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#1329: Let Sleeping Civics Lie

Jul 20, 2013
This week on Car Talk, all was well with Karen's Honda until her boyfriend gave it a tune-up-- which promptly turned on the Check Engine light. We'll just skip past the question of whether he messed up, and go right to trying to figure out what he messed up. Elsewhere in Civic-land, Anna came out of work one day to discover an unwanted passenger in her car: a white rat. How did it get there, and how can she ever go near her car again? Also, our Physicist-on-Call Wolfgang checks in to help clarify, and de-bogusify, Ray's "dispersion" theory on the odd behavior of a keyless remote; and is Lara's starting problem really caused by her turning the key too fast? All this, and lots more, this week on Car Talk.

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Everything you ever wanted to know about... musical rumble strips. (We kid you not!)

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8 Comments

Nissan Door Locks Possessed

I also have a Nissan of this era and the problem could be in any of the doors. These cars have post style door locks. You know, the ones on the top rail of the door, not on the side panel. You can manually push/pull down/up on this post to lock/unlock the door without using the normal switch. The magnetic actuator that moves the post (when you DO use the switch) then acts as a sensor that actuates all of the OTHER locks. This abomination is on all of the doors. Mine happened to go bad on the driver's door and would lock all of the doors whenever I left my keys in the ignition to get out of the car (say to pump gas.) The REALLY funny part of all of this, is that the doors will UNLOCK themselves if you try to lock them when the key is in the ignition but the car is not running. So.... a typical gas stop would go something like this: - Get out close the door. - Doors lock - Doors unlock - Doors lock - Doors unlock - People look - I shrug Eventually, the thing started failing such that it would lock and then NOT unlock. After locking my keys in my car a couple of times, I disconnected the thing on the driver's door. Although now I can't lock the driver's door with the switch, I can still lock all of the OTHER doors. So all is well.
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AWWw Rats!!!

Here is a bit mor info on Rats getting into a vehicle through a vent. If you think they cant, think again. http://www.pestworldforkids.org/rats.html
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Do I have to pick just one???
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are you nuts?

I can tell you guys are paid for the amount of work you do, not problems you solve. Voltage test for a starter?! AMPS!! If there's a poor connection to the battery, it can have all the voltage it needs going to the starter, and enough to light up the dash etc., but once that thing starts trying to draw some serious current, CLICK!
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she touched the battery got back in and it started.
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White Rat on the Seat

Impossible for a rat to get into the passenger compartment through the fresh air vent? Au contraire Click and Clack! My wife had a Mazda that she kept under a cover inside our carport, (I know, WHY?) and a rat realized it was a perfect spot to build its family home. It brought acorns into the engine compartment to eat atop the air filter, then eventually made its way through the air intake at the edge of the windshield (their skulls can flatten out) and made a nest inside the squirrel (ironic, huh) cage fan of the AC/heating system. I discovered this after opening the hood to check the oil, surprising the rat atop the engine compartment. We got into the car to take a drive and switched on the air conditioner. From the smell, I knew right away we had a problem. I found the trail of acorn shells across the engine and into the air intake, so we went to the mechanic. He took apart the blower, finding acorns and nesting material inside the fan. Also, the blades had been chewed almost all the way through, which would have given it access to the vents and passenger compartment. I checked our other two vehicles and found similar piles of acorn shells, but that one vehicle was the one it chose for its home in the fan.
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The Pueblo, Colorado Mystery

Loved the discussion about Pueblo, Colorado this week! Want the inside story on what that mysterious warehouse is really up to with those government booklets? The Government Printing Office facility named for Congressman Frank Evans warehouses and distributes the consumer publications that the government program I work for, GSA's Federal Citizen Information Center, gets from and promotes for other federal agencies. Although it doesn't look huge from the outside, the Pueblo facility is about 62,000 square feet, and managed really efficiently by a team of about 25 GPO employees onsite. They've distributed more than one billion publications over the years. We even have our own special zip code there, made famous in those classic TV ads for "The Consumer Information Catalog, Pueblo Colorado 81009." Why Pueblo? Back in 1973 when our program was really taking off, we needed a bigger distribution facility. Pueblo's was big, new and ready to help. It's been a great 40 year partnership! Back at the FCIC office in Washington, DC, we continue working with government agencies to connect people with helpful info in print, and we have lots more to share through our websites like Publications.USA.gov; USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov for info on government programs, benefits and services; and through our agents at the National Contact Center at 1-800-FED-INFO.
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Musical Roads

Guess what! Some one has all ready made the musical roads. Here it is. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CEEQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRLNfN6-eA0g&ei=tg3tUanLLI-WyAHD9IGICg&usg=AFQjCNFEIftjJFV-XqS84UhO4enurrYedw&sig2=pTvJWde3HtO5uuGxwrgYbg&bvm=bv.49478099,d.aWc
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Those bumps on the side of the road.

At the beginning some guy was telling you guys about music made with road bumps. Well, several years ago someone (honda or toyota?) did a commercial where they built bumps on the road and they made a song when the car drove over them. It was on a stretch of road somewhere in CA but have since been removed....for some stupid reason. Not an origional idea at all. Sorry guys. Love You!!!
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Scared of blind rat babies

Most lab white rats are blind -- pink eyes -- you guys are babies! And I'm half Italian. This had to be a prank.
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Grown men afraid of a white rat.
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