The Best of Car Talk - #2505: You.Are.A.Cheapskate.

Episode Date: January 18, 2025

Sandra the cheapskate, Ron the classmate, Holly Golightly and the Durango Kid(and more) all take turns trying to stump our chumps 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

Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts, you wish you could get more of all your favorite shows, and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr dot org. 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 Burning Issues here at Car Talk Plaza. Indeed.

I think it was just like last week on this very show that we were discussing the issue of whether or not 16-year-olds should have their own cars. No. Not that there's really anything to discuss, but we were discussing it anyway. I mean, we were talking to a caller. The caller had a 16-year-old son, I believe, and we got my 16-year-old son, Alexander, on the phone to render an opinion, at which time I once again

invoked the parental bite me clause and told him it was going to be a cold day in you-know-where before he got his own car. Well, what do I find plastered all over my house the very next day? This little document. Here it is. It's known around the house now as the Alex Manifesto. Here it is.

This is the agenda, I guess, or the intro for a meeting which he wants to have of the family. Here it is. I will read it to you. Alexander Thomas Magliotti, that's his name. Parking slash driving proposal, colon, 1997-98 school year. As some of you are already aware, some of you, he's talking to me, I don't know who he's talking to. As some of you are already aware, I have recently been notified by my school that my application

for a parking permit for the 1997-98 academic year has been accepted. This means that at the discretion of my parents, I will be allowed to drive to school every day of the upcoming year. This is an exciting time for all involved. This sounds like the John Mungan letter. This is an exciting time for all involved, yet also a time that poses new and unfamiliar problems. The excitement, of course, stems partly from the newfound freedom which has been bestowed

upon me, but more importantly in the ability for my darling mother, to whom I owe life itself to avoid up to an hour of driving per day. Then I mean he gives the issue of what will be the car driven by Alexander Mignotti to get to school, da da da da da, and he lists a whole bunch of things. He says the solution is complicated. To start I will give you a list of automotive possibilities, both real and unreal, possible and impossible, sane and insane, to be discussed. And then he gives us his cousin's car, because his cousin might be getting a different car. Use of the Dodge Dart once it is deemed safe to drive by the queen of the manor. And then other stupid

use of a car purchased exclusively for the use of Alexander. Yeah, it's serious. And then use of a car purchased in order to get to school and finance partly by the parents, get this, and partly by Alexander himself, parenthesis with a loan from his parents. Loans are good. Lastly, he says, or Alexander Malyatse could continue to be chauffeured like a prince by his mother, who has far better things to do with her time than driving some snot-nosed brat around town. Now, I know what I think about this, but I'm curious to know what America thinks.

So I asked the cyber babes over in the web department, the web department, to come up with a new feature for cartalk.msn.com, which we're calling the car talk opinion poll that's it and the car talk opinion it's gonna be isn't it a weekly poll on the burning issues of the day and the first burning issue is this issue so if you have an opinion on this matter and you'd like to be have your vote be counted go to the website car talk dot msn dot com and vote for whether or not a kid 16 years old or thereabouts ought to have his own car will publish the results next week yeah sounds good and alex when the american people have spoken on this issue

you still look at it you want to go to put your car first one eight hundred three three two nine two eight seven lawyer on car talk i this is how i high quality and i only go lightly well that's how i got my name really at that yet your parents saw the movie oh and they said no no might my husband met me when i was taking the bar view course uh... in the

sixties and in the sixties there almost no women at the bar view course so if you were even reasonably attractive you were followed around so he asked me if i was running for office could he could he be i was running for office but he said he'd be happy to vote for me and he said it provided him how i could lightly uh... uh... what a line that pretty good at work dot and i think that i have a letter uh... and still i'm still in office

that's not bad that's not where you from uh... chicago chicago and we have uh... nineteen eighty seven Dodge Cult. Whoa! We love it and it has about 50,000 miles on it and when we take it into the gas or to get to get oil we take it to one of these like Jiffy Lube type places and they always push you to have these flushes done like radiator flush and transmission flush, and I never

know if that's a legitimate thing or they're just pushing it to make extra money. It's a fad. You know, when we were kids, our mothers gave us enemas all the time. I mean, I guess the- What flush did they call that? Royal flush. You know, the philosophy being that can't hurt them right? So I think it is just a fad and I think well needless to say these places that do these

oil changes are trying to drum up extra money. Oh come on! Well the owner's manual says you're supposed to flush things at certain times and if that's the time then you should do it. Like most owner's manuals suggest that every two or three years you flush the cooling system. Mm-hmm. I agree with that. And I'd be willing to bet that if you went to this place regularly.

