The Best of Car Talk - #2508: Hungry Water Anyone?

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Ray has theories. None of them are sound, but they all sound good. Find out all about Ray's 'Hungry Water' fallacy 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 Bunker Hill Department here at Car Talk Plaza.

Now, for those of you that don't remember. And didn't learn this in your history class. And weren't there like my brother was. Bunker Hill here in Boston was the site of one of the first major battles of the Revolutionary War. And it was there in the first two waves of that battle That the Americans beat back the British and forced them to capitulate and give up and retreat Which is what our listeners apparently did this week to Mike Dale of Jaguar

Yeah, I leave out the fact that in the third wave the British kicked our butts and burned the whole town fact that in the third wave the British kicked our butts and burned the whole town to the ground. But that's a story for another time. Yeah. I mean, last week you may remember I mentioned that these guys at Jaguar, they've been promising me an XK8 convertible, parenthesis dock blue, which is the replacement to the XJS convertible Jaguar. They've been promising me this since, who knows?

I can't remember when it was. All summer I expected it every, any minute to appear in my driveway and it never did. So I suggested that our listeners might want to remind Jaguar that they had been promising this to me and I gave out the phone number and the fax number of Jaguar cars. You remember Mike Dale, Mike Dale, remember Mike Dale, Mike Dale. Remember Mike Dale, let's not forget that name. Like Hill and. Yeah, as in Hill and Dale.

And he's the president of Jaguar cars NA. North America. No. Not applicable. Not applicable. Not available, more like it. Not available. Jaguar cars Not available.

Jaguar cars, not available. But lo and behold, I get a phone call just a couple of days later from John Bugsy-Waller, who was the one who helps facilitate the delivery of these cars, and he says, it's on the way. And I say, from where? And and evidently from of all places Detroit Oh, yeah, that yeah, that's what they're making them now They probably make them in Flint, Michigan in any event It's as I I guess it's in my driveway as I speak no kidding

Yeah, and and I'm ready to go there and sit in it and go vroom, vroom, vroom. But was there any note of apology or, you know, Dear Tommy, let us say we're sorry this took so long? No, no. I mean, in fact, I'm not even sure that the car came from Jaguar. I mean, maybe one of my neighbors parked it in my driveway by mistake. It's there. I understand.

I have not seen it. So how have you driven it? How can I drive it? I haven't even seen it yet. What do you mean you haven't seen it? I hear through the grapevine that it's sitting in my driveway The grapevine tells me that and I just want to prune the grapevine. You'd be able to see it I just wanted to thank all of the people who took the time to send a note

Or make send a fax to Mike Dale Mike Dale of Jaguar cars, comma, not available. And thank you very much because I may have it now, and I may have to keep it actually for a while because if it doesn't get warm and I can't put the top down, how am I going to evaluate it? You'll have to keep it until the spring. I'll have to keep it until the spring. Sounds good to me. I'm sure Mike won't mind. Why should he mind? I mean, he wants me to evaluate this car for him

Does he not? I think he just gave you the car to shut you up. If by accident he forgot that summer was Rapidly disappearing. Well, I'm gonna have to keep it until next summer Yeah, I mean, of course I make no such demands on any of the auto manufacturers No, because there's nothing you want to drive. You don't really care. You got the Colt Vista. Sure. What do you care? I'm living it up like Don King Anyway, I want to I want to thank everyone seriously everyone who sent either a letter or a fax to Mike Dale I'm sure he appreciated receiving Yes, he did if you'd like to call us about your car or anything else for that matter our number is 1-800-332-9287

Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Cory from Pittsburgh. Cory with a C? Cory with a C. From Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh, PA. Are you on a speakerphone? No, I'm in my office which is a cement block. Is it echoing? Yeah. No, no, not bad. It sounds like you're in the men's role in the last year that i was waiting here a flash uh... uh... well will do our best what's up korey well i have a problem with my uh... eighty-six Volkswagen golf that when i get it up to about now over twenty five miles an hour it makes a

room sound on that the front passenger wheel makes funny noises. Yeah, you have a bad wheel bearing. Bad wheel bearing. It's a growling noise, right? Yeah, it's a growling noise. Like a cement mixer.

