The Best of Car Talk - #2452: Go Ahead, Touch 'em!

Episode Date: June 29, 2024

Spencer from Florida was riding down the highway in his Honda without a care in the world when he was hit with an urgent need to touch his lug nuts. How normal is that? Find out 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

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 Car Talk on National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack with Tappert Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from the Trade Sanctions Division here at Carretock Plaza. Now we've decided as a way to make up for upcoming CPB cuts

to impose 100% tariff on all incoming phone calls to Carretock Plaza. So when you call the 800 number from now on, be prepared to pay double. Did Dougie think of this? Yeah. Bad idea, huh? Math skills.

This is... Dougie. Come on. Double of nothing is what. You're gonna go triple if you're gonna get anything. What were you thinking? I can tell you are chomping at the bit. I am chomping because I have got stuff. In response to my letter in which I pointed out Andy Reichman's great letter. Should I read that one sentence again? Oh, by all means. Remember, Andy Reichman wrote the letter in which he thanked us for solving the great philosophical issue of all time, which was? The riddle, actually.

The riddle, yeah. I mean, this is- Conundrum. Fermat's theorem was nothing compared to this. The question was- Squat compared to this. Squat, right. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. The question was, is it possible for two people to know less than one person? And he wrote a magnificent letter proving that we proved that yes, it is true. And one of the sentences, with two people, he says, and this was the sentence that did me in, with two people, the intricacies, the gives and takes, the wherefores and why nots can become a veritable pas de deux of breathtaking speculation interwoven in such a way that apologies or gestures of doubt are rendered unnecessary. And in response to that we got some pretty good stuff here. I'll read this one. This is quicker. This came from Skip

Cerber from what? Poulsbo, Washington. It's good that you've read these letters in advance. You can just jump right on this stuff. He sent me something which he received through email which is something about the Darwin Awards. I didn't know that there was such a thing. The Darwin Awards, it says, you all know about the Darwin Awards. We didn't. It's an annual honor given to the person who did the gene pool, the greatest service, by killing himself or herself in the most extraordinarily stupid way. Aha.

Therefore, you know, cutting off the species. Yes, of course. And then it explains who this year's nominee isn't it? I thought actually last year's nominee was much more interesting But this year's this year's winner was the Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal in the short long and the short Of it is they thought it was an airplane crash and turned out to be a car somebody had attached a jato unit jet jet assisted takeoff unit, to his car. And they figured he was doing between 250 and 300 miles an hour when he came to the

curve and that was it. But, alright, that's good. But the last year's winner was even better. Last year's winner was the fellow who was killed by a coke machine which toppled over on top of him as he was attempting to tip a free soda out of it. That was Uncle Vincent wasn't it? In fact there was a similar one, it's a sad thing actually, but there was an article in the paper about a year ago in the Boston newspaper about some guy, some guy who worked for us one of the great bureaucracies like like the like the transportation authority of the state of some such thing and he was killed because

he had a job in which he didn't have much to do and he was setting up a hammock so that he could take a little nap and he hooked it up to a giant piece of machinery got on the hammock and the machine fell on top of them and killed them that's pretty sad yeah, there's some kind of justice in that. There certainly is. I like it. It's the Darwin Award. I can think of a million of them. Well, not a patch to Andy's letter, but... Not a patch, but at least Andy's letter inspired some

interesting stuff. 1-800-332-9287. Don't forget, if you dial this number, it's gonna cost you double. If you'd like us to inspire you with some Interesting stuff maybe hello. You're on car talk. Hi guys. Howdy. Who's this? My name is Alexandria Heather I'm coming from King, New Hampshire. Now. It's in first names. Oh, yeah Alexandria Heather knows Heather your last name or is it part of your first name? Heather is my last name Oh, okay. Just you know from where? King, New Hampshire King, New Hampshire. Okay, you're from where? Keen, New Hampshire Keen, New Hampshire. Yes, that's pretty keen. Oh

I'm sure that's the first time she's ever heard that. Yeah, she would have been disappointed had I not said it That's sophomore though. It may be People count on me for that stuff and they get it every week. So Alexandria, what's what's up well I have a question about our for it's 1987 Ford escort wagon my boyfriend got it free from his grandparents it was a gift to him and we've had to think a lot of money into it in the last year interesting and so he really wants to

get a Subaru and we've come across this really strange sound in the front part of the car. Oh, of the escort. Of the escort, right. And I think it's the right-hand wheel. It sounds like a spray paint can when you shake it. You know, like a... Look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look. Oh, the little ball.

