The Best of Car Talk - #2532: We Few, We Happy Few

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

In auto repair, as in all great endeavors, little is gained without sacrifice(preferably, someone else's). Click and Clack cajole a couple of car owners to join their merry band of car-wrecking-brothers 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

Hey, it's Amartinez. Even as the host of a news show, it can be hard to keep up with the headlines. That is why we make the Up First Podcast. Every morning in under 15 minutes, we cover three major stories with context and analysis from reporters around the world. So you can catch up on lo que esta pasando while getting ready, making desayuno, or going to work. So listen to the Up First podcast from NPR. Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us clicking clack the tapper brothers and we're broadcasting this week from the Department of Civility here at Car Talk Plaza. Read the letter will you, you jerk! Well it's more than civility actually this is from Tom Burke B-O-U-R-Q-U-E

Bork I would say. Bork. Yeah. Dear Whozits. Rhymes with a Jork. Dear Whozits, I've just read a bunch of letters sent to you guys and I noticed that almost without exception, the letter writers insulted you. He noticed that. I think that is mighty rude of them, so I'd like to address a few words to those mean-spirited letter writers. Dear mean-spirited letter writers? Just because it's true, do

you tell your spouse that he or she is fat and ugly? Just because it's true, do you tell your boss that he's a moron? Just because it's true, do you look at yourself in the mirror and say you must be the most pathetic, worthless human being on the planet? Of course not! Right. So why pick on Tom and Ray? Right. Right! Just because they are in no position to poison

your pancakes, downsize your job out of existence, or force you to commit suicide, is no reason to be rude to these ridiculous idiots. This is backhanded, here. They deserve to be treated with the same silent contempt as judges and police officers. Save your cruel remarks for those who asked for it. Politicians. Tom and Ray may be stupid and obnoxious, but that is no reason to throw it in their faces. How about a little civility? There, I feel better. Well, that's very kind words. Thank you, Tom. You're a sweet, sweet man. Yes, and compassionate, understanding, empathetic, and a real jerk. Let me get that part again. Get this, Tom and Ray may be stupid and obnoxious. He didn't say are, may be. That's the best we've ever gotten! Maybe. You may be a moron!

Well, it introduces an element of doubt. I feel honored. That's like the review we got. I feel warm and fuzzy now. Our little bluegrass band played at a benefit one time, and we're not the most accomplished musicians. No, we're not the most accomplished musicians but no we're not but the review we got in the newspaper was that we quote weren't half bad we were thrilled

we thought we were all bad I framed that I have it up my wall not half bad he called me up right away did you read that So I think we have made great strides in the last few years. At least we all start at the same time and we end at the same time. What goes on in the middle is still up for grabs. You have to take one step at a time. You gotta take one step at a time. If you have a question about your car, we'll take one step at a time in trying to solve it.

Our number is 1-888-CAR-TALK. That's triple eight double two seven eight two double five. Oh, eighty two double five. Hello, you're on Car Talk. our number is 1-888-CAR-TALK, that's 82827825. Oh, 8255, hello, you're on Car Talk. This is Kevin in Tallahassee. Kevin. How you doing? Do we know you, Kevin? Have we spoken to you before?

I don't believe you have, but I've been on your website since it started out. Ah, that's where we met you. Yeah, I saw you there. It could be a virtual meeting. It could be. What's shaking? Well, I got the 91 Isuzu pickup truck. And I had replaced the O2 sensor some months ago.

And the O2 sensor light would not go off. And I talked to mechanics, I tried the manual, I tried following the instructions that were with the new sensor because I did it myself. Oh, because the sensor light has nothing to do with the sensor. Yeah, it's actually something else. Yeah. And I can't find any manuals anywhere that tell me what that something else is. Because you don't have the secret handshake. You don't have the decoder book.

Oh no. The jockey guide book. The jockey guide book. So there you are driving your Isuzu and you probably have reached some multiple of 30,000 miles recently. That would be 60. Nope it's got 115,000. Oh wow okay that's a multiple of 30. Somewhere is a multiple of 30. But it hadn't come on before this No, it hadn't come on before that's broken then Okay, what makes the light come on for most cars that have some kind of a maintenance reminder light? I was called is is mileage, right?

