Jul 29, 2023
Puzzler time.
Years ago, I received a call from a customer who said he needed a tune up. And he asked if he could come in right away. He was a long-time customer. Even though I've worked on his several of his cars over the years, I had never worked on this vehicle before. And I said, "Gee, I don't know if I will know how."
He was bringing in something that he had never brought in before. And I was trying to get out of it. I said, "I've never done one of these before though..."
And he said, "That's all right. An engine is an engine, isn't it?"
And I said, "Well, I guess so. But it probably won't fit through the door."
And he said, "That's okay. I will park in the street and you can work on it out there."
So, I agreed. About an hour later, he shows up. And I asked him if he had all the tune up parts with him because I wouldn't know what to get. And he said he has everything. He had a whole bag full of stuff for me to use.
So we go outside and there it is out in the street. So, I dive right in. I open up the bag with all the tune up parts and I dump out eight spark plugs and a distributor cap and rotor and spark plug wires and a set of points. And also a condenser. And I said, "Wow that's strange. How old is this thing?" And he tells me it is only about 4 years old at that time.
And I said, "Really?? I didn't think anyone used conventional ignition. I thought everybody used electronic ignition nowadays."
And he said, "I don't think you'd want electronic ignition in this thing if you didn't have to."
And I said, "Oh, gee, I guess you're right."
And the question is, what is it that he brought in and asked me to tune up?
Good luck everyone.
Okay, time for the answer this this puzzler.
Recap, guy wants me to tune up something. Something big. Won't fit in the garage. I say I don't know if I know how, and he says, "An engine is an engine right? I have all the stuff you need for this tune up."
So, I say yes. And he gives me all this stuff for the tune up. I open up the bag with all the tune up parts and I dump out eight spark plugs and a distributor cap and rotor and spark plug wires and a set of points. And also a condenser. And I said, "Wow that's strange. How old is this thing?" And he tells me it is only about 4 years old at that time.
And I think this is strange because I thought everyone used electronic ignition these days and not conventional ignition. And he tells me, "You don't want to use electronic ignition on this thing."
So, what is it?
I hope you guessed it.
It is a boat. A big boat. It was a big 20-foot boat with an inboard engine down below. And the reason you wouldn't want electronic ignition is that electronic ignition fails very catastrophically. There is no warning. And if you're out at sea with your single engine boat and it fails then you're out of luck. But that doesn't happen with points and a condenser with a conventional ignition. You always get a lot of warnings. And if you ignore that warning, then you deserve to get stuck out there!
Good one.