The little ball that bounces around inside. Right. Right. And it stops at about 30 or 40 miles an hour. But we didn't know if that would mean that we have to put more money into it. Maybe we should just get a different car and we're not really sure what's wrong with it. Well, I think you should probably get a different car,

but there's nothing to do with the noise. No, I think the noise, gee, you're gonna be disappointed because you're gonna have to keep this car when I tell you how to get rid of the noise. Hmm. I think the noise is a pebble inside the wheel cover. What?

What? Oh, really? There isn't much from a mechanical standpoint that would make that kind of noise. So that it's like a tinkle-tinkle noise. No, it's a-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g- Yeah, I mean, so it isn't something mechanical. And I told you we should have used a masking tape. I wondered what that was for. But why doesn't it stop after such a slow speed? I mean, if it's like a little pebble, it would be going at higher speeds.

Well, I'm sure my brother has a theory on this, and I can help him if he doesn't. No, when you get going fast enough, centrifugal force will pin the pebble. Exactly. Please don't play that, this is a schoolyard game. You would pin the pebble to the whatever it's up against and would keep it from making the noise again. Sure, because what makes the noise is that... It's like being on a merry-go-round. No, not a merry-go-round, that thing. The Turkish twist. The Turkish twist. Right. The bar for Rama. Because what's making the noise is as you go slowly, the little pebble is being thrown outward by centrifugal force, and then it drops down by force of gravity. And you hear it going bloop, bloop, bloop as it goes around and around, being thrown toward the front of the wheel and then dropping down by gravity. But when you go 60 miles an hour, the centrifugal force overcomes the force of the wheel and then dropping down by gravity but when you go sixty miles an hour the centrifugal force overcomes the force of gravity

how's this? oh I wasn't listening I'm sorry I was contemplating the thumbnail on my big mic no I was bailing you out on the centrifugal force theory oh I'm sorry because it overcomes the force of gravity and gravity is not sufficient to pull it down Because centrifugal force is pushing it fall. Yeah. Yeah what he said Little plastic hubcap. Yeah a little pebble will pop out. I don't even see it Uh-huh. That's very good!

You may not even see it, right. In which case we would be proven right. Again. Uh-huh. No, I guarantee you that that's it. You guarantee me that? I guarantee it. Yeah.

This is 100% guarantee also. You have the car close by right now? Where's the car? The car is somewhere else. Somewhere else. Not in my apartment. At your boyfriend's house? No.

Call him up. Call him up. Tell him to run out there. Take off that wheel cover. And if a little pebble falls out, call us back. Now, you think it's the right front wheel, but of course it could be any of the other wheels. Right.

So if you don't find it in the right front wheel, look on the car next to it. Maybe on the right front wheel of that car. No, seriously. All right. If he's around, ask him to go take off the wheel cover because we'd love to know. Call us back. We're dying to know if we're right. Yeah. We're dying to know any time we're right. Thank you, Alexandria Heather from New Hampshire. It's a pleasure talking to you. Thank you very much. See you. Bye-bye. We'll be right back after these very important messages. 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 bricks were making, there's no turning back for me. Take NPR's Body Electric Challenge. Listen to the series wherever you get your podcasts. For a while now, you've probably been hearing about book bands, how they're gaining momentum everywhere in Texas, in Missouri, Florida, and Pennsylvania. On the Code Switch podcast, we're taking a look at why.

Why are so many books suddenly considered so dangerous to kids? Listen to our new series on the Code Switch podcast from MBR. Was it just me or did brands seem a little quieter for Pride last month than they usually are? Actually, brands generally aren't jumping at the chance to advertise to marginalized communities or weigh in on politics like they used to. This week, we look at why brands got woke, then unwoke. Why was that so unusual?

And what could it say about you? Listen on It's Been A minute from NPR. true? Yeah. It is? Yeah. Gee, I had all these clever hints. You did? Yeah. Well, that's too bad, isn't it? I guess I preempted you, didn't I? You want to ask me anyway? No, we'll try you next week. Well, anyway, it's obvious that the puzzler is on vacation, and in the meantime, while you're pining over the loss of the puzzler for the summer. Yeah, I'm sure everybody is. Gee, I wish you could come up with a couple of stupid deceptive puzzlers like you always do.

