The Best of Car Talk - #2487: Leah Returns

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

A while back, Leah wrote to Click and Clack despairing that while she was succeeding academically in college she had somehow lost her sense of joyful purpose. And, in a parent's worst nightmare, two mechanics who graduated college by the skin of their teeth commenced with the life advice. On this episode of the Best of Car Talk Leah checks in to tell us how she's doing.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

When voters talk during an election season, we listen. We ask questions, we follow up, and we bring you along to hear what we learned. Get closer to the issues, the people, and your vote at the NPR Elections Hub. Visit npr.org slash elections. Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from the Center for the Changing of the Guard here at Car Talk Plaza. Now, as I'm sure everyone knows... Before you go into this, this must be very painful for you.

Oh, it is. I mean, this should not be taken lightly. It isn't. It hasn't been. This has to be very, very painful. Well, I'll just get on with it and get it over with. Get on with it and everyone will understand when they see... You have to go on with your life, don't you? Yeah, you do as I'm sure everyone knows our hero

Sonya Henney has been had been the world's youngest women's figure skating champion having been crowned in 1927 at the age of 14 and something well until last month Last month an American girl some 32 days younger won the world figure skating title. As you know for years we've been using the expression Sonya Hennies Tutu to show surprise or to say you're gonna be kidding me. Oh wow! Holy cow! But now there's a new champion and I think it's only fitting that we bring ourselves into the modern age

that we update our vocabulary that we recognize the new champion, and I think it's only fitting that we bring ourselves into the modern age, that we update our vocabulary, that we recognize the new champion of women's figure skating. So today, I guess, we officially inaugurate a new expression here at Kajatok Plaza, and we hope you'll join us in making it part of your own vocabulary. So from here on in, when you're surprised by something that somebody says or does, the proper response now is... Oh, can you do it? Tara Lipinski's tutu! It is good, I have to say!

It doesn't have the same flow. Go ahead, do it again. Just try it. Do it again. Tara Lipinski's tutu! It's good! It's excellent! Can I try it? Go ahead. Tara Lipinski's tutu. It's good. It's excellent. Can I try it? Go ahead. Tara Lipinski's tutu. I'll say something to surprise you. Hey, what is that big thing sticking out of your... Oh, Tara Lipinski's tutu!

It's good. It could work. It's gonna have to. It's gonna take time and I may slip up from time to time and if I do... If you do... Give me a dope slap. Give me a dope slap. If you want to call us about your car or your tutu, our number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Doc Turnbull at Cumberland City, Tennessee. I missed your name. Doc Turnbull.

From where again? Cumberland City, Tennessee. Gotcha. Okay. Cumberland City. And no, I don't wear a tutu. We're driving a riverboat here. You'd be cute in a tutu we can tell you're driving a riverboat that's correct so that means you're not an actual doctor but your nickname is

doc that's correct that's good enough for us well my nickname is Dante okay Dante how's your inferno not bad bad. So what's up doc? I knew you were going to get into this. I've got a 1990 Corsica LT and I just recently purchased it and it has problems going uphill without backfiring. I replaced the spark plugs, the wiring, the oxygen sensor, and the PCV sensor. And anytime you put it under load, it spits and sputters and doesn't like to go places,

especially when it's warm. What engine does it have? It has the 2.0. And it's injected. I thought maybe it was gas. No, it's not gas. Backfiring is almost always some kind of an electrical problem, okay It's almost always a secondary ignition problem, and this car doesn't have much secondary And it's why we're gonna problem doesn't have a distributor cap, and it doesn't have a rotor right it

Has it has was called distributed ignition? Yeah, D. I s yeah have a rotor. It has what's called distributeless ignition, or DIS. But what is likely to be the problem. Now, you know, we've had a bunch of complaints from callers recently and listeners to the show that we fool around too much and we don't get right to the point and give the answer. So we're going to just give you the answer and get rid of you soon you hear Tara Lepinsky it's not that easy we're not gonna get rid of Doc I got a feeling we're not gonna get rid of him no he sounds like a hanger on her I mean normally in a situation like this it would be timing okay ignition timing or one of in some occasional instances and while I admit it could be one of the sensors like the crank angle sensor or something like

that, it's unlikely to be that because it would turn on the check engine light. What it's likely to be is a bad module or a bad coil. And I believe this thing, if I'm not mistaken, has two coils. One for each pair of cylinders. And it's possible that one of possible that all it takes is one misfire per two revolutions of the crankshaft to cause a missing and a bucking and inability to climb hills as a result. For my vast experience with these cars, I would say it's likely one of your coils is

no good. Try that. When that doesn't work, then try the module. I'll definitely do that. Either that or turn it into a fish farm. Good luck, Doc. Thank you very much. See you later. Thanks for calling. Have a great day. Bye-bye. 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi. Hi. Who's this?

