The Best of Car Talk - #2540: Some Car Noises are Better Than Others

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Most car noises are annoying or abrasive but Sharon's Ford is making a very regular 'come hither' purrr. Will Click and Clack fix this one or help Sharon patent it and make a fortune? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.Get access to hundreds of episodes in the Car Talk archive when you sign up for Car Talk+ at plus.npr.org/cartalkLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When the Star Wars prequels came out, they were polarizing. Many fans of the original trilogy hated the Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Though many younger fans loved them then and love them still. So we're re-watching them with fresh eyes twenty years later. From Jar Jar Binks to the climactic nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Culture Happy Hour podcast. Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us clicking clack the tappet brothers and we're broadcasting this week from the Center for used car dealer like tactics. That's a mouthful isn't it? I'm sorry. Every once in a while you notice that someone in a different industry or field has attempted to encroach on the used car dealers claim to being the poster boys for sleaziness. And mostly unsuccessfully I'd add. I mean warranted or not car dealers probably used car dealers are the country's poster boys for sleaziness and mostly unsuccessful i mean warranted or not car dealers probably use car dealers of the country's poster boys for

untrustworthiness and all those sorts of things well i'm sorry that today's candidate to replace use car dealers secretaries of agriculture of the united states of america and i tell you i am i am for a gasasted you must have some clipping to read I don't have a clipping I'm gonna read you something

though I don't know who the author is and I disclaim all knowledge go ahead it says US Department of Agriculture shame on you boy does this ever smell to high heaven. If you haven't been reading or watching the news, here's the story. The United States Department of Agriculture decided to define the term organic to protect us poor, uneducated slobs so we wouldn't be taken in by some unscrupulous retailers who might use the organic label on foods that don't really deserve it. Mm-hmm. I'm with you so far. So the USDA studies the issue for some months in december

of ninety seven they publish their definition organic so that when you go in and you see something that says organic on it you can be assured that that's not some sleazeball using the expression in an unwarranted way ok lo and behold the u.s. department of agriculture includes in their definition foods which are irradiated

genetically engineered or grown with sewage sludge fertilizer no problem with it uh... luckily some people actually read the USDA document and they didn't like it. And the USDA got 200,000 complaints from people saying, irradiated? What are you guys thinking? Now, this is bad enough, it says here.

But get this, when they get the complaints, the agriculture secretary, it says, I'm just reading here, some bureaucratic moron, in my opinion it says, named Dan Glickman, makes a statement. Here's what he says and I paraphrase. Now get this, they've approved things with irradiated foods, sewage sludge, and genetically engineered things and he says, gee, we didn't realize that so many people would be upset by this. I guess we'll take another look You didn't realize that people would be upset by this. Who the hell are you trying to kid? Mr. Glickman says here from that email that you're reading Yeah

First of all if it's true that you didn't realize that Yeah. First of all, if it's true that you didn't realize that irradiated, genetically engineered and sewage sludge don't immediately leap to mind when we poor slobs think of organic foods, then turn in your resignation immediately. Do not pass go and certainly do not collect another paycheck. Secondly, we don't believe you anyhow. We believe that you certainly did know that everyone would be upset and you were influenced Oh, this is gonna be this is tough You were influenced either legally or illegally Oh boy, oh boy

Vested interests in my opinion. Those are people that wear vests I don't know how to check on this, but I would bet my dodge die that lobbyists from the irradiated genetically engineered and slew it sludge businesses. I knew it was those irradians. The irradians, I knew it. The irradians did it. Made lots of phone calls and bought lots of lunches in 1997 in my opinion.

Organic lunches. Shame on you, Glickman. You have given new meaning to the expression, hi, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you. Does your mother know what you did I'm gonna tell her Wow well that was a was almost a rant and rave but except you didn't really author most of it I don't know who wrote any of this I don't know who wrote this somebody must have sent it to me it came from Doug Berman I know I I disavow all knowledge really that won't be good enough that won't be good enough I wrote it our number is 1-888-CAR-TALK that's 888-227-8255 hello you're on car talk I

am Sharon and I live in Silver Spring, Maryland. Hi, Sharon. And I have a 1991 Taurus with 75,000 miles on it. And while I was working, I would pay mechanics any amount of money to give me peace of mind and make my car work. Yeah. But now I'm retired. Uh-oh.

