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#1006: A Gassy Dog and a Heated Car

Feb 06, 2010
This week on Car Talk, Marianne in Oakland is especially eager to find out why her Volvo's blowing a lot of hot air. She rides with her dog, and Fido's got a bit of a flatulence problem. In her overly warm car, the combination is producing a stench that could qualify as canine chemical warfare. Meanwhile, Chris in New Hampshire loves his decommissioned Crown Vic, except that it's doubling his commute time, because everyone else on the road thinks he's a cop and slows down. Can Tom and Ray offer any de-copification tips? Also, couples debate winter car washes and parking brake ratcheting, and we find out why mechanics love Saab owners. All this, plus a new puzzler from the Paint by Numbers series, and lots more, this week on Car Talk.

Show Open Topic

The word is "Subris"-- Subaru + Hubris. Will our listeners suggest other, new automotively-inspired vocabulary?

This Week's Puzzler

No new puzzler this week.

Last Week's Puzzler

Grandma comes into the shop with her aging Lincoln Town Car complaining of reduced mileage and a rough engine. Immediately after learning she drives on dirt roads, Manny diagnoses the problem. What did he learn?

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11 Comments

Show Review - 1088

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Show Review - 1089

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Show Review - 1093

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2nd opinion

Saturday morning - just hearing the show and had the same screaming sound in my 98 turbo volvo. It is the air pump and is located under the battery. Guaranteed. It won't come on in reverse, but as soon as you switch to drive and go more than about 15mph, it will start screaming. It also comes on at a stop light occasionally.
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Bark in the Lock

The only things worse than using a torch or stump remover would be acid or epoxy. If you leave or introduce residue like ashes or stump remover, your lock will 'gunk up' and be worthless. You can go to a locksmith and he could pull the wood out with a tool known as a "broken key extractor". You could also try it yourself with a broken coping saw blade (insert so the teeth grab when pulling it out of the lock) combined with a vacuum cleaner to draw out sawdust and splinters.
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Volvo 70 Screech - wrong suggestion.

The S70 Volvo noise was most likely the air pump starting up. This sound just like a screech and only happens when the car is cold. The pump's purpose is the heat up the catalytic converter.
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barking door lock

Stump Out comes in a powder form. I have used it. One drills holes in the stump, pours the powder in then in six weeks soaks the stump and adds a match to the stump to burn it to the ground. It would be better to let a few carpenter ants into the cylinder to chew the wood, swallow it, leave the area and take a dump far from the lock cylinder. An even more efficient solution would be to remove the lock cylinder and take it to a lock smith and let him do his magic on it!!!
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94 ford wipers that don't

there is a good solution to your problem on the website http://www.misterfixit.com/nowiper.htm Let me know if that solves the provblem. Bob
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Call 2: Jamie, Little Rock, AR

I think there was something missed on this call...Jamie kept mentioning being in this particular parking ramp when she heard the noise. She never once mentioned hearing this anywhere else. Could it be the type of cement flooring in the parking ramp, there is a ramp in St Paul MN that always makes this weird grinding sound when turning, it's the tires on this surface.
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squeak in park structure

i think the squeaking sound in the turn in the parking structure is the rubber of the tire squeaking on the type of concrete the structure is made of. i have heard this many times before - the turn is usually very tight, and usually the steering is pegged.... T+R, try parking in the city more often ;^)
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Are you paying?

Wash your car in the winter? You guys are insane! My "hearty" WRX has a cracked sideview mirror from a wintertime wash. Subaru wanted $300+ to replace the whole thing, they don't replace just the glass. Needless to say I've adjusted to the "fisheye" mirror effect ... though it's a bit disconcerting in heavy night time traffic.
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