Sydney from Los Angeles. Sydney. Is the second letter an I or a Y? It's a Y. It's just like Australia. Tara Lipinski's tutu. I have to practice it because otherwise I'm going to just keep reverting to Sonia Hennie's tutu. That's right. I mean, Sonia Hennie just flows off the end of one's tongue. So to speak. Tara Lipinski. You have to think about it. It's going to be a quiet taste, I believe. So anyway, Sydney, what's up?

Um, I've got a 1989, Sydney, what's up? I've got a 1989 Mitsubishi Montero, and it has this squeak, which sounds kind of like eh, eh, eh, eh. Oh, excellent. Wow, that's great. Isn't that nice? Yes. Wow.

And when I make a right or left hand turn, it goes like that. Really? And when I when I make a right or left hand turn it goes Like that really but if you're driving straight ahead Uh-huh at what speed all speeds all speeds it makes the first noise do it again. It was great Oh, you know this sounds just like the donkey that I wrote Yeah as you speed up does this happen faster No, no. No? No.

There goes two ideas. And when it's parked and I get out of it, it goes beep. Oh. Oh. Oh. Fortunately, you just gave it away. I was thinking maybe I needed to lose weight and that had something to do with it. We were going to discuss that.

Privately, of course. Well, you have either a control arm bushing that is badly in need of lubrication, or worse than that, a ball joint or tie rod end that's in a similar condition. Worse meaning more dangerous. If it's a control arm bushing, you're unlikely to lose a wheel, but if it's a ball joint or tie rod end that's in a similar condition. Worse meaning more dangerous. If it's a control arm bushing, you're unlikely to lose a wheel. But if it's a ball joint or tie rod end... Goodbye. Goodbye, Sydney.

This time next week, we could be reminiscing about you. Most people are reminiscing about me. So I think you need to get it checked, and it ought to be very, very easy. Do the noise again. That was great. It was really good. Okay, which one do you want? The first one. Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh What's happening is as the as the vehicle bounces up and down on the road as you drive The either the control on bushings or a ball joint or a tie run in is moving obviously and It's either worn out broken or whatever or just simply needing lubrication Is the vehicle sat for a long period of time without being driven? Yes, ha ha and then put off I had asked that question first then you look good. I could look smart

And I think what did it is moisture got in there Oh, I understand there's not much moisture in Los Angeles But whatever I think moisture got into the one of the control arm bushings and it rusted it And it may be that you have to replace it But sometimes there are penetrating lubricants that can free this up and make the noise go away I mean though the way they'll find it is one guy will get underneath the vehicle and someone else will know the big heavy 300 pound guy will bounce up and down on the fender and the guy underneath will listen And you can actually feel where it's coming from and they'll know in two minutes where it is and they'll get the juice out of the can and they'll start squirting everything and it'll be gone.

So this is trivial Sydney, trivial! But get it, get it looked at soon because it could be dangerous. I mean trivial to find. If it were a bad ball joint, the wheel could fall off. So that's not trivial. Okay. Yeah, well have it looked at because it really could be dangerous and we can't afford to lose any listeners.

You are one sixth, sixteen percent of our total listening audience. That's a lot. I feel so privileged. You are. You are. Can you do the noise one more time? Okay, one more time. Yeah.

I love it. It's perfect too, isn't it? It is. It's absolutely perfect. See you, Cindy. Thank you very much. It's absolutely perfect. See you, Sydney. Thank you very much. Bye. Bye. Hey, don't go anywhere because we've got a lot more calls. Well, few anyway. And the puzzler answer coming up right after this.