Yeah. And, or better still, see because now that it's the computer age, they have everything on file. Yeah. At a moment's notice. Yeah. So they can tell if they already sold you a cooling system flush. Right. But I bet you if you went to Quickie Lube Place number one,

and then six months from now went to Quickie Lube Place number two, they would tell you to do exactly the same things that the first guys had already just done. Oh, and that's why Holly is correct in questioning. I believe you're correct to question because these guys are motivated by greed only. So what I should do is go to the owner's manual, you say? Yes, do is go to the owner's manual you say yes you should go to the

owner's manual and you should pretty much follow what the owner's manual says now it's possible after ten years of ownership even though you have fifty thousand miles that nothing has been done to this car with very little you may never have flushed the cooling system you may never have flushed the brake fluid or the transmission in the transaxle. So it's possible that these things do need to be done. OK. But once every 10 years would do it.

Well, in your case, yeah. I guess it's going to look that way. I mean, certainly if you haven't flushed the cooling system, boy, you should do it. Have you had this car since new? Yeah. Is it a Colt Vista? No, it's the DL.

Yeah, I thought so. We love this car. No, it's the DL. Yeah, I thought so. We love this car. No, it's a great vehicle. Well, I would actually rely on your owner's manual. Okay. And if things haven't been done, you can certainly research your own records. And if things haven't been done, then you might believe them. Okay. But be careful, because my experience has been, and in my opinion, places like this try to sell you things that you don't need. That's what I was thinking. Yeah, I thought so. But I mean, I suppose that their rationale is, hey, look, we're just reminding people

that these things have to get done, and we're not forcing them to do it. They're using the enema rationale. Exactly. It can't hurt. It can't hurt. So if you change the oil at extra time or you change the transmission fluid at extra time, it can't hurt. And it's true.

It will only hurt your pocket. And it can only help them okay see you holly great thank you a lot like five one eight hundred three three two nine two eight seven lawyer on car talk hi charlie calling from the rango colorado dole rango hi charlie ronald that's right yeah outpatient what does that mean to ron go you know what i don't actually know how i think don't actually know it. Charlie, come on!

I know. I'm supposed to know all the trivia about the name. How long have you lived in Durango? I've been in Durango for one year right now. Oh, well then you're excused. Oh, well thank you. Anyway, Charlie, what's on your mind? Alright, well let's see. I have two vehicles, one domestic and one import. With two very different starter problems

okay starting off vehicle number one the domestic of domestic will do that first yeah chevy s ten blazer and it's a nineteen eighty six and when when i'd get in the car to start it but see what would be the best description of the found it makes i think it chunk when i go to start it. Let's see, what would be the best description of the sound it makes? I think

chunk. When I go to start it, power does go to it and it goes chunk. Just one time. Just one time. Boom. And nothing happened. Alright. Got it. So in order to alleviate this problem, I took the terminals off the battery and scrubbed them with baking soda and water Very good, very good. Olive oil was good too. Olive oil was good too. And then I let it dry and I hooked it back up and it has been starting regularly However last night it did do the same thing again

But then after that loud noise chunk chunk I started it again and it started no problem so what's going on okay well we don't know we're working on that give us car number B all right I have some ideas however I always we don't want to give the same answer to both so there oh right there are several possible answers here okay foreign we'll mix and match all right the foreign vehicle is a mazda rx-7 1982 it's a thing it's fair share of the miles believe me yeah it's a very different problem because when I if I drive it around all day come home park it the next morning get in and try to start it nothing happens so I pop the truck pop

the hood and look under the hood and pull on the wire that goes back to the starter, get back in the car and it starts no problem like there's nothing wrong. This happens all the time so that's that problem. Cool. Help me out guys. Let's go to car B. Alright. All right. I mean, it seems pretty clear that it could easily be a bad connection at the starter and by yanking on the cable, you are, at least momentarily, that is, improving the connection. Yeah. And it could well be that the connection is really loose.