Is it like a cement mixer? Like a woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Yeah, you have a bad wheel bearing. You have a bad front wheel bearing. I was afraid I wasn't sure if it was that or maybe a bad CV joint. No, it's a bearing. It's a bearing. Is that something that I can fix myself? No. No. No. No. Well, maybe.

Well, that no, first he thought no, and then he said, well gee, Cory might have a brain. He might, no he doesn't. Well, no, I mean, it is something you can fix yourself, except that you don't have the tools. You probably don't have the tools because you're gonna need a press to get the hub off the bearing, to separate the bearing and the hub,

and then to get the bearing out of the steering knuckle. I see. And I think you'd be well advised to, if you wanted to do part of it yourself, you could. You could buy the bearing. Okay. That would be the part you'd be doing. You could take it down to the local machine shop. With the steering knuckle in your hand, you'd remove the steering knuckle.

That involves unbolting the ball joint, separating the steering knuckle from the tie rod end and from the strut, and then taking the big nut off where the axle goes through the bearing. Okay. And then that whole business will come off right in your hands? Yeah, it's one, two, three, it's six bolts. Okay. Six bolts or nuts. And it'll be obvious when you take off the tire which ones you have to take off. Okay. You take off everything until the piece that's making the noise falls on the street. And then you'll have your car up on a cement block and you go to the machine shop and you say, and they'll install the bearing. Okay.

You don't have to use words. No. I mean, their teachers never told them use your words. They grunt. They'll figure it out. They will press out the bearing and put the new one in. I mean is money that big an issue or you just want to learn how to do it? Well, I have two problems. I don't know whether to curse or bless my grandfather for instilling this in me, but if you have something in our family,

you take good care of it. Yes, good for him. And the other problem is I'm a grad student and I have no money, so if I could do it cheaply and do it myself, that would be great. Well, you would probably save, I would guess, 50 bucks doing this. Yeah, 50 to 100 bucks. Okay. By doing it yourself. That's a couple weeks of groceries.

Exactly right, exactly right. You'll be without the car for maybe a day or two, but you have plenty of time because you're what? A grad student, right? Right. Okay. And by the way, you should do it as soon as you can because this could be dangerous. Okay.

See you, Cory. All right. Thank you very much. Thanks for calling. Bye-bye. Hey, hey, the puzzler answer and more calls are coming up right after this. eBay, things people love. This message comes from Wise, the app for doing things in other currencies. Sending or spending money abroad, hidden fees may be taking a cut. With Wise, you can convert between up to 40 currencies at the mid-market exchange rate.

Visit wise.com. TNCs apply. President Trump is back in Washington, pursuing major policy changes on his own terms. We know from the past that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against the status quo. NPR is covering it all with Trump's Terms, a podcast where we curate stories about the 47th president with a focus on how he is upending the way Washington works. Listen to Trump's Terms from NPR.

Want to know what it's like to play behind the tiny desk? If you've got the talent, we've got the desk. Washington works. Listen to Trump's terms from NPR. their own Tiny Desk concert and a US tour. To learn more visit npr.org slash tiny desk contest. Hey hey hey hey what guess what it's time for? It's time for the answer to last week's puzzle of knowing about the smoke. You're no fun at all. You liked me better when I was stupid, didn't you? Me when? Isn't it because? Anyway, here it is. I left myself wide open. You did.

I did, didn't I? This comes from Jim Warner from Barrington, Ill. Yeah. And he writes, and I read, some years ago, I was putting my 71 BMW 2002 through its paces. Translation, driving like a moron. I think I mentioned that there are many cars to which this could happen, even modern day cars. Yeah.

Why he chose a 71 2002? We don't know. We don't know we don't know Okay, I pulled a very hard left turn Translate that is made a very hard left turn into my utter amazement. So a huge billowing cloud of white smoke behind the car I gasped This was the pre cell phone era and I was in a very rural part of the country and I realized that I had to get back to civilization. So I started the car and listened for noises and I heard none and I began driving home and much to my amazement the smoke cleared up and the car ran okay. Over time, he says, and I quote, and I read, I was emboldened as the incident faded into oblivion. That is until it happened again.