And I have just been given two quotes for a noise a very lurid noise. Oh, lur won't. I promise I won't. But I'm going to record it this time. When I turn the steering wheel... Either way, left or right? Left or right. You're sitting stopped. I'm stopped or going.

Or moving. It makes this noise and it kind of goes... Yeah, sort of like... You're interested in selling this car uh... well uh... i live in a retirement community we have a wonderful little gentleman who uh... pick his car it's good and uh...

he came over and told me it was going to take uh... between two hundred eighty five dollars and three hundred twenty five dollars to fix this problem. Because he wants to replace the bearings at the top of each of the front struts and i think it may be but when i took it to get a second opinion yeah okay from the guy at the street he said all all the torches do that don't pay any attention to it

now that his quote is zero yet and can somewhere between two hundred eighty five dollars in zero it's the truth i fear well i wrote down when you describe your little problem i wrote on my little sheet of higher than forty two fifty i wrote two twenty five to twenty five that's what i wrote one forty two fifty fifty it uh... somewhere between there that i think that makes it that one eighty six seventy five I wrote 142.50. You did! Somewhere between there, then. I see, I see.

That makes it 186.75. Okay. And that's it. Well, we've discovered on a few Tori that we've had in the shop, that if you put the car on the lift and let the suspension hang, that somehow or another it disturbs that bearing that's on top of the strut. And we've had to on a few occasions either take that thing apart and clean it up and grease it or actually replace it for this noise to go away.

This is relatively easy to check because it'll make the noise anytime you want it to. And so someone can raise up the hood and listen to see if the noise is coming from the power steering pump or from these little bearings. Oh, I see. I don't think I would fix this because I think you have the rare opportunity in the retirement

complex to parley this into some serious cash. Well, my husband was trying to figure out some way to make some extra cash. Well, you can take some of those old geezers around for a ride I don't think it's dangerous. Yeah, in fact I know if it's what it is if it's what I think it is I'm pretty sure it's not dangerous But you should have the whole front end checked out and I would suggest you take it to a Ford dealer Oh and let them give you a third opinion Okay, see you Sharon in neither case is it dangerous dangerous well but people tell me it wasn't dangerous good i've continued to ride

around with it but yeah i really can't take the ladies out with me because that they get along i think you're all excited yeah well maybe that's good you know i think that's good you might be you might be the new healer at the retirement community the bloodshed for calling what he did it card talk that eight eight eight

to two seven eight two five five that's so much better you know better than the anti log of ten point two seven six oh five four three nine three two four just like the just slightly card talk hi this is John I'm a gainfully employed art history major come on where you from lower long swamp Pennsylvania I love it there's a place in Ohio called dismal seepage I think they have a dismal seepage Ohio see so so what do you do as a successful art history major I think they have a speech. Dismal Seepage. Dismal Seepage, Ohio. So what do you do as a successful art history major? I'm a technical writer and I do accident reconstruction work.

How is that a gainfully employed art history major? Well, he has a degree in art history, but he's gainfully employed nonetheless. Oh! In spite of it, is what he's trying to say. That's right. Oh, alright. Not because of,! In spite of it, is what he's trying to say. That's right. Oh, all right. You are... Not because of, but in spite of. And you were in our history major, but that in no way helped you to be gainfully employed, so it was a little bit misleading to say, don't you think? But that's okay. We like you anyway. As long as we caught you at it, then we don't have any grudge, any great little hold the grudge okay call

well what's up john i have a nineteen ninety two ford chorus at the show with a little boy's big engine yeah five-speed transmission and i have a question about the clutch yeah couple weeks ago i took the car of the dealer to have him check something in the transmission

had mechanic got into the car first the dealer to have him check something in the transmission. Head mechanic got into the car, pushed the clutch pedal down and said, You need a clutch. I can tell you right away you need a new clutch. He hadn't even driven the car yet. Uh-huh. I asked why. He said, because you shouldn't have to push this hard. SHO clutches shouldn't be this hard to push.

Well, pay no attention to this guy. Well, no, he may be right. The style of clutch that you have is called a Bellevue clutch. It's the kind of clutch that has a diaphragm and a bunch of fingers that the release bearing presses on. As the clutch gets worn out, as the disc gets worn out, the fingers of the clutch, of the pressure plate, get further and further from the flywheel. And they get closer and closer to the release bearing right right and that

makes the clutch very hard to depress because you now be entered into a situation where you're losing your mechanical advantage all right and it makes the end so when you get into the car and the pedal is extraordinarily hard to push it means one of several things either the clutch cable is bound up you could just need a new cable or the clutch is in fact worn out, or he has a boat payment due. Does the clutch slip? No. I measured the effort level with an art history major's force gauge. Excellent! Yeah. A spring scale on the end of a wooden stick. Excellent! Yeah, good. It takes about 30 pounds of force to push the clutch to the floor.