I mean, that thing goes down to a big bolt and it could be that that bolt is loosened by pulling on it. You're making a connection. Oh, okay. Could be. I mean, if you were interested, you could actually go ahead and take that wire off. There's a stud sticking out of the starter. You could take the nut off, clean the lug with sandpaper, and put the nut back on.

By the way, before you do this, make sure you remove the negative cable from the battery. Remove the negative cable from the battery. Yeah, because if the battery yeah because if you don't there's gonna be a lot of sparks flying down there and you're not and there's it's very very dangerous I'd set your hair on fire that's what happened to my hair I have people always say is it very very day how can it be dangerous if it's only 12 volts and the answer is it's very dangerous because the 12 volts will never hurt you but you'll whack your head on the hood of the car. So that's one possibility. If that doesn't fix it, then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a new starter for that car.

Oh boy. Now the Blazer. Car one. Car one. That needs a starter. See, I wasn't going to give the same answer both times. Well, unfortunately, I think so too, but if you're lucky, if you're lucky, the starter may be loose. Oh.

Oh, wouldn't that be good? Yes, it would. Yeah. Yeah. It would be good, but it isn't going to be smooth. And don't forget, the starter completes its electrical circuit through its own housing. Right. Right.

The block of the engine to which it is attached is ground. Ah. So if the bolts holding it to the block are loose, you don't get a complete circuit. Right. But my brother's dreaming. I mean, that's not that. Well, you should be so lucky. It could be. That's a case of you should be so lucky. Okay.

But you're gonna need a starter for the S10. Oh boy. Yeah, so you may need two starters, Charlie. Boy, this wouldn't be good just now if I won and you could take it out and put it in the other vehicle when you want to drive the other car I'm sure they're all interchangeable oh yeah yeah I think you need a starter for the s10 and you've got a bad connection on the on the RX all under the s10 and you'll see the starter okay and if you can move it at all then tighten up the bolts and that's gonna fix that one.

All right. Or you could also have a weak battery, you know. You need to test that. So I wouldn't go buying any starters until you have some tests done. Okay. All right. Sounds good.

See ya. Thanks guys. Bye Charlie. Good luck Charlie. All right, thank you. When you find out what Durango comes from or means, let us know. I certainly will.

Our next caller's gonna know. be should be able to figure it out no don't get you always get in trouble trying to figure out this is another example of mail it's a hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot And we're men! I mean, durango must mean... DURING! DURING! DURING! DURING! Enduring!

Enduring! Yeah, sounds like it. Durango! No, I think it's a cattle rustler. Doug thinks it means enema. Good luck, Charlie! Thanks! See you later!

See you later! Hey, we've got more calls in the puzzler insert coming up right after this. This message comes from Wyse, the app for doing things in other currencies. Sending or spending money abroad, hidden fees may be taking a cut. With Wyse, you can convert between up to 40 currencies at the mid-market exchange rate. Visit wise.com. TNCs apply. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow. Planning ahead

is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family. For additional information, visit DignityMemorial.com. After more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas, a ceasefire deal has been announced in Gaza. State of the World brings you the latest news as the deal is tested and hostages are released. Our reporters in the Middle East will provide details, context, and reaction from the region and around the world. Listen to the State of the World podcast from NPR. For every headline, there's also another story about the people living those headlines.

On weekdays, Up First brings you the day's biggest news. On Sundays, we bring you closer with a single story about the people, places, and moments reshaping our world. Your news made personal. Every Sunday on the Up First podcast from NPR. Hey, guess what's back today. No, surely you jest. Yes, it is. That lawsuit that Chrysler filed two years ago is back.

No, no, no, the puzzler is back today from its summer vacation. I picked it up at the airport last night. No kidding! And today, in the second half of the show, we will kick off the long anticipated fall Puzzler season. Whoopee! Is it going to be the poison glasses? No, no, no.

No, I don't think so. The centipede with seven legs missing? No. How many legs does a centipede have? 12. You'll have to wait and see. I'm telling you, you're going to love it. I am excited.