The incident would repeat itself every so often until I finally discovered its cause. And he goes on to say, other than a few routine maintenance items, such as, and this is where all the hints are. I hadn't mentioned that before, such as tune-ups, adjusting the valves and the carburetor, tightening and ever loosening fan belt, and topping off the brake fluid at each oil change, at each oil change, topping off the brake fluid at each oil change.

I did nothing special to the car, topping off the brake fluid at each oil change. The question is what was causing the smoke? And of course I had mentioned the hints are all embedded in the story. Yes, you did say the hints are embedded throughout. Yes, and if you were listening carefully, the fact that he drove like a moron and was driving a BMW did help it. And he was adding brake fluid.

At every oil change. I may have mentioned. You did mention that. At every oil change. So there'd be no logical reason for you to add brake fluid at every oil change unless you were what? Losing brake fluid.

Yes, but he didn't see any brake fluid going, he saw no spots in the ground, he didn't really notice much degradation in the in the pedal, otherwise would have been in his story. Of course. He was losing brake fluid out the back seal of the master cylinder and where was that brake fluid going? Into the vacuum. Manifold. Well, eventually, ultimately, but into the power break booster. Yep. And it was a big puddle of fluid in there and when he drove like a nut the fluid would slosh around, some of it would get sucked into the intake manifold. Yes. And get combusted making the white cloud of smoke. Yes. And of course, it was sort of oil. Then

it wouldn't happen for a while because why? There'd be no puddle of... He was out of brake fluid. Brake fluid in there and he'd, you know, over time, it would... Sort of oil. Then it wouldn't happen for a while because why? There'd be no puddle of... He was out of brake fluid. Brake fluid in there and he'd... You know, over time again it would leak and of course he'd continue to replenish it. And the puddle would build up and then he'd go out and drive like a nutcase again and... Again. Gee, that's good. I like it.

I thought you would. Do we have a winner? Yes! The winner is Jan Wolitsky from Madison, New Jersey, who I assume was a female. And for having her answer chosen at random from all the correct answers which we received. Jan is gonna win one of our brand new wonderful beautifully designed Car Talk Sistine Wrench t-shirts. This is just like the one that Michelangelo drew on the Sistine Chapel except that there's an adjustable wrench in the in one of the hands which I presume is the hand of God and I see it as God handing off the adjustable wrench oh no see I

see it it's just the opposite I see the mechanic handed the wrench to God so he can fix stuff fix everything, fix the world, fix this mess you made down here well Jan congratulations you will get this in the mail you'll get the one size which we have which is super extra large. And you'll have it just in time for spring. Yeah. Spring's right on the corner. Anyway, we'll have a new puzzler.

Brand new. Wait, she might get this t-shirt about the time that Mike Dale gets his Jaguar back. Right. There you go. We have a new puzzler coming up in the second half of today's show, so don't touch that dial. Not an exciting new puzzler coming up in the second half of today's show, so don't touch that dial. Not an exciting new puzzler or a... no. Alright, that was an embarrassing question and I retract it. You'd like to...

Innocent question, but not innocently asked. In the meantime, we'll take your calls at 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Jim Davis. I'm calling from the chemical laboratories in the basement, the sub-basement of Car Talk Plaza. Jim, baby! Professor Jim... How you doing, guys? Professor Jim Davis, we have to tell some of the people who may not know, is the official

Car Talk chemist. And he moonlights by occasionally teaching at that that what is that little school up the street there w g u world's greatest at the world's greatest university otherwise known as harvard right or is not a partial i say homily holler we're fighting fiercely thank you now so what do you want them the car broke down again

i understand that somebody called in last week and wanted to talk about distilled water versus tap water for rating. Oh yes! And also that Ray came up with some fascinating new theory of hungry water that I'd like to hear about. I can tell. I didn't come up with this. We received some months or years ago. Let's go back to the call. The call was from a guy who wanted to know should I put distilled water in my radiator instead of tap water?