It's not telling you that there was anything wrong with the o2 sensor, but you ran out and replaced it didn't you? Mm-hmm. I sure did Well, it was probably not a bad thing to do although in theory oxygen sensors can last forever because they have no moving parts. Well in theory so can we but we don't. Well you have, my brother has no moving parts for sure. So anyway what happened is at some point the odometer tripped this thing and turned the light on, and now you have to find the reset button.

And on some cars, and I don't know what it is on this Azuzu, there's a button under the dash. Some cars there's a wire you have to unplug. Some cars have a wire you have to cut, or something somewhere buried behind one of the kick panels. And if you were to go to your suzu dealer They probably wouldn't divulge its whereabouts probably not no, but for 50 bucks. They'll turn off the light now for 2995 we can set you a roll of click and clack oxygen sensor black tape

This is a much much more cost-effective way of dealing with this problem. If I knew exactly where it was, I would tell you, but I can't. I'm sworn to secrecy. I couldn't possibly tell you. I tell you what, if you email us, I will look it up in the locator and I will email you back. Okay. How's that?

I'll do that. All right, cool Thanks guys, and if you if you don't hear from us called Doug Berman at his house 617 yeah, what is the rest of my four seven five four seven? I forgot I forgot it's the five four no six six seven eight four five Okay, there you go Kevin. Thanks. Alright man, good luck. See you now. Bye bye. And call him late, late at night.

He never sleeps. No, no. He loves to get calls, he loves to get calls two, three o'clock in the morning. Okay, about Eastern time I think. Anytime. There's Eastern, Western, you name it. Use whatever clock you want and he'll be there. Like if you're in like, you're in Japan and you like Japan and get the urge to call them. Go for it

Okay, see you later Kevin Evil yeah, what is it about guys that makes them evil a woman would never do that to another woman to another woman to anybody They would say that's not funny guys guys could take a joke. Yeah, well some They would say that's not funny guys guys can take a joke. Yeah, well some By and large the lines, that's right. Why are large guys? You know why they can take a joke because they know Fund a bag how funny it is from the other side exactly because men have empathy and women don't right It's as simple as that. I guess that's what it boils down to. Yeah, boy. Oh boy. We feel we happy Yeah, so you want to sleep in my garage tonight, or shall I sleep in your garage?

I'll be over. Oh boy, oh boy, oh. One 888 Car Talk, that's one triple eight double two seven eight two double five. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Susan from Burlington North Carolina hi Susan Burlington North Carolina which part of North Carolina is Burlington in it's near Greensboro not too far from Chapel Hill gotcha yeah yeah yeah yeah we know where it is there's a Burlington in every state just

about in the United States just about yeah, yeah. No one knows that. No. I agree. I think you might be right. I doubt it. Anyway, Susan, why did you call us today? I called in regard to my 91 Ford Explorer. Yeah?

I'm calling in regard to a whoosh. When I start the car up in the morning in my garage,'d back up and i put the car in drive and i start going down my driveway which is night and straight fairly long driveway suburban driveway and it sounds like the car is getting ready to take off like a jet airplane well who who

who it's more or less or or would you call it a roar? A roar. A jet engine roar. It's almost a roar. Almost. It could be classified as a roar. Yeah. Well, I'm going to tell you, we could stumble around with this for a long time, but the other day I was in the library at the shop.

Yeah. And I get all these magazines, not those magazines, I get these Motor Age and all these motor magazines, all these motorhead magazines. Right. And they're full of service tips and technical service bulletins and whatever. And there I am sitting down reading one of these articles about the roar from explorers. No kidding!