Yeah, and the question is what's it supposed to be? You're supposed to know that. How would we know? I know that's the question, I'm telling you. How would we know? 30 pounds is an awful lot. You're going to get one monstrous left leg. Okay. Yeah. Put a clutch cable in it. Put a cable in it. Okay. Yeah, it's all a new cable and hope that that makes it a lot easier. If it doesn't then you need a clutch but you can wait until it starts to slip. Cool. And you won't be doing any damage to anything. So don't worry. Bless your heart. See you John. Thanks guys. Bye bye.

Bye bye. Okay now before we give the answer to last week's puzzler we have to take a short break. What, you're tired already? I have to go figure out the answer to last week's puzzler, we have to take a short break. What, are you tired already? I have to go figure out the answer to the puzzler. These days, with all the information coming at you, it can be hard to know what's accurate, what's not, and what's worth your time. Here to help you navigate it all is 1A. Five days a week, the 1A podcast provides a forum for curious minds to explore different angles on the biggest headlines and give you a more balanced take on what's happening.

Listen to the 1A podcast from NPR and WAMU. On the Indicator from Planet Money podcast, we're here to help you make sense of the economic news from Trump's tariffs. It's called in game theory, a trigger strategy or sometimes called grim trigger, which sort of has a cowboy-esque ring to it. To what exactly a sovereign wealth fund is. For insight every weekday, listen to NPR's The Indicator from Planet Money. Are you one of the half of Americans who say money management is part of their self-care from Planet Money. and Klarna to stretch every last dollar. That's all month long on the It's Been A Minute podcast

from NPR. Hi, we're back. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack the Tappert Brothers. And here's the answer to last week's puzzler. Do you remember last week's puzzler? Not, not at all. Not really.

I didn't think so. I honestly don't have the vaguest idea. And it was you, I believe, who said, good puzzler. Did I? I think so. Well, that's good. Here it is. Go ahead.

It'll come to me, of course. Oh, it's going to... As soon as I say the first three words, you're going to say, I remember it. A mother has two kids and the older one is a boy. I still don't remember. The chances that the younger kid. Oh, that one! Yeah, I get it now.

The chances that the younger kid is a boy are 50-50, right? Yeah. That's pretty simple. Sure. Almost anyone could have gotten that, just by what? Guesswork. Well, most people think that the that just by what? Guesswork. Well, most people think that the chances of everything is 50-50.

Especially when there are boys and girls involved. Yeah. Now here's the puzzle. Suppose a mother has two kids and not the older one, but just one of them is a boy. What are the chances that the other one is also a boy? Now, if you, if you draw little pictures, there are four possible scenarios. Yeah. Older boy, younger boy. We'll call that B and B.

Older boy, younger girl. Older girl, younger boy. And older girl, younger girl. That's it. If you're going to have two kids, that's it. All right. Now in the first case. Of course.

If I say, when I two kids, that's it. All right. Now in the first case. Of course. If I say, when I say the older one is a boy, then it immediately leaves out the last two. Exactly. Possibilities. That's right. Okay. It can only be boy, boy or boy, girl.

That's right. Right. And so in order for it to be the other one to be a boy, it's a 50, 50 chance. So boy, boy, boy, girl. Right. And so in order for it to be the other one to be a boy, it's a 50, 50 chance. Right. So boy, boy, boy, girl. Right. Or now, now. Yeah.

When I say that one of them is a boy. Yeah. I believe it or not, believe it or not, it is as counterintuitive. It certainly is. It becomes harder for the other one to become a boy and the chances are one in three. Cause if you look at the scenarios, you have boy, boy, boy, girl, and become a boy. And the chances are one in three, because if you look at the scenarios you have boy-boy-boy, girl-and-girl-boy.

Sure. Right? If for the other one to be a boy it's got to be choice number one, which is boy-boy, because you already said that one of them is a boy. How can the other one be a boy? One chance in three. Hard to believe, isn't it? It's hard to believe. I don't believe it. I don't either. Well, it's... But it is true. It is true.