Well, if you have a puzzler that meets our high standards, or meets any standards for that matter, and you want to send it to us for consideration, send it to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, box 3500 Harvard Square Cambridge our fair city Massachusetts 02238 potential puzzler department yeah rear the building and if we should use the person's puzzle or what about it well you do right anyway no if we can't if you use your puzzler and we and if we use your puzzler and you catch us at it we'll send you one of those crummy travel mugs or some other invaluable

uh... valuable uh... car talk prize anyway if you would like to ask us a question you can call us at one eight hundred three three two nine two eight seven hello you're on car talk hi this is christy from albuquerque christy what's up well i have a car that uh... has a little thing fun uh... it's a hippie hippie shake here is a car

thank you have a what it does is um... if you're not pushing on the accelerator it just shakes a bunch of the keys rattling the ignition and then when you come to stoplight if you put neutral it's close to shake down but it still shakes so what we did with a ticket to a car shop and they said that are they were picked a computer chip that makes it the oxygen and fuel county and my i'll cut cars this

how do you know at the chevy cavalier nineteen ninety it's got a little bit over a hundred thousand on it and uh... what happened with his when they did that it helped with the shaking some but still i'd put the stoplight i'd still have to drop it neutral because the key to take the check not much

but what would be interesting whether after on they had done that if you're pointed down hill with the car it and i was going to be interesting i can tell already tries to watch it had to cut out now and it never used to do that before and i think uphill it doesn't I Have yeah, it doesn't because I'm always pushing on the accelerator uphill or I'd go backwards So you really haven't solved this problem originally you originally went in

Because you had this problem with it shaking and installing the traffic lights Well, it never tried to stall it just shook the bad that it just shown your teeth rattled Okay, and then they went ahead and they changed the PROM in the computer, which is the chip. And that chip tells the computer certain things about your car. It tells it that it's a 90 cavalier, it tells it it's a four cylinder, it tells it you have an automatic transmission, etc. etc. And that's how the computer assimilates all the information it gets from the various sensors to send the right amount of fuel to the injectors or from the injectors into the engine and to have the right spark advance,

et cetera, et cetera. Oh, okay. So they may have done the right thing and they probably determined that by scanning the computer. They put a scanner on it. Okay, and they did check the vacuum hoses and they checked the EGR valve. Good, good. Well, I think they were on the right track checking the vacuum hoses and the EGR valve because I think what's making it run rough is that you have a vacuum leak

somewhere. I do, then. I believe so. Well, I mean, it sounds to me like they really, despite the fact that it sounds very technical and high-tech here, they didn't do diddly by replacing this chip. Okay. Because it sounds to me that it's doing almost exactly what it was doing when you brought it in.

Well, the jumping's a little better. It really is. It's like at half of the rate that it used to jump. So the keys don't jingle twice as much as they used to? That's right, my teeth aren't rattling as much. Well, they probably figured out how to turn up your idle, and maybe that's how they've diminished it. But I would have to guess, as is often the case,

when a car comes into a shop with a problem of any kind, if that car has a computer and fuel injection, the mechanics almost always assume the worst, that it has a computer and fuel injection, the mechanics almost always assume the worst that it has a problem with the computer or one of the computer controls and they go and they take the scanner out first. And in nine cases out of ten, what's wrong with most cars is something pretty basic. A bad spark plug wire, a cylinder that has low compression, a cracked vacuum hose, a leaking intake manifold gasket. In your case, it could be any one or some combination of these things.

And modern day, modern train mechanics mostly don't even look for these things. But all those things are the same as they always were. But they got the computer to blame now. I would go back to these guys and suggest to them, or maybe go someplace else and suggest that maybe they ought to look at some more basic stuff. I would hope that these guys had done a compression test and a vacuum test and checked the obvious things before they went ahead and put a prom in.

It may be that you needed an upgraded prom for this car anyway. And maybe that wasn't a bad thing that they did, but I think they're overlooking a very simple, basic problem. When they find it, They're gonna say oh How did we miss that in addition to which? They should have noticed that what they did didn't really fix the problem

I mean, what does it take to realize that the car is shaking like crazy? Do they think that all cars made by General Motors shake at idle no and these four cylinders don't shake much at all those six So I'm just a shake well. I wondering. I figured at 100,000 miles I'd be lucky the wheels didn't fall off, you know? You may need a valve job. You may well need a valve job. That would do it. Okay. So tell them to check the basics. Now tell me, what's the expected life on this poor little thing? What time is it now? Well, it's T minus one and counting to December. That's when I graduate. I've got to have this little car. Oh, you'll make it to December. Okay. You're not planning any long trips this summer, are you? No, I hope not. Stay close to home.