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All right, lookit. Yeah. I've come to the realization that it's no fun asking you anymore what last week's puzzler was because you obviously have devised some method. Last week's puzzler. And you've obviously been fed information by telepathically. Telepathic. Okay. I see Catherine rubbing her temples. Okay. So I don't even... I see a dodge dart. I don't even... I'm not even gonna ask you because I know you're gonna figure it out. And I see... what do I see? I see ice cream. Ice cream cone. I'm not interested. Ice cream cone! Again, huh? Faked you out again, didn't I? Yeah. I just...

Did we point out last week the trap that you tried to catch me in? I mean, every week, Duggee gives us a sheet of paper on which there are various things like what to do first and what to do second. Right, instructions. Answer the questions, dummies. Answer the questions. And somewhere in this little stack of papers he gives us That's right, instructions. Answer the questions, dummies.

And somewhere in this little stack of papers he gives us is last week's puzzler. And he was convinced that I was peeking, looking ahead in the little pile of junk that he gave me. And what he did was he took out the sheet with the previous week's puzzler and put in the sheet from the two weeks ago puzzle I know how you do it. I didn't fall for I know I know how you do it Oh, I can't divulge because when I catch you at it. Yeah, okay. I want you to be totally embarrassed Yeah, okay fine when I catch you and I can I will catch okay?

Yeah, okay, here's the puzzle one day this old geezer drives into the shop with his oh, no I remember I Mentioned that this thing was packed with clues. Yeah packed. I believe it was a 76 dodge. Dot Was it no? 76 volari and he says boys my car is having trouble It doesn't like a certain kind of ice cream that I buy He goes on to explain that there are only three kinds of ice cream that he likes. And he goes to the local ice cream

parlour to buy them. He likes vanilla, a favorite everywhere. Yeah. Chocolate. And his personal favorite of the three is three bean tofu mint chip beef ice cream. He says, when I go to buy chocolate, I park them for the ice cream parlor,

I buy the chocolate, I come out, my car starts right up. The same thing happens if I buy vanilla. The problem occurs when I buy the three bean tofu mint chip beef. I buy the stuff, I come out, my car won't start. It cranks and cranks and cranks, but it doesn't wanna start.

Finally it starts, and it runs on one cylinder, maybe two, then it shakes and rattles. How did you know anything was wrong, we asked? It takes like 10 minutes to get going. And finally it's all right. Our mechanic Krusty, of course is asleep in the corner, lifts his head and says, you're right. Same thing happens to my car and it is the ice cream. Woohoo! And everyone in the garage said what? Tara Lepinski's Tootsie! Yeah.

Well, think of the hints. First of all, it's a 76 Velary. It's old. It's carbureted. Yeah. Okay? The driver is old. The driver is an old geezer. I thought of you immediately

Yeah And he's buying an unusual kind of ice cream Yes indeed and I mentioned that all the hints were packed into the puzzler packed in now when you go in to buy chocolate You go into the freezer case and there's chocolate in a container You're taking your pay for you get in your car and you drive away same thing with vanilla nobody buys three bean tofu chip mint beef right no so of necessity it is hand-packed yeah which takes what longer time long enough for his car to vapor lock exactly do we have a winner so that's why that's it that's the answer his car to vapor lock. Exactly. Do we have a winner?

So that's why. That's it, that's the answer. His car doesn't like that ice cream. Because the heat, the heat that is generated from the engine. Now when, also, when would you be buying ice cream? In the heat day. In the summer.

The summer. You don't buy ice cream in the winter. No. Yeah, we got a winner, wait till I find it. Dougie probably put in two weeks ago winner here. Ah, Jack Little from Northwood, Arkansas. No kidding. And for having your correct answer picked from our thousands of correct answers, Jack,

you are going to win, what is he going to win? A copy of the second best of Car Talk CD or tape, which again tops the Consumer Reports annual list of audio products to avoid. Absolutely. It's right there on the list. It's been number one for three years running now, and it's only been out for a year. Anyway, we have a new puzzler, a brand new puzzler, multiple choice, satisfy everyone

kind of puzzler. Excellent. And also we have another episode of Stump the Trumps. In the meantime, if you'd like to call us, the number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello you're on Car Talk. Hi this is Leah from Seattle. Who? Leah? Do you remember me? Leah! Yeah I called basketball team at Holyoke. How are you? I'm doing great. For those who don't remember Leah sent us a letter. It's many months ago now, isn't it? Yeah, and in the letter she told us how miserable and unhappy

despondent, I think would be the right one. It's suicidal almost I would not go quite that far going Where were you going to school? Holy? Oh, holy. Oh one of those wacko Nazi schools Oh, no, it's the part of this of this state here Mount Holyoke and you were miserable it was such a hot rending letter which we read on the air and the amount of response was tremendous everybody mostly from 20 year old guys but it was we're asking for your address and a picture Yeah, I mean you got some great mail Boy, oh boy, and and then we lost touch with you because you disappeared well I'm Holyoke the last thing we heard actually was that