And evidently, evidently Marilyn has a lot of data. And the way she... I remember this puzzle now. You said you stole it from Marilyn. Well, I didn't really steal it from Marilyn. I stole it from Stephen Miller. Yeah, but don't forget, Marilyn stole it from somebody else, so it's fair game. But the way that she proved it, she said,

here's how I'm gonna prove it. And she asked people to send her letters. Anyone who had two kids and the first one was a boy, how many had a second one a boy, and two kids who, one of whom was a boy, how many had a second one as a boy. And it came out. She proved it empirically.

Empirically. Just like we did with the Monty Hall thing Exactly, which I guess is okay, but I like the more elegant abstract mathematical solutions myself I mean, but that's the kind of guy. I'm I'm an abstract kind of guy your abstract. All right, do we have a winner this week? I don't remember Ha here. Yes, we do. The winner is David Ward from Atlanta, Georgia. It's good to be down among the Magnolia. All don't stop.

And for having your correct answer chosen, David, from among the thousands of answers that we got this week, you're going to get one of our CDs. Men are from GM, women are from Ford, all calls about couples and cars. And what about the lawyers are from what's gonna happen now lawyers are from Mercedes Daimler men are from GM women are from Ford and lawyers are from Daimler I don't like it oh boy this CD by the way

David Ward from Atlanta Georgia is a big hit with marriage counselors it has generated more business for them than anything else that ever came along the pike. Anyway, we'll have a brand new puzzler coming up in the third half of today's show. So don't touch that dial. In the meantime, we'll take your calls, of course, at 1-888-CAR-TALK. That's 888-227-825.

Hello, you're on Car Talk. Hi, this is Dave from Birmingham. Hey, Dave. Hey. What's up man? Well, my wife got this 78 Cadillac. It's got a nervous gas gauge in that sucker. 78 Cadillac? Yeah, sedan de ville. Go ahead. Okay, what happens is it's got a nervous gas gauge in it. Up until recently everything was fine.

If you fire off the ignition and turn on the switch, the gauge comes slowly up like you'd expect in a nice elegant car like that. But not anymore. All of a sudden it goes twang and it's up there. As you're motoring down the road it jumps back and forth about maybe a quarter of a tank every once in a while. So what's the damping mechanism in that sucker before I tear into it? Got any idea?

Damping mechanism? They don't stink the damping mechanism in that sucker before I tear into it? Got any idea? Damping mechanism? There ain't no stinkin' damping mechanism. Okay. Sending you to this freedom move as quickly as you want it to move. Oh, okay. Okay, if you were to take the thing out, you could just, it's a, it looks like, not unlike the float that's in your toilet bowl. Not the bowl, what's the other piece? Tank. The tank. Toilet tank.

Something else, never mind. And it moves just as freely and it bears upon a resistor. And as the resistor changes, the signal that gets sent to the gauge reflects that change in resistance. So you think there's simply a capacitor somewhere under the dash? Oh yeah, but that's not where the problem is. The problem's in the tank. Oh, the problem's in the tank? Yeah, because when that thing goes to open, the gauge goes all the way to full.

If you were to cut that wire or disconnect it in this car, the gauge would read full all the time. Okay. So the problem is in, you're going to, every once in a while, I think it's going to what appears to be an open circuit, and that's why the gauge goes up to full. Oh, so you think the problem's in the resistor in the tank. There you go. Yeah

so you're gonna need a ascending unit but that's easy to do. Gas tank sending unit. Yep. All right. See you Dave. Thanks for calling Dave. Bye bye. Bye bye. Hey yeah do you know what it's time for?'s time to play Stump the Chumps! This is a stupid part of the show where we voluntarily bring a caller back onto the show to find out if we were right or wrong in the advice that we gave. Oh, the caller's lawyer has insisted on this as part of the settlement agreement. Right, so who's our chump stumper this week? It's Paula from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Don't remember. Paula called about a month ago with a Ford Bronco that she said was whistling from the dashboard. Oh, it was in perfect thirds, is she the one?

There you go. Every 500 rpm increase in engine speed the pitch of the noise went up by a perfect third. Alright, alright, alright. Stop singing William. I'm trying to enjoy the Zomfere dream sequence here. As the vacuum goes down the way you're're going to isolate it is you're going to find that hose that comes through the firewall. You can plug that thing with a little rubber cap and then drive the vehicle and the noise will be gone. I don't want to ask any embarrassing questions at this late hour.