If you would like to call us, the number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Ron Hedge from La Mesa. La Mesa, which we know means the table. The table. The table, right. Yeah, what's Durango mean? Did you say Ron Hedge? Yes, I did. A classmate of mine, Ron Hedge? A classmate, a veritable classmate. Holy cow. No kidding! And you're still alive? Hey, Steve Corman emailed me just yesterday. No. And we're trying to plan a reunion of the 515 Club. Oh my God, that could be a disaster.

When Ron Hatch and I were at the Toot, as we call it, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we were part of a sort of, I hate to use the word elite, sort of like the dregs of the Institute, the ones who couldn't afford to live on campus, and we commuted. And they stuck you in a basement, a dark basement. The bowels of Walker Memorial. Oh, jeez. You remember it well, don't you?

Do I remember it? Yeah. Yeah, we got the education though, Tom. Yes, we did. Yeah. Yeah, we had, we got the education though, Tom. Yes, we did. Yeah. And so we were all members of this so-called five 15 club because we were supposed to be catching the five 15 train. Which we never did because we were playing bridge and we were playing poker. Sleeping on the sofas.

Right. Hey Ron, it's a pleasure to hear from you. Boy, I tell you, I've been listening to you guys and every, you know, when I first heard your show, you know, I heard you laughing, and I said, God, that sounds an awful lot like Tom Magliel. Oh! I said, you know, it's amazing what a degree from MIT and a PhD will do for you.

I mean, you really sunk down a long way. Oh, yeah. Hey, so we... Well, that's great. It's nice to, a little small talk is nice. Let's get down to the important stuff You have a question or not? If not get off That was the alleged reason no, but actually I do have a question yeah I have a 1989 probe. It's got about 150,000 miles on it, of which the last 75,000 have

had a check engine light on. I mean, being the kind of a techno elitist that I am, I couldn't stand to pay somebody $60 to put a voltmeter on it and tell me that it needed an oxygen defibrillator or whatever. So, I mean here I am, I keep asking around, I figure someone will put a voltmeter on it and tell me but no, it's all this big secrecy thing of you know, we have to figure it out and it has to go to the dealer and stuff and so. Well you've proven that it can't have been that important. Right, fifty thousand miles later. Where is La Mesa, in what state? stuff and so well you've proven that it can't have been that important 50,000

miles later where is La Mesa in a what state actually it's in just outside of San Diego La Mesa California yeah now you when you go for your biennial smog Do you pass? Uh, yes. Do you bribe? No, I guess he does. Well, if you pass, that's good. It means it's even less important than we thought. Seventy-five thousand. it's even less important than we thought. 75,000. I mean, it may just have been, I wonder what the probe, the probe. Well, you may have a sensor that's slightly out of spec or you may need an oxygen sensor and the only way to really know, there

are two ways you can know. You could test the oxygen sensor separately and if you had a digital voltmeter you could read the signal that it puts out. Of course he's got a digital voltmeter Oh, yes, of course. I have one in every room. You'd need to know the spec I don't know what it is. Okay, you need to find out if it's putting out the right amount of juice Okay, and if it isn't then you could replace it. Uh-huh on the other hand if it hasn't destroyed the engine 75,000 miles right if you send us 20 bucks, we will send you the Car Talk official black tape, which goes and fits perfectly over that check engine light and will never bother you again. I think that's a great solution. That's

what I would do. Okay. Me too. Okay. Yeah, let us know what melts. Okay. Hey, and email me, will you? I will. Cool. See ya. Thanks for having the great show, guys. Thanks for calling. Bye-bye, Ronnie. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Geez, another one of your... Another self-unemployed... Another classmate of yours that survived. You know when you go to the reunion and they only have like one table? Yeah. For the class of your class. That's it. That's it. You guys are hardly represented. 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Sandra from Panama City, Florida. Hi, Sandra.

How are you? God, we're fine. Pretty good, actually. Well, good. I've got a problem. All right. I drive a little 1984 eighty four mercedes five hundred f l well and when i pull up to a stoplight everybody looks at this car

you know they don't look at the car because it's such a beautiful car they look at it because the breaks are squealing like a stuck pig uh... yes and i don't know what to do i had new break pads put on an october of ninety five and dot long after that they started squealing again and they put all kinds of break dot and so forth on their and when i put a lot of break dot bomb and the breaks would work very well

that they replace the break pads in August of 96. And not long after that, cotton picking things started squealing again. How long did the non-squealing period last? Probably only a couple of weeks. Oh, let me guess. You are a cheapskate. I don't mean that in a bad way, Sandra! And I drive a Mercedes 500 SL, give me a break!