I said, gee, I don't see how it could hurt. Sounds like a jolly good idea. Sounds like a good idea to me. My brother immediately leaps in and says, ah! He said, we got a letter or something from someone a long time ago that said distilled water is hungry water it's distilled because it doesn't have any minerals in it and so it's looking for minerals it wants them and it's hungry water it's pulling so it's gonna suck it's gonna suck the steel right out of the block there you

go well let's see if we can sort this out here um... just i don't think distilled water could hurt a radiator but i also don't think it makes much difference in a modern radiator if you had one of these old jobs that uh... blows steam all the time and you constantly have to refill it while you would have a problem with mineral build up from tap water. But if you've got a modern radiator that's fairly well sealed and seldom, if ever, needs to be topped off with tap water,

then it really is not going to make much difference. Don't forget it's not just in contact with the metal of the radiator, but it's also in contact with the engine. Right. With the cast iron and the aluminum. Yeah, but now in a radiator you don't just have water do you? Don't you also put coolant which contains antioxidants precisely to prevent that from happening. Yes you do. And that process is going to happen or not happen without regard to whether the water is distilled or tap water. But I tell you about this other thing the hungry water business for minerals to get dissolved in order for

the metal itself to get into the water it would have to be oxidized and once again that's where your antioxidants are supposed to prevent it. But as the antifreeze wears out and it becomes less oxidized. Well you do have to change drain it and refresh it periodically don't't you? Well, yeah, you do, yeah. Yeah, yeah, you do. I mean, but what if you did not change it? The question is, would the distilled water be more likely to dissolve the block?

Right. What if there were no antifreeze? What if you had just plain old distilled water? Well, both distilled water and tap water would very quickly start rusting the innards of your radiator and whatever else it touches in there. But would the distilled water do it faster because it has more room? No, not really. It's more hungry! It really depends on the oxidation.

Ah, geez, Jim. It really depends on the oxidation. So have you ever heard the expression hungry water before, Jim? No, I've heard of heavy water. I've heard of that too. And poly water, which turned out to be absolute nonsense, but hungry water, I got to go back to the lab. We can do that. Well, I wish you'd give this a little more thought.

This is another one of those theories. Now I will admit that in this case my brother did not invent the theory, but my brother is somewhat famous for presenting theories which sound so good. I'll tell you the letter would be C. And in the ultimate analysis are complete bull feathers. Well the letter sounded so authoritative. We have no evidence that there ever was a letter. Well. I mean you may well have.

It wasn't a letter in the traditional sense. I mean like pen on paper. It wasn't like a dream? It was like a dream sequence But it sounded so good that Jim could have even been the the theoretician and himself Well, I mean it was it was interesting enough that we had to resort to Jim. Yeah. Yeah Well, I thank you for the reference. Well, I do appreciate it. Thank you a million times Even though you didn't corroborate what I feel strongly about, I still admire your courage, your honesty.

You're most welcome. See you later. Thanks a lot, guys. See you later. We'll never call you again. 1-800-332. Hungry one on my foot. You gotta admit.

Oh, sure. Now you're encouraged by Jim's testimony. Hungry one on my foot! You gotta admit! You, you, no sure! Now you're encouraged by Jim's, by Jim's testimony. You weren't so quick to indict me last week! I was not! I absolutely, because why? It sounded so good! And the truth is that's all it's gonna do is sound good.

It doesn't really have to be true. Most things can't be proven. I mean... And if it sounds good, it's good enough. Pawns and Fleischman? They sounded good? And they may yet be good? They may it sounds good, it's good enough. Horns and Fleischmann? They sounded good, and they may yet be good. Don't count them up.

They're still getting money, I'll forget. That's all that really matters. That's all that really counts? We'll be right back with more calls and the new puzzler after these messages. Are you the greatest musician the world has never heard? Unsigned artists, now's your opportunity to play the Tiny Desk. Enter the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest, our nationwide search for the next undiscovered star. The winner will play a Tiny Desk concert and a U.S. tour. To learn more, visit npr.org slash tiny desk contest.

