanes, which he often needed to do, he would either not signal, or if in thick traffic would signal so briefly as to blink exactly once. He claimed this was primarily about law enforcement -- driving at night, if the highway patrol happen to be driving some distance behind you, and they see a lot of turn signals, that tells them someone's passing a lot and driving aggressively, and catches their attention. The caller didn't say whether this happened day and night, but this could be an element...

Selling the "birthmobile"

MG McAnick — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:05:36 +0000

The caller wanted to save the passenger front seat of the Volvo his nine year old some was born in for sentimental reasons. My guess is it was not the kid who was sentimental.

Click and Clack suggested that he buy an identical replacement seat from a salvage yard, and sell the car with the "new" seat. Then one of them said that that might not work because salvage yards wouldn't sell a seat that contained an airbag as the Volvo's did.

If salvage yards won't sell airbags, then why are airbags listed on www.car-part.com ? Why have I been able to buy and install several sets of them from salvage yards?

SHIPPING them may be another matter... Many carriers have an issue with carrying explosives, even though we know that they won't pop unless properly provoked.

Porsche 911 wiring smokes when headlights turned off

GeorgeSanJose — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:54:51 +0000

Caller Bill with the 1972 Porche. It smokes any time he turns off lights while engine is on.

Bill should pull over next time this happens and see if the headlights remain dimly lit even when they are turned off. It's possible the headlight circuit is shorted to a small guage wire somewhere in the wiring harness that is at 12 volts when the engine is running. This wouldn't cause a problem when the headlights were turned on, as it would just short out 12 volts to 12 volts. No current would flow. When Bill turns the headlights out, all the current to the headlights is instead routed through a wire not designed for that much current. The over-current condition would smoke the wires, and the voltage drop in the wiring would cause the headlights to only light up dimly.

Love Tree Puzzler

CoriSCapnSkip — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:28:28 +0000

When I heard the puzzler stating that trees grow from the top only, I thought it must be bogus as I'd seen this picture of the tree that ate a bicycle. http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/bicycle.asp The story about its being chained to the tree before WWI turns out to be bogus, but why is it a dozen feet up? Did some prankster attach it to the tree which has now grown around the nail, rope, or whatever was used?

Subaru replaced cat and the code came back.

Professor Otto — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:19:13 +0000

Liz from Alexandria called in with a 2002 Subaru Outback that she wanted to sell, but the check engine light came on. The shop found the code was for catalyst efficiency and sold her an aftermarket cat. Two days latter the light came back on with the same code. You advised her that she needs to have the shop upgrade the cat to a factory type cat for the difference in price. If she does this, she will have spent the money and still have the same problem. A cat wont work right unless the car is in full fuel control. You have to ask yourself, "Why is the cat not working?" and then address that. Once that is addressed and the car is in full fuel control, give the cat a chance to work. If it doesn't, then replace it. Shops around me replace five cats a week. We replace one every month or two. I suspect her front o2 sensors are slow or lazy. 250ms or longer switching time will cause a cat to go to sleep.

Buona Fortuna? GO!

GearDog — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:28:29 +0000

I have to take exception to the advice on Heather's question about whether to take her old Alfa to Italy. Tom & Ray said not to bother taking it to the 'little' island where she was heading. The 'little' island where she thinks NAS Sigonella is located is the the island of Sicily, which takes far more than a couple of hours to drive around, has two major cities and a 5,000,000+ population. As there are plenty of Ferraris running around there I wouldn't expect that she will have any difficulty getting support for a 20 yr/old Alfa. I'm sure she'd find the Sicilians quite resourceful at restoring this car.

So I'm waiting for C&C to ask, "Why?"

NCDoofus — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:53:59 +0000

As in, a caller starts their question, " I have a 1982 Ford Festiva..." and the first words our of Tom's mouth is, "Why?"

I'm sure there are some cars out there that would elicit this question, other that the obvious Yugo. Personally, it's fear of this response that keeps me from calling in at all....

When Lightning Strikes!

Car Talk — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:31:24 +0000

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Talk about your bad day: Lisa was on her way to work in Old Forge, New York, one day, when her '07 Toyota FJ Cruiser got struck -- by lightning. No kidding.

Amazingly, her car continued to run. Mostly. The headlights flickered from time to time, and the radio still doesn't work. Her question? Is there anything else about which she should be concerned? Ray thought that she'd probably be okay, and that the transient surge of power probably didn't cause additional problems. (Though he did recommend wearing a helmet from now on.)

Another boooo-gus Magliozzi electrical theory?

Tell us what you think! Corroborate or refute Ray's theory!

You can hear Tom and Ray's call with Lisa right here.

Solution - Woman with Flour Bugs in Her Car

gleng1 — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:59:50 +0000

There's a much more fun answer here other than just driving the car into the ocean. Look on-line for a local refrigerated warehouse. You actually want a FREEZER warehouse Many of these are huge -- trucks drive right in. Find out what they would charge to let you park your car in the drive-in freezer overnight. It will kill all the bugs permanently. Of course you may not be able to start the car the next day (like being stuck in a big snowstorm) but if you have a good battery or a friend with jumper cables you'll be all set!