Do all explorers have roars? And everyone thought you were wasting time, and then you were learning something that was going to be useful to you just a few days later. Just a few days later. How fortunate. And what it is, what the roar is, is a faulty fan clutch. You know, this thing has a fan, like cars of yesteryear have, that's driven by the engine, that cools the air, that cools the radiator, pulls air into the radiator and cools off

the coolant. And this thing has a clutch on it, a thermostatically controlled clutch, except that these are faulty. So that the thing is turning at full speed when the engine first starts, within a few seconds of its starting and it shouldn't be and that's what makes the roar because it does it does kick out it seems to me that it's doing it as I accelerate and then as I get up to speed it kicks out yeah it will well it kick it doesn't really kick out it gets subsumed the noise gets diminished because of all the other noises that are around you. And I have heard other explorers do the same

thing. You start the thing up and it sounds like you're at the airport. Exactly. Taxing for the takeoff. Exactly. And it's the fan clutch. Well is that an easy thing to replace? Well you don't even have to. I mean if it really bothers you, yeah there is a new fan clutch which doesn't have this defect which you can get from your Ford dealer. But if I can live with the Roar... If you can live with the Roar, you can leave it alone. If I were really on top of things, I would tell you the technical service bulletin, but

I don't. You didn't file that away. I'd know. But it's probably going to cost a few hundred bucks to replace it. I can live with the Roar. But if you can live with the Roar the few below but the war and spend the two hundred bucks on a dinner somewhere fancy restaurant why not i could live with the roar

yet you choose to what what would you spend the two hundred bucks on this is in between guys and gals the guy would buy a talk rich and five cedar all of these probably already have a torque wrench. And five cigars. Well, we probably already have a torque wrench. So I'd have to buy some clothes, I guess. Clothes. Yeah, I know it.

A dress, I figured. What can I say? Yeah, well, that's okay. See, now my wife would probably buy me a gift. Yeah, right. With the 200 bucks. You think so? No.

Not really. Not gonna happen. Live with the noise, Susan. It's okay. I feel much better. All right. See you later. Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Hey, hey. More calls are coming up right after this. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things and other currencies. With WISE, you can send, spend, or receive money across borders, all at a fair exchange rate. No markups or hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply. The scary new movie Sinners from the director of Black Panther finds Michael B. Jordan playing twin brothers. It's got vampires, it's got great music, and it's a fun one to see with a big crowd. This is the most excited I've been about a movie

in a very long time. We'll tell you why you should see Sinners on the biggest screen you can. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. At NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, we sort through a lot of television, and we've found some recent TV comedies we really like that you don't want to miss. And we'll tell you where to watch them in one handy guide. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR.

Having news at your fingertips is great, but sometimes you need an escape. And that's where Shortwave comes in. We're a joy-filled science podcast driven by wonder and curiosity that will get you out of your head and in touch with the world around you. Listen now to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. 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 cars, car repair, and an application for residency. Now, we should point out. I'm going to point it out right now. I didn't write this. I don't know anything about it.

I don't even know who it came from. Blame it on the internet however you have bad enough taste to read All right, here's an application for residency, and I won't mention the state because we'll let them figure it out for themselves I mean I suppose if you live well if you can answer the questions, then you know what you're So I will not mention the name of the state and I will not mention who sent me this but I You're right. I do have the bad taste to at least read it and here it is Okay first Name And this is this is not that you fill in these are all multiple choice

Your name has to be one of these. Name. You check off Billy Bob, Billy Joe, Billy Ray, Billy Sue, Billy May and Billy Jack. Check appropriate box it says. Age, sex, shoe size, occupation. Check off the appropriate box. Farmer, mechanic, hairdresser,ed. That's the only choice you get. Yeah, how about Vice President? Was that one of the other things? Uh, do you own or rent your mobile home? That's good. Oh, you might as well jump in with both. I want everyone to know that I have nothing to do with this. Let me see what else I... Here's one one number of times you have seen a UFO.

Number of times you have seen Elvis. That's it. I look, stop before my brother gets us in further trouble by naming a state. No, I'm not going to do that. You have a few in mind, don't you? Yes, I do. Yeah, well, I won't let you say anything. All right, 1-888-CAR-TALK, that's 1-888-227-8255.

How's that? All digits. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Rob from Arizona. Rob? Yes. Are you like statewide Rob? Yes, actually I run a hang gliding shop in Arizona. That's what happens. So you're everywhere in Arizona.

