#2677: Stumps and Chumps

The Best of Car Talk

In this episode of Car Talk, the Tappert Brothers discuss recent legislative wins regarding driving safety and tackle various automotive mec

Key takeaways

• New York has officially banned the use of handheld cell phones while driving to improve road safety.
• For an overheating 1990 Plymouth, the hosts recommend checking the thermostat before investigating a blown head gasket.

Main topics

• Cell phone driving bans
• Engine overheating and cooling systems

Notable quotes

The only way to kill a vampire is to drive a blank through his heart.

Conclusion

A nostalgic and humorous exploration of automotive troubleshooting tha

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) This November, there's a wave of Democrats running for office who are all members of the clergy. But can they convince the party's secular base? I don't think Speaker 5 (0:08) religion should play into government and politics at all. I thought the country was founded on that. On Speaker 2 (0:14) the Sunday Story, how Democratic pastors are reframing the role of faith in American politics. Listen now to the Sunday Story from the Up First podcast on the NPR app. Speaker 8 (0:40) Hello and welcome to Car Talk from National Public Radio with us, Click and Clack, the Tappert Brothers, and we're broadcasting this week from the small victories department here at Car Talk Plaza. It Speaker 3 (0:49) might be small, but it might be big. As you know, we have been proponents of banning cell phones while driving for the last hundred years, to the point where every cell phone company has pictures on a dartboard of things they throw at us. It's Speaker 2 (1:05) a Speaker 3 (1:05) Dodge dartboard? It's a Dodge dartboard. Speaker 3 (1:08) The other day or last week, I guess it's all done, the grand state of New York has banned the use of handheld cell phones while driving in the entire state of New York. And I have to give them a big whatever you give people. Salute. No, no, not that. A salute. Speaker 2 (1:27) Not that. A salute. Bronx cheer. And Speaker 3 (1:30) I hope, I just hope that this gives other states the courage. You know, sometimes you don't want to do something. You don't want to be first. And the state of New York has taken up the challenge here. They're first. And now all the other sleazeballs politicians, I shouldn't say that, who didn't have the guts to do this and were succumbing to all the lobbyists of the cell phone industry, maybe will have the courage now to do it too. And Speaker 8 (1:59) so we say to the previously all-powerful cell phone lobby, in the spirit Speaker 2 (2:02) of safety and public spirit, Speaker 2 (2:08) I hate lobbyists, every single one of them. I am a little disappointed because it seemed like it was Speaker 8 (2:14) a Speaker 2 (2:15) compromise. Well, it was. That you really don't want cell phones used at all in cars, whether they're hands-free or not. We know that they have to go a little bit further, and Speaker 3 (2:24) hopefully over the... over the first few months when this new law gets instituted, which I understand is not until December or something, maybe they'll realize that there are just as many accidents without handheld phones, which we know from research is what's going to Speaker 2 (2:40) happen. Speaker 3 (2:40) And maybe it'll Speaker 8 (2:41) go the next step. And maybe Speaker 3 (2:42) then they'll go the next step. And we will do things because they're right, not because somebody has to make money. I'm sick and tired of it. Speaker 2 (2:49) Someone said, I haven't been ranting enough lately. No. I haven't been ranting enough. It's amazing. When you get the right size underwear, everything falls into place. And the right dosage. The right Speaker 8 (3:01) dosage. Well, anyway, the cell phone campaign goes on. I mean, this is just one little tiny victory. Yeah. So if you want one of our free bumper stickers that say, drive now, talk later, just send a self-addressed stamped envelope to bumper sticker, Car Talk Plaza, Box 3500, Harvard Square. Cambridge. Our fair city. Matt, 02238. If you want to call us, not from your car phone, of course. The number is 888-CAR-TALK. That's 888-227-8255. Hello, you're on Car Talk. Speaker 7 (3:34) Hi, this is... Speaker 2 (3:37) Hi, Gary. Hollister, Missouri? Speaker 7 (3:39) Hollister, Missouri. Stillhood, Hollister City, where the Beverly Hills... Speaker 2 (3:43) They did? Speaker 7 (3:44) Yeah. Speaker 8 (3:46) No. Speaker 7 (3:47) Yeah, that's where all the oil was. Speaker 8 (3:49) In the clampets? Speaker 7 (3:50) Yeah. That's where they did the first show. Speaker 3 (3:55) No. Yeah. Really? Boy, that's great information. Speaker 7 (3:59) But yeah, they... Speaker 3 (4:06) Why? Speaker 7 (4:07) Because you see. You Speaker 2 (4:17) ain't Speaker 7 (4:18) kidding. So what's up, Gary? Well, I've got a 1990 Plymouth. Speaker 8 (4:23) Uh-huh. Speaker 7 (4:24) The first Speaker 3 (4:54) incident happened right after the guy had winterized it, meaning he had changed the fluid. Speaker 7 (5:05) Oh. Okay, Speaker 3 (5:08) so it had been boiling over before that. Speaker 7 (5:20) You Speaker 8 (5:21) didn't know how good you had it then. Speaker 7 (5:23) You'd take that now, wouldn't you? Yeah. Speaker 8 (5:25) Yeah. Speaker 7 (5:25) Well, now, I remember the inline. Speaker 8 (5:30) You do, too. Yeah. Speaker 7 (5:32) Oh, okay. And no one has ever changed that? Well, not that I'm aware of. Speaker 7 (5:39) Well, Speaker 8 (5:39) long before I would replace a water pump, especially a perfectly good or perfectly adequate rebuilt one