Motorcycle with a sidecar

BigBob — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:05:15 +0000

I'm big into motorcycles. I love motorcycles. I commute, run many of my errands, go on vacations, and race.

Using a motorcycle with a sidecar to transport your kids will in no way be more efficient than a small car. A motorcycle big enough to move a sidecar that will carry two kids will get way less than 50mpg. Additionally they've got all the disadvantages of both a motorcycle and a car. They're big, unprotected, and difficult to handle. And a good one is not cheap. You'd be better off with a Civic.

Can't argue with the cool factor though.

In Defense of the Smith Family

gimpy — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:13:40 +0000

I'm a little behind in my podcast listening, and I just played the September 17 show...

Tom and Ray were joking with Mr. Lancelot Smith (late of the Alkali Flats) about the contrast between the perceived level of excitement of his first and last names. To my mind, Lancelot Smith is a beautifully well-balanced name--at least to those who sense more than mere ubiquity in the most noble of the English trade names. In defense of all the Smiths out there (who understand, no doubt, the romance and import of their name better than the Tappe(r)t brothers), I offer the following reflection upon the poetry of names from G. K. Chesteron:
========================================
I remember a long time ago a sensible sub-editor coming up to me with a book in his hand, called "Mr. Smith," or "The Smith Family," or some such thing. He said, "Well, you won't get any of your damned mysticism out of this," or words to that effect. I am happy to say that I undeceived him; but the victory was too obvious and easy. In most cases the name is unpoetical, although the fact is poetical. In the case of Smith, the name is so poetical that it must be an arduous and heroic matter for the man to live up to it. The name of Smith is the name of the one trade that even kings respected, it could claim half the glory of that arma virumque which all epics acclaimed. The spirit of the smithy is so close to the spirit of song that it has mixed in a million poems, and every blacksmith is a harmonious blacksmith. Even the village children feel that in some dim way the smith is poetic, as the grocer and the cobbler are not poetic, when they feast on the dancing sparks and deafening blows in the cavern of that creative violence. The brute repose of Nature, the passionate cunning of man, the strongest of earthly metals, the wierdest of earthly elements, the unconquerable iron subdued by its only conqueror, the wheel and the ploughshare, the sword and the steam-hammer, the arraying of armies and the whole legend of arms, all these things are written, briefly indeed, but quite legibly, on the visiting-card of Mr. Smith. Yet our novelists call their hero "Aylmer Valence," which means nothing, or "Vernon Raymond," which means nothing, when it is in their power to give him this sacred name of Smith—this name made of iron and flame. It would be very natural if a certain hauteur, a certain carriage of the head, a certaincurl of the lip, distinguished every one whose name is Smith. Perhaps it does; I trust so. Whoever else are parvenus, the Smiths are not parvenus. From the darkest dawn of history this clan has gone forth to battle; its trophies are on every hand; its name is everywhere; it is older than the nations, and its sign is the Hammer of Thor.

Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith) (2011-03-30). Heretics (pp. 13-14). Kindle Edition.

Roger with the battery installed backwards

GeorgeSanJose — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:59:56 +0000

Everything seems to work except the alternator isn't charging the battery now. Tom and Ray suggested to take the alternator to a parts dealer who'll test the alternator in their test fixture.

If it tests bad, the problem is most likely one or more of the alternator diodes has burned out. This problem can easily be repaired. A fix-it-yourself-handiman type could do it themselves. But the easiest way is to take his alternator to a local auto-electrical shop for fixing. Either ask a local mechanic where the closest shop is, or look in the yellow pages.

Removing concrete from cars

Cole's Law — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:44:23 +0000

I've had more than my fair share of experience removing concrete from things that aren't supposed to have concrete on them. I thought I'd share my thoughts:

-Concrete will damage glass, but it takes weeks.
-Lightly tapping with the rubber mallet will work incredibly well, but it will leave a dullish residue where the concrete was. You may be able to remove the residue with a cloth, or with the acid (but be very careful!).
-Be careful with muriatic acid-make sure you follow the dilution instructions carefully, and keep water handy for rinse-off. Muriatic acid will attack uncoated metal (but it takes a while). The clear coat may protect you a bit longer, but still move quickly. I'd recommend diluting the acid down, trying it, and if it doesn't work, slightly increase the concentration and try again.
-After applying and rinsing off the acid, open the door and rinse off any liquid that got trapped in the door jam. This will prevent any acid that was trapped there from chewing stuff up.
-Gas mask is overkill, but do it outdoors-the fumes are pretty harsh.

I think the recommendation to test on a junk car is the best possible advice here.

Who is this sponsor?

Matt78704 — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:20:51 +0000

While listening to the show recently I heard a new (to me) sponsor get introduced.

The sponsor provides a service that lets you search for deals on new tires. I need that exact service.

I cannot remember the name of this sponsor and all of my search for them with the keywords one would expect have been fruitless.

Can someone tell me the name of this sponsor?

Also... maybe the CT Team should publish a page with info on all of their sponsors? (I've also searched for this and can't find it.)

Thanks!

Matt