Jan 31, 2023
Today's puzzler is a favorite. This is about my brother's old car.
Everyone who listens to this show knows that my brother used to drive was beautiful sleek black 1965 Rambler Ambassador convertible, black with a white top and black interior. But sadly, he then ended up with a 1963 Dodge Dart. And that is the car I'm talking about today.
One day, he is driving along in his Dodge Dart. He is driving along one sunny day. All is right with the world. He has the windows open, he's got plenty of gas and the weather is perfect. It is a perfect day for a drive. And then all of sudden, he hears a big thunk. Like a huge bang. It sounds like he drove over something, or something hit the bottom of the car.
A few minutes later, the car gives up and stops running. The sound was at the rear of the car and when he tried to start it again, it wouldn't turn over. it was acting like it was out of gas. When he turned the key, it would just crank and crank. But he had a full tank of gas, so he knew this was not the problem.
So he gets out and looks, trying to figure out what happened. He can't figure it out. So he leaves the car where it is. We finally come back and we get the car back home. We pushed it back, I believe.
We looked over the car, nothing was wrong with it. It didn't look like anything was hit, or that anything was driven over that would damage the car. We get the car in the driveway and my brother tries to start it one more time. And it starts right up. Starts right up on the first crank! Like nothing was wrong.
So the next day I'm looking under the car in the driveway, and nothing hit the bottom of the car. However, I did see something very interesting under there, and I knew what happened to the car.
So, here is the puzzler question. What happened to Tommy's car?
Good luck everyone.
Answer time, my friends.
Quick recap. Tommy's old Dodge Dart. Loud sound like he ran over something. Broke down. Wouldn't start up again. Acting like it was out of gas completely, but he'd filled it up earlier that day.
We got it home and tried to start it again. It started right now. But something wasn't right so I took a look under the car. Nothing hit the bottom of the car, nothing had been run over.
But I saw what was wrong. What did I see?
So here is the answer. And I have to go back a little to explain this.
Tommy had gotten gas earlier in the day. And the fellow at the gas station made a mistake. He put someone else's gas cap on Tommy's tank. Now cars of this vintage had vented gas caps but modern cars made after like 1968 or so have non vented systems. The attendant put a non vented cap on Tommy's car. So this would mean that vapors cannot get out, and likewise, air cannot get in to replace the gasoline that has been sucked out and used in the engine.
So because of this, Tommy is driving along like normal, and all of a sudden, the gas tank collapses. That is the loud bang he heard. The tank got sucked in with the strong suction of the fuel pump which was trying to pull gas out of the tank, and of course the car stops because the suction created by this vacuum in the tank is sucking the gas right out of the engine and the fuel pump can no longer deliver gas to the carburetor.
And that is exactly what happened.