But are you taking this car to the dealer for these brake pads? I'm taking it to the dealer. Oh you're not a cheapskate! No! What are you nuts going to the dealer? I'm a good kid! Yeah you can get squealing brakes for half the price at any place else! You can do this anywhere!

That's probably true. But they keep telling me that the brake pads have glazed over because the German brake pads are softer and all of this. What kind of driving do you do? Do you ride the brakes? No, I do not ride the brakes. You don't drive with two feet? No, no, no.

I drive with only one foot. If you are at a stoplight and you take your foot off the brake, will the car move? Yes. Will it go fast? Well I don't let it move long enough to find out. That is without stepping on the gas. Without stepping on the gas, if you just take your foot off the brake will it really start moving or will it just creep an inch or so? I haven't tried it for long enough to know if it's really... See, one of the ways that brakes get... Glazed over.

Glazed over like this is if the idle speed is too high. So the car is always trying to go. And so you would then have a tendency to have your foot somewhat on the brake, even when you want it to just slow down a little bit and the car just keeps wanting to go. And that explains why I have to apply some fairly firm pressure to keep that car stopped did I put my finger on this one a you might say I might have put my finger on this one but you would think that the fine technicians at your Mercedes dealership would have looked at that well a body would think so wouldn't they yeah yeah I have to turn down that suggests that

they turned down that out well at least that they check it. Check the idol. At least that they check it. What a good suggestion. Either my brother's right, which of course is a one in a four hundred chance of that. Which you would find highly disappointing. I heard that. Yeah. No, I don't.

I can take it. Or they've lost interest in it, in which case I would go to another shop and it's and you should not accept their answer that it's something to do with the with the pads that Mercedes has decided you must have that's that's baloney that's blankie and you can put aftermarket pads in this I mean Bendix Wagner all these companies Beck and Arne Lee Beck honor they all make pads for this car. And any of them might do the job of making the squealing go away, who knows? Okay, I'll try.

Good luck, Sandra. Thank you. See you later. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Hey, you're gonna get some messages, then you're gonna get the new puzzles, so hang around. Matt Wilson spent years doing rounds

at children's hospitals in New York City. I had a clip-on tie. I wore Heelys, size 11. Matt was a medical clown. The whole of a medical clown is to reintroduce the sense of play and joy and hope and light into a space that doesn't normally inhabit. Ideas about navigating uncertainty. That's on the Ted Radio Hour podcast from NPR. What's in store for the music, TV, and film industries for 2025?

We don't know, but we're making some fun, bold predictions for the new year. Listen now to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. Donald Trump promised to change Washington, DC, a place where there's an old saying that personnel is policy. That's why we have created a new podcast called Trump's Terms, where you can follow NPR's coverage of the incoming Trump administration, from his cabinet secretaries to political advisors and top military leaders, to understand who they are, what they believe, and how they'll

govern. Listen to Trump's Terms from NPR. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh to Trump's terms from NPR Plus. Get all sorts of perks across more than 20 podcasts with the bundle option. Learn more at plus dot NPR dot org. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack the Tappert Brothers, and we're here as always to discuss cars, car repair, and I guess the new university entrance exam. Well, it's not actually new.

University entrance exam, not the new university. Not new university. The new university entrance exam. This has probably been in use for many years, it's just we don't know about it. This is the university entrance exam football player version. And here are some of the questions, you see if you can get these right. What language is spoken in France? I think I have a handle on that, yeah.

Question two. Write a dissertation on the ancient Babylonian Empire with particular reference to architecture, literature, law, and social conditions, or give the first name of Pierre Trudeau. Question 12, I'm skipping around here just to cross you out. Can you explain Einstein's theory of relativity? Yes, No. Advanced math. If you have three apples, how many apples do you have? And my favorite, six kings of England have

been called George, the last being George the Sixth. Name the previous five. This explains why many football players are in college today. Yes. Where they should not be. And if it weren't for football, they wouldn't be playing football. That is correct. Well look, without further ado. No, I can hardly wait. It is time for the new puzzle. The long awaited new puzzle. It's been like six months. Have you ever coin tosses something? Are you electing to receive or are you gonna kick? I'm gonna kick. Wow.