Never stopped you before. But how does this explain the incremental thirds every 500 RPM? I don't! Sure, anything you can say, anything makes a sound. She gave us some very precise specifications here. I do not know what peculiar dynamics are at work here. I missed this course. Then don't waste our time with the rest of your theories because they don't matter.

You can take your vacuum holes and stuff it! What do you think? Now, I'm not sure, but I think I detected a very slight lack of confidence in my diagnostic prowess. No, no, it's just that I thought you were completely full. So we admitted that we had no idea how to explain the precise rise in pitch of her noise And we thought the noise was related to a vacuum where the I thought the noise was there to a vacuum leak at the heater

Control unit to do we have do we have a backup answer? Yeah, we did it was the fuel pump pressure regulator Yeah, I don't like the idea. Let's get it over with Paula. You're there Oh, wait a minute before you leave my brother holding this vacuum hose We have to ask you the following legal questions. Is it true, Paul, that you have not been offered any cash or prizes by members of our staff, the staff of National Public Radio, or any Preakness jockeys, in exchange for a favorable answer here today on Stump the Chumps? That's correct, yeah. Alright, so what happened when you found that vacuum hose and disconnected it?

Well, actually I didn't get to finding the vacuum hose. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. See, see, you also had a third answer. We did! That you glossed over really quickly. It was probably mine! Yeah, it was! Oh!

And it was low coolant. I said that? Yeah, real quickly. It's like, yeah, my brother thinks it's low coolant, but forget that. See, my brother's always casting aspersions on my ideas. That's right. And so I went home and I said, well, here's what they said to do, but here are the other two little suggestions.

So we back-flushed the radiator system. And the sound went away? Yes, until Sunday. Oh. And then we added water, and by adding water, the noise came back. Okay, well it's nice to talk to you. See you later, Paula. Bye. Well, I have to say that A, I have no recollection of having talked about coolant level and B, even after you say that I did say it, I have no idea why because I don't understand.

I still don't understand. It was a comment you made in passing about the coolant level. Yeah, but he does that all the time. He probably just spews out a volcano. There's all kinds of stuff flowing out. I mean, it all lands on the time. He spoozes out like a volcano. There's all kinds of stuff flowing out. I mean, it all lands on the ground. And then he's like, well, we've got to find the hose and block off the hose, but we've got to do this first anyhow, so might as well just do this. But now the noise is back. And

I know the coolant has something to do with pressurization and vacuum, so maybe abstractly you are right about vacuums. Yeah, see, I rely completely on my guts for these things. And that's why I don't have it. I don't know what the reason is. Because the brain left them long ago. I mean, when these guys do the healing with the laying on of hands, they don't know how it works.

It just works and you don't question stuff like that. Of course not, especially if they're paying you the big bucks. Well thanks for playing Stump the chumps Paula you you've managed to lower our batting average even lower Right, so we don't know if you're you're you do not count in the statistics because you don't you're neither a yay or a nay here Well, I mean she does at least she knows that the noise is related to coolant level Although even with that we are unable to help her well I partially right as i said vacuum leak but it's a coolant leaks i don't know haha

haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha

haha haha haha haha haha the leak system haha well paul it's been a pleasure. Thanks a million.

It's been great talking to you. And we'll send you a washer dryer for your trouble. See you later. And if you find out anything that could help us to understand the inner workings of vehicles, please let us know. Well, you did help a lot. Okay, that's all.

Bye-bye. That's all we're here for. Okay, now before we get to the new puzzle, we have to take a short break. Yeah, my brother is going to go into the dressing room. We have a dressing room here, and he's going to stand in front of the mirror and rehearse the delivery of the new puzzle. Well, not exactly. I've got to invent the new puzzle. Give me just a minute, will you? Yeah. World news is important, but it can feel far away. Not on the State of the World podcast. With journalists around the world, you'll hear firsthand the effects of US trade actions in Canada and China, and meet a Mexican street sweeper who became a pop star.

