Jul 30, 2022
It is time for the new puzzler! The puzzler has been on vacation for many, many, many, many weeks. I've been awaiting the return of the puzzler.
I'm gonna start with a lousy one and just maintain that mediocrity throughout the whole year. As the saying goes, "Only the mediocre can always be at their best." So we will charge right in there with our mediocre best.
This is an automotive puzzler.
This actually happened at the shop. A fellow came in at some kind of a car. The kind of car doesn't matter. He said, "I got a problem with this thing. My brake pedal goes to the floor. This happens when I step on it, every time, it sinks to the floor."
And I said, "You need a master cylinder in all likelihood or you have a leak."
He said, "I already had a master cylinder put in by the guy around the corner."
I said, "Oh, that's unfortunate. Then you must have a leak."
He said, "No, the guy checked for leaks. Moreover, I haven't lost a bit of fluid with either the old original master cylinder or the three new master cylinders as he subsequently put in. However, if I pump the pedal several times, the pedal seems to be good."
I said, "Ah! Your brakes must be out of adjustment."
He said, "Wrong again. They adjusted the rear brake. This car has disk brakes in the front and regular drum brakes in the rear." We certainly hit on all the classic solutions, as did his previous four mechanics.
Well, I said, "Gee, it could be something like the brake proportioning valve." But he had that changed too!
So he left it with us at the shop to figure it out.
It is a sufficiently intrigued problem that we wanted to work on. We did fix the car finally, and it cost him quite a bit. We did fix his car, but it didn't require replacing any of the brake components. There was nothing wrong with the brakes. And I trust there was perhaps nothing wrong with this original master cylinder and the other ones he had put in.
And he was elated. A little poorer but nonetheless elated.
So what did we do to fix his problem? Does anyone have any idea of the answer to this puzzlement?
The puzzle is back in all of its glory. And all of its mediocrity, the puzzlers back!
This fella came into the shop with some car, I don't remember what it was. The type of car is unimportant. It was 1983 Unimportant. The problem was the brake pedal goes all the way down to the floor.
We thought it was the master cylinder, but no. Then a leak. Also no. Well, the brakes must be out of adjustment. And no. That isn't it either. Maybe it's the proportioning valve? Not it.
So! We did fix his car, but it didn't require fixing any of the brake components, obviously, because why? They had already been replaced. Of course, there was nothing else to do. That was a big clue for us.
We knew the problem was not in the brakes,
Here's what was wrong with his car.
This car had disk brakes like all cars had then in the front end and had drum brakes in the back. And we said the brakes were adjusted. He meant of course the rear brakes because you don't adjust disk brakes. As the brakes wear down, they self-adjust because the pads are always touching the disk, unless something goes wrong with one of the wheel bearings.
And what happened is the wheel bearing was so loose on one of his wheels that as he drove along, the disk would vibrate back and forth and push the piston all the way in. And when it did that, he had to make up that space. When he stepped on the pedal, the pedal would go all the way to the floor. So we had to replace a wheel bearing up two.
So, there you have it. A great puzzler to start with!
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