I'm the entire state. No kidding. You're hang gliding. From Arizona, it's good enough for us. If it's good enough for the IRS, it's good enough for us. Okay. Yeah. I've got an AE7 F-150 with a 460 out of a 74 Lincoln in it. Really?

Really. Yeah. I've been having an enormous problem with oil consumption. And it doesn't matter how much an enormous problem with oil consumption and it doesn't matter how much motor honey I put in it. I put in as many as three or four containers at one time. Do they still sell motor honey? Oh yeah. Oh sure. Are you kidding?

In various brands, you know, they all call it different stuff. All right, but you know, you put this thick, viscous amber. Right, and it doesn't change the oil consumption at all. Yeah, well that tells us something okay, and See I I know that the engine doesn't smoke because I I literally ride behind my truck On a regular basis towing up hang gliders, and so your theory is that you're not burning oil well that's my theory yeah okay give us the chronology here when was this 460 put into the f-150 before I had it and it's been burning it's been consuming oil at some great rate ever since you've had it it happened all of a sudden what's the rate to two quarts per tank. So two quarts per say 300 miles?

Yes. So that translates to a quart every 150 miles. That's a lot. That's a lot. It's a lot, but it's not enough to be seen by the casual observer. In order to see billowing smoke come out the tailpipe you're gonna be burning a quart in 50 miles. Trust me I know this. And when you start burning a quart every like hundred or more miles it becomes very very difficult to actually stand

there and watch watch the stuff coming out the tailpipe. It's invisible. Really? Alright, have you checked for oil leaks? Yes, yes. I checked for oil leaks and I eliminated a lot of oil leaks. So it's not ending up on the floor anymore. And then I had the compression checked and the compression's real good.

Then I said, well, it's got to be going past the valve guides. No, no. I had the valve guide seals replaced. Oh, you did have. Well, here's the deal. There are only a few places where it can go. Number one, you could be burning it, which we think you are. You could be leaking it, which you think you're not. You could be somehow having it disappear and get mixed in with the coolant. Sucked into various places, yeah. I would have to guess that you're burning it. Yeah, me too. Okay. And the remedy for you is a ring job. I think we lost him. Okay.

No, you didn't lose him. No, no, you just didn't give me the answer I wanted to hear. No, we know that. I know. Now, we would be remiss if we didn't tell you about another possible solution to this problem which involves... Which involves drilling kerosene. We discussed this just a few weeks ago on the show because someone called and asked

us about it. But there is a theory extant among certain aficionados of engines that says that the reason that you're burning oil and by the way the reason that your compression is good is because the oil rings and the compression rings are two separate things so you can have great compression and lousy oil consumption and the reason that that's happening is that the oil rings are all crudded up and not they don't no longer have the little Springiness that they should have to push out against the cylinder walls and the purpose of that ring is that when the piston is at the top of the stroke and

Oil has been sprayed all over the cylinder walls that as that piston Descends in the cylinder that ring scrapes the oil off and dumps it back into the pan so it doesn't get combusted by the hot gases that it would encounter otherwise. Now the theory is that if you could somehow loosen up this ring, you could make the oil burning stop abated enough. And how would you do that you say? Well the theory is... You'll notice that I remain silent. And I have to say that I'm not necessarily recommending this I'm just making you aware that the theory exists. When it's down two quarts instead of putting in two quarts of oil you put in two quarts of kerosene

Not that real refined stuff This is ten cents a gallon You pour it into the engine into the engine where you would normally put the oil and fire her up fire her up And you let it run for how long well as long as it takes to blow up There's a lot of controversy about how long? Well, as long as it takes to blow up. Okay, and then, with that blown away engine... There's a lot of controversy about how long. Well, you certainly don't want to really drive it. No, you don't want to drive it. Because I don't think you want to impose a load on it.