Well, you know, the puzzler has been on vacation for two months and whilst it was on its vacation, I labored long and hard to make the first puzzle of the season brilliant, sufficiently obfuscated, thrilling, I've added a new dimension. Thrilling? In addition to folkloric? Yes, folkloric, historic, historic and all that stuff. Challenging. Thrilling! Thrilling. So I added a new dimension. I like it. And I have worked hard and I think this puzzler is up to it. Now that's the good

news. Yeah. The bad news is it took two months to get a puzzler of this quality. Well, I wonder, I mean we've discussed your strategy in the past of whether or not you need, do you come right up with the best you have or do you sort of lead into it slowly so that you have two or three months to get to a reasonably good one? Yeah, no that didn't, that never works. That was no good.

No. Okay, well let us figure it out. You just tell us and we'll let you know where you are on the scale. Okay. But I just want to... We will try not to use our noses. It may be around Christmas before the next real good one comes up because it took two months to come up with this one. Yeah. A customer shows up at the garage the other day, an elderly gentleman who's got an old car, and he says,

gee, my car's really running lousy. I need some of that fuel system additive that you guys sell. And we have this stuff, I don't know who makes it, it's composed of like lizard lips and emu eyebrows and- Aleppo galls. And Aleppo galls and a variety of volatile organic compounds. Oyster shells. Oyster shells. And vinegar.

So I sell him a can of this stuff, which he's going to put into his gas tank. And I'm not really listening. He says, ah, it's running lousy. It's getting terrible mileage. I need to do something. And he says, what do I do with this stuff? And I said, well, you put it in and you fill the tank with gas and you drive it. So he does it.

He said, is this going to help my terrible mileage? He said, the diesel's when I shut it off. He said, I need to do something. I can't afford to really fix it. Will this work? And I say, I don't think so. But he buys it anyway. And off he goes. Several hours later, he calls me up. He says, I've been driving the car all day. He said, as luck would have it, I had a bunch of errands to run, but I've been in stop and go traffic on the highway for the last hour or two. And, and I said, yes, yes. And the car is fixed. He says, well, I don't have any brakes. My brakes are failed. The pedal went down to the floor.

It's being towed in. It won't get there before you close, but you'll find it tomorrow morning. So sure enough, this is thrilling already. It is. Anyway, we arrived the next morning to find his car with the keys under the mat. And I tell one of my guys, check out Ed's car, pull the thing in, but be careful because I think he blew a brake line or something. 20 minutes later, he hands me the keys and he says, it's all fixed. I said, what did you do? He said, I replaced the fuse. And I said, you moron, the guy had no brakes. This is getting better and better.

I'll repeat, I replaced a fuse and the car is fixed. And indeed it was. Wow. Pretty good, huh? Wow. Which fuse did he replace? Which number? And was it?

How did replacing a fuse fix Ed's car? Now if you think you know the answer, just have nothing better to do this week and you want to take a guess, send your answer to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, MA 02238. Now if you prefer you can email us your answer from our website car talk MSN calm Just click on the talk to car talk section and if we choose your answer that You're gonna tell everybody that because no one's heard it for six months All right

I'll do it this once if we choose if we choose your correct answer at random from among all the correct answers You'll get a best of car talk or second best of Car Talk CD, depending on which we have more of. If you'd like to call us, our number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Jeff from Baltimore. Jeff. With a J or a G? With a J.

Yeah, from Baltimore. Uh-huh. What's up? Well, I've kind of a theoretical question. Ah, yeah. I have a 1990 Mazda 626 90 I have to write this down Mazda 6

There is a guy who's been on the radio in the Boston area probably for 50 years and what he does is he has a cooking show and People I've mentioned this before people call him with recipes and he writes them down As they give it to them and repeat everything that they say for example Who is the guy anyway, you know, I think his name is Gus Saunders it could be it could be yeah go ahead So I would call and say Gus. I've got a great recipe for banana bread and he says oh, yeah Let's hear it two cups flour

two cups flour 17 bananas 17 ripe And the show goes on and on like that until you just doze off I mean do not ever listen to this while driving at high speed or operating dangerous machinery He must be a charming guy and he must he must have a tremendous patience. And the people who listen. And a good contract. Anyway Jeff.

