I am a Jeopardy fan, and I am shocked daily by the contestants who can answer the most obscure questions, and are so confident that they can bet huge sums when they trust their abilities.
Yesterday, I had the opposite shock. The question stated that “on a car, the radiator gets rid of the waste heat in the coolant. What is the component that circulates the coolant?”
The first contestant said “the compressor”. The second contestant hesitatingly said “the carburetor”. The third contestant did not even attempt to answer the question.
I guess these contestants have never opened the hood of their car! Do they know the name of the coolant?
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I also saw/heard that, and all I could do was to shake my head in disbelief.
You know, a lot of these “big brains” would argue about the answer… If the coolant is call “antifreeze,” why would the component that circulates the antifreeze be called a “Water Pump?” L o L . . .
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Everyone has holes in their knowledge. It looks like these contestants knew little about cars. They probably don’t even know what a fast turn blinker means (see bing’s comment in the “some light maintenance” thread).
What is more effective at transferring heat, straight water or a mixture of antifreeze and water? And why?
Under what conditions? Typically water has greater heat capacity, but that’s only one of several factors.
I liked it better in the ‘60s when the money was a tenth and every contestant got to keep his/her winnings and no one studied up or lasted longer than a week (week-long winners came back for a champions’ tournament annually.) and a Navy vet PBY pilot hosted the show. An acquaintance, a particularly sharp guy, went to college nearby. He took the test to get on the show. He did so well they hired him to write questions instead - they didn’t want people who were too good. Last I saw he was producing It’s Academic, a high school quiz show in the DC area that he had been on.
Boiling point would be another factor.
At a recent family gathering, female family member was stating that she needs a new car as the brakes are making noise. The car is a 3 yr old Audi with probably 30K miles.
Another one had the AC go in and out and I suggested to check the Freon pressure before anything. Asked was is Freon, I stated it is the gas in the AC system, to which the owner said I just put gas in the car, so it’s not that.
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Hood raised, now what? Where is the answer printed?
Most people don’t know what type of coolant is used in their vehicle, do you remember what type of coolant is used in each of your cars?
Dichlorodifluoromethane: a type of refrigerant used before 1993. If her car uses an outdated refrigerant, maybe it is time for a new car.
AC is the abbreviation for alternating current. A/C is the abbreviation used for air conditioning.
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Did you ever see the Jeopardy show on the Category of Football. Contestants didn’t get one question on Football right. It was hilarious.
I’ll bet the majority of the frequent posters here have handled a water pump, and the majority of car owners have never seen one.
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There are a number of people who decide that they don’t have the ability or bandwidth to deal with things like “what kind of tires should I buy or when do I need new brakes.” Those people simply lease a car and when the lease is up they get another car, and so on.
I fail to see the issue with that kind of life decision. All day long here we see the trials and travails of car maintenance and repair. We see the inconvenience of breakdowns, poor quality parts and repairs, etc. If you could remove all that stress and inconvenience from your life, would you do it?
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I think it is very funny that the question was:
And it went to talking about the coolant itself… Doesn’t matter if it is straight water or what ever flavor the OEM used, it is the water pump that circulates the coolant…
Drag race only cars that run radiators run straight water or water with a bottle of corrasion inhibitor, why, coolant makes a very dangerous condition on the track if not cleaned up properly, as well as time to clean up… Also a lot of times they do partial tear downs between rounds and water doesn’t make an environmental mess to clean up…
My neurologist is one of the best in my area, he is probably the smartest person I have ever met, does it bother me he doesn’t know anything about cars? No, I don’t care if he knows jack crap about cars, as long as he does his thing and keeps me up right…
Same with my pain Dr, I don’t care what he know outside of his field as long as when he sticks those really long needles in my spinal cord once or twice a year, and doesn’t paralyze me, I’m good, as well as the monthly meds for chronic pain…
Don’t care if my fanatical advisor knows — well you get the picture…
Now should I make fun of some of y’all cause some of y’all don’t know how to rebuild, modify a transmission correctly?? I’m one of the least smartest members on this forum, and yet I can do it… just saying… 
BTW, I don’t know jack crap about any ball sport, didn’t even know who play in the SB and didn’t care either… My wife knows WAY more about FB then I ever will…
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I bought a cheap flatscreen televisoin at Target a out 10 years ago. It quit working properly while it was in the warranty period. The warranty said that I was to pay the shipping charges to an authorized repair station and there was an 800.number to call to find the address of the authorized repair station. I debated whether it was worth pursuing, but I finally called the number. To my amazement, they sent a technician to my house who arrived half an hour after my call. He swapped out a circuit board and had the set fixed in 10 minutes. He stayrd another half hour at the house playing with our dog. I told him about how I repaired.the old cathode ray televisions I used to own. The technican said he had no idea how to fix one of these old sets and wouldn’t even try. He said thst these sets were to dangerous with 15000 volts on the picture tube. I am sure todsy if you could find a technician to work on a cathode ray television, it would be cheaper to go to Walmart and buy a flat screen television.
I would bet today there are young auto mechanics that have never rebuilt a carburetor. If electric vehicles become standsrd in 30 yesrs, mechanics who can repair an internal combustion engine will.be hard to find.
I am not surprised that the Jeopardy contestants didn’t know about the water pump. People aren’t expected to know things outside their field.
Heck I caught a young tech doing a pad and rotor swap, on a rwd Ranger, looking at the outboard tapered wheel bearing trying to figure out which way it went back together, needless to say I adjusted the bearings for him… I have had to do the rear drum brakes on a few vehicles after watching the tech try to figure them out… lol
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I agree, but a recently-departed forum member would post “solutions” to other people’s mechanical/electronic/electrical problems several times daily, even though he had no working knowledge of modern motor vehicles.
NASCAR as well
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drag racing uses straight water or water with an anti-corrisive additive
NASCAR as well
(I can’t seem to make it quote properly, but there it is, lol)
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Yeah, I think most if not all circle track vehicles run straight water also…
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