If it starts knocking while doing anything else that sounds bad, shut it right down! Actually, when we discussed this, we got tons of email from people, about half of whom said I tried that and it wrecked my engine too, and the other half said it works. I'm in the half, by the way, where it wrecked my engine and it did not work. Like all wacko theories, the reason they have survived is because once in a while, it works. You could be one of them, Ron. Okay, or it could destroy my engine. Or it could destroy the engine. And you're almost at the point where it doesn't matter what happens to your engine. It works you could be one of them All right could destroy the engine you're almost at the point where it doesn't matter what happens to your engine isn't that true

Yeah, well I would wait until you get desperate I would wait until The smoke is very visible and you have to do something and then you'll have nothing to lose trying the kerosene But bear in mind maybe too late then yeah, you might want to strike while there's still a chance You might want to try one quarter of kerosene instead of two. One quarter kerosene, run it for a while? Well, I would say a few hours. A few hours? Minutes. Minutes I meant. No, I'd run it for, with a four to one ratio of oil to kerosene, I'd run it for a few hours.

You would. It's a mic hours. You would. I remember I have done this for a half hour. The first time I tried this was on my brother's Suburban. Well I heard that it worked. It wasn't the first time. The first time I tried this was on the Chevrolet that Stanley gave me. Yeah. On the occasion of my first senior year in college. And tell me, did it work on the Chevy? Not really. And then you tried it on my truck. It work on my truck? Not really. Then I tried it on heavy-duty's Oldsmobile. Heavy-duty? Yeah. Work? No. It sounds like really good advice. It could be you, Rob. I mean, you... It works in about one out of four cases, so...

So you... I think it's you. I think so. Let us know. Okay. We need more people for Stump the Chumps anyway. That's right. But we can't afford to lose any listeners.

We only got six left. Good luck, Rob. Okay. Thanks a lot. Bye. Bye. Ah, you're burning oil. That's a shame. All right. Well, normally around this time time we'd be warming up for the new puzzler, but I had

to give the puzzler a week off this week. What? Is this some kind of strategic decision? Is it a marketing ploy? Is it a little intellectual exercise? Is it a clever plot by National Public Radio to get more people to listen next week during the sweeps? No, I just forgot my folder.

Oh you stupid. Alright, in that case when we come back I want to discuss doctors, both real and imagined. Oh, you're gonna get us into trouble, aren't you? Yes, oh yeah. We'll be back in a minute. Ha! We're back, it's us, Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers, and you're listening to Car Talk on National Public Radio.

And I have here a letter concerning professional credentials. Bill Wolf writes, Dear Tom and Ray, a few weeks ago you raised an issue that has been bugging me for a long time. The current glut of ill-mannered, often unemployed, PhDs who don't know how to introduce themselves. You quite properly heaped verbal abuse on some poor slob who introduced himself as Dr. So-and-so when calling to beg for free automotive advice. Remember him? Anyone attempting such a lame exercise on national radio deserves...

I actually participate in this, but I need to go to right now, so all I can do is go hmmm. That's okay. Just pay attention here. Boom. There'll be a quiz lately. Professionalism. I love it.

Contrary to certain references on etiquette, the reason that PhDs should refrain from introducing themselves as Dr. Whozits has nothing to do with propriety or manners. It has to do with avoiding public ridicule by bozos like you guys. Worse, one might actually be called upon to perform an emergency medical procedure like the professor of English who stuck doctor in front of his name on an airplane ticket. He was called from his seat and coached, naturally, to deal with some plumber who was having a heart attack at first class. I love it. But I digress. What prompted me to write this diatribe was the suggestion that one of you guys,

Tom, I believe, may actually belong to this august group. Can this be so? If it is, why were you so reticent about flaunting it on the air? It obviously can't be because of good taste, natural modesty, or a sense of propriety. I suspect, rather, that your reticence, if indeed you are a Ph.D., reflects the pernicious influence of your brother. Just as many Ph.D. scheme to rub other people's noses in their academic achievement, many of their less accomplished siblings try to sap their confidence and undermine their efforts at shameless self-promotion. These pathetic spoilsports are jealous. They're jealous because they obviously lack one quality that binds all PhDs together.

Pig-headed persistence in the face of all obstacles. That's true. Tom, if you have a PhD, don't let your rotten brother shame you into hiding it. Take your rightful place among this elite fraternity and brag about it. Suddenly, of course. Remember that even if it doesn't help you find a decent job, a PhD can always give you a false sense of confidence and self-esteem. Yours sincerely, Bill. You don't have to call me Dr. Wolf. Well, I mean, I...