Mazda 626. Okay yeah Jeff. So I had a squealing belt. Yeah. And you know I pretty much ignored it. It only happened when i was starting up and maybe sometimes i turned on a c and i lived with it and then of course one day now is that it just got on the highway to drive back from washington to baltimore about thirty highway miles and i heard a thump

and the light came on uh... the the check engine light came on and and i knew right away the belted and broken it was a check belt what is your call like here so i it's a two-part question it's about thirty highway miles could i have driven all the way home yes no uh... well uh...

what do you want to know what what what month was it? What month was it? August. No. Maybe. 9626 may have the timing belt that drives the water pump. Yes, that's what I'm worried about. In which case you may have been able to drive considerable distance as long as the battery held out. So what's the answer? Maybe? The answer is maybe. I know the answer. You want the answer to be made because you drove the whole thirty mile-long he didn't really get the part b part b part b was could i run a c

you did that too you know i was on actually didn't either i pulled over the other there are two things that you have to worry about one is overheating right because if the water pump isn't turning, then you fry the engine. But you would have known... How far did you drive it? Oh, just to the next exit and there was a gas station.

How far was that? How far? Less than a mile. Less than a mile, yeah. And the other thing you have to worry about is having electricity, because as you may know the engine runs on electricity, even though you put gasoline in it. The electricity would have made it because all it's all it's doing is feeding the spark plugs with spark which is very low current drain right as long as you didn't do anything silly like turn on the air

conditioner. Right which represents a big current drain. That's a big current drain but certainly the battery would have lasted for 30 miles. I see. But whether or not it would have overheated, we don't know because we don't know what runs the water pump. So I could have done it and kept an eye on the temperature gauge. On the temperature gauge, correct. Does this car have one big belt or does it have several belts?

I think it has several, but... It has several. So the air conditioner belt may have been intact, but it was the alternator belt that snapped. And it snapped because it was 100 years old. You must have, let me see, 9626, you must have 88,000 miles on this thing. That's exactly right. Yeah, and you never changed the belts.

I don't know. Until the other day. He doesn't know. I did now, yeah. Okay, well, while you're at it, you might want to have someone change the timing belt. Just a suggestion. Oh, I did do that at 60. Oh, you did?

Yes. Was that the right thing to do? That was good that was cool but that was a good question. Okay. That's it. Thanks. Piece of cake. See you Jeff. Okay bye bye. Bye bye. Well it's happened again. What? You've frittered away another 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 associate producer and dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our assistant producer is Katherine Cathrode-Ray. And our soon-to-be departing engineer is Karen, thank you, I've already given. Our technical, spiritual, and menu advisor is John Bugsy, free lunch, Grandpa, Grandpa,

Grandpa Lawler. Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Marjorie Rivera. Our director of new product repair is Warren T. Myfoot. Our staff butler from the Car Talk Mumbai division is Mahatma Kot. Our document security expert from the island of Jamaica is Euripides Uppman. And our Italian governance is Donaday Evalern. Our evasive driving instructor is Vera Bruppley. Our director of moral support is Hugh Deman. Our director of Izuzu Trooper testing is Carl Flip.

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and remember, whatever you do in life, do not, I repeat, do not drive like my brother. Don't drive like my brother. We'll be back next week, thanks for listening, bye bye. And now, with an important announcement, here is Car Talk Plaza's chief mechanic, Mr. Vinnie Gumbatz, Vinnie. All right, now listen up. Just want a copy of this here Car Talk Plaza's chief mechanic, Mr. Vinnie Goombats. Vinnie. All right, now listen up.

If you just want a copy of this here Car Talk Show, which is number 37, here's what you're going to do, all right? You're going to give people the phone number to call, Vinnie? No, I'm just going to sit here until they guess our number, you moron. The number to call is 303-823-8000. And what's the number if you want a Best of Car Talk

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