Here's some news that really stinks. Garbage is responsible for 20% of planet warming methane emissions. That's why all week, here and now, is looking at ways people are cutting back on waste. Robot dogs hiking landfills, textile recyclers melting down old clothes, dumpster divers scoring big, and builders deconstructing homes instead of demolishing them. You can hear all that by following our podcast. It's called Here and Now, Anytime. Technologist Paul Garcia is using AI to create photos of people's most precious memories.

How her mother was dressed, the haircut that she remembered. We generated tens of images and then she saw two images that was like, that was it. Ideas about the future of memory. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. This message comes from the Kresge Foundation. Established 100 years ago, the Kresge Foundation works to expand equity and opportunity in cities across America. A century of impact, a future of opportunity. More at kresge.org. Hi, we're back.

You're listening to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack the Tapper Brothers, and we're here to discuss cars, car repair, and yet another great theory. Before we even start. Hungry water? I predict that Jim Davis will be calling us back in a few weeks with his tail between his legs saying, geez guys. I got a hundred and fifty phone calls and emails from Nobel laureates all over the world saying, Jim you never heard ofry Water? That's my prediction. Where have you been? That's my prediction. I may be wrong, and I probably am, but it just sounds so good. It feels so right, doesn't it?

Hungry Water. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Go ahead. This is from Joel Newman. Snap it up, will ya? I gotta let you close it.

One morning I was driving my brand new Honda Civic down the interstate en route to Charlotte the out the Charlotte Autofare listening to Weekend Edition on public radio Weekend Edition ended and your show came on since I was not yet thoroughly familiar with my new car I was reluctant to fiddle with the dashboard knobs while driving at highway speeds thus I did not change the station during your show a woman called to say that she had dented her car and then allowed her husband to believe that someone else had done it. I remember it well. She asked... Volkswagen, bus, Vanagon. Vanagon, yeah. She asked if she should confess to her husband. You said no. Later in the conversation, it came

out that her husband was a car talk listener and she planned a ruse to prevent him from hearing her conversation with you. With that additional information you changed your answer and told her to confess. Yes. I remember that too. When you think you're going to be caught, confess. I assume for the purpose of the discussion that follows that you were correct on both counts that the answer to her question in the abstract was no, but the answer to the very same question when asked out loud was yes.

Aha. I think that you have stumbled upon an important new principle. Why stumble? You are probably familiar with Heisinger's uncertainty principle. Heisinger's? No, who's? Heisinger's. Who's the guy that owns Blockbuster? Heisinger's, no, who's, Heisinger's, who's the guy that owns the blockbuster?

Heisinger! The Heisinger, the Heisinger. Werner Heisenberg. He says Heisinger. Heisinger's good, maybe there's another one. It is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle that certain aspects of some atomic particles cannot be measured accurately, for the very process of measurement changes the particles. There you go. I believe that you have discovered a related principle.

In Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, the very act of measurement changes the measurement. In the phenomenon which you so elegantly demonstrated on the radio, the very act of asking a question out loud changes the answer to the question. I propose that you call your principal the Maliazzi-Ignoramus principle. Snobbs who enjoy dropping terms like that will be attracted by the Italianate Maliazzi followed by the Latinate Ignoramus. I predict that this new principle will have many valuable applications, particularly in the field of politics. I congratulate you on your addition to the store of human knowledge, Joel Newman, Winston Salem, North Carolina.

The very act of asking a question out loud changes the answer to the question. Oh, absolutely. We've been mipped. Mipped? My Yahtzee in your hamster. Well, think about it, man. I have been thinking about it, and we'll move right on to the puzzler. Some time ago I used a puzzler regarding who was responsible for radios being introduced into cars. Yeah. And in fact, this radio was called the Motorola,

and it was first suggested, and in fact, manufactured and sold. Don't get me, no, Ted Turner. Who stood outside the Ford plant with Jane Honda, or was it the Honda plant with Jane Ford? It was too close. It was Bill Lear. Yeah, that's it, I know know. However he invented many things but

he invented something else which was popular on cars of the 70s. In fact many cars, in fact the car I owned had one, maybe even a car you owned had one. It was something you would find in the dashboard, but you hardly ever see on cars anymore. No kidding. Well, you might see it on an older car. A 70s car. Maybe a 70s car. Somebody came up with a nice 73 Torino.