Wow! Pernicious, pernicious don't have to call me Dr. Wolf. Well, I mean, I... Wow! Pernicious, pernicious, huh? It was innocent enough, I just merely made the statement one day when we had somebody who called and said he was Dr. So-and-so. Yeah, well, I agree. I asked if he was a real doctor, and he said, no, I'm not a PhD. And I think it's bogus. There ought to be a separate designation, and it should hi I'm Joe Blow PhD but I think it is awfully presumptuous if you were a PhD in art

history to introduce yourself as doctor yeah the title doctor should be reserved for physicians sure it involves blood you don't work with blood you call yourself a doctor yeah no I go along with that. So veterinarians qualify. Veterinarians, definitely a doctor. Dentists, they do lots of blood. Dentists do blood. Yeah. Yeah, okay. You work with blood and guts.

Blood and guts. You're a doctor. I'm a doctor of blood and guts. Other than that. What are you a doctor of? Other than that, you're a bum. You're a bum. I'm with it.

All right, from now on, that's the new criteria. Anyway, if you want to give us a call, our number is 1-888-CAR-TALK. That's 1-888-227-8255. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Elizabeth. I'm calling from Palo Colorado Canyon in California. Palo Colorado? It's near Big Sur.

And the first thing I have to tell you is I love my truck. Good. Okay. I'm happy for you. Okay. It's a 7-6-1-1 I have to tell you is I love my truck. Good. Okay. I'm happy for you.

Okay. It's a 77 Dodge Power Wagon. What's not to love? Wow. Yeah. It's a great truck. But it has been stuck on a hill for so long that my neighbors decorated it with Christmas lights.

Oh, that bad happened. Yeah. When was the last time this thing ran uh... several months ago and what happened is that it had a week battery for a really long time and we often had to jump it and today that it just wouldn't start anymore that's when my scientist

pseudo valve decided to pour gasoline into the gas tank and the carburetor and with the truck on fire. I shouldn't laugh. No. But, I mean, how did he do that? No, I don't know how he did. There was no gas in the tank and he said, I'm going to fill up the tank with some of

the gas from this can. The rest of the gas I'm going to use to prime the carburetor. Yeah. So he poured some liquid gas knowing that when you crank the thing over it would suck in that gasoline even though the mixture was way too rich it would be enough to fire it up, get the fuel pump cranking very fast, get the pump to pump the gas from the tank to the carburetor at which point the car would run by itself. Yeah, but so why did he set it on fire? We do that every day.

That's the question! But the key is that it was running while it was on fire. Yes. Yeah. But then it died out and it would start again. He must have spilled it all over the place. He must have spilled a lot of it. No, what happened was the choke wasn't working correctly. It backfired through the carburetor and ignited that gas in

the intake manifold yeah but that should have gone right out depends on how much you've spilled so how long did the fire last seconds right let's see just maybe a half a minute yeah sure just long enough to melt the carburetor no it melts anything yeah this I don't think this had anything to do with the what to melt the carburetor. No it didn't melt anything. I don't think this had anything to do with not starting subsequent to this little incident, we'll call it an incident. Well what he thinks it is is he thinks that it was out of gas because

the gas gauge doesn't work and that it was a fuel pump battery interaction effect and that the battery was too weak for the fuel pump to get gas to the carburetor yeah yeah well that is he a scientist yes he thinks he's a scientist no he is no he is a scientist he is a scientist and what does he what does he science at he's a marine ecologist oh well marine well that's a scientist yeah it helps a lot when you need to work on cars. Yeah, not exactly. No, no, he knows science involved here.

He has been trained in the scientific method. Well, as have we. He wanted to do an ANOVA on the problem. He did. I love it. ANOVA is analysis of variance to those people who don't do this every day. So my question is, what do you guys think I should do? So the thing catches fire, big deal, what now? I mean why won't it start now? Is he afraid to duplicate it? He's afraid to duplicate it and he has to not be afraid. That's number one. Number two, he has to have, get rid of you.