Stay in Albuquerque. Oh, okay. And keep AAA, is that it? Yes. And AAA, yeah. See you, Kristy. Thanks so much alrighty bye bye 1-800-332-9287 hello you're on car talk this is Greg from Winchester Massachusetts no last names please I'm not well known Winchester yes I know the town well well I well I know the town I should say what's up Greg well I have a 1987 Toyota Celica GT and it's got about a hundred and ten thousand miles on it i guess i should say what's up great well i have a uh... nineteen eighty seven toyota silica gt and uh... it's got about a hundred and ten thousand miles on right now and about fifteen thousand miles ago i had the engine rebuilt

uh... tragically yes you know what what what uh... precipitated that's well at the time i was having some overheating problems uh... and uh... ended up uh... blowing the block in somehow i'm not really sure what happened but i ended up blowing enormous clouds of white smoke for a while and ending up with uh... maynard in my crankcase now yeah i was there but now it was rebuilt entire engine was rebuilt adjust the top and

no the whole engine uh... but now what the problem is now that i have a mysterious overheating problem and only happening under fairly extreme conditions uh... baby when i have the car running up around or when i'm running around sixty miles an hour with the a c i have no problem uh... but on very hot days you know eighty five ninety degrees or better

and at fairly high running uh... speed seventy seventy five miles now of course on a closed track uh... yeah yeah with a professional of course yeah uh... the needle starts to wander up toward the red zone uh... doesn't always hit the red zone but it'll go up there you know around seven-eighths or so on on the on the scale of a back down to sixty miles an

hour even on these hot days it pretty much stays around the middle and uh... it overheated once under these conditions and sometimes i had to put the heat on a little bit uh... comment down uh... i just don't know what's going on a replace the radiator cap ever placed a thermostat with a hundred eighty degree what uh... i think the only other symptom i have a i get some painting occasionally when it's in that range

well the pain is be a problem getting the pain because it's overheating okay maybe but what what what did all work, did anyone take the radiator out? No, I don't think so. I mean, it's still the original Toyota radiator. Oh, then that's absolutely it. Yeah, I mean, when you have a problem like that at very high speed, I mean, there are only a couple of things that can cause the heating system to not do its job.

One is you don't have enough airflow, and one is you don't have enough water flow. All the engine was rebuilt improperly and it's too tight in which case it's gonna melt but it's covered by warranty. What you need to do is have the radiator taken out. I'm amazed that these guys didn't do this when they rebuilt the engine but take the radiator out and send it to a shop and have it flow tested. Flow tested? Yeah. That can't be done while it's in the car so you know that you certainly have enough air flow if you're doing 80 miles an hour yeah right so you don't have to worry that the fans are not doing their job right but there is some question of whether you have sufficient water flow and that's the radiator so there could

be like blockage or something they could jack like blockage or something especially if it's got 110 hundred and ten k on it all you know it's it's it's the original reading said i'm pretty sure yeah did you ever go on this uh... close track at seventy five or eighty miles an hour prior to having the engine rebuilt absolutely i've never had a problem with the right about a third of the time you never had a problem and this happened immediately after you had rebuilt well yeah i mean it was only as

i say it only happened on the very hot day So I can't say whether it was immediate or not well I mean did you ever drive it on this closed track on a very hot day before? Before it before I had my problems yeah before it was rebuilt yes And it did not it stayed at one-third never had a problem with it well the radiator was younger than two the way It was yeah, but it might not have been much been much younger might have been only a few days young model and on this was a no was a year younger may have been on ice test track right great yet that's right was a year younger

fifteen k younger well was a year younger because the last time we had hot weather was when last summer yeah that's right yesterday uh... i think that the thing all through the winter i have another problem but then again we have that he played for a couple weeks back in yeah there was again it's likely to be the radio and there's no had the problem But then again we had that heat wave a couple of weeks back and yeah there was again It's likely to be the radiator and there's no way you can flow test it in the car that I know of so pressure testing

Is not the thing to do. No no pressure testing will test for leaks flow testing We'll find out if there's enough flow of water coolant going through the radiator, so how much are we talking to flow tester radiator? Oh, it's cheap, but to replace the radiator which you will have to do is gonna be several hundred dollars even if you do it yourself. Oh boy. Oh that's alright you don't want to endanger this new engine. No I want to mean it's been running great. And I know you want to be able to drive on the track again so yeah. I mean if the engine had just been rebuilt like a few weeks ago you would have you should have expected that because the engine would still be tight assuming they really replaced everything yeah

But you've got 15,000 miles on it, so that's not the problem. It's the radiator absolutely guaranteed This is a hundred percent guarantee. This may be the only correct answer of the day I'm honored. I'll call you if it is. Get the radiator out. Have it flow tested at just about any garage. Well, you have to take it to a radiator shop. Look in your yellow pages. Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay. If you don't find one, call us back. Any old shop is not going to be able to do it. Any old shop will take it out, but they won't be able to flow test it.