That Leah had left Mount Holyoke and moved back to Seattle and you you set us a note I believe to that effect saying how much happier you were. Yes definitely I transferred to University of Washington yeah and I really like it out here I'm so glad you back with our mountains and the sea and all that stuff. Well we don't have that in our Fair State. We already went over this before it's not the same back there. No. The sea's on your right instead of your left here. I mean, yeah, I mean all you got to do is turn around and you don't even know what coast you're on. All right, all right, all right. It's great out here. I'm really glad. I learned a lot from being back there.

I'm glad that I spent the four months there that I did, but it's really good to be back on the West Coast again. Besides the mountains and the sea, what was the thing that made you go home the most? I mean, what was that? What was it? Um, I guess I'd have to say the West Coast mentality. And I don't want to stereotype all East Coasters. But go ahead, we're ready. We can take constructive criticism.

Look, Leah, we have alienated just about everybody in the country. Alright. So just about everybody in the country. Alright. So just jump right in. What is it about the East Coast mentality that rubbed you the wrong way? I mean are we just all morons or what? No you're not all morons. It's just that everything is really steeped in tradition. And everything is kind of one way and that's the way things have been for hundreds of years

and that's the way things are going to stay whereas on the West Coast it kind of there's more of this adventurous atmosphere and people seem to be more laid back and open to change and open to new experiences. So you got a problem with that, you little west coast twerp? Yeah, I do. You know, interestingly, I happen to have right on the table here, and so help me, I had no idea that you would be on the phone today and I was looking through my mail and I get a letter here which is

dated are you ready for this 14 October 1996 and this letter is from Ivan Brown and Nan Frey. Frey. Frey. Yes. What it says is thank you all for your thoughtful response to our daughter Leah's letter last week. What a positive experience for a young adult and I'm thankful for the insightful messages she received. We are amazed that she chose the Tapper brothers to reach out to, but considering your response, she chose wisely.

It's even more amazing that we totally agreed with your advice. And then it goes on to say what miserable- Did you read the PS at the bottom? If she moves back to Washington, it was sewing This is from your parents and it goes on to explain how they had been to Boston several times and hated Everything and everyone no that can't be right. I know my mom's never been to Boston What what I it says I have been to the... Okay, my dad's been to Boston.

Your dad then? Yeah. I have previously maintained a low opinion of your area based on several bad experiences with the road rage displayed on the local highways and the surly bartenders. And he says, I've changed my mind since now I've met you guys. What? My dad's gonna die when he hears this. Well, Leah, it's a pleasure to hear from you and to know that you're well even though you have escaped to the wild wild west with all those new age nut cases out there. But that's alright if it makes you happy to be there.

Uh huh. Yeah, I'm very happy. And the only problem is I wasn't able to pull off any B's for you guys. That was our next question. No B's? No B's. All A's? Yeah, it had to be a four point. Just tell me, I mean, how much effort does it take to get these A's?

A lot. A lot. Then why are you doing that? Well, actually, I'm glad, okay, I worked I'm here working really hard work back there and I got for me and I really proud of the work I could do it with the report me and I was writing from really great you headed right for the anal retentive world I you are Leah trust me on this I'm not done yet yeah okay back here

I've kind of gained the perspective that I was searching for back there and I am more relaxed even though I'm still doing well in school. The grade isn't as important to me. You can never be truly relaxed my child until you get an F. It's like having that first fender bender on your brand new car. It is so liberating. It's liberating. It changes your whole life.

If I do get a B, I'm not going to die. So that's the important thing. Not that I would have before, but it won't be as big of a deal to me. But one of my dear friends, Antoine, who went to college with me, vacillated between getting all A's on his grade report or all F's. There was no middle ground for him. And he said he never felt so liberated as that first semester that he got his open his gray report and it was F, F, F. Coincidentally that was the semester he met you.