with a new one, I think I would want to change the thermostat first. Speaker 7 (5:50) Now, Speaker 8 (5:50) does the overheating occur when you're driving at sustained high speed, or does it occur after you've slowed down? Speaker 7 (5:56) No, it never boils down. Speaker 1 (6:04) Oh. Hmm. Speaker 3 (6:09) Well. My brother just boiled over. Don't worry Speaker 2 (6:12) about a thing. I nodded off there for a second. No, you could Speaker 8 (6:17) easily have a bad thermostat. And if the thermostat were only opening halfway, for example, that would allow enough coolant to pass through to be adequate for city driving. Right. On the other hand, if it's only opening halfway, it's not going to allow enough flow at sustained high-speed driving. Right. So I would take the Speaker 2 (6:35) thermostat out. That would be the first step. Put a new one in. Either that or leave it out. We'll see what happens. But then Speaker 7 (6:41) in winter, don't you need the problem? You're Speaker 3 (6:44) not Speaker 7 (6:44) going to Speaker 2 (6:44) make it to winter. We're working on the last ditch effort here. Because when that doesn't work, Speaker 8 (6:52) I'm going to have to go with a blown head gasket. Okay. Yeah. Head gasket. Good luck, Gary. Appreciate it. Bye-bye. 1-888-CAR-TALK. That's 888-227-8255. A lawyer on Car Talk. Speaker 5 (7:09) Is Speaker 3 (7:10) that the five-letter Deborah? Speaker 5 (7:11) No, it's not. Speaker 3 (7:12) The seven Speaker 2 (7:13) -letter Deborah? Speaker 5 (7:14) Yes, it's the biblical Deborah. Oh, Speaker 8 (7:17) my God. I suspected it was the seven-letter Deborah because I heard the way she said it. Speaker 2 (7:22) Yes. Speaker 5 (7:23) Good ears. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:25) Where are you from? Speaker 5 (7:26) I'm in Washington, D.C. now. You Speaker 2 (7:28) probably told Speaker 3 (7:28) us that and we didn't hear it. That's how good our ears are. That's right. Washington, D.C. Yes. That Washington. Are you a politician or a lawyer? Speaker 5 (7:36) Well, strangely enough, I'm neither. But I do work in the area of politics. Speaker 3 (7:42) You do? Yeah. And are you disgusted every day with what you see? Speaker 5 (7:45) Well, I do most of my work overseas now. Oh, Speaker 8 (7:48) that's what I would do, too. Oh, yeah, so you're part of the international spy community. I'm sometimes Speaker 5 (7:54) accused, but I'm not. But I do democracy and peacekeeping work overseas. Speaker 3 (7:59) Really? Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah. Who do you work for? Do you dare tell us who you work for? Well, I Speaker 5 (8:04) am a consultant right now. Speaker 3 (8:06) Oh, you're out of work. Self-unemployed. Self-unemployed, right. Speaker 5 (8:12) Well, I've actually worked for a number of really good institutes and agencies. Speaker 8 (8:16) So you're a colonialist. Speaker 5 (8:18) Well, no, we're trying to teach all the developing nations how to run elections like we did in Florida this past year. Great. Speaker 2 (8:27) Anyway, what's up? Speaker 5 (8:29) Well, I have a 1990 Audi 80, and this car has some minor creaks and groans, but just keeps on going. The odometer stopped at a... 97,000 miles. Wow. It was picked up by a tornado once and dropped, and they had to chainsaw trees away from the car, but eventually I got into the car and it drove away. When is it time to retire a car? What will be the symptoms that it's no longer safe to drive this car? Speaker 8 (9:06) Well, I think any car that gets picked up by a tornado would qualify as having nine lives. Speaker 2 (9:13) How Speaker 3 (9:14) long ago was the tornado incident? The Speaker 5 (9:16) tornado incident, it was actually called a Dorayco. The tornado-like storm came through, a freak storm came through upstate New York, Labor Day, 1990. Speaker 3 (9:31) Is that like Dorito? Speaker 3 (9:36) Yeah. Dorito, Speaker 5 (9:36) Dorayco. Call Speaker 2 (9:38) it what you will, it lifted the damn car up. And wrapped three cheese around it. Was this a nacho cheese Dorayco? Did you Speaker 5 (9:50) actually see the thing lift off the ground? No, it happened at about, I can remember well, 1.20 a.m. in the morning. Speaker 3 (9:58) Well, how do you know that it actually was lifted off the ground? Speaker 2 (10:02) Yeah, Speaker 8 (10:05) it probably wasn't lifted very high. Speaker 3 (10:07) And after this happened, did you have anyone look at it? Oh, it's fine, right? Yeah, Speaker 8 (10:15) I'm not worried about that. Your question, however, is when do you know it's time? Speaker 5 (10:19) Yeah, my greatest fear is this, is that I'm driving down the interstate at some point, and my tires are... car breaks into or something. Speaker 8 (10:30) Yeah. Yeah, well, it could happen. Speaker 5 (10:33) Well, I don't know. That would Speaker 8 (10:34) ruin your day. It would. But, Speaker 5 (10:37) you know, I Speaker 8 (10:37) have a strong feeling that once a car gets beyond a certain mileage, and the magic mileage for me is 185. That's the number. Once you get beyond 185,000, Speaker 5 (10:49) then Speaker 8 (10:50) it could go forever. Oh. Yeah. Speaker 5 (10:55) I mean, do frames break? Well, they do. Especially Speaker 8 (10:58) when they fall out of trees. Speaker 2 (11:01) That would be the kind of thing that you really could check. Yeah, I mean, the frame is unlikely to break in half because Speaker 8 (11:07) of the fall from the sky. It's more likely to rot away. And anyone that knows these cars, if you have a mechanic that you take the car to regularly, they'll know where to look. Okay. And you want the frame rails