But a modern car doesn't have this thing, whatever it is. That's right, this invention of Mr. Lear. This one of his inventions, which could be the Lear Jet, which you wouldn't find in the dashboard of any car. I found it. And if you did, you'd been in deep doo-doo.

Now if you think you know the answer or just have nothing better to do than to take a guess, send your answer to Puzzler Tower, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Our Fair City, Math 02238. Or if you prefer, even if you don't prefer, you can email us your answer from our website, which is cartalk.msn.com. Just click on the Talk to Car Talk section. And if we choose your correct answer at random from among all the correct answers, you'll get a Car Talk Sistine Wrench T-shirt. And when you get that shirt, you'll see that we've now done

to fine art what we've been doing to NPR all these years. If you'd like to call us, our number is 1-800-332-9287. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hello, gentlemen. This is Kim in Raleigh, North Carolina. Kim. Kim! Yes.

How are you? Just great, how about you? Not bad, not bad. Good. Raleigh, North Carolina. Kim! Kim! Yes! How are you? Great, how about you? Not bad, not bad. Good. Raleigh, North Carolina. Yes, sir. Is that the home of Jesse Helms? Unfortunately so. Can we talk about him for just a minute? Don't go there. No, no, I mean, the world wants to know. I mean, Jesse Helms is the guy who Determines who will be the ambassador to various countries of the world among Jesse Helms. Yes, sir Are you proud of that? No, I am not well There must be enough people in North Carolina who are proud of that fact because they keep electing the guy

I wish somebody would point them out to me because... See every time we get a call from North Carolina I ask about Jesse Helms and everyone who calls us says oh I didn't vote for him well who the heck did? The ones that have the guns. What is it with this guy? Assault weapons. I mean I don't know the guy but it just seems... Well there must be something wonderful about him that we don't know. Well we don't know the guy, but it just seems... Well, there must be something wonderful about him that we don't know. Well, we don't know it either. Everything that has a front has a back. And there must be some wonderful stuff that he does that we are just not aware of.

I mean, I guess if you're growing tobacco in your backyard, and you want someone to help you to do that then he's the guy to know Okay, sure. Oh, you don't try to smoke the stuff Anyway Kim now that we've gotten you all riled up. Yeah What's up? I have a 91 Subaru legacy wagon. I just recently purchased from my mother Just recently I've noticed a... annoying underneath the front driver side wheel i'll give you the north of

cut cut cut cut cut and first gear i push in the clutch and then it's violent then second gear it's cut cut cut cut you know get faster and faster as i you know accelerate while pushing in the clutch it's gone yes sure but then in fifth or fourth gear You don't hear it. Yeah. Yeah, I first thought it was something wrong with the tire It sounded like some something was caught in the tire or somebody was underneath the hood banging you were so close Somebody's underneath the hood banging

Seven or eight inches away This car I'm gonna guess this car has about 88,000 miles on it. More. 117,000 miles on it. Sure. That's what I thought. With my job I drive a lot. You need to replace the axle.

The noise is coming from the left front wheel, the driver's side front wheel. Yes sir. That's the axle you need to replace. The axle. It's a front wheel drive car, so the axle is the thing that brings the actual you need to replace the actual it's a front-wheel-drive car So the axle is the thing that brings the power from the transmission to the wheel Okay And since the wheels bounce up and down it has to have a way to sort of flex right and the things that makes it Rotate and flex at the same time is this thing called a constant velocity joint and when it goes, you know

What sound it makes? And when it goes, you know what sound it makes? Cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck. And it'll make it worse under the greatest amount of load. So that when you're accelerating in first and second and really trying to overcome the inertia of the car. Right. You know, the body at rest tending to stay at rest. Yeah. It'll make its most noise.