Just before that, yeah. Yes. Oh well. And I feel responsible for making him a real human being. And he appreciated those A's a lot more after he got all those Fs. Yeah. Trust me, throw one F in there, it'll look like an A no one will even notice.

Just draw a little line down the other side. That's it. Hey Leah, it's a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks a million. Yeah, it's great talking to you guys too. And I wish you the best. Keep in touch. I will, definitely. See ya, bye.

Take care, bye. All As, I mean, I would have been happy with just one. Yeah. Is that the reason that we discourage people from getting A's? Yeah, we're just jealous. We've got so few of them. Well, I mean, I think we can call ourselves a success

if we can somehow get Lea to flunk out of the University of Washington. We got three years. Like I got Tony to flunk out? Like, If we can get her to drop out for a semester, be forced to drop out for one semester, I would say that my life will have been led for some good reason. Really? Yeah. But if she goes all the way through with 40404... You will have failed. We will have failed.

We'll keep working. Yeah. We'll get one professor who will mistakenly start flunking her in all our exams. Just give her Fs just to see if she can take it. She might turn suicidal and then you'd have that on your hand. Yeah I'd be worried. Yeah. No, I mean people like that, if they ever got an F, they would break into tears. She would break into tears if she ever got an F.

Yeah you never know. But it's cathartic. Yeah. got an F, they would break into tears. She would break into tears if she ever got an F. Yeah, you never know. But it's cathartic. Yeah. And once she got it over with, she would be a new person. How can we do it? You don't even notice the second and third ones after that. It's like the dent in your car. That's right.

Boom, boom. Like my sister. My sister had a car. Just to prove your point, she's driving down Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington one day, in Cambridge, where there's a center island for a piece of the road. A car coming in the opposite direction jumps the island, comes across to her side of the road, side swipes her car. She just kept going. Why bother to stop? There's already dented on that side anyway. Already collected for that accident.

We'll be right back with more calls and the new puzzler after these messages. 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 MPO. Perfect time to explore the economic side of romance on The Indicator. We've got a week of episodes we're calling Love Week. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts.

On the Embedded Podcast, every Marine takes an oath to protect the Constitution. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This is the story of a Marine in the Capitol on January 6. Did he break his oath? And what does that mean for all of us? Listen to A Good Guy on the embedded podcast from NPR. Darien, why have so many people fallen out of love with dating apps? That is such a question of the moment. And I posed it to the CEO of Hinge for Love Week on the

Indicator. That's our week-long investigation into the business side of romance. Find us on your favorite podcast app, the Indicator from Planet Money. It's Love Week! We love you. Oh! Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.

And we're here to discuss, as always, cars, cars car repair and let's beat up on Tommy Well, it sounds that way. This is a note from Paul finning I don't know where he's from dear brothers my yard see at the risk of sounding just like any of your relatives I must tell you how disappointed I am with you both. Oh, oh, not one bolt of us. I Think it was it's gonna get to me though Specific instance to which I refer was your recent conversation with Becca's dad, Topher Bill. Remember that? Oh yeah. Becca called us one week and told us that her father insisted that she fill

out the little book. And we accused him of being anal retentive. Anal retentive and then he called the following week. He defended himself. Defended himself. We accused him again of being anal retentive. This was truly a lost opportunity to strike a meaningful blow against anal retentiveness and anal retainees everywhere instead you let that cheesy weenie off the hook with no real criticism of his terrible and injurious personal defect Wow yeah would you have responded more vigorously if this guy had mentioned that he was an engineer for Chrysler? The question that must be asked is what has happened to reduce your usually stinging repartee to the levels of whose car

is it, Topher? The answer has to be that it is undoubtedly Tom's fault. I have noticed recently a California lilt in Tom's attitude. Really? I have no doubt whatsoever that if Tom spent less time in psychic communion with Osium Xpialidocious. It's not Osium Xpialidocious, it's Omeon Aspiavidos. Right, right, of course. Parenthesis, probably some ancient tofu warrior.

The level of critical thought and dialogue on your show would increase exponentially. If Tom really requires some type of psychic connection to function, he should send this Expialidocious guy back to the cemetery in San Francisco where he was buried and spend some time trying to channel up to General George Patton. Ooh.