We don't go around the world, we're already there. Listen to the State of the World podcast from NPR every weekday. Ha! We're back. This must be the third half of the show. This is the third half. You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack the Tablet Brothers, and we're here to discuss cars,

car repair, and the new puzzler. Yeah, lay it on us, baby! Well, this met with mixed reviews in the green room. Where is the green room? And why can't I ever go there? Yeah, okay, go ahead, use it anyway. You seem to be stuck in the room with the porcelain fixtures, but I'm going to use it anyway because I think that it will send a little joy to Julian Portway,

who was kind enough to email us this puzzler about two years ago. Yeah. Well, say, look, it takes time to read all... The wheels of progress grind slowly, don't they not? Exactly. If you're going to read things as carefully as you do, it's gonna take some time. Indeed, all right, here it is. And I hope that I will try to obfuscate

and clarify at the same time. Okay. Two men are found dead in a cabin in the woods. Not this one. Ah, it's, you know, you would think that you would be supportive and helpful. I'm sorry, I realize immediately that I should have been doing exactly that because God knows you need as much help. Can I try again? Yeah, go ahead is two men are dead here!

This is serious stuff! This doesn't warrant any laughter. No, I'm sorry. Two men are dead. Yeah, go ahead. In a cabin in the woods. Small cabin, I might add. There is no evidence of their being shot, stabbed, poisoned, burnt, strangled, drowned,

starved, or bored to death from listening to car talk. The cabin did not burn down, a tree did not fall in it, they were not attacked by animals, and they did not die of old age or natural causes. Seems to cover just about all the bases, does it not? I guess they're still alive. They just looked dead. So like us. Both men had been healthy in their late twenties or perhaps early thirties and were married, well, relatively healthy anyway.

Were they married to each other? I don't think so. And their wives were hundreds of miles away at the time and alive. The question very simply is how did the two men die? All right. Thank you for that resounding show of support. I can't tell you how uplifting it's been. Now, if you think you know the answer or you're basically a shut in and just

want to communicate with the outside world, send your answer to puzzletower, car talk plaza, box 3500, Harvard Square, Cambridge, our first city, MA 02238. And you can also communicate with us as to whether or not you think this is a good or bad. Yeah, I'd like to hear that one. And of course you can email us your answer from our website, 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 that we are certain to receive for this magnificent

puzzler, you'll get one of our CDs called Men Are from GM, Women Are from Ford, etc., etc. It's a CD about couples and cars and how we screwed up their relationships and their lives forever. And it makes a wonderful leveler for tables with those uneven legs. Especially those outdoor tables. Exactly, now that it's that time of year. All that lawn furniture and that table that keeps rocking back and forth, you place the

CD and you can use either the CD itself or you can can use the case the song combination of the or a combination of the two giving you three different height adjusts what you want to those real cheap all-time by the two cd set it's like the cost the numbers one eight eight eight card talk that's eight double eight double two seven eighty two double five who will you're on cartage

all right on bars yeah like so you know from sacramento they're going by from where 7-8-2-double-5, hello, you're on Car Talk. All right, goombas. Yeah. This is Mike Serino from Sacramento. Hey, goomba, from where? Sacramento, California, but formerly from Brooklyn. Yeah, we knew that. Yeah. I wrote Sacramento, New York. Did they make a movie, I saw a movie,

where they put a guy from Brooklyn in the witness protection plan and they made him a vintner out in California. Was that you? He can't tell. That was, wasn't Steve Martin in that movie. What's up Mike? I got a 1980 Chevy Suburban. It was shifting, it seems to be shifting sort of late like it wind up real tight You know, yeah high rpm. So I brought it in to The transmission shop good and the first thing the guy that he said, okay cut the engine open the hood He adjusted the kickdown cable

No, he reaches in for the fan and he starts to move the fan by hand He says so I think this is a problem we take it for a ride and he says oh it's marginally late as far as it's shifting but your problem is that your uh your fan clutch is seized up oh so it's turning all the time turning over making a lot of noise so what you're hearing is what you think is the thing winding out is excessive noise from the fan clutch. Exactly. I was stunned And he figured that out just like that, huh? Not only that Wow, he sends me on my way and didn't charge me anything

He could have taken me for 300 bucks. What's this guy's name? I'm gonna send it in right away What is he nuts? I told you I felt like Socrates with the lamp looking for the honest transition i've got to tell you uh... i feel like socrates with the lab looking for the honest transition the yet we put me on the way that that i want to my problem is i want to my uh... mechanic tony i call up uh... his wife into the phone she usually have to have the problems on the phone uh... at del and del tells me uh...

