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#1035: The Roulette Wheel of Misfortune

Aug 28, 2010
This week, a new diagnostic tool enters the Car Talk studio! It's the roulette wheel of auto-misfortune, offering twice as many booogus answers as its predecessor. The wheel may be here in the nick of time, as Tom and Ray's answers involve a can of mace for an over-active horn, a garter snake as theft deterrent for an '03 Corolla, and a swimming pool as the new home for a '74 MG. Also, on Stump the Chumps, accidental diesel user Mary Beth reports back on the state of her gas tank, her warranty, and her bank account. All this and lots more, this week on Car Talk.

Show Open Topic

The roulette wheel of auto-misfortune

This Week's Puzzler

The license plate has four letters on it: i-n-m-y. What's the car to which it's attached?

Last Week's Puzzler

Tony was about to be fired for being late for work yet again. This time he told his boss he had a flat tire, which a local shop repaired. After looking at the car, how does the boss know if Tony is telling the truth?

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5 Comments

Brake Rotors

The answer on brake rotors for the caller from Denver missed the point. A new rotor is thicker, so it lasts 36K miles. When it is trued, surface is removed. It heats up faster, so it warps sooner. Each time he rebuilds the brakes, the interval until the rotor warps will be smaller. Once he buys a new rotor, he will, once again have the original longevity. The physics are simple. He does need to drive better, but simple physics says that the original rotor will warp more slowly.
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I turn off the radio when this show airs

Very little factual information is presented. Most of the air time is filled with a host attempting a witting statement and the other laughing how "cute and witty" they are.
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when the show is off the air
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The trouble with brakes

This is a comment on the guy with the brake turning every 5K miles. Most people have their tires rotated every 5K miles. Most grease monkey/quickie lube joints as well as tire stores have their impact and torque wrench set at a standard one size fits all setting. Maybe, just maybe a combination of over torquing mixed with less and less metal could be the issue. This of coarse, only if he is having the tires rotated.
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one thng more

Great show BUT karkiz you gave as "car keys" Did you forget about "Khaki's"? Outside of good old bean town we are known for mixing these up!
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Sad

You blew off the guy with a heat problem. You could have at least told him to use a heat gun or hair dryer to try and isolate the problem. You've dumbed down the show. It's becoming boring.
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