Dear Tom and Ray:

My mother has an anxiety that has puzzled my family for quite a while now. Our 1980 Buick Electra has electric windows. If my mother were to drive off the side of a bridge and land in the river, would the electric windows work? Or should we keep a sledge hammer on the floor under the driver's seat? Jonathan

Ray: Well, Jonathan, as soon as I got your letter, I went right out and tried this with my brother's 1963 Dodge Dart. Unfortunately, it wasn't until I was in the water that I realized that he didn't HAVE electric windows!

Tom: Actually, Jonathan, we have no personal experience with this problem, so our answer is really a guess. But I think they will work, at least for a short time. Water is not a good enough conductor to short out the low voltage electric window motors, or the car battery itself. And it would take at least a little while for the water to infiltrate and dilute the acid in a maintenance free battery.

Ray: My brother may be right, but this question is too important to leave to theory. So we're commissioning Paul Murky of Murky Research¨ to set up some experiments and give us a more definitive answer. We'll print the results in a future column.

Tom: Until then, just tell Mom to keep that sledge hammer under the seat, and buy the paper every day.

Tom and Ray share secrets mechanics don't want you to know in their pamphlet Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It! To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1993 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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