uh... i think they were really need to change the fan clutch i don't care if it makes noise it just is going to turn fast it's going to keep the engine cool that's great she said no no it'll put a strain on the water pump so i want to know do i really have to bother change the fan no back in the old days effect if you would bought the nineteen seventy version of this thing they didn't have a fan clutch

i was just a fan was turning all the time just like yours is turning all the time. You had a fan stuck on the front of the water pump. So every revolution that the water pump made, the fan made a revolution. And it turned all the time and they put the fan clutch on to save a little gasoline. They wanted to get you up from like 8.6 miles to gallon to like 8.65. That's right. I get about nine. You get about nine. That's good. So it makes a difference. I should bother to do it. And this is something simple.

No, it does not make a difference. I don't understand why Tony's wife is concerned about this. No, it doesn't make a difference. It's not going to put a strain on the water pump. It's not going to put a strain on anything except maybe your wallet but you're already getting it I mean how much worse can it get nine miles a gallon yeah you haven't noticed a precipitous drop in the mileage how would you yes drive the truck into the living room now the fan there are four little bolts that hold the fan clutch onto the water pump, and then there are bolts that hold it onto the fan. So you're going to extract the fan and the fan clutch as a unit and separate them and

put the new fan clutch on and bolt it back up to the water pump. Okay. Or forget about it. Or forget about it. Don't mind the noise. But we can tell that you're looking for something to do it sounds like a hurricane in that when it winded up right before you know what you just said i don't mind the noise

can't have a lot of driving a not so i didn't you on the freeway bugged me so what i do is i don't drive it down that's too bad because you get better mileage you know i think it's what you are you? I have to turn up the radio louder. This is a great vehicle though, isn't it? Yeah, it's a real workhorse. Oh yeah.

So what do you do out there in Sacramento? I work for the government, state government. I give away the taxpayers' money to medical schools and schools of nursing. Oh, aren't you nice. medical school school nursing all you might so they could teach uh... nurse practitioners you know position assistance and uh... family practice residents very good so you know an opportunity to skim a little off the top

dot about off the bottom uh... that's a brutal middle east california we straightened out alright they might thanks for calling good luck with your fan clutch

Skimming off the top If it was Boston, he'd say, of course, doesn't everybody? It's pretty sad. It is indeed. Well, it's happened again. You've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk. Our producer is Doug Berman. Our associate producer and dean of the college of auto musicology is Ken Rogers. Our assistant producer is Catherine Imelda Ray Marcos.

And our engineer is Jonathan Superhighway Sideburns Marston, and our menu advisor is Mr. John S. Lawler. Our public opinion pollster is Paul Murky of Murky Research, assisted by statistician Marge Inovera. Our customer care representative is Haywood Jabuzoff. Our attorney general in charge of tobacco settlements is Hubert H. Humphrey III. Our director of catering is Russell Upsengrub, and our Singing Urologist is Uriet the Franklin. Peekaboo Street directs our Intensive Care Unit, which is known as the Peekaboo ICU, our Junkyard Manager is Ricardo Desmonte-Bond, our Director of Moral Support is You Demand, our Sexual Harassment Counselor is Pat McGann,

and our Leo Tolstoy Biographer is Warren Peace, author of Leo Tolstoy by Warren Peace. Our chief counselor from the law firm Dewey Sheevan Howe is U. Lewis Dewey, known to his friends as Uee Louie Dewey. Thanks so much for listening. We're Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers. Don't drive like my brother, of course, without saying my sister. Don't drive like my brother or his sister.

We'll be back next week. Bye-bye. his system. We'll be back next week. Bye bye. And now here is our chief mechanic, Vinnie Gumbots, with some highly pertinent information. Hey, if you want a copy of this week's Card Talk show, which is number 21, the number to call is 1-888-CARD-JUNK. You got that? Yes, and if people wanted other Card Talk paraphernalia, you know, t-shirts, CDs, would they call that same number?

No, you'd call Janet Reno when asking her to hand deliver the stuff you told them. Of course you'd call the same number, 888-Card Junko. You can get stuff through the online shameless commerce division at cardtalk.msn.com. Thank you very much Vincent. You've been very very helpful to us. Hey help this will you? Car Talk is a production of Do We Cheat Him and How and WBUR in Boston. And even though Sylvia Pujolisa, por commisaria, chisola questi cavoli when she hears us say it, this is NPR National Public Radio.