Yeah, you gotta go away. You can't be around. Because you'll just keep telling him, don't do that, hon. If the thing indeed ran out of gasoline, then in fact if the battery were weak and you were using another battery to jump it with, you would not have sufficient cranking speed to get the fuel pump to suck the gasoline from the tank and fill up the carburetor. So I think he's absolutely correct. And the way he's going to get the thing to run is to judiciously pour a smaller amount

of gasoline into the carburetor. He may have gone a little overboard with that one. Did he it from the jug or they put it in a cup first? The whole jug. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he needs to transfer it into a non Styrofoam cup And then pour a few ounces in the carburetor. Yeah, that's all it takes. I mean it just takes a smidge Okay, and I would like I said, I don't think you should be around when he does this Except well she she's got to be around to turn the key while he's pouring the gasoline. No, no, no No, if anything you want to be around holding the handle of the fire extinguisher

So he's gonna pour the gas in then he's going to get back He's not gonna pour gas while anyone's cranking it. That's a good way to burn your eyebrows off. I know, I've done it. Yeah, but I mean, I don't think there's any real problem here. It's gonna start right up. Thanks very much for your help, guys. Get a fire extinguisher and stand by.

Okay, I'll try that. Wear goggles. Thanks again. See you, Elizabeth. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Well, you have wasted another wife's perfectly good hour listening to car talk. I'll try that. We're goggles. Thanks again. See you Elizabeth. Bye bye. Bye bye.

Well you have wasted another wife's perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk. Our esteemed producer is Doug the Subway Fugitive Berman. Our associate producer and Dean of the College of Automusicology is Ken Babyface Rogers. Our assistant producer is Catherine Cathode-Ray. And our engineer is Jonathan Superhighway Sideburns Marston. Our technical, spiritual and menu advisor is Mr. John S. Lawler. He's heavily armed, I understand. Our public opinion pulser is Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Marge

Inovera. Our director of new product repair is Warranty My Foot, assisted by our customer care representative Haywood Jabuzoff. Our staff butler from the Kartok Mumbai Division is Mahatma Kot. Our document security expert from the island of Jamaica is Euripides Uppman. And our director of desert food supplies is Sandy Berger. The former president of our auto parts division is George Bushing. Peekaboo Street directs our intensive care unit, which is now known as the Peekaboo ICU.

Our junkyard manager is Ricardo Desmanto Bon. Our director of moral support as you demand, and our Leo Tolstoy biographer is Warren Pease, author of Leo Tolstoy by what? Warren Pease. Or who? Our chief counselor from the law firm of Dewey Cheatham and Howes U. Louis Dewey, known among the unemployed Russian lit majors in Harvard Square as Huey Louie Dewey. Thanks so much for listening.

We're clicking clack to tap the brothers. Don't drive like my brother or my sister. Don't drive like my brother or my sister. Don't drive like my brother or my sister. We'll be back next week. Bye bye. And now with a very important announcement, here is Car Talk Plaza's chief mechanic Mr. Vinny Gumbaz. Hey, thank you very much.

You know now, if you want a copy of this week's Car Talk Show which is number 13, here's what you've got to do, right? Okay, now I guess this is the point at which you give out the telephone number Vinny, is that correct? No, I think I'm going to play Sweet Adeline on the glock and spare you moron. The number is 1-888-CAR-JUNK. That's 888-227-5865. And if somebody wanted to buy CDs like men are from GM and women are from Ford, or some t-shirts or other things, would they call the same number, Vinny?

No, you call Toyota Jackson at the psychic hotline. Of course you call the same number, 888-CARD-JUNK, or you can get stuff through the online shameless commerce division at cardtalk.msn.com. Vinnie, you know, I'm beginning to think that this sarcasm is just covering up your true feelings about me. Oh, you want me to express my true feelings about you? Better turn off the microphone first. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Card Talk is a production of Dewey, Cheetah, and Howe,

and WBUR in Boston. And even though Will Schwarz is puzzled when he hears us say it, this is NPR National Public Radio.