Well, I'll go with the radiator. If it's only a couple hundred, I'm relatively relieved. It's always going to be bent when it doesn't fix anything. See you, Craig. Thanks for calling. Is he still on the line? Bye-bye. We'll be right back with more calls after these messages. On the TED Radio Hour, over the last few years, former White House chef Sam Cass has been hosting meals that he calls last suppers on the menu ingredients that are at risk because of climate change. I hope it's not that people feel guilty or depressed.

My hope is that we understand what the stake is really like fully our way of life. The future of food that's on the Ted radio hour from NPR. Want to maximize your summer without stretching your budget? LifeKids got you covered with guides on exploring your neighborhood for cheap. Don't let money or time be the thing that decides whether or not you will have fun. You can have fun almost in spite of those things. Make the most of every day this summer, whether you're jet setting or staying close to home.

Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR. How does the brain process memories? Why is AI a solution and a problem for our climate? What is leadership in 2025 and beyond? The TED Radio Hour explores the biggest questions and the most complicated ideas of our time with the world's greatest thinkers. Listen now to the TED Radio Hour from NPR. Have you ever thought about the political leanings

of sports fans? The most democratic leaning sports fan base was the WNBA, like by a comfortable distance. But that could change if the WNBA continues with its explosive growth, because as new fans show up, some of them are bringing old culture war battles. Listen to It's Been A Minute from NPR. ["It's Been A Minute From NPR"]

Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio with us clicking clack the tappet brothers and we're here to attempt to discuss cars, car repair and BBC news. Can you top this? Get this. Now this is the news that I want to hear. This is a note from Melanie Herrholzer from Tallahassee, Florida, who says in her PS, did you know there's a Tallahassee in every state? Dear Tom and Ray, when I heard Tommy's plea for mail last week, I decided to quit procrastinating

and send these news clippings to you from the Tallahassee Democrat. One of them is definitely car related, I'm not going to even read that one, and the other two are sort of car talk related Here's one Ukrainian wrestlers meet hostile primates a visit to the zoo by the Ukrainian Olympic wrestling team Lost some of its public relations value and the visitors were showered with droppings thrown by a chimpanzee Sandy Peck the Jacksonville Zoo's coordinator of animal encounters, coordinator of animal encounters,

I got it, I got it. This is this person's title, said the burly wrestlers were apparently seen as a threat to the male chimpanzees who often protect their territory and their mates by hurling waste at the strangers. Is this the female wrestling team or the...? I don't know. That's the item number one item number two her name is bonita conchita marita havana banana pulovski she was a cornucopia of fruit on her head a hot pink bikini with a strategically placed orange and grape

with strategically placed oranges and grapes and she wants to be Tampa's next mayor. Fee-fee-fie-fie-foo-foo-fum, look out Tampa here I come she's saying in a thick coochie coochie accent this weekend as she kicked off her candidacy to the 1960s to endeavor with the blue dress on. Though her campaign appears downright fruity the 37 year old registered candidate has a platform she calls for increased tourism including the use of cruise ship casinos and beer convention center the dadada dadada dadada dadada dadada

campaign spokesman terry kuda said banana recently changed the name to take on the persona of a banana candidate she's a serious candidate this is just her angle but here's her picture and this woman is wearing fruit everywhere Shades of common Miranda now this these two items made me realize that what the world needs is not the damn BBC news No, what the world needs is the weekly world news on radio Wouldn't that be a winner wacky world news wacky news, and I volunteer to be the Connie Chung of that show. Okie doke. Okie doke.

Ok, now on a more serious note. I'll get serious. As our regular listener knows, the puzzler is on summer vacation. Now we can come up with some lame story about our poor hard working puzzle needing a well deserved week in the mountains. But the truth is, every year about this time, I run out of good, actually every year about January,

I run out of good puzzlers and I milk it until about June. You do. So I need a couple of months to collect some new ones and you have to help. So if you have a puzzle you think we can use in the fall or even the winter or any time. Please send it to us at Puzzler Tower, Card Talk Plaza, Post Office Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, Massachusetts 02238. And don't forget if I get yours right away and I use it early on in the season. You might get your little cup by maybe Christmas. Right. 97. Yes and of course we will if you do use

your puzzle we will send you a token of appreciation. The emphasis here is on the word token. Anyway if you'd like to call us the number is 1-800-332-9287 hello you're on Car Talk. this is Spencer from Miami Spencer Spencer yeah is that with an s like the writer or with a C Spencer and CER yeah yeah where you from from Miami Miami yeah yeah what's happening man yeah I have a 87 Accord mm-hmm and it's five-speed and I needed new tires so I got the tires and got them all balanced and everything and I don't know, just on a whim, one day after I finished driving I touched the lug nuts and they were too hard to touch and I was wondering if this

is normal or if it's a problem it's a problem well the more important question is what prompted you after all these years of driving to touch your lug nuts even more strange isn't it I mean you were driving along let me get this right you pulled over said I think I'm gonna touch the lug nuts. Yeah Well, actually I'd come home and I just said let me touch the lug nut Don't don't question it if if God told Spencer that he should touch the lug nuts

Then there must be a reason for it. There must be. There must be. And you touched the lug nuts on how many wheels? Just the front wheels, the left and right. And they were both very hot. Very hot.

And equally hot. Equally hot. That's good. That's what they should be. They should be. Yeah. Well, they shouldn't be too hot to touch. Oh, yeah.

They should be warm. No, if you've been driving the car and using the brakes. Uh-huh. How long had you been driving? Oh, that day? I've probably been about half an hour. Don't forget, in Florida, even without using the brakes at all, the lug nuts are gonna be a hundred degrees anyway. You're starting off at a hundred. Just parked. This week it's been that way, that right, in the high high 90s. Right and if you're parked in the sun they're going to be even hotter. So they're already hot enough to burn you even without driving the car. So it doesn't take very much braking to get the temperature of those things way up over 200 degrees where they would feel very very hot. They were very very hot. That's good. That means you have front brakes and they're working. Well I I mean, if you have been driving for half an hour, like on the highway, and only stepped on the brakes one or two times, I don't think the lug nuts should be hot. What makes the lug nuts hot is the friction between the brake pads and the

rotors, and if you had done a lot of braking, I would think that the lug nuts would be very, very hot. But if you you hadn't it might mean that the pads are jammed up against the rotors Because the calipers are frozen unlikely. It's worth looking at any of your neighbors. See you touching your lug nuts You don't think so It wouldn't hurt if you drop by the mechanic to ask him to just take a peek. No, they'll charge you money. If they're both the same temperature, first of all, you weren't having any problems. I mean, there was no obvious reason in your mind why you should go and investigate the temperature of the lug nuts. During the Philistine prophecies. It was just that, you know, I got new tires. You got new tires and you just wanted to make

sure that the lug nuts were still on. and why do they decided to touch them? Right to make sure that they were still on and hot right and that the guys hadn't messed up and forgotten to tighten them up I'm right. Yeah. No. Yeah, exactly. I know exactly the feeling I have that every time Get my car check everything No, I don't think there's anything wrong and the fact that they are they were equally hot Every time you get in my car, you check everything. No I don't think there's anything wrong and the fact that they were equally hot tells me that everything is fine. You know the likelihood that both calipers are seized.

I will admit that that does suggest that there isn't anything wrong. The fact that they were both, both wheels with the same temperature, does suggest there's nothing wrong. On the other hand, I have touched lug nuts. I'll be I'll admit it on radio I'll stand right here and say I have touched lug nuts also, and they are not boiling hot when I touch them What people watching you I? Have done it when people watching me as well. Yes, okay, and they were not boiling hot unless something was wrong So I would have I if it were I, I would have someone look at it. If it was my brother, he obviously would.

Alright, can I go and redirect? I'll ask you my brother. Have you ever lived in Florida? No. Okay, I rest my case. See ya Spencer. Thanks for calling man. Bye. Bye bye.

Well you've passed away another perfectly good hour listening to car talk. I've passed away? I knew something was funny! Our esteemed producer is Doug Punkinlips-Berman. Our associate producer and Dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our engineer and assistant producer is Jennifer Jiffy, not vacationing this week, lobe. Our technical advisor...

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