I am firmly convinced that after a few sessions with the general Tom will be able to slap around any anal retentive goofball caller or battle fatigue soldier with the best of them. Sincerely yours, Paul Fenning, Castle Rock, Colorado. Wow. So don't be such a wussy. I guess I'm going to have to, it is true. I mean I have been in the psychic realm lately.

Yes, it's the medication I think. And I guess if you are in that other world, world you don't you're not as vitriolic Yes, the word maybe yes, and you notice I haven't ranted and rave for the medicine's been working Dougie What are you guys been slipping into my car? I notice notice my memory is coming back because I can remember the puzzler every week, but I'm calm down Yes, no more rants. You've been taking, we've been sneaking calms forte into your beverages. No kidding.

Yes. And triple the recommended dosage. Okay, now as advertised. As advertised, here it comes. Here's the new puzzler, multiple choice for right and left brain and no brain people. No brainers. The advantage of multiple choice is you can send in four letters. Four times worth.

If you have a large- Do I need a pencil? Yeah. Am I going to have to write something down? You don't have to. Just write down the following. A, B, 3, and 4. And D. Okay. If you have a large mental protuberance, you have A, an inordinately humongous head.

Humongous head. Inordinately humongous head. Okay. Inordinately humongous head. B, an ugly growth onous head be yeah an ugly growth On your head on your head, okay No, no great a large chin large chin and D D an Annoying friend now for those of you annoying friend a

Mental protuberance is that what you said? Yes, if you have a two-barons large mental protuberance large Wow, okay, you want to repeat those no because I don't remember what they are inordinately a is inordinately in nordinately large humongous humongous head to What I say to an ugly growth Uncontinently large humongous humongous head to What I said to an ugly growth on the head See a large chin large chin or D and Roman numeral for an annoying friend Now if you don't care to participate in this you can you can answer it in essay form? Yeah, and here's

the question what my mental protuberance and I did on summer vacation so if you think you know the answer you want to participate in this one you can send your answer to us at puzzler tower car talk Plaza box 3500 Harvard Square Cambridge our first city math 0 02238, or of course you can email us your answer from CarTalk.com by clicking on the Talk to Car Talk section. And don't forget if you email us, include your post office address. Yeah. Otherwise, we're not going to email you the price.

Not that we're going to email it to you anyway. No, but you do improve your chances a little bit. That's great. That's a great question. Hey, do you know what it's time for? Tara Lebinski's Tutu. It's time to play Stump the Chumps. Alright Tommy, who's today's chump stumper? Today's previous caller is Ed from New Jersey. And get this, not only did Ed call Car Talk a few months ago, but it turns out we have

a much deeper history with Ed. Oh, you guys did time together? No, but when Ed was a tyke, many moons ago, he enrolled in a certain adult education course on auto repair that you and I taught back in the 70s here in our fair city. Oh yeah, that holistic healing for your car. It was very popular. Oh yeah, oh yeah. The attorney general certainly showed a lot of interest in us at that time.

Anyway, recently, Ed's son was having a bit of trouble with his Ford Taurus that wouldn't start, so he gave us a call. What's that? That's the dream sequence, you dummy. Oh, for a second there I thought you were Ravi Shankar. I don't know, I'm going to guess that it's not the connection. From my vast knowledge of batteries, I'm going to say that you need a battery. That's how I feel about this I can you know sometimes I just have these you know the healing of hands remember that chapter

We did like we did in the laying on of hands remember that that was my favorite Well, it's all part of the class who we all put on the blindfolds we went through everyone's pockets Yeah, that was quite an exciting moment for me. And then it fell, you know? I used to love teaching all those novice mechanics how to work on their cars. Why did we stop offering that class anyway? It was part of the plea bargain arrangement. Anyway, I guess you told Dad that a faulty battery was causing the starting problems in his Taurus. Yeah, and if memory serves, you thought it was just the battery cables or a bad connection someplace. Ed, are you there? I'm here.