And when you're at 45 or 50 miles an hour. It's not working so hard. It's not working. It's not undergoing as much stress. Okay. Yeah. It's going to break. In fact, on the way to the shop, it'll break. But if it breaks, you won't die. How long ago did you buy this car from your mom? I bought it a year and a half ago. Oh, wow. The last two cars, I've forgotten to add one major

ingredient. Oil? Yes, sir. Lack of... Oh, yeah. It brings up another question though, which is if you buy a car from your mother, a woman who gave you life itself... Oh, no. Do you have any right to complain about anything? And even more than that, when she offers to sell it to you, should you treat her like any other seller? And go by caveat emptor? Well, I had to sign a contract that I would take care of this car. Oh sure, so she puts the blame on you! Yes! But why would she make you... why would she care if you took care of it?

Because Kim has a bad reputation. Exactly! But isn't it in Kim's best interest to take care of the car issue? Yes, but Kim is a flaco! Hey! Come on! Kim is a wonderful person, but she can't seem to remember little things like putting oil in the engine. Kim, you sound like a schoolteacher. No, no, I work for Levi Strauss, Incorporated.

Ah, you don't work for Jesse Helms. No, no, no Oh, I'll do tobacco in this 3829 Isn't it supposed to be like 3824 my measurements. The only two that... Oh no, I wasn't guessing hers. Oh, geez. Okay. See you, Kim. Thanks, Kim. Thanks, gentlemen. I appreciate your help. Bye. Bye-bye. I mean, I thought it was a bad idea to do business with someone in your family. I mean, would you buy a car, like, from your sister? No. Well, anyway, it's happened again. You've squandered another hour listening to car talk.

Our esteemed producer is Doug the subway fugitive, not a slave to fashion. Well, that's an understatement, isn't it? Berman, our associate, give new meaning to the word wrinkled. Our associate producer and Dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our assistant producer is Crystal Ray and our engineer is John Marsden, our technical and spiritual advisor. And now, right from the Grand Ole Opry, it's Crystal Ray! And our spiritual and technical advisor is Mr. John S. Lawler. Our public opinion pulter is Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Margin

O'Vara. Our director of new product repair is Warren T. Myfoot. Our staff butler from the Car Talk Mumbai division is Mahatma Kot. From the New Delhi office, our blues coordinator is Mahamadhan Tolmi. Mahamadhan Tolmi. Mahamadhan Tolmi. Yeah, you get it. I know. Our document security expert from the island of Jamaica is Euripides Uppman. Co-chairs of the Car Talk building department are Norman Naylor and Maureen Stapleton. Our evasive driving instructor is Vera Bruppley. Our director of moral support is Hugh Deman.

The chairman of the Federal Lubrication Board is Alan Griespan. And our Leo Tolstoy biographer, staff Leo Tolstoy, biographer is Warren Pease, author of Leo Tolstoy Biographer, staff Leo Tolstoy Biographer is Warren Peace, author of Leo Tolstoy by Warren Peace. Our chief counsel from the law firm of Dewey, Cheatham and Howe is Hugh Lewis Dewey, known under the benches and on the benches of Harvard Square as Dewey, Dewey, Dewey. Thanks so much for listening. We're clicking clack the tappet brothers and whatever you do, don't ever drive like my brother.

We'll be back next week. Oh my son. Bye bye. Oh more importantly, like my brother. We'll be back next week. All my son. Bye bye. Oh, more importantly, like our sister. Don't ever drive like our sister. There are trees that run and hiding when she comes down the street to go home. And now, with an important announcement, here is Car Talk Plaza's chief mechanic, Vinnie Gumbaz. Alright now listen up, you know, if you just want a copy of this week's Car Talk Show,

which happens to be number 40, here's what you gotta do, alright? Alright, you're gonna now give the phone number, Vinnie number Vinny is that no I'm gonna do some Gilbert and Sullivan you moron the number to call is 303-823-8000 and what's the number if you want a best of car talk CD or other car talk things you think you could shut up for like 10 more seconds for car talk CDs cassettes t-shirts etc You call 303-823-8000 or you visit our shameless commerce division at cartalk.msn.com. Now you got anything to add to that Mr. Radioman? No, I'm fine. Good. Car Talk is a production of Dewey, Cheetah, and Howe and WBUR in Boston. And even though Al Gore calls from the White House to complain every time he

hears us say it, this is NPR National Public Radio.