Hi. Okay, Ed, before you tell us whether we were right or wrong or which one of us was right, we want to make sure that our other seven listeners know that we have not spoken since your last call to Car Talk. Is that true, Ed? No word. No word. We haven't seen each other, we haven't emailed each other, and we seven this is no that we have not spoken since your last call to car talk that through and no word not over haven't seen each other we haven't emailed each other and we haven't laid on hand so there's no communication in the last application i haven't gotten anything at all and you have not been offered cash or free stay in the lincoln mercury bedroom here at car park was it not for

some favorable response i'd have to buy the paper show and we don't give away nothing. Okay, we're giving away, yeah. All right, so did you fix the car? Yeah, we fixed the car. And? And? Well, I gotta say that I favored the battery explanation. Oh, but it's not elegant.

It just had more elegance. However, what we did is we placed the cable and cleaned up all the terminals, and that's done the job. Ha-ha! An arrow in my heart! No, that was my ballpoint pen! Yeah, I was rooting for the battery like I said. I really wanted it to be the battery but we still got the same battery, new cable and

we haven't had a problem since. Well, I mean, I know you were rooting for the battery answer because of the bond between us. Well, something like that. That developed low those many years ago when we were levitating the horizon. Well, actually, you didn't teach the course. It was your brother. Oh! You didn't show up at all.

There was some other guy that taught part of the course. Oh, I didn't show up? No, you weren't there. Ah, you know who must've... Ah, that explains it. Oh, you know why? That's when my brother was in exile. Oh.

Ah, yes. That guy was... Stanley Zadonik. ...professor Stanley Zadonik. Okay, yeah, some guy with a bald headadonik! Stanley Zadonik! Okay, yes, some guy with a bald head. Another guy with a bald head, you mean? And long hair and a beard.

Yeah, that's the guy. That one's Stanley. Dr. Zadonik we call him now. Yes. That's not what his wife calls him, but we can't get into that. It's a family show. Geez, well Ed, I'm not surprised that I was right. Well, I'm shocked. I'm shocked Well that took care of it's been well since the time of the call. We took it in the week after yeah And it's been fine ever since well, then that was it. Yeah every ticket. He's got so far. He's driven away from excellent Yeah, that's all I can say it is Thanks for playing. Okay, fine.

Thank you. See ya. Bye bye. Okay, now what did Ed win for calling us? Nothing. Squat. Well, you've wasted an otherwise perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk. Our esteemed producer is Doug the Subway Fugitive, not a slave to fashion, Berman.

Our associate producer and dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our assistant producer is Katherine Cathode-Ray, who cooks a mean bacon and eggs, I might add. Bugsie, did you miss it today? Our engineer is Karen Given. And our technical advisor making the rounds of the spring free lunch pro-am circuit is Mr. John Bugsy free lunch lawler. The Stump the Chumps theme is by BJ Lederman.

Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Marge in O'Vara. Our director of food product repair is Warren T. Myfoot. Our director of staff pay increases is Xavier Breath. Our staff butler from the Car Talk one bay division is Matt McCote. Our marriage counselor is Marion Haste. Our head of used car purchasing is Yul B. Hoofnett. Our behavioral consultant is Wyatt B. Hoofnett. Our secretary of halogen headlamps is Madeleine Albright. The manager of our weekly shrimp

buffet is Sheldon Devane. The curator of Tom's car collection is Rex Galore. Our director of speed bumps is Slobby Domol below's bitch, our director of cold weather starting as Martina never turn over, and our manager of automotive accessories is Francis Ford Cupholder. Our chief legal counselor from a law firm with Dewey, Cheetahman Howe, as you hear us Dewey, known around the square as Youy Louy Dewey.

Thanks so much for listening. We're Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, and don't drive like my brother. Don't drive like my brother. We'll be back next week. Bye bye. And now, here with an important announcement is Car Talk Plaza's Chief Mechanic, Vinny Gumbaz. Hey, if you just want Car Talk Plaza's Chief Mechanic Vinny Gumbaz.

Hey, if you just want Car Talk Chuck, hey, you're listening or what? You want Car Talk cassette CDs and t-shirts, you just want a copy of this show on cassette, which is show number 14. You go to the CarTalk.com or the World Wide Web there and click on the shameless commerce division. Or you just call them at 303-823-8000. That's 303-823-8000. Thank you very much. Who's claiming power this election? What's happening in battleground states? And why do we still have the electoral college? All this month, the Throughline Podcast is